Classic Movie Hub Blog

I’ve been Liebstered! 

I am honored to have been chosen by Aurora from Once Upon a Screen for the Liebster Award!  Another ‘first’ for me — and especially meaningful because I am a huge fan of Aurora’s blogs! I do apologize in advance for waiting over a month to post, but with work and life and the holidays… well, you know how that can be! But, ‘tardiness’ aside, I am sincerely honored and excited about receiving the Award!

So what is the Liebster? Well, it’s an award given to up-and-coming bloggers with fewer than 200 fans…  and the rules are:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions the person giving the award has set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you will be giving the award to.
4. Choose 11 people to award and send them a link to your post.
5. Go to their page and tell them. I think letting people know on Twitter is cool.
6. NO TAG BACKS.

Okay, so here goes…

11 ‘facts’ about me, in no particular order:

1) I’ve seen four of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: The Great Pyramid of Giza, the ‘Lighthouse’ at Alexandria (now a Fortress), the Temple of Artemis in Turkey (really just one ‘column’ now), and the site of the Great Colossus of Rhodes in Greece.

2) I am a musician (mostly bass and guitar) and a trained vocalist, and have played my share of gigs over the years in various bands, as well as some cabaret, and even did a short tour overseas with an alternative/pop band.

3) I am a huge Revolutionary War buff.  My heart just about skipped a beat when I visited Paul Revere’s house and grave in Boston, and I adore anything even remotely related to George Washington and the Arnold/Washington intrigue.

4) I am determined to see all 50 states.

5) My favorite rock guitarist is Steve Howe, with Derek Trucks a very close ‘second’ (depends on the day though).

6) My favorite vocalist is Ella Fitzgerald. She thrills me to the core!

7) I love music from the 1930s.

8) I love The Beatles.

9) My favorite authors are Leo Tolstoy, Washington Irving and Jane Austen.

10) One of my favorite books is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

11) I love old sheet music.

And my answers to Aurora’s 11 questions:

1.  Name a popular, classic film star you think is overrated.

Oh boy, this is a really tough one… And, I’m not sure that I can honestly say he’s over-rated, but for whatever reason, I just never quite ‘warmed-up’ to him: Danny Kaye.

2.  All-time favorite classic film performance male and female.

Oh, but there are so many good ones!  I’m being granular here, but that said, I must list two scenes on total opposite ends of the spectrum:

Drama: the final scenes from East of Eden with James Dean and Julie Harris, as they are by the bedside of Raymond Massey after he suffers a stroke.

Comedy: that wonderful stoop scene with Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea in The More the Merrier.

3.  Gotham City or a galaxy far, far away?

Well, even though I adore traveling and exploring new places, I would have to say Gotham City — because there were just so many great classic movie stars that appeared as villains on the show.  BTW, as a kid, I always wanted to be Cat Woman!

4.  What question would you ask your favorite film director, living or dead?

Charlie Chaplin: What is it that drives you to perfection, and how do you manage to juggle all the logistics while still maintaining your focus and artistic integrity in the process?

5.  Why did you start a blog?

Passion.

6. You woke up this morning and are living in a classic film noir.  Who are you and in which film?

Okay, I am definitely cheating here, but… Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. 🙂

7.  One skill you wish you had.

I wish I could sew.

8.  Most underrated film actor.

Tony Randall.

9.  What is your all-time favorite book character?

Alice in Wonderland.

10.  If you can go to any year, when would you go to and why?

I can’t seem to pin down an exact year, but somewhere in the late 40s/early 50s at The Actors Studio when all the ‘greats’ were there. I would have loved to have studied there myself, and of course watch and learn as others honed their extraordinary skills.

11. How different would our classic film community/experience be today without Turner Classic Movies (TCM)?

I shutter to even think of it!!!

And the Liebster Award goes to:

This is really the toughest part for me since there are so many talented classic movie bloggers out there, and I can’t be 100% certain if they’ve been passed the award already — or if they have less than 200 followers (I strongly suspect some of these blogs have quite a large following, but it’s hard to know)… That said, I will do my best to get this right 🙂

Backlots
Black and White All Over
Classic Film Freak
Classic Movie Man
Comet Over Hollywood
Let’s Misbehave: A Tribute to Precode Hollywood
Noir and Chick Flicks
MacGuffin Movies
Pretty Clever Films
Spoilers
True Classics

My questions:

1) What are some of your ‘desert island’ movies?

2) If you could travel back in time and ‘live the life’ of one Classic Movie Actor/Actress, who would it be and why?

3) Astaire or Kelly?

4) If you could choose to watch either comedies or dramas for the rest of your life, which would it be?

5) If you were a Character Actor, what would your traits be, and what type of roles would you play?

6) Who is your favorite movie pirate?

7) If you could travel to one Classic Movie related site, what would it be?

8) If you could host TCM for a day, what movies would you show?

9) List one classic movie scene that you can re-wind and watch over and over again — and why?

10) Who is your favorite classic movie couple (on or off screen)?

11) What is the last movie that you saw in a theater?

–Annmarie from Classic Movie Hub