Sandrich Being Sour

"Apparently Ginger used to bombard Newman with all sorts of crazy ideas for dresses, including a bizarre ‘granite’ costume and even a gown made of mirrors – to which RKO director Mark Sandrich apparently remarked, ‘Ginger, we can’t use it. You can see the camera reflected in your tits’. It is said she stormed off set after that, and quite right too."

This is from Clothes on Film, so take a look at the whole post if you are interested in A) Clothes, B) Film, C) Ginger's dress in Pick Yourself Up.

Things That Smell Good!

I call it a "Things That Smell Good" post. The perfume bottle is Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf Eau de Parfum, the soap (which is what has been making my room smell so good, and it's sitting unopened on my table) is Mistral Lychee and Rose soap. The hand cream is Caswell-Massey Dr. Hunter Hand Creme with rosewater and glycerine. I love rosewater! At one of my friend's parties over the summer, we ate at I think and Indian restaurant and they had warm rosewater to wash our hands with and it smelled so good. I want to take a bath in it. Maybe you can tell, but I like flowery fragrances.

Oh and PS: this will definitely be my last post before Christmas, so Merry Christmas everyone, or happy holidays, and Happy New Year if I don't post again before then!

More Photos (Old)

I'm finally getting some more of this stuff uploaded. These are all from high school.


I printed this once, and there was a fix stain on the print, and then the print got lost...

Other Photos

So I finally got around to posting items of photo-like substance on here. I edited these digitally since I don't have access to a lab right now. I don't usually do much on the computer leave rudimentary tasks, so these could probably be better.
As always, click for a bigger image.





And here's a Halloween photo for good measure. (Yes, I just got them last week.)

Shoe Post

I found these 1930s shoes while on vacation, and upon trying them on, I was more than thrilled to discover that they have arch support. This is monumental, namely because I haven't had arch support in a shoe since maybe 6th grade. And since my mother threw out my arch inserts (that my aunt gave me to try) because they were still in the shoes she hated so much she tossed without looking, there went that. But anyway, the shoes have some solid arch support! Is that normal?


Click for larger image.

And so I was messing around on Photoshop so I could stick all the pictures together. The upper right corner looked disgustingly barren, so I thought of putting my name there. But I really needed something square, so I stuck a picture in lieu of name. It really has nothing to do with the shoes, it was more of an aesthetic choice. Which segues perfectly into my next post, which I was inspired to work on. Why now, I don't know, since I have so much to do tomorrow, but there are just some things that cannot be explained.

Birthday Essence

1. Almost set off fire alarm with inextinguishable candles that took pleasure in spitting sparks out at people.

2. Friend scuttling backwards out the door, cake in tow - wide-eyed at the aggressive candles.

3. Setting off door alarms, amongst other chaos.

4. Warning for misconduct in the dorms.

5. Calming friends down while putting out those candles from your cake by grinding them into the concrete outside while the RA stares at us menacingly.

6. The cake was delicious.

"Now we'll never forget Lauren's 19th birthday."

*Another note is that people seem to enjoy making my birthday this week-long celebration. It must just be the holiday spirit in the air, because I'm not the only one getting excited about my birthday post-Thanksgiving. My presents are generally spread out evenly over four days. I really have no idea why, but that's how things seem to operate. Anything to get people in the gift-giving mood, I suppose. ;)

Anyway THANK YOU to the people who thought about my birthday (which is actually on 4 December)!

My younger sister's birthday is today, so I'm constructing her present at the moment. I thought I wasn't going to see her until winter break, but I found out today that she is coming by to see me tomorrow, so now I really gotta hustle!

Upon request of jwalker, I'm posting the box I made:

Click for larger image.
First of all, the turquoise beads were just a quick sprinkle job because I was taking way too long to make this. Staying up 'til 6am three nights in a row when class is at 8? I had to hurry in the end. Actually, the 'first of all' should be the fact that I've never made a box before. I don't know if I've even cut wood before. Either way, it was pretty shoddy construction, so I tried to mask that by covering the entire thing in beads, which is a bit shoddy itself. The one thing I am proud of is the silver and gold design on the box. That's the part that really took forever anyway. My photos aren't the best because the lighting wasn't working with me (please note my Bruin blue nails :) ).

What Mr. jwalker was doing last Friday:

Also, thank you Gingerella for the award! I will tack it up somewhere soon.

The Cutest Thing

So I stumbled upon this photo on google, and discovered it linked to a site where someone had uploaded a lot of their personal photos, from the late forties until now. That's such a cute idea.
But anyway, this one says it was taken at a lake near a Ginger Rogers cabin. I have no idea where this is. Anyone?

PS One of my word verifications was 'gyroweed' which I decided I really liked as a word. Now to decide what it means.

Ginger Must've Liked Chinese Food

My mother just told me that her boss had lunch with Ginger about 30 years ago because one of his friends wanted them to meet. I got excited because I always wanted to know what sort of a personality she had. At first my mom starts going on about how she looked (typical). But then she told me her boss said Ginger was very friendly and down-to-earth, which is how I imagined she'd be. She still carried a child-like enthusiasm and was eager to meet someone new. I felt reassured to learn this because it solidified my high opinion of her.
Oh, and regarding the title of this post, they ate Chinese.

Ginger Rogers article in People

I've never seen/read this before - I just discovered it! But it is a nice little article (dated 08 May 1995) with cute pictures, and it makes Ginger seem like one of the most wonderful people I've never met.

Click on image to view article.

Wishlist Part 1

It's getting closer and closer to holiday time-- my absolute favourite time of year!!!! Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas! Right now I'm hoping I can get tickets to the UCLA-USC football game, but it's chancey.

Anyway, for my wishlist part 1, I am currently in love with the majority of the beauty products at Anthropologie.

I am always enamored by their vintagey design! I looked online, but their selection isn't as big there as in the store.
I like perfume a little too much, but it always looks so cute in the bottle! It's usually way very expensive so I can't afford that many. I mostly use Flowerbomb now.

And to tangent, I bought the Winter air freshener from Bath and Body Works (the one that smells like the best of all things Christmas in liquid form?) and I can't stop inhaling deeply. It smells so good. I love that store. Rarely do I come out of there empty handed. I think I will add a gift card to here for my wishlist. Actually, for gift cards, I would probably want them from the following places:

B&B Works
Anthropologie
Urban Outfitters
Forever 21 (I tell you this store is a gold mine if you can spot the classy from the trashy items)
Sephora
H&M

Now for a tangent upon tangent (it's what I do best) I need to figure out what exactly to buy other people. And also some have requested artwork, so I may take that route for more presents. Which in my case means I need to run down to Samy's and buy some black & white film. and some frames, or other items to embellish it. I LOVE working with colour slides because everything is just so vivid! I took a picture of my youngest sister with colour slide film and it came out bursting with colour because of the contrast of her red dress, the lime green balloon animal/hat she wore, and the blue pool in the background. I actually have no idea where the picture is right now. It must be somewhere around my house.

Alright, scooting along the tangent line (oh dear only I would say that) this quarter is almost over, I have a lot of reading and studying to do, but hopefully it won't eat up all of my time. My goal is to get through 61 pages of my art textbook reading... maybe 100 since I have a lot and only two days. On Monday I have to actually start working on my sculpture! I'm making molds of my hand with alginate (it's the same as that puffy, gooey stuff dentists use to make molds of your teeth. (I always gagged during the bottom mold.) Then I'm filling the mold with wax, which I'll have to heat... somehow. And I haven't decided if I want to do anything about the fingernails of the hand molds, because mine aren't in the best shape right now. I bet the sculpture professor would love to know that I'm even thinking about something like that, but it's just a part of my multi-faceted personality! :)

Art Deco Hollywood

Here is a little bit of video I just discovered on YouTube about art deco's history. Art deco is one of my favourite things in life!

Award

Thank you to Pink Flower for this award! I'm not exactly sure what kind of award it is since the text on the image is too small for me to read (I sound old) but I think I have a handle on what to do!



a) Nominate three more blogs for the award
b) Answer a few questions about myself

1. A Noodle in a Haystack
2. Some Parade
3. Finding Ginger
I don't think any of these blogs will be posting all too often at the moment, but hey. ;)

What's your current obsession?
Shopping at vintage fashion expos. They are so great because everything is right there, and unlike a flea market, you know it's going to be vintage!

What's your zodiac sign?
Sagittarius, the hardest one to spell. I really don't know anything about my sign, except for the fact that it's some half-man creature.

What am I wearing today?
Right now I'm wearing a little red and white striped sun dress that has small black flowers on it. I just realized the flowers are so spread out. Also, it is hot enough to be wearing this sun dress today.

What's your latest purchase?
A cigarette case.

What do you have for dinner?
Usually a lot of vegetables and sometimes pasta.

What's your favourite decade?
1930s 100%! Bias dresses I love. After putting one on you have the urge to spin around and dance. (I did that a little after trying one on in the dressing room of one of the expos.)

What are your must haves for summer?
Sunglasses and a hat, yet both of those items are broken. :(
Also, ice cream, and cute sandals! My sandals are also broken. :( Good think ice cream can't exactly break, otherwise I'm sure I would have broken it by now, too.

What is your favourite piece in your closest?
Hm. I really like this sheer, bias, early 40s dress I have. I also like my velvet 30s dress that I posted about. I also like Ginger's skirt and gloves, which I posted about as well. I also like my two silk scarves from China. I love a lot of my shoes. How do I decide?

What is your dream job?
Being the costume designer for period piece movies. :)

What's your favourite magazine?
I guess Vogue because I see the photo shoots as art versus advertisements for clothing. I also like some of the old LIFE magazines.

What do you consider a fashion no-no?
Bubble tops. I have one, but I always hide it by tucking it in. I personally think they look unflattering on people, but I think that's because I am drawn more to thinks that hug my waist and don't really enjoy looking pregnant when I'm not.

Describe your personal style?
Anything that has a vintage feel. I look for key aspects, such as ruffles, dots, peter pan collars, lots of buttons, cinching at the waist, bias, in modern clothing.

Who was your favourite Beatle?
Ringo!

What are you proud of?
Having the ability to think for myself and not always follow others, and having possessed this ability a lot longer than other people my age.

WWII Kiss

I can't believe I've never posted about this picture. The famous WWII Kiss photograph, taken during the Times Square celebration after Japan's surrender to the Allies, is so completely brimming with emotion, energy, and enthusiasm that it can only make me smile when I look at it.

Location: New York, NY, US
Date taken: August 14, 1945
Photographer: Alfred Eisenstaedt

These were just two random, ordinary people who came out to celebrate a victory. I find it an even sweeter image knowing that the act was unplanned and just a thrill of the moment type of action. LIFE Magazine attempted to locate the kissing pair about 20 years after the photo was taken. Multiple people claimed to be the sailor or nurse, but nobody (not even the photographer) was truly sure who the people were. One woman, Edith Shain, wrote a letter to LIFE claiming to be the woman in the photo, and she has been the favoured candidate over the years.

Here is a short interview with Miss Shain from BBC News in 2008:

Bob

I bobbed my hair today! It's the shortest it's been since kindergarten. I'm going to experiment and not style it at all after I take a shower to see what it looks like. Right now it's all nice from a one and a half hour job.

There are also now four frogs in the mountains named Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Fred, and Ginger. And one named Asta.
And one named Chocky. If I ever get an aquatic frog for the dorm I'm naming him Chocky.

Lauren

I can't believe I missed this!

After watching more and more films from the 30s and 40s, character actors really began to hold a special place in my heart! The good ones liven up a movie, and they feel like old friends joining you in a new plot line.
Anyway I was looking at previous events at the Billy Wilder theatre and discovered that they had a special event dedicated to character actors! I would have loved to see these movies on the big screen!

5.5.06 - 6.7.06 Dini and Les Ostrov and the UCLA Film & Television Archive present ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS!: CELEBRATING HOLLYWOOD'S CLASSIC CHARACTER ACTORS As the Hollywood studio system grew in the 1920s, thousands of actors came to Los Angeles. Only a few would become household names, but some lucky others would find constant work and studio contracts as supporting players. Often these actors were too old, too "foreign" or simply not considered attractive enough to be romantic leads—not to mention the legions of black, Asian and Latino actors whose ethnicity limited them to bit parts. Among these actors were those who managed to project a particular, instantly recognizable personality from picture to picture, becoming familiar and beloved figures. These supporting players became known as "character actors." Rather than playing leading ladies and gentlemen, these actors inhabited a colorful array of roles as relatives, friends, neighbors, co-workers, servants and the like for the leads. While the names attached to their roles would change from film to film, and while the style might vary from the comic to the dramatic, character actors developed finely honed personalities that would remain more or less constant. Actors like Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Alice Brady, William Demarest, S.Z. Sakall, Marjorie Main and Eugene Pallette were familiar and beloved faces (if not always names) for moviegoers in the 1930s and 1940s. While there are still actors today who are considered character actors, the heyday of the character actor was the height of the studio system from the advent of sound through World War II. It is this period that we will feature in our series. We will focus on films containing notable performances by a handful of character actors, including films with large supporting casts, like CASABLANCA, in which the character actors form a kind of community around the romantic leads. And then there are the directors like Frank Capra, Howard Hawks and Preston Sturges who formed a kind of stock company out of the supporting players they used again and again. We hope to highlight the variety and the unique contributions of a group of American actors who played everything from the screwballs of 1930s screwball comedy to the colorful types who inhabited the urban intrigues of 1940s Warner Bros. films. Special thanks to: Philip Ituarte. Friday May 19 2006, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended ) Beautiful Nitrate Print! TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932) Directed by Ernst Lubitsch Sexual innuendo meets Continental sophistication in this romantic farce produced during the more permissive days before the enforcement of the Hays Production Code. Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall shine as a pair of con artists intent on separating widow Mariette Colet (Kay Francis) from her fortune in cash and jewels. Love-weary Mariette's suitors are a pair of bickering dandies (played by Charlie Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton) who only add to her weariness. Besides a stoical C. Aubrey Smith (with his trademark bushy eyebrows) as the businessman Giron and Hollywood butler par excellence Robert Greig, watch for Leonid Kinskey in an uncredited cameo as a communist radical. With its witty dialogue and inventive strokes of visual humor, TROUBLE IN PARADISE is often regarded as Ernst Lubitsch's finest film and the acme of classical Hollywood comedy. Paramount. Based on a play by Lázsló Aladár. Producer:Ernst Lubitsch. Screenwriter: Samson Raphaelson. Cinematographer: Victor Milner. Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charles Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton, C. Aubrey Smith. 35mm Nitrate, 81 min. Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) Directed by Howard Hawks This hilarious screwball comedy stars Cary Grant as a crafty newspaper editor hell-bent on keeping his ace reporter and ex-wife Hildy (Rosalind Russell) from settling down in the country with a sincere but pitifully dull businessman (Ralph Bellamy) by convincing her to cover the imminent execution of a convicted murderer. Hawks' ingenious use of overlapping dialogue accelerates the film's already fast clip, and he is abetted by a seemingly endless parade of crack comic character actors. Foremost among these is John Qualen as the condemned man, as well as such familiar faces as Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Billy Gilbert, Cliff Edwards, Ernest Truex and Roscoe Karns. Columbia. Based on The Front Page by Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur. Producer: Howard Hawks. Screenwriter: Charles Lederer. Cinematographer: Joseph Walker. Camera: Rosalind Russell. Editor: Gene Havlick. Cast: Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart. 35mm, 92 min. Saturday May 20 2006, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended ) THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) Directed by John Huston Investigating the death of his partner, Sam Spade (the original hard-boiled detective) is drawn into a maelstrom of murder, greed and betrayal. This adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's gritty novel boosted the careers of just about everyone attached to it, including star Humphrey Bogart and first-time director John Huston. The plot's trio of shady (and sexually ambiguous) characters is played by two of Warner Brothers' most recognizable character actors—Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet (in his screen debut)—and by Elisha Cook, Jr., in one of the first meaty screen roles of a career that would span seven decades. These heavies are supported by a second rank of character actors whose faces are more familiar today than their names, including Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick and Jerome Cowan, and by frequent Western character actor Ward Bond. Warner Bros.. Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett. Producer: Hal Wallis. Screenwriter: John Huston. Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson. Editor: Thomas Richards. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre. 35mm, 100 min. ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939) Directed by W.S. Van Dyke Dashiell Hammett created Nick and Nora Charles as seriocomic counterparts to Sam Spade, and the Thin Man film series kept audiences laughing while on the edge of their seats as the urbane married couple solved vicious crimes with aplomb. ANOTHER THIN MAN was the third in the series; the title refers to Nick and Nora's newborn son. Parenthood doesn't slow these two much, as they investigate a murder during a weekend on Long Island. One hallmark of the series was the large cast of suspects for each case, including society swells, tough guys, fallen women and rogues. The suspects here include C. Aubrey Smith, Nat Pendleton, Otto Kruger, Abner Biberman and Sheldon Leonard. Special mention must be made of the wonderful Marjorie Main as a feisty landlady. MGM. Based on a story by Dashiell Hammett. Producer: Hunt Stromberg. Screenwriter: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett. Cinematographer: Oliver Marsh, William Daniels. Editor:Frederick Smith. Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey, Ruth Hussey, Asta . 35mm, 105 min. Sunday May 21 2006, 7:00PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended ) THE GAY DIVORCE (1934) Directed by Mark Sandrich After Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers stole the show by dancing "The Carioca" in FLYING DOWN TO RIO, RKO gave them top billing as a duo for the first time in this musical comedy farce. This would also be the debut for a cast of eccentric supporting characters who would grace future Astaire-Rogers films. To procure a divorce from her stuffy geologist husband, Mimi (Rogers) must get caught in the act with the aid of a professional gigolo (the hilarious Erik Rhodes) whom she has never met, leading her to wrongly identify hoofer Guy Holden (Astaire) as her man. Routinely stealing the show are a team of character actors at the top of their game; besides Rhodes, these include Alice Brady as a giddy dowager, Eric Blore as a genial but addled head waiter and the always charming Edward Everett Horton, who here gets a musical number with a young Betty Grable! RKO. Based on he musical The Gay Divorce by Dwight Taylor, Kenneth Webb, Samuel Hoffenstein and Cole Porter. Producer: Pandro S. Berman. Screenwriter: George Marion, Jr., Dorothy Yost, Edward Kaufman. Cinematographer: David Abel. Editor: William Hamilton. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes,Eric Blore. 35mm, 107 min. TOP HAT (1935) Directed by Mark Sandrich In their follow-up to THE GAY DIVORCEE, Astaire and Rogers perform matchless dance numbers embedded in another plot about mistaken identity. While staying with theatrical producer Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton), Jerry Travers (Astaire), an American musical revue star visiting London, falls head over heels for compatriot Dale Tremont (Rogers), whom he meets after his compulsive tap-dancing wakes her up. A huge box-office success, TOP HAT embodies the Astaire-Rogers film series' formula for success—choreography by Hermes Pan, music by top Broadway composers (in this case Irving Berlin), art direction by Van Nest Poglase, and of course, a cast of delightfully comedic character actors, with Horton, Rhodes and Blore repeating from THE GAY DIVORCEE, and with the notable addition of Helen Broderick. RKO. Based on the play The Girl Who Dared (or A Scandal in Budapest) by Alexander Farago & Aladá Lázsló. Producer:Pandro S. Berman. Screenwriter: Dwight Taylor, Allan Scott. Cinematographer: David Abel. Editor: William Hamilton. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton,Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore, Helen Broderick. 35mm, 101 min. Friday May 26 2006, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended ) Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES (1941) Directed by Sam Wood The farcical elements of screwball comedy are here turned to social commentary, with character actor Charles Coburn taking a rare leading role as the Scrooge-like millionaire owner of a department store. Rumblings of labor unrest prompt him to go undercover as an employee in the store, where he's given a lesson in class-consciousness by Jean Arthur. While Arthur has a romantic partner in the form of Robert Cummings, the two are evenly matched by Coburn and his love interest, famed character actress Spring Byington. The rest of the cast is replete with such familiar and beloved faces as Edmund Gwenn, S.Z. Sakall and William Demarest. RKO. Producer: Frank Ross. Screenwriter: Norman Krasna. Editor: Sherman Todd. Choreographer: Harry Stradling. Cast:Jean Arthur, Charles Coburn, Robert Cummings, Edmund Gwenn, Spring Byington. 35mm, 92 min. DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1934) Directed by George Marshall In this classic Western (mixed with a heavy dose of comedy, romance and songs), Jimmy Stewart plays the mild-mannered, milk-drinking sheriff out to tame his nemesis, a violent saloon owner played by Brian Donlevy. Stewart aims to subdue the rowdy town of Bottleneck with words and jokes instead of a gun, while waxing philosophical with Dietrich's earthy but dazzling dance hall girl. Dietrich is priceless as she stands on the bar belting out "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have." The colorful townsfolk of Bottleneck are portrayed by an array of scene-stealers, including Mischa Auer, Una Merkel, Charles Winninger and Allen Jenkins. Universal Pictures. Based on the novel by Max Brand.. Producer: Joe Pasternak. Screenwriter: Felix Jackson,Gertrude Purcell, Henry Myers. Cinematographer: Hal Mohr. Editor: Milton Carruth. Cast: James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Mischa Auer, Brian Donlevy, Charles Winninger,Allen Jenkins, Una Merkel. 35mm, 94 min. Saturday May 27 2006, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended ) Beautiful Nitrate Print! CASABLANCA (1943) Directed by Michael Curtiz CASABLANCA is an allegory of America's entrance into World War II, with Humphrey Bogart's loner Rick eventually drawn to take sides (with Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid) against the Nazis. Here Warner Bros.' greatest character actors represent the oddball gallery of outcasts, refugees, scoundrels, smugglers and exiles surrounding Rick in the émigré community of the title city. Among them are Peter Lorre as slimy black market dealer Ugarte, Sydney Greenstreet as covetous café-owner Ferrari, S.Z. Sakall as fatherly cafe manager Carl, and Leonid Kinskey as bartender Sascha. Many of these were emigrants from Europe, as was Madeline LeBeau (as Yvonne, Rick's ex-girlfriend), who had recently fled Nazi-occupied France. Warner Bros.. Based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. Producer: Hal B. Wallis. Screenwriter: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch. Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson. Camera: Humphrey Bogart. Editor: Owen Marks. Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, S.Z. Sakall, Dooley Wilson. 35mm Nitrate, 102 min. CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945) Directed by Peter Godfrey Barbara Stanwyck shines as a World War II-era ersatz Martha Stewart, writing a magazine column about being a homemaker on a Connecticut farm from her Manhattan apartment. Unaware of the hoax, her publisher (Sydney Greenstreet) arranges to have her host a wounded sailor for the holidays as a publicity stunt. Thus the stage is set for a sentimental wartime variant on screwball comedy, as Stanwyck is forced into an elaborate and increasingly unwieldy masquerade, complete with phony husband and baby. Her accomplices include familiar faces Reginald Gardner, Una O'Connor and, most notably, S.Z. Sakall, as charming as ever. Warner Bros.. Based on a story by Aileen Hamilton. Producer: William Jacobs. Screenwriter: Lionel Houser, Adele Commandini. Cinematographer: Carl Guthrie. Editor: Frank Magee. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, Reginald Gardner, S.Z. Sakall. 35mm, 101 min. Wednesday May 31 2006, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended ) YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938) Directed by Frank Capra Wall Street robber baron's son Tony Kirby (James Stewart) is engaged to Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur), who lives in a very unconventional household of free spirits, headed by her philosophical Grandpa Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore). Alice's mother writes plays, her father makes fireworks in the basement and her sister and brother-in-law spend most of their time singing and dancing. The family's cook, boarders and friends add to the mixture of vivid personalities living together in benevolent chaos. But Tony's father (Edward Arnold) has secret plans to acquire Grandpa Vanderhof's home and land, threatening to displace this harmonious commune. Frank Capra often populated his films with scores of memorable character actors, and this Academy Award winner for Best Picture boasts one of his most exuberant casts. In person: Producer/screenwriter Victoria Riskin, daughter of screenwriter Robert Riskin Columbia. Based on the play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Producer: Frank Capra. Screenwriter: Robert Riskin. Cinematographer: Joseph Walker. Editor: Gene Havlick. Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore,Edward Arnold, Mischa Auer, Spring Byington, Eddie Anderson, Donald Meek, Charles Lane. 35mm, 126 min. Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive MY MAN GODFREY (1936) Directed by Gregory La Cava A classic comedy of manners, MY MAN GODFREY entertains with a subtle social message beneath its humor, that of the contrast between the worlds of the rich—represented here by an eccentric family populated with brilliant character actors—and the poor. William Powell is outstanding as Godfrey Smith, a WWI veteran found living in a dump during a scavenger hunt by flighty but sympathetic socialite Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard). She hires Godfrey to serve as the family butler where he soon establishes himself as the wisest member of a nutty household. Three of the character players are especially memorable: Eugene Pallette as the harried paterfamilias, Alice Brady as his daffy wife with aspirations to higher things and Mischa Auer as her starving-artist protégé. Universal. Based on the novel by E. Hatch. Producer: Charles R. Rogers. Screenwriter: Morrie Ryskind, Eric Hatch. Cinematographer: Ted Tetzlaff. Editor: Ted J. Kent, Russell F. Schoengarth. Cast: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Eugene Pallette, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Mischa Auer. 35mm, 94 min. SUN 6/4 2:00 pm DAVID COPPERFIELD 1935 Directed by George Cukor See Kids' Flicks. 35mm, 130 min. Wednesday June 7 2006, 7:30PM ( Online Ticket Sales Ended ) Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive BALL OF FIRE (1941) Directed by Howard Hawks In this screwball version of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, burlesque queen Barbara Stanwyck hides out from the law by moving in with linguistics professor Gary Cooper, who is the youngster in a household of seven other academics. She fills him in on the slang he needs for his research, and in the process, opposites attract. They have only two problems: the police and Dana Andrews as Stanwyck's gangster boyfriend. The classic Hawksian setup (the disruption of an all-male group by a woman who's one of the boys) is knowingly fleshed out by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's script, complete with snappy dialogue and double entendres. The plot gives Hawks the license to deploy not just one but two teams of character actors: the professors and the gangsters. Among the former are Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers, Richard Haydn and (once again) Leonid Kinskey and S.Z. Sakall; among the latter are Dan Duryea and Ralph Peters. Based on the story "From A to Z" by Thomas Monroe, B. Wilder. Producer: Samuel Goldwyn. Screenwriter: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder. Cinematographer: Gregg Toland,Daniel Mandell. Cast: Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Homolka, Henry Travers, S.Z. Sakall, Tully Marshall, Allen Jenkins. 35mm, 111 min. THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) Directed by Preston Sturges Perhaps even more than Frank Capra or Howard Hawks, Preston Sturges is the filmmaker who got the most mileage from the ensemble of comic character actors he used time and again. Starring Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea, THE PALM BEACH STORY is a romantic comedy employing the typical screwball situation wherein a separated couple is reunited. The film's charm is exceeded only by its hilarity, which is largely supplied by such Sturges stalwarts as hardboiled wisecracker William Demarest and fussbudget Franklin Pangborne. However, as the Wienie King, the otherwise little-known Robert Dudley steals every scene in which he appears. Paramount. Screenwriter: Preston Sturges. Cinematographer: Victor Milner. Camera: Joel McCrea, Sig Arno. Editor: Stuart Gilmore. Cast: Claudette Colbert, Mary Astor, Rudy Vallee. 35mm, 87 min.