Tag Archives: Bette Davis

Is It Saturday Already?

The late posts continue with a Late Lame Post Friday post.  At least I have coffee, if not much brain power or motivation.

Like I’ll ever be this skinny!

I did have a couple of Mohawk Valley adventures yesterday and remembered to take pictures.  Unfortunately the pictures are in my phone, which is across the room being charged.  I may bestir myself to get more coffee, but otherwise I am staying comfortably lounged on the couch.

My allergies are becoming quite tiresome lately.  I thought the frosts we had would help, but I reckoned without my indoor allergies.  I posted on Facebook that I am allergic to cleaning.  Some might argue that it is all the dust, but I stand by my statement.  Regular readers may recall that my house is in a terrible mess and has been for some years.  I continue to make progress in bits and pieces.  I even clear away some of the dust I stir up.

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, there could be no possible objection.

I was searching my Media Library for a picture of my messy house but got tired of it so decided to share an old favorite.  It is a publicity shot for Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, which was to have been a kind of a follow-up to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?  Unfortunately, Crawford dropped out (long story, but pretty interesting).  Olivia de Havilland stepped in, and the resulting movie is one of my favorites.  Unpopular opinion: I’ve  never been a fan of Baby Jane.

Well now I’ve rattled on for over 250 words.  I call that respectable.  I hope you all had a lovely Friday, and I hope your Saturday is equally as swell.

 

I Run a Gamut on Wrist to Forehead Sunday

Hello and welcome to another Wrist to Forehead Sunday post, the day when I swoon, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead.  Alas that I have no chaise lounge to swoon upon.  One must make do.  It is only a metaphorical swoon anyways.

Peter Falk and coffee, what more could I ask?

I am once again watching Columbo on DVD.  I do enjoy Columbo on a Sunday afternoon or evening.  I am not, however, drinking coffee.  I enjoyed that this morning.

My view earlier today.

This morning I went running for the first time since March.  One of the places I ran was the path over what used to be a hydraulic canal.  The fun painted things are getting a little faded.  I hope whoever is responsible freshens them up soon.  I would like to take my great nephew and niece, Sheppy and Evie, for a walk there on one of the nice days we occasionally get.

Crawling, slimy things? Bring it!

I share the picture of The Brain Eaters because I feel as if something has eaten away my brain.  I guess not having a brain is becoming a chronic condition with me (cue jokes about how I never had much brain to begin with).   I haven’t seen a cheesy horror movie in a while.  I wonder when I will get a chance to see one.  Maybe after the current episode of Columbo.

Is this cheerful enough?

As it was becoming increasingly clear I have not much of substance to say, I looked for a cheerful picture to close with.  This was the first to catch my eye.  It is a publicity photo for a version of Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte that was never completed.  Joan Crawford was to have starred opposite Bette Davis but was replaced with Olivia de Havilland.  I am currently re-reading The Divine Feud: Bette and Joan, which tells all about it.

So this post has run the gamut from Columbo to running to Bette and Joan, with a detour into Brain Eaters.  That seems like a lot for one weekend.  I look forward to what Monday brings.

 

No Severed Heads, But Columbo and Coffee

I pause in doing absolutely nothing to make a Wrist to Forehead Sunday Post.  I did muster up the wherewithal to go grocery shopping and do a load of laundry.  If I can get enough oomph to make tomorrow’s lunch, I will feel pleased with myself.  Of course, I will also feel that I should have done a few more things, but I try to celebrate every small win.  Is that like giving myself a participation trophy?  Let us not look too deeply into these things.  I am already perilously close to swooning, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead, of course.

Don’t drive too fast! It’s dangerous!

I don’t really mind Monday being so close.  It is, after all, the natural progression of things.  Who am I to argue with nature?  Additionally, I always have the feeling that a new week can be a new beginning.  Maybe this is the week I will finally get things right.  I probably won’t, and the older I get the more I think, so what?  Why do I constantly feel that I must achieve that mythical state of having my act together?  Ah well, this is more of a philosophical question better suited to Lame Post Friday.

One of my favorite guys!

This is what I am enjoying right now: Columbo and a hot cup of coffee (and I said I was doing absolutely nothing!).  I actually wanted to have a Severed Head Sunday by watching Bette Davis in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, but the DVD would not cooperate.   Or maybe it was the player.  I don’t question these things, I just look for another DVD to pop in.

I see I am over 250 words.  I consider that sufficient for a lighthearted post on a Sunday afternoon.  I thank you for tuning in and hope to see you again on Monday, monstrous or otherwise.

 

Not Exactly Cinema But Not a Bad Sunday

I thought I might make a Sunday Cinema Post, but I am only on my first movie and getting tired.  I did watch the rest of a Columbo episode I started last night.  I suppose that counts.

She was divine!

The movie I am currently enjoying is Death on the Nile, a star-studded Agatha Christie romp (come on, autocorrect, Agatha is a well-known name!).  This is the wonderful Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne, alcoholic writer of sexy romance novels.  I would SO love to play that character!  I kind of did when I was Ruby VanRenssalaer in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, a murder mystery of my own devise.

Two more delightful divas.

Here are two more stars who stud the movie, Bette Davis and Maggie Smith.  So delightful to watch these two old pros playing off each other.

I have done a few useful things today.   I ran,  I did laundry,  I went grocery shopping, I wrote a letter which I walked to the post office.  From the post office, I walked to Herkimer Elks Lodge, where I secured space for Wednesday’s rehearsal of Shooting at the Grange, our upcoming murder mystery.

Back home, I watched Columbo before putting in the aforementioned Agatha Christie but also made a salad for the week’s lunches.  I call this not a bad Sunday.  Is it not a bad blog post?  You decide.

Today there is not “one more thing.”

 

Who Says You Can’t Get A Head?

An exceptional cast!

Yesterday I decided at have a severed Head Sunday.  Today I thought I would write about it in lieu of my usual Monstrous Monday Post.  I began with Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Victor Buono, and Mary Astor.  Just to name everybody.

One of my favorite shots.

I love Hush, Hush but do not pop it in very often, because it is so long.  I guess I have a short attention span, but I do enjoy watching several movies of 90 minutes or less.

She feels strongly about it.

A few days ago I was disappointed to be unable to find my DVD of StraitJacket (starring Joan Crawford,  of course). Yesterday I had better luck.  In fact, I was surprised I had not found it before, because it was not that far out of alphabetical order.  However, I feel it was just as well I had not watched it before, because it fits so well with my Severed Head theme of the day.

And here are a couple of the heads!

It seems this post is longer on pictures than words, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  I’m not even sure it can count as a Severed Head Sunday since I only watched two movies with severed heads.  Full disclosure:  my first movie was Rope, which features a strangulation, but the victim’s head remains attached (that did not require a spoiler alert; it happens in the very first scene).

No matter.  It is Monday, and it has not been as monstrous as it might have been.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Way Back to When I Posted On Time?

I thought to myself, I can’t do a Throwback Thursday Post immediately following a Wayback Wednesday Post.  Then I thought, Yes I can!  I’ll look in my Facebook On This Day and share a picture from there, thinking no doubt there would be something I have not shared before.  Well, not so much.

The only photos were a couple of profile pictures.  One was Bette Davis in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte. A Throwback indeed, but I have shared that picture before.  The other was a drawing with a small fake-solemn speech about not letting winter defeat us.

“I could spit in your eye!”

The reason I was reluctant to share it again was that I feared it would take too l9ng to find it in my Media Library.  I gave it a try and, Hello, Bette!  I have thoughts of going through my Media Library and making a month by month index, so I can readily lay my cursor on what I want.  Well, how many things do we say, “One day I am going to…”?  How many of these do we actually do?  I know, some, but how long does it take us?

Speaking of taking a long time to do things, I might as well confess I am making my Thursday blog post on Friday morning after making my Wednesday post on Thursday.  Does that make this a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post?   Let’s pretend it does.

 

Throwback? Non-Sequitur? It’s a Mystery!

Wordless Wednesday turned out pretty good (or do I flatter myself?), so I thought I would go for a Throwback Thursday Post. I’ve had those before. If I throw back to something I have thrown before, sorry.

A couple of suspicious individuals.

Here is an appropriate memory: a murder mystery dinner theatre which benefited the Herkimer County Historical Society. It was titled Secrets at Suiter House. It is appropriate, because I am currently writing and recruiting actors for another murder mystery, as yet untitled.

This is not how this looks today, but tomorrow…?

I am having a great deal of trouble navigating my Media Library, as indeed I did yesterday. As a matter of fact, yesterday I sought but did not find a picture of snow. Now I was looking for another murder mystery picture and found snow. No matter. I can just bill this as a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post.

I hate to play the illness card again, but can I just say I am still not feeling the least bit well. What the hell, body? I have things to do and blog posts to write! Can I find one more picture to pull this post together?

I loves me some Bette and Joan.

This picture is appropriate for both a Throwback and Non-Sequitur Thursday Posts. It is a publicity shot from when Joan Crawford and Bette Davis were set to star in Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte in 1964. Crawford subsequently left the production. That is pretty far back. Come to think about it, it is not a complete non-sequitur, because the movie is a murder mystery. It’s a good movie. I highly recommend it.

I am not sure I can recommend this blog post, but you’ll have that. If only I could think of a title…

I Wish I Was Invisible

It is time once again for a Monstrous Monday Post. It has been a semi-monstrous day, but I will not elaborate on that. For one reason, I am pecking one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet, and the device is being rather uncooperative. Predictive text is not the least bit attuned to what I might be trying to say, and autocorrect is a bitch.

Never mind all that, let me find a picture of a monster to brighten our day.

He really disappears into his character.

Here is Claude Rains as The Invisible Man. He is a real actor’s actor. Bette Davis loved working with him. They never did a horror movie together, alas.

A peek into the creative process.

I couldn’t find anything that related to the first photo, but here is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a William Castle production. Castle is the guy with the cigar. The seated fellow is Vincent Price. I don’t know who the ghouls are, but I love their outfits.

Another fashionable ensemble.

I can’t find another good movie monster in my Media Library, so here is a picture of our skeleton Bonita in her 2020 Halloween outfit. The black tulips are from a murder mystery.

I am afraid this has been a rather disjointed post, but you’ll have that, especially with me. I’ll try for more Mohawk Valley Adventures as the week progresses, but no promises. Still, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

Joan Will Forgive Me

Aaaand here is my Lame Post Friday post, being pecked in one letter at a time on my Tablet early Saturday morning. Ah, my wonderful husband, Steven, just brought me a cup of coffee. Soon those brain cells will start moving.

OK, I don’t really have much this morning, but I swiped a cool picture off Facebook to share.

Things that might have been.

I don’t know about coimetromania, but the picture is Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in a publicity shot for Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Joan was later replaced by Olivia de Havilland. I love that movie, but I also would have loved to see it with Joan in the part.

Incidentally, I know that by proper rules, I should be referring to Joan as “Crawford” or possibly “Ms. Crawford.” Those just don’t feel right to me. “Miss Crawford” would be more correct to the period the movie was made, but I don’t much like that either. Have I had this discussion before? Sorry to repeat myself.

So this is my Late Friday Lame Post: cool picture, dither paragraph regarding usage. Let’s see if I can make my Saturday post (Saturday Evening Post?) On time.

Wrist to Svengoolie

I did say “no promises” about a better post on Sunday, didn’t I?  I guess it’s always No Promises for Mohawk Valley Girl.  But I am making my post on Sunday and not early Monday morning, so there’s that.

Yeah, what she said.

So it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Yes, I am a little sad that tomorrow is Monday.  Of course I want another day off, who wouldn’t?   Yes, yes, I am happy to be back at work, I am grateful to have a job. Cannot one feel ambivalent about these things?  Sheesh!

I love this guy!

Earlier we watched a DVR’d episode of Svengoolie.  Fun!  It was the original Frankenstein, an excellent piece of cinema. James Whale, the director, was a genius. And Boris Karloff was, of course, wonderful.  However, I prefer it when I can hear Karloff’s mellifluious voice.  “Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot…”

The best!

Right now we are looking at Watch on the Rhine, another DVR’d feature.

The definitive monster.

I thought I had a picture of Bette Davis in Watch on the Rhine, but apparently I do not.  However, I found a shot of Karloff in Frankenstein.  I think that is even better.

I Ser I am over 200 words, so I shall return to enjoying my Sunday (as opposed to regretting my two day weekend).  As always, thank you for tuning in.