Tuesday, February 24, 2009

All Things Considered...





...Shelley Winters has had a pretty rough time of it.

23 comments:

Fox said...

You know what's odd, is how pretty she was when she was younger. Like in The Big Knife and some of the stills you've posted.

I don't mean that she's was an ugly person as an adult, it's just I grew up knowing her when she was already into her 60's and kinda of round so I never knew the younger version until much later in life.

bill r. said...

In the commentary track for A Place in the Sun, somebody -- I think it was George Stevens, Jr. -- said that Winters was taking a chance, and a chance was being taken by the studio, in that film, because prior to that she was being groomed as the next Marilyn Monroe. Alarming to think about now, but in those old pictures, it's not that crazy an idea.

My dad told me that, many years ago, Winters came through his old hometown -- why, I don't know, because he's not from a very cosmopolitan area, but then again soem films have been shot there, so who knows -- and spent her time there getting so hammered and behaving so badly that they had to throw her out. Of town! Who gets thrown out of whole towns anymore?

Fox said...

HAHA... that's a funny story. It's true. I mean, I thought "getting thrown out of town" went away with the saloons and parking spaces for horses.

Angela Lansbury was surprising gorgeous when she was young too.

WORD VERIFICATION: "subegan" (def: a vegan that likes to go to Subway and get the veggie sandwich with no cheese or mayo.)

Marilyn said...

Fox - What do you mean "surprisingly"? Lansbury is still a beautiful woman.

As for Winters, she may have had a rough time in that film, but what a gorgeous shot of her in her watery grave.

Fox said...

Maybe I should've said "attractive". And if we disagree on that, then I'll just have to say that I don't go for women over 80.

Again, like Winters, I grew up knowing Lansbury from Murder She Wrote, so when I saw her as attractive young woman it kinda flipped me.

bill r. said...

Marilyn, that shot from Night of the Hunter is astonishing. I first saw the film as a young film fan without too much experience, and even at that early stage I was stunned. Incredible.

Greg said...

It's a wax dummy by the way, under the water in Night of the Hunter. And yeah, it's an incredible shot. Especially on a big enough screen where you can really see the slit throat too.

bill r. said...

I should point out that I should have tried to find an appropriate still from The Big Knife, since I've seen that one, but I haven't seen Executive Suite. However, the still from the latter movie just fit so well with the incredibly artful progression I set up.

In any case, I really disliked The Big Knife. You can't argue with that cast, and I have no real beef with the acting, but I can't stand Clifford Odets' shotgun-to-kill-a-moth approach to writing.

Uncle Gustav said...

Fox, perhaps you need an education in geezer love. I respectfully suggest an evening with The Boynton Beach Club -- Floridian retirees and sex... 70-something Sally Kellerman nude... 70-something Dyan Cannon rollerblading in tights... Brenda Vaccaro on the fence about "doing it" again... dinner dates at the early bird special... yum yum!

Fox said...

Bill-

Agreed on The Big Knife. I can't be articulate or accurate about it since it's been awhile, but I remember watching it and shrugging loudly afterwards. It felt really, REALLY dated.

WORD VERIFICATION: prefro.

I'm getting awesome WVs today!

Fox said...

Whoa, Flickhead, you weren't kidding. I just went to Amazon and looked at the amazing DVD cover... rollerblade equipment and all!

But remember, I said "over 80". I would still be up for dating a late-60's/70's lady. I do like older women.

P.S. Sally Kellerman has "Joker mouth".

Greg said...

70-something Sally Kellerman nude... 70-something Dyan Cannon rollerblading in tights...

As you get older time really does race by. I still think of the seventies as taking place a few years ago so when I read about a 70-something Sally Kellerman or Dyan Cannon I think, "That's impossible. They're like, 50 now, right? I mean, Dyan Cannon just did Deathtrap about five years ago and she was around 45 then."

bill r. said...

I'm looking forward to Sally Kellerman's new film, MASH. It's a star-studded extravaganza, I'm told.

Uncle Gustav said...

I'll say this for Dyan Cannon: from the neck down, she's in great shape. The face is another story. Excess dieting? Botox? Plastic surgery? Whatever: she reminds me of Warren Beatty. And not the Warren of Splendor in the Grass, but the Warren of Town & Country.

Patricia Perry said...

That still from "Lolita" reminds of my favorite exchange in that film:

Winters: Whenever I think of you, I just go limp.

Mason: Yes, I know the feeling.

Patricia Perry said...

Oh, and Fox I know what you mean about the surprise of seeing Shelly Winters so young and pretty.

When I was about 12, I collected autographed pictures of stars. I was pretty obsesses with "The Poseidon Adventure" at the time, so I wrote fan letters to all the stars of the film, including Winters, asking for pictures.

I was kind of stunned when I received a still of a young, gorgeous and very slender Winters. It hadn't occurred to me that she'd ever looked like that.

bill r. said...

Everybody but me seems to have spent a fair amount of time in their early years writing to celebrities and asking them for pictures. When I was a kid, I never even would have thought that could work.

Patricia Perry said...

My first letter was actually a seventh-grade English class assignment, strange as that seems now. We were actually instructed to write to a famous person and ask for a picture. I wrote to Sonny and Cher. After I got their picture, I decided to see how many others I could get. It was a fairly short-lived hobby for me, maybe lasted a year or so. But it was pretty cool at the time.

Fox said...

Bill & Pat-

My celebrity worship when I was a kid revolved around athletes. I wanted autographs, mainly.

My favorite moment was when I got Karl Malone to sign my cast. Someday I should scan the picture and post in on my blog. I've got some sweet braces, rolled up t-shirt sleeves, and a Oklahoma St. baseball cap on.

THEN...

When I got "older" as an late teen/early twentysomething, I started collecting set lists of bands I went to see. Pretty lame in hindsight (does anyone even know who Magnapop or The Grifters are anymore???), but good memories nonetheless.

bill r. said...

Well, that settles it. I'm writing a letter to David Arquette tonight!

Word verification: chibisms.

Greg said...

I used to send letters to random names of people I found in the phone book. I'd tell them how much I admired them and could I please have a personal photo of them. Man, you'd think I insulted their mother or something. I'd get, "Who the hell are you, you freaking weirdo, and why do you want my picture?" or "Send one more letter and I'll have you arrested!" Geez, pardon me for living.

One serious question for Pat though: How in the hell did you know where to send the letter?

Fox said...

Can I get pictures of all you guys for my refrigerator?

Patricia Perry said...

Jonathan -

That's a good question, and I can't actually remember. I think the letter to Sonny and Cher was sent to CBS, but as for Winters et al, I honestly don't remember where I got the addresses.

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