A 1950 Bette Davis classic.
14 Oscar nominations - still tied with Titanic for most nominations ever.
DID YOU KNOW...
The working title was "Great Performances." Script notes came back - more Eve, what about Eve, all about Eve, etc. written, circled onto the pages of the working script...All About Eve became the title.
Bette Davis was not exactly the first choice to play the iconic lead character, Margo Channing. Claudette Colbert had the role, got injured just prior to production and Bette got the role by default - she was available. Bette was fading at the time, temperamental and feuding with Producer, Darryl Zanuck. She read the script, loved it, and played nice.
This classic marked the first feature film appearance of Marilyn Monroe. She had been fired two years prior by Zanuck for being "unphotogenic!"
All About Eve was the first film with two leading ladies nominated for Best Actress: Bette Davis and Anne Baxter. They split the Oscar votes and Judy Holiday took the award for her work in Born Yesterday.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
To Kill a Mockingbird
Black History Month is here.
Is there anyone who hasn’t seen this 1962 classic or read Harper Lee’s novel by the same title? To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1932 reality of the deep south at the height of the great depression. We all know the story – Atticus Finch, small town lawyer, father of Scout and Jem, defends an innocent black man wrongly accused and convicted of a terrible crime he didn’t and could not have committed. BUT DID YOU KNOW…
Hollywood had no interest in turning Harper Lee’s successful book into a film. All the studios passed, said it wasn’t marketable. After all, who wants to watch a middle-aged lawyer shuffle around town all day putting his hat on, taking it off? No violence, no action, no romance, no studio green light. Gregory Peck read the novel and championed it to Universal Pictures who finally backed the film.
Atticus Finch is based on Harper Lee’s father, a small town southern lawyer with a deep belief in civil rights.
And Scout? Does she remind you of another iconic troublemaker from the south? Yep, Scout’s inspiration is none other than Tom Sawyer.
How about Dill Harris? This one surprised me. Scout and Jem’s summer friend Dill Harris is Truman Capote as a young boy. Like Dill, Truman Capote spent his summers with his aunt in Monroeville, AL. Next time you watch this film, you’ll see a young Truman Capote.
Why in 1932 did Scout and Jem call dad, “Atticus?” Were these kids hooligans? Subversive hippies? Na. This symbolized Atticus encouraging his kids to think critically, to have the courage to go against the grain, to follow their conscience.
Does Atticus Finch still exist in our legal profession? How so?
Is there anyone who hasn’t seen this 1962 classic or read Harper Lee’s novel by the same title? To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1932 reality of the deep south at the height of the great depression. We all know the story – Atticus Finch, small town lawyer, father of Scout and Jem, defends an innocent black man wrongly accused and convicted of a terrible crime he didn’t and could not have committed. BUT DID YOU KNOW…
Hollywood had no interest in turning Harper Lee’s successful book into a film. All the studios passed, said it wasn’t marketable. After all, who wants to watch a middle-aged lawyer shuffle around town all day putting his hat on, taking it off? No violence, no action, no romance, no studio green light. Gregory Peck read the novel and championed it to Universal Pictures who finally backed the film.
Atticus Finch is based on Harper Lee’s father, a small town southern lawyer with a deep belief in civil rights.
And Scout? Does she remind you of another iconic troublemaker from the south? Yep, Scout’s inspiration is none other than Tom Sawyer.
How about Dill Harris? This one surprised me. Scout and Jem’s summer friend Dill Harris is Truman Capote as a young boy. Like Dill, Truman Capote spent his summers with his aunt in Monroeville, AL. Next time you watch this film, you’ll see a young Truman Capote.
Why in 1932 did Scout and Jem call dad, “Atticus?” Were these kids hooligans? Subversive hippies? Na. This symbolized Atticus encouraging his kids to think critically, to have the courage to go against the grain, to follow their conscience.
Does Atticus Finch still exist in our legal profession? How so?
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