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Tag Archives: Joan Fontaine
“I hope I’ll die on stage at the age at 105, playing Peter Pan.” — Joan Fontaine
A re-post of the tribute I wrote about Joan Fontaine when she died in December of 2013. She almost made it to her goal. She was 96 years old. It’s her birthday today. While filming “The Women”, in 1939, Joan … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell
25 Comments
September/October 2023 Viewing Diary
I moved in late September. Again. I found a little cozy apartment, the second floor of a little house, with slanted ceilings, little cubbyhole-eaves everywhere, and a big yard. It’s a 10 minute walk to the beach. I found it … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies
Tagged Bette Davis, biopic, comedy, Costa-Gavras, Dana Andrews, documentary, drama, Eli Wallach, England, Ewan McGregor, film noir, France, Fritz Lang, George Cukor, George Sanders, Germany, Gloria Grahame, Hal Wallis, historical drama, Ireland, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Judy Blume, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lana Turner, Lee Marvin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Miriam Hopkins, Norma Shearer, Otto Preminger, Paul Schrader, River Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Roman Polanski, Rosalind Russell, Sidney Lumet, Spain, Supernatural, Vincente Minnelli, women directors, WWII
29 Comments
Mirrors #16
Joan Fontaine’s chilling “mirror moment” in the astonishing Ivy (1947). (Joan Fontaine? Playing an evil woman? Really?? YES.) In this moment, dressed in mourning for her husband – who died somewhat mysteriously – hmmm – she avoids looking in her … Continue reading
October 2020 Viewing Diary
American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020; d. Jenny Popplewell) Very amateurish. Perhaps interesting to those who weren’t following the case as closely as I was. I’m STILL following the case. Chris Watts seems to think he’s going to be … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Bill Murray, comedy, coming of age, crime movies, documentary, drama, George Lucas, horror, Joan Fontaine, Kristen Stewart, Laurence Olivier, Martin Scorsese, Olympia Dukakis, Robert De Niro, romantic drama, Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Sandra Bullock, Sofia Coppola, Supernatural, women directors
21 Comments
The Books: “Orson Welles: Volume 2: Hello Americans” (Simon Callow)
Daily Book Excerpt: Entertainment Biography/Memoir: Orson Welles, Volume 2: Hello Americans, by Simon Callow The second volume of Callow’s huge Orson Welles project (excerpt and discussion of the first volume here), this takes us through a chaotic (or, more so … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books
Tagged Charles Laughton, David O. Selznick, entertainment biography, Jane Eyre, Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles, Simon Callow
8 Comments
Suspicion
Yet another photo of that “ordinary chap“. Yeah, you know. Totally ordinary. Uh huh. Reguluar dude. Hitchcock saw something different in him. Suspicion (that’s him with Joan Fontaine) was Hitchcock’s first attempt to tap into the darkness beneath the gleam. … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies
Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Suspicion
4 Comments
The Glass of Milk in Suspicion
Hitchcock put a small light in the glass of milk, so it glowed as Cary Grant ascended the stairs – drawing the attention of the audience – making us wonder: “What the hell is in that glass??” It’s very jarring … Continue reading

