Saturday, May 24, 2008

Tammy Tyree

I had so much fun watching Sandra Dee's 2 Tammy movies. They were campy and sweet and Sandra Dee was just as loveable and vibrant as I like to see her in films. Although not by any means a sex comedy, these films I group in that wonderful category of '60s Romantic Comedies. A genre I have come to love.

The Tammy films are quite formulaic, watching both was like watching the same film twice. They feature Tammy Tyree, that's short for Tambrey which means "immortal", who was raised on the river and doesn't know much about book-learning or talking like folks of the world or even what that box TV is. But man can she fry up a mean catfish.

1) Love Interest - must have personal crisis to overcome before he can love Tammy.
2) Ridicule - Others laugh at Tammy but she puts them right at the end with a big speech.
3) Grumpy Old Person - Tammy makes person less grumpy and gives them a friend.
4) Job - Tammy fails over and over again much to our amusement.
5) Troubled Couple - Tammy helps them overcome their issues and fall in love all over again.
6) Body of Water - Preferably a river, but Tammy will do with a mason jar of water or the ocean.
7) Catch Phrases - Tammy must utter such phrases as "monstrous kind" throughout movie.
8) Failed Kisses - Tammy has to beg for a kiss numerous times until she finally gets a good one towards the end.
9) Acquaintance - Takes a liking to Tammy and shows that not everyone is disdainful.
10) New Experience - Tammy does something she's never done before and we are amused at her wonderment.

Tammy Tell Me True (1961) - This was my favorite of the two. Tammy is in her element on the River and out of her element at college where she is falling in love with Public Speaking teacher Tom, played by the hunky John Gavin. She helps Beulah Bondi's character live again and escape the greedy clutches of her inheritance-hungry niece. I loved Tammy's dialogue. My favorite line, paraphrased badly, was when she was talking to a catfish in the river saying "You are going to be breaded and fried in fat and ate my two lovely ladies and that's a mighty wondrous end for you". My only gripe is that the film overcompensates for Tammy's being dumped by the previous film's love interest Pete, who's name is so often brought up that I feel he was a ghost character.

Tammy and the Doctor (1963) - Because of the formula, I felt like I was watching Tammy Tell Me True again. This time, Beulah Bondi (Mrs. Call) is sick and Tammy who refuses to leave her side takes a job at the hospital. Peter Fonda is just not right for this movie. Poor guy. He stood out like a sore thumb. I felt like there were better things waiting for him. It didn't help that they gave him wrotten dialogue. He couldn't compete with Tammy's unique language. He had sexy lines such as "You can find her address at the personnel's office" or "I'll be back as soon as I wash up." Groan! And also Tammy belongs by the river! In a hospital she was just out of her element too much. We really forgot what she was like. But I have to say, I enjoyed the film nonetheless which in the end is what counts the most.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Queen Norma Shearer Viewing

I thought after yesterday's post, that I should probably track my progress on here. This list is only 58 movies. I think I may have removed some lost or destroyed ones when I originally made this list.

Norma Shearer

The Flapper (1920)*
Way Down East (1920)*
The Stealers (1920)
The Man Who Paid (1922)
The Bootleggers (1922)
Channing of the Northwest (1922)
Lucretia Lombard (1923)
A Clouded Name (1923)
Man and Wife (1923)
The Devil’s Partner (1923)
The Wanters (1923)
Pleasure Mad (1923)
Trail of the Law (1923)
The Snob (1924)
The Wolf Man (1924)
Broadway After Dark (1924)
Broken Barriers (1924)
Married Flirts (1924)
Empty Hands (1924)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924) ~ seen part then misplaced tape!
Excuse Me (1925)
Lady of the Night (1925) *
Waking Up the Town (1925)
A Slave to Fashion (1925)
Pretty Ladies (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925)
His Secretary (1925)
The Devil’s Circus (1926)
The Waning Sex (1926)
Upstage (1926)
Too Many Wives (1927)
The Demi-Bride (1927)
After Midnight (1927)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1928) *
The Latest From Paris (1928)
The Actress (1928)
A Lady of Chance (1928) *
The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1929)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) ~ coming up!
Their Own Desire (1929) ~ taped!
The Divorcee (1930) *
Let Us Be Gay (1930) ~ coming up!
Stolen Jools (1931)*
Strangers May Kiss (1931) *
A Free Soul (1931) *
Private Lives (1931) *
Smilin’ Through (1932)
Strange Interlude (1932)
Riptide (1934) *
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934) *
Romeo and Juliet (1937) ~ can't quite finish this for some reason.
Marie Antoinette (1938) *
Idiot’s Delight (1939) *
The Women (1939) *
Escape (1940) *
We Were Dancing (1942) *
Her Cardboard Lover (1942) *

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Lifetime Achievement Viewing

Some time ago I had made set goals to watch every single film which feature my top favorite personalities. I say personalities because these are people I am captivated by and it extends beyond any acting abilities or their appearance in good stories (sometimes they lack both!). Hunting for those films reach makes watching their work even more enjoyable.

Norma Shearer ~ 17 out of 61
Bobby Darin ~ 5 out of 14
Sandra Dee ~ 10 out of 24
Marilyn Monroe ~ 25 out of 29
Blonde Bette Davis ~ 14 out of 33
Doris Day ~ 17 out of 39

Lately I've come across a few more opportunities to advance towards my final goal. Sandra Dee's Tammy Tell Me True (1961) and Tammy and the Doctor (1963) were released on DVD a few months ago and Netflix just added it to their extensive library. I immediately added it to my queue, bypassing the original film Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) with Debbie Reynolds, which I guess I really should have seen first to fully understand the storyline. But while Debbie Reynolds is cute, I've always found Sandra Dee even cuter and much more fun to watch on screen!

With The Forbidden Hollywood Collection Vol. 2 I got an opportunity to see The Divorcee (1930) and A Free Soul (1931) in their entirety. Two marks on my list. But these I knew would eventually turn up on DVD. However, two more even rarer opportunities presented themselves recently. My friend Frank is a Laurel & Hardy fan and let me borrow one of his DVDs which contains the short film Stolen Jools (1931) a comedy which features many MGM stars, including Norma Shearer. And TCM recently had a Robert Montgomery marathon (one of Norma's best-known leading men), and they showed Their Own Desire (1929), (which I taped) an elusive film I know very little about but am very happy to see.

There are other actors whose film work I'd like to view in their entirety, but making a goal of it would be quite a feat, and very likely impossible (Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, etc). Those whom I think may be manageable and whom I would like to add include:

Kim Novak
George Sanders
Tom Conway
Dennis Morgan
Bonita Granville
Susan Peters
Richard Barthelmess

Do you have anyone whose life's work is your goal to consume? Or have you already seen the entire canon of films of a favorite star? Let me know!

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