Tag Archives: New Years

Watching 1939: Made for Each Other (1939)

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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, that’s difficult. 

1939 film:  Made for Each Other (1939)

Release date:  Feb. 10, 1939

Cast:  Carole Lombard, James Stewart, Charles Coburn, Lucile Watson, Bonnie Belle Barber, Eddie Quillan, Alma Kruger, Irving Bacon, Louise Beavers, Ward Bond, Esther Dale, Harry Davenport, Olin Howland, Ruth Weston, Donald Briggs (uncredited)

Studio:  Selznick International Pictures

Director:  John Cromwell

Plot:
While in Boston for business, attorney John Mason (Stewart) marries Jane (Lombard) after only knowing her for a few days. Not everyone is excited about the new couple’s marriage. John’s demanding boss, Judge Doolittle (Coburn), isn’t a fan of the marriage and doesn’t approve of honeymoons. Gossip also paired John with Doolittle’s daughter, Eunice (Weston). John’s mother (Watson) also passed out dead in a faint and is critical of everything Jane does. The couple faces tensions as they get to know each other, particularly with John’s job. The couple has a baby and on New Year’s Eve of 1938-39, the child comes critically ill.

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Party like it’s 1939

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While bringing in the New Year, why not celebrate with a classic film star flare?
Here are a few beverages that some of your favorite stars may have been drinking on New Year’s Eve:

Vivien LeighVivien Leigh: Gin and Tonic
4 to 5 tonic water Ice Cubes
3 ounces gin
4 ounces tonic water
1 tablespoon squeezed lime juice
Lime wedge for garnish
Source: Vivien Leigh historian Kendra Bean

charles-butterworth-1-sizedCharles Buttersworth: Martin with Gin
2 ounces dry gin
1 ounce dry vermouth
Ice
Olives or a twist of lemon, for garnish
Source: World’s Biggest Cookbook

 

Actress Jean Harlow Posing in Seductive PoseJean Harlow:
2 oz Bacardi 151 light rum
2 oz sweet vermouth
lemon peel for garnish
*The Comet’s personal favorite

 

Portrait of John WayneJohn Wayne:
12 oz Cola
5 count Grenadine
6 count Jack Daniels

 

 

Marilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe:
Dom Perignon 1953 Champagne
Source: World’s Biggest Cookbook

 

 

 

Actor and Writer Robert BenchleyRobert Benchley: Orange Blossom
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz orange juice
Source: World’s Biggest Cookbook

 

 

joan-sizedJoan Crawford
Vodka on the rocks
Source: Confidential magazine, January 1957

If you don’t drink, Joan was also partial to Pepsi.

 

 

Casablanca movie image Humphrey BogartHumphrey Bogart:
Scotch
Source: World’s Biggest Cookbook

 

 

 

ginger rogersGinger Rogers:
Ginger Rogers didn’t drink and the “bar” in her home was a soda fountain.
Source: Ginger Rogers’s autobiography “My Own Story”

 

 

Happy New Year everyone from Comet Over Hollywood! Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve and stay safe! See you in 2014!

Cheers from Comet Over Hollywood (and Joseph Cotten)

Cheers from Comet Over Hollywood (and Joseph Cotten)

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Happy New Years from a dancing daughter

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It’s true, I enjoy dancing a good bit.

But I was actually referencing Joan Crawford in “Our Dancing Daughters” (1928) who is pictured before being the personification of youth of the 1920s.  “Dancing Daughters” was the first of a trio of movies that followed each other but were completely unrelated.  It was followed by “Our Modern Maidens” (1929) and “Our Blushing Brides” (1930).   All three starred 1920s stars Anita Page and Joan Crawford; and Dorothy Sebastian was in two of the three films.

It’s funny for people today to think of Joan Crawford as “the personification of youth” like she was known in the 1920s.  Now, you say Joan Crawford and people think “Mommie Dearest” (if you actually believe that) and the film “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” It’s funny to look at the transitions she went through from her career in silent films in the 1920s to silly horror movies in the 1960s.

Much like Crawford’s transition, we are making a transition from 2010 to 2011 this New Year’s Eve. I will also be making a huge transition: graduating from college in May and hopefully finding a job at a newspaper. Happy New Years everyone! Hopefully this year will be MUCH better than the last.

Joan Crawford dancing on a table in “Our Dancing Daughters” (1928)

Classic film related new years resolutions:

1.  Keep working hard to finish my actor lists

2. Make my huge, long “All Movies I’ve Ever Seen” list

3. Finish my fan mail before more people die

4. Blog more regularly 

5. Keep plotting on how to meet Robert Osborne

*This month’s beauty tip will be a couple of days late. I haven’t had a chance to try it out due to holiday festivities.

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