Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Wow. It seems like it was just yesterday when I was sweltering in the New York City summer heat while looking for a job. Now it's winter -- and I'm still looking for a job. The same goes for the enormously talented, charismatic, smart actor/comedian and podcast host, Keith Price. My friend Keith is the producer of the podcast that now allows me to talk about new movies, classic films, social issues and stuff like that there -- with a flair. Keith's also my partner at the microphone and he's fabulous on-air. We're just two heterosexually-challenged Black men taking about film, Broadway, TV and current affairs. This blog post will plug our current podcast episodes for the holiday season. Have you read the reviews for THE SHAPE OF WATER? Wow. Excellent reviews for actresses Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer and for the film's director and co-writer, Guillermo del Toro. I think 2-time Best Supporting Actress nominee Octavia Spencer could make Oscar history in January when the nominations are announced.
I explain how to Keith and I also tell him about the misinformed film review Rex Reed posted online. Twitter had a field day with that article before THE NEW YORK OBSERVER newspaper website deleted it. Rex was so wrong about THE SHAPE OF WATER.
Did you ever see the 1950s Warner Brothers drama, THE BAD SEED? Young Patty McCormack repeated her Broadway role in the movie version. She plays a twisted sister of a schoolgirl. This little girl is a cold-blooded criminal who causes high drama with mama.
The movie version was directed by the man who produced the 1939 classic, THE WIZARD OF OZ.
You should see that classic heartwarming musical before you see THE BAD SEED. Why? Because it influenced the new way I have of looking at the 1950s thriller. That 1950s thriller is being remade for Lifetime TV.
I'll also talk about racial diversity in Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, one of my favorite classic films to watch during the Christmas season.
In an upcoming episode, I tell why the comedy AUNTIE MAME, starring Rosalind Russell, is perfect for holiday viewing nowadays and why it has a lot of contemporary relevance.
I'll also recommend a Netflix documentary about the Oscar-winning costume designer Orry-Kelly. He designed Rosalind Russell's fabulous outfits in AUNTIE MAME.
He also designed costumes for Bette Davis to wear as she gave some of her best Warner Brothers performances.
Orry-Kelly designed dresses for Marilyn Monroe in SOME LIKE IT HOT that all looked like the sexiest lingerie ever created. Yummy!
Orry-Kelly was also openly gay, had to deal with Hollywood homophobia and Hollywood studio politics and his roommate in New York City's Greenwich Village before they both relocated to pursue Hollywood dreams was an unknown British actor later known as Cary Grant. In Hollywood, Cary shared a bachelor home with fellow Hollywood newcomer Randolph Scott.
After he'd achieved stardom that later rose to screen legend status, Grant had married a few women and become a proud papa. According to the doc, he was concerned when he heard that the top Hollywood costume designer had planned to write a memoir.
WOMEN HE'S UNDRESSED is a fascinating, revealing documentary that not only lets you know more about the man but shows you the imagination, work and psychology that goes into creating costumes that add to the overall tone of a film and work for the talent wearing them. The sections about the long Orry-Kelly and Cary Grant friendship are quite something too.
I hope you can give us a listen. Cheers! Here's a link:
www.MOCHAA.podomatic.com.
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