Tag Archives: Angela Lansbury

“Quite frankly. I was all talent and no looks.” — Angela Lansbury

Even if you came to Gaslight clean, without knowing a thing, which is hard to believe, but let’s just pretend: Even if you knew nothing about it, it would be instantly obvious that the teenage girl who plays the maid … Continue reading

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“Quite frankly. I was all talent and no looks.” — Angela Lansbury

It’s her birthday today. She died just days before she would have turned 97. My tribute here, but you really need to read my friend Dan’s tribute.

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“Those of us who were 12 or 13 when the war started were absolutely thrown into the mainstream. We had to grow up instantly and take care of ourselves.” — Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury in “Gaslight” (1944) It’s her birthday today. Her performance in Gaslight, at age 18, is one of the most auspicious debuts of all time. She makes a huge impression as Nancy, the maid in that crazy house. She’s … Continue reading

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“So Many Currents In Such a Little Puddle”: Dana Stevens and I Chat About National Velvet

For Elizabeth Taylor’s birthday Introduction: Dana Stevens, film critic for Slate, and I had a conversation about National Velvet. In the middle of our planning phase for our talk, Elizabeth Taylor passed away. The coincidence was striking, certainly, not to … Continue reading

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April 2017 Viewing Diary

I just dash these off. Superficial bullet-point analysis for the most part. It’s a good way to keep track of what I’ve seen, for year-end lists, of course, but also for future reference. I also always love the discussions on … Continue reading

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The Books: The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town, edited by Lillian Ross; ‘Caricaturist’, by Geoffrey Hellman

Next up on the essays shelf: The Fun of It: Stories from The Talk of the Town (Modern Library Paperbacks), edited by Lillian Ross is a collection of “The Talk of the Town” pieces in The New Yorker, grouped by … Continue reading

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Benevolence is:

— waking up and smelling the coffee that has already percolated, while I slept — hearing the soprano choir boys in the balcony rehearsing when I stop off to go to afternoon mass and I get there early — calling … Continue reading

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Tribute to Sweeney Todd

Edward has an awesome post commemorating the original television production of Sweeney Todd. If you are only familiar with Lansbury as crime-solving mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher on TV’s Murder, She Wrote or as the malevolent manipulator Mrs. Iselin in The … Continue reading

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PBS, Thank You for Broadway: The Golden Age

Last night, I happened to catch the final half-hour of a certain fund-raising drive on my local PBS channel – and they were showing an absolutely MARVELOUS documentary called Broadway: The Golden Age. It’s eventually going to be a 3-part … Continue reading

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