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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes, if you were asked questions about the notes you'd be able to answer them, you would pass any test on the notes with flying colors.  Hence, it is time to post until the cows come home and send us sailing over the 30,000 post mark.

[S. Woody White]

For those trying to remember what films Natalie Wood starred in, I suggest checking her listing at imdb.

I thought she was perfect in The Great Race.  And she got to do her own singing!  (Nice change of pace.)

[Charles Pogue]

Favourite Natalie Wood movies:

THE SEARCHERS

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET

I remember fondly MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, but I admit I haven't seen it since I was about fourteen.

[S. Woody White]

Here's an interesting news story I came across, for those who are curious as to why they imbibe what they do.  It doesn't have anything to do with Natalie Wood, however.

[S. Woody White]

There's also this tidbit from Playbill about Spamalot.  It would be more interesting if they'd mentioned Natalie Wood, of course.  Can't have everything.

[Michael]

let's get it out of our system right now......

What is the only kind of wood that doesn't float?

Natalie

[Michael]

Natalie Wood Movies.

Tomorrow is Forever. Orson Welles and Claudette Colbert are the stars, but Natalie made an impression.

Rebel Without a Cause. Interesting to see her transition from child to young adult and she successfully does it.

Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. I thought she did a great job as Maggie. With Laurence Olivier, Maureen Stapleton and RJ

[Michael]

There's also this tidbit from Playbill about Spamalot.  It would be more interesting if they'd mentioned Natalie Wood, of course.  Can't have everything.

I tried the link. It gets a article about Trader Joes

[Michael]

I perused the bio of Natalie Wood. It did not have nice things to say about Lana Wood, Natalie's sister. It seemed that she demanded money and Natalie's clothes almost immediatly after her death. She even arrived unannounced and removed the clothes which she immediatly sold the clothes for cash. Lana Wood has not acted in 20 years and has whored off money from Natalie's memory. She prpduced the tv film and in an interview I saw prior to it she went on to say how much she loved her sister and wanted to celebrate her life etc etc. She also has been alienated from her neices because in her memoir about her sister she said that Robert Wagner had a trole in the death of her sister

[Robin]

I avoided the Natalie Wood bio-pic.  Looked big-time tacky, even if it was directed by Peter Bogdanovich.  

As to my favorite Natalie Wood picture, it's gotta be Rebel Without a Cause.  And that would also contain one of my all-time favorite film scores, by Leonard Rosenman.  

I also really like Natalie in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Searchers, and both of those movies sport excellent scores (by Bernard Herrmann and Max Steiner, respectively).

[Jrand73]

DR MICHAELSHAYNE - does Richard Costa sing as nice as he looks?  

So many lovely posts yesterday.  Denny Miller has a memoir coming out - HURRAY!!!  I have only two words to say:  Mona McCluskey!

Natalie Wood - now we're talking.  Like MR BK, I love her in GYPSY....she and Rosalind Russell were TOPS in their roles!  REBEL of course.  And I adore THE GREAT RACE and the lovely song "The Sweetheart Tree."

My favorite score for a non-musical Natalie Wood film would go to one mentioned by DRCHARLES POGUE:  Max Steiner's music for MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR.  And I love that movie.  Natalie is so gorgeous....yearning to be an actress and falling for sappy Gene Kelly who is years too old for her (and the movie) - a beautiful theme song "A Very Precious Love" - and Natalie ends up with Martin Milner!  I repeat, I love that movie!  On DVD but in fullscreen!  In supporting roles Carolyn Jones, Claire Trevor, Ed Wynn, Everett Sloane, and Edd Byrnes!  

[Lulu]

Favorite Natalie Wood film is definitely Miracle on 34th Street (also one of my all-time favorite movies, period).

A woman I used to work with owned (for a brief period) the Splendor (THE boat).

I remember being shocked when Natalie died.  At the time I was just beginning to reach the age of reason, and  I strongly identified with the little girl in Miracle on 34th Street.  It was difficult enough for me to realize that the little girl was now a middle-aged woman.  Just as I got a handle on that concept, she was dead.

I think Lana did love her sister, but I also think she's quite emotionally disturbed.  Her relationship with Natalie was extremely rocky before the tragedy.  Afterwards, she completely alienated RJ and the girls.  And why on earth would she choose the same stage surname as Natalie if she wasn't trying to cash in on her sister's success?  I'm sure in Lana's own mind she's the innocent, victimized party; but that doesn't make it so.

RE: The Trader Joe's article - I'm a confirmed wine drinker.  I can't stand beer or (straight) booze.

[Lulu]

jrand, I think Carolyn Jones was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Marjorie Morningstar.

[Jrand73]

DR Lulu - it certainly was a GOOD role for her!  LOL...my mind still reels at the idea of Natalie Wood & Carolyn Jones in the same acting class at Hunter College - doing 'Romeo & Juliet'!

[Kerry]

Well, I've only had time to read half of yesterdays' posts, bk's notes from yesterday and today's posts. I'll have wait  until later to read the notes and the rest of the posts.   But if we're talking about Natalie Wood, I loved her.  I always did and always will. I could not (and still can't) believe it when she drowned.  My mother, knowing how much I'd always liked Ms. Wood, actually callled me up to tell me how sorry she was for me.  I thought that was very sweet of her.

I will talk more of Ms. Wood later, but among other things she had to be one of the best dressed women in Hollywood.    Just start noticing pictures of her.  She always knew what to wear and how to wear it.  But that's not why I loved her-- it's just a side note.

Talk to y'all later.

[elmore3003]

DR Laura II, I thought the big secret was that she had a child from a previous relationship or that she was a transexual, so I'm still stunned the blond moron who seemed to be there for 2 reasons,  be an actor and get laid, dumped her over Fabio!  The show should be called "Average Joes, Shallow Joes, and Bimbos."

Natalie Wood!  Why would anyone seriously, BK, watch a guaranteed turkey unless you're waiting for a thermometer to pop out?  Some of these tv bios, not all,  are so grisly they're like watching traffic disasters and you can't take your eyes off them from the horror.  I think the best ones are bios of persons so long dead that there's no risk of  libel suits from any living parties.  Of course, in this age of dummification, the tv execs may have thought poor Miss Wood was long dead.

My favorite films of Miss Natalie:
  1.  GYPSY
  2.  WEST SIDE STORY, she's no more Puerto Rican than I, but she's so much prettier!
  3.  INSIDE DAISY CLOVER
  4.  MIRACLE ON 34th STREET
  5.  THE SEARCHERS, not because of Miss Natalie, whom I barely recall, but because it's one my favorite films

I've always wanted to see MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, and I need to see THE GREAT RACE again; my only memory is the pie fight, and I always thought it and THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES nevere lived up to their comic hype.  I was 18 then; I could be wrong.

Now, I have to admit, I have no memory of any film scores to her films except for the two musicals, so I beg your forgiveness here.

BK, I enjoyed MATCHSTICK MEN a lot.  It's one of the few films of the many I've seen in the past several years that seemed worth the $10.00 price of admission.  Most of what I've seen isn't worth a rental fee.

[Jrand73]

Yes DRKerry - Natalie always looked lovely...in the clothes that Lana went on to sell....  And watch your mailbox - a CD is on it's way to YOU!

DRElmore3003 - I forgot to add DAISY CLOVER to my list...and I do implore you to find MARJORIE...it's All Natalie All the Time - and when she finally calls Gene Kelly a  "...tramp..." and walks out, and when she goes back to visit the camp where she worked and sees that he will NEVER change....well it's a bittersweet, lovely moment.  Did I ever say, I LOVE THIS movie?

[DERBRUCER]

I tried the link. It gets a article about Trader Joes

That's the beer drinking link from SWW's previous post.

Here is what he meant to post I presume.

der ever-the-editor Brucer

[DERBRUCER]

TOD:

Favorite Natalie Wood Movie:

Rebel Without a Cause -'cause I got to fantasize about both James Dean and Sal Mineo.

The music was by a Leonard Rosenman   who also wrote music for :

Twilight Zone
2 Planet of the Apes movies
Barry Lyndon
Star Trek IV
Neil Diamond’s Jazz Singer
Macus Welby
Quincy
The Defenders

and lots more.

der Brucer (talk about a career too short - James Dean!)

[DERBRUCER]

I can't stand beer or (straight) booze.

I'm sure there are many of us who could direct you to some gay tipple.

[William E. Lurie]

Natalie was always my second favorite non-MGM child actress (second only to Susan Gordon).  I remember her sitcom "Pride of the Family" where she played the daughter of Fay "King Kong" Wray.  Though she was much more glamorous as an adult, I still think of her as the girl who didn't believe in Santa in "Miracle on 34th Street".

******************************************

Last night we did something I never thought we would do.  We taped "American Idol" so we could zap through it to see William Hung, whose publicity you can't escape and who has been discussed on this here site at length.  What a disappointment.  I was expecting a so-bad-he's-good singer and instead I got someone who has no talent, no voice and no stage presence and who is either the world's greatest put-on artist or someone so dumb he doesn't realize that people are laughing  at him, not with him.  When he sang "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" I felt sorry for Michael Eisner for the first time.  And what was that other song he sang?  Does "bangs" mean what I think it means?  
However all I can say is that if it got me to tape and watch part of "American Idol" for the first (and most likely last) time, he must be doing something right.

******************************************

There was a 2-page full color ad in today's NY Times for a new Disney movie opening Christmas 2005.  It's a remake of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe".  How many versions does this make counting television and movie theatre versions?  Do we really need another remake?  Maybe that is why they are starting the ads 22 months early.

[Jennifer]

I thought William Hung was hilarious on last night's American Idol. He is a terrible singer.  But he's just so sweet that he makes me smile. And the back-up dancers made it even better!

As for Average Joe's finale: It made me happy.  I knew she would pick the hunk Gil.   But he was awful. He  had no personality and they had no chemistry.  Poor Average Joe Brian was totally in love with her. And as usual she led him on.

But the fact that they made it seem like she might pick Brian, made it clear she WOULD NOT. That is how these shows work.

I agree that they should not mislead the audience, especially when it just makes people angry with the outcome. However in this case I think it worked.  Because people were so annoyed that she would hurt Brian, that they were happy, when the doorknob Gil dumped her because she used to date Fabio. Huh?!?!? How dumb was this guy. He really dumped the woman who he supposedly cared for because of that?  And that was a deep dark secret?  OMG, I think the shallow title was appropriate.

I felt really bad for the Average Joe. Poor guy.  I do see what Larissa said though. She desperately wanted to feel for him what he felt for her. However I think she gave him false hope. And that is the part that bugged me. She was kissing him and she shouldn't have done that if she knew her heart wasn't there!

[Dan (the Man)]

The music was by a Leonard Rosenman   who also wrote music for :

Twilight Zone
2 Planet of the Apes movies
Barry Lyndon
Star Trek IV
Neil Diamond’s Jazz Singer
Macus Welby
Quincy
The Defenders

and lots more.

Including the gawd-awful Ralph Bashki animated Lord of the Rings.  While Rosenman did come up with a catchy little march for the main theme, the rest of the score all sounds like recycled Marcus Welby music.

I loved Natasha in Miracle on 34th Street, Gypsy, Inside Daisy Clover, Splendor in the Grass, and in the silly little Penelope.  I also remember her being very effective in Brainstorm, her last movie.

[DERBRUCER]

...the rest of the score all sounds like recycled Marcus Welby music.

I thought we were supposed to support recyling?

der "HHW Social Policy Director" Brucer

[Lulu]

I'm sure there are many of us who could direct you to some gay tipple.

A white wine spritzer?  Dubonnet with a twist?  Cabana Boy Rum Sunset?

[MBarnum]

Sex and the Single Girl (or course I haven't seen that film since I was about 10)

Rebel Without a Cause

Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Miracle on 34th Street

Marjorie Morningstar

JRand53, did you see Marty Milner and Kent McCord on Hollywood Squares last week? Boy, Kent still is a hottie!

[Matt H.]

Some corrections:

Natalie did not do her own singing in THE GREAT RACE (the guitar strumming was also dubbed). Her vocals were dubbed by Jackie Ward who also sang for her in INSIDE DAISY CLOVER. Natalie did her own singing in GYPSY and PENELOPE.

Carolyn Jones did not get an Oscar nomination for MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR. Carolyn earned her only Oscar nomination for THE BACHELOR PARTY.

My favorite Natalie Wood performance is in GYPSY. She is the most moving Gypsy I've ever seen, and I've seen the show on Broadway (Tyne Daly version), the Midler-TV version, and countless regional and community theater versions. And once she grows up and gets into and out of those spectacular gowns, there's no one who can touch her. (Of course, she looked nothing like the real Gypsy, but GYPSY is, after all, a "musical fable").

Other Wood movies I also adore: THE GREAT RACE (she hated it and thought she was terrible in it; I love her and the movie and always have), INSIDE DAISY CLOVER, MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, THE LAST MARRIED COUPLE IN AMERICA). I have not seen THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED, but now that it's available on DVD, I will see it.

[Matt H.]

Argh! I also mention to mention the movie she got her third Oscar nomination for: LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER. I thought she was stupendous in that.

[JMK]

BK, glad you took my recommendation on the low-carb bread.  I find it approaches almost-almost breadness if you lightly toast it first.

I, too, love Natalie in The Great Race.  One of my sisters took me to see it when it first came out and I was mortified when she began singing--loudly--in the theater when the "little bouncing ball" led us through The Sweetheart Tree.  By the second verse the entire theater was singing.  Thus began my lifelong phobia of karaoke.  

[Matt H.]

Of course, Natalie did sing (badly) that impromptu version of "America" late in the GREAT RACE film. Jackie Ward dubbed "The Sweetheart Tree" for her, and it's a gorgeous rendition of it, too.