Anne Week Tag

 Okay, originally I wasn't planning on participating in Miss Dashwood's Anne event, but when I read these tag questions over on her blog and then one of the bloggers I follow did them and I read them again decided to break down and participate. I think that the fact that my older sisters and I have recently converted our younger sister to Anne fanship, helps. Oh, how we love Anne!

1. How many of the Anne books have you read, and how many of the films have you seen?
 I have read the first three Anne books and will hopefully continue reading the series this summer. I have seen all three Anne films and love them all. *ducks* And I shall *ducks* defend *ducks* that statement *ducks*. Oh, and I've seen the 1934 black and white Anne movie starring Anne Shirley.


2. If someone yanked your hair and called you carrots, what would you do to him?

 Well, I'm not sure. If someone yanked my hair I would definitely tell him to stop it at once and hopefully I won't go so far as to break a slate over his head. Now as to calling me carrots, I would demand to know why on earth he was calling me carrots. My hair does not resemble red or even auburn in the least!


3. What would you do if Josie Pye dared you to walk the ridgepole of a roof?

 I don't think I would do it. She could call me a coward all she likes, but I do not wish to break my neck. I know I couldn't do and I admit that freely.


4. If you had the opportunity to play any AGG (I'm abbreviating from now on because I am a lazy typist) character in an AGG play, which role would you choose?

 First off I can't act, but if I could I might like to play Diana. I probably couldn't pull off Anne and would get stage fright in the lead role, but I'd probably get stage fright in a secondary role too.


5. If you were marooned on a desert island, which AGG character would you want to have as a companion? (Anne, Gilbert and Diana are not options.  Let's keep this thing interesting.  Not that they're not interesting.... oh, yay, now the disclaimer to this question is longer than the question itself.  Lovely lovely lovely.)

 Hmm, either Marilla or Matthew.


6. If there was going to be a new adaptation of the Anne books and you could have any part in making the movie, what would you choose to do? (screenwriting, acting, casting, costume-making are a few possibilities)

 First off I'd try to reconcile myself to the idea of someone besides Megan Follows playing Anne. Helping out with costume design might be kind of fun, only someone else had better do all sewing and figuring out how to make it. I'd be to terrified to try and do screenwriting for it. Adapting a book must be a terrifying task.


7. What are, in your opinion, the funniest AGG book/movie scenes? (choose one from the books and one from the movies)

 Hmm, the part in the first book with the cake Anne bakes for when the Reverend and Mrs. Allen visit is funny and so many other parts that have slipped my mind at the moment. In the movies it is a close call. Either the scene when Anne and Diana fall in the mud and are chasing Dolly in the 2nd Anne or Diana, Jane, and Ruby in the scene when Anne's 'drowning' in the 1st.


8. What are, in your opinion, the saddest AGG book/movie scenes? (choose one of each again)

 The scene that I thought was the saddest in the books was in Anne of the Island. When Anne and Ruby are talking a day or two before Ruby dies. I was almost in tears. I am particularly attached to Ruby, you see. In all the Anne reenactments my older sisters and I used to do I was always Ruby. Saddest scene in the movies it is most definitely when Matthew dies. *sniff*


9. Which AGG character would you most like to spend an afternoon with? (again, Anne and Gilbert and Diana are not options for this one--think secondary characters)

 Philippa Gordon, hands down. She was one of my favorite characters in Anne of the Island and she is such a dear you know!


10.  What is your definition of a kindred spirit?

 Someone who you connect with. They share similar tastes, beliefs, and you just get along really well. You both have your own individuality, but the essence of it is the same. And as Alexandra said in her answer to this question (you do not mind if I quote you, Alexandra, do you? We use the same term a lot in our house) you just "click".

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That was a lovely tag Miss Dashwood and I enjoyed it immensely! Thank you very much for creating it!


~ Hanne-col

Modern Screen, November 1941

 Well, I'm back again with the other vintage movie magazine I bought alongside with the one last week. This time it is from 1941.

 The cover with some actor by the name of Stirling Hayden.

A pre-release movie review of the Deanna Durbin film It Started With Eve. Apparently before it's release they were calling it 'It Started With Adam'. 

An article on Roy Rogers the King of the Cowboys. It is really funny to see the publicity stunt that Republic Pictures did regarding Roy's birth place in here.

 A movie ad for the Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth film You'll Never Get Rich. Good movie by the way.

Here is a picture of Bonita Granville. She starred in four Nancy Drew films. 

 a closeup of the Bonita Granville picture.

 Gary Cooper

 An article on Judy Garland written by her mother.

And an article on Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. He was a regular on the Jack Benny Radio show starting with his very first appearance in 1937 and would later on become a regular as Jack's chauffeur/valet/butler. He would continue to become a regular on Jack Benny's television program too.

~ Hanne-col

Sing, Sing, Sing with a Swing (1940s Music)

Today is Fun Monday for Going Through the Era's and I am going to drown you with swing music! Well, maybe not really, but I do love music from the 1940s. Judy Garland, the Andrews Sisters, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, and all those lovelies! *happy sigh* You get the idea.


"Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. A particular favorite.

"Drummer Boy" sung by Judy Garland in the movie "Strike Up the Band."



"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" sung by the Andrews Sisters in "Buck Privates"



"The Turntable Song" sung by Deanna Durbin in "Something in the Wind"



"Gotta Be This or That" sung by Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland on The Danny Kaye Show.



"Swinging on a Star" sung by Bing Crosby in the movie "Going My Way." The song won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Bing Crosby would also win an oscar for best actor and his co-star Barry Fitzgerald won best supporting actor.



"The Nerve of Some People" sung by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in the movie "Lights of Old Santa Fe."



"Cowboy Ham and Eggs" sung by Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers in the movie "Home in Oklahoma"



Well, I'd better close this before it gets too long, but I hope it has whet your appetite for more.

~ Hanne-col

Movie Review: Three Smart Girls (1936)

 Joan (Nan Grey), Kay (Barbara Read), and Penny Craig's (Deanna Durbin) parents have been divorced for ten years and girls live in Switzerland with their mother. Mrs. Craig, who still loves the girls' father, is heartbroken when she reads in the newspaper that their father is planning to remarry. So the girls decide to run away to New York City and prevent the wedding.

 Once in New York they surprise their father, millionaire Judson Craig (Charles Winninger), and shock his fiancee, Miss Donna Lyons (Binnie Barnes). The girls soon enlist the help of Bill Evans (John King), the man who manages their father's investments. Together they hatch a plot to get Miss Lyons away from their father by introducing her to someone even richer. But Bill is sent to Philadelphia and when the method for the girls to find him goes awry they end up getting the wrong man (Ray Milland).

 I LOVE this movie!! It is such a delightful movie, with some really funny movie lines. I highly recommend it. Oh, and I just found out you can find it on YouTube.

Movie Quotes:

Judson Craig: Do you realize that I have guests downstairs, that Miss Lyons was singing? I thought the ceiling would come down!
Penny Craig: Why didn't you stop her?

Kay Craig: Haven't you any conscience?
Michael Stuart: Conscience? About what?
Kay Craig: You were just about to cheat that poor man, weren't you?
Michael Stuart: Oh, no. I wouldn't cheat anybody. Uhh. I just wanted to buy a little gift, for you.
Kay Craig: For me?
Michael Stuart: Yes.
Kay Craig: Do you think I'd accept a seven-thousand dollar ring that wasn't paid for?
Michael Stuart: Oh, I would have paid it. Uhh, on terms you know. A dollar down, a dollar a week.
Kay Craig: For seven-thousand weeks?
Michael Stuart: Eh ... That is a rather long time, isn't it?

~ Hanne-col

Modern Screen, October 1936

 On the way back from Florida last December we stopped by an antique mall and I picked this delightful little goody. Modern Screen from October of 1936.

 The cover with a drawing of Jeannette MacDonald on it.

Only actress on this page that I know is Irene Dunne. 

 A closer look at the Irene Dunne picture and an interesting tid-bit on "Madame Curie." Hmm, I guess the movie ended up getting shelved or something. It didn't come out until 1943, and then Greer Garson had the title role.

 Claudette Colbert in what looks like a very good imitation of the dress she wore in It Happened One Night.

 an article on Katherine Hepburn.

 Two pages on Fall fashion, with Olivia de Haviland on the right.

 a closer look at the Olivia de Haviland page.

 My favorite part of the whole magazine though is this two-page beauty on Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' Waltz in Swing Time which they performed in the movie Swing Time.

closer look at each page.

Isn't it lovely? And I bought this with another magazine for only $5!

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And now after looking at that two-page Astaire and Rogers spread I'm in the mood for some dance clips.

Waltz in Swing Time:



Hard to Handle:



Pick Yourself Up:



Aren't they just fabulous?

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Oh, by the way this post is for my older sister's blog event "Going Through the Eras."

~ Hanne-col

Dickens Week Tag

 Today Alexandra's Dickens Week begins. She has complied a tag for the week and I have determined to do it.

"To the guillotine, all aristocrats!" by A. A. Dixon

1.       How were you first introduced to Dickens?

  I think it probably would have been when A Tale of Two Cities was assigned to my older sister to read when we were studying the French Revolution. She actually read a couple of small bits aloud to me.

2.       Which is your favorite Dickens novel?

  I haven't actually read very many yet, but hope to remedy that this summer. My favorite hands down is A Tale of Two Cities. Oh, I love that book! One of my favorite books up there with Ivanhoe and The Scarlet Pimpernel!

3.       How many Dickens adaptations have you seen?

   Actually I have only seen one. The 1935 adaption of A Tale of Two Cities. It probably needs to be watched again, now that I have read the book. I remember laughing when I first saw Basil Rathbone step out of a carriage as the Marquis de St. Evremonde. I had only seen him portray Sherlock Holmes before after all.

4.       Which Dickens adaptation is your favorite?

   I obviously don't have a favorite yet, but like I've said before A Tale of Two Cities probably needs to be watched again.

5.       Have you seen multiple versions of A Christmas Carol? Which version is your favorite?

   I have not seen a version of A Christmas Carol, yet. Probably need to fix that.

6.       Who is your favorite Dickens hero and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of him?

   Sydney Carton. Alexandra is right he is sort of an "anti-hero", but he is my favorite and definitely deserves hero status at the end of the story. I cannot remember exactly how Ronald Colman portrayed Sydney Carton, which gives me another reason to watch that movie again.

"Caddy's Flowers" by 'Phiz'

   7.       Who is your favorite Dickens heroine and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of her?

   Esther Summerson from Bleak House, so far. I have not seen an adaption of Bleak House yet so I do not have a favorite portrayal.

   8.       Who is your favorite Dickens villain and (if applicable) who does your favorite portrayal of them?

   The Defarges! I shall never look at knitting again without thinking of them.

  9.       Have you seen any musical adaptations of any of Dickens’ stories? If so, which is your favorite song from it?

   I have not seen any musical adaptions of any of Dickens' stories.

10.   Do you have a favorite Dickens quote? If so, what is it?

Yes, this famous one from A Tale of Two Cities.

     "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known." 

~ Hanne-col