Let’s talk about a little pet peeve of mine…

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Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) surrounded by Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford), Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) and Cynthia Potter (Lana Turner).

How I define a classic movie fan and my pet peeve of the old movie ‘posers’ . I know I am a little fanatical and old movies are my life, but if you are going to claim to like old movies you have to know your stuff.

Another thing that drives me crazy is what consumers and manufacturers consider when it comes to classic movie merchandise (not including books, there is an abundance of wonderful film books). Everywhere you go, you see mugs, purses, T-shirts, magnets, etc with four people on them 1.) Marilyn Monroe 2.) Audrey Hepburn 3.) James Dean 4.) John Wayne. Then I go to Los Angeles with high hopes of Doris Day and Esther Williams merchandise, but I was quickly dismayed. In Hollywood, the movie mecca of the world, they still carried the same crap that they sell in Greenville, South Carolina. (Don’t get me wrong, I like Dean, Wayne and Hepburn but I want some variety.)

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Bedtime for Bonzo is not the only movie Ronald Reagan made

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This is another post I wrote early in my blogging career on blogger. It is a little better than the Susan Slade one, but yet again just a plot summary. Hopefully you can see the improvements of the blog from then to now.

It has once again been another long absence from my blog. I didn’t mean for it to be this way; I actually have several movies in mind to blog about, but I end up watching more movies instead of blogging. Movie watching is what I do, as lazy it may be-but sometimes I do exercise while watching movies!

Today’s blog is the Ronald Reagan/Joan Leslie movie “This Is the Army” (1943).

Now I can already hear some of you groaning, “Ronaaald Reeeeaaaggan. Uggggggh.” Well I don’t know much about how he was politically, but I do know that he was a top notch actor for Warner Brothers back in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Those politicians and late night talk show hosts just look like uneducated film boobs when they talk about Ronald Reagan’s sub-par career, because they obviously know nothing about classic film or Warner Brothers in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Ronald Reagan was actually the star of the month for March on Turner Classic Movies-which is nothing to sneeze at. Usually it is someone like Spencer Tracey, Sean Connery or Bette Davis.

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Teen sex, mountain climbing accidents and babies on fire=Susan Slade

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This was one of my first blog posts from the Blogger version of my blog. I wrote it in 2009. I am aware it is very long, not very good and basically a play by play of this very silly movie. I put it up because I’m deleting the blogger “Comet Over Hollywood” and wanted my earlier posts archived.

I have been meaning to write in my blog for about…2 weeks now. I watched several movies over spring break and I don’t plan on talking about every single one of them, but I do think a few are worth mentioning.

The first one is: Susan Slade (1961)

Susan Slade is one of those deliciously trashy movies that came out in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s (i.e Peyton Place, A Summer Placee, Imitation of Life, All the Fine Young Cannibals, etc). Some of them are pretty bad and there are serious moments where you will find yourself collapsing on the sofa in laughter. But each of those movies that has something about them that I just love: scandal and romance. It was originally a book, but I’m assuming it was one of those dime store trashy novels looking at the plot.

The movie begins with the narration of Susan’s father,Roger Slade played by Lloyd Nolan. He made his fortune out in the desert of Chile from an oil drilling company he started, and if it wasn’t oil it was some sort of natural resource. After living away from civilization for about 10 years, Roger is retiring and the Slade family is moving back to America, California to be specific.

While the family has been away, Susan Slade, played by the squinty eyed and baby voiced Connie Stevens, has turned into a beautiful young lady, of course. She doesn’t look any older than 16 years-old, but I’m assuming we are supposed to believe that she is in her 20’s. On the boat over to America, Mr. and Mrs. Slade express concern about Susan’s shyness and are worried that their daughter is socially awkward.

But lo’ and behold! Susan meets a man! But she is so attracted to him that she runs away every time he tries to talk to her.

The man she meets, Conn Williams played by Grant Williams, seems like a complete sleaze but Leah Slade, played by Dorothy McGuire, is in favor of the young and seemingly successful young man. With ole mom’s consent Susan goes forth to get her man.

All of a sudden, socially awkward Susan Slade, is flirting with Conn and acting coy like we all forgot that she was supposed to be socially awkward. For someone who has been out in the desert for 10 years, she obviously didn’t go without practice.

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