Sunday, February 22, 2015

It Happened One Night/Oscar Night


The Oscars will be on TV tonight. There have only been three films that have won in what is called the Big Five Academy Award categories.  The Big Five are: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.  The three films are: "It Happened One Night" (1934), "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).  (I know people like that last one but it gave me the creeps, but hey, that's just me!)  I love you Anthony Hopkins, please don't be mad with me!
Recently, the movie, "It Happened One Night" was shown on one of our PBS channels.  Richard had never seen it, so we watched it together.  Clark Gable was really good in that movie, and I think he  deserved his Oscar.  Funny thing, in one of the scenes, he is munching on a carrot and is such a wisecracking kind of a fellow that it really put me in mind of Bugs Bunny.  I looked it up and was surprised to see that Tex Avery, who created the great cartoon character WAS influenced by Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night"!  Now, this might not be earth shaking news to anyone, but it tickled me that it made me think of Bugs...and I was right!( Click here  and scroll down to the catchphrases.)  Hey, other people can make great intellectual connections, but me, I can recognize Bugs Bunny when I see him!

  What's up, Doc?!

I have the hitchhiking scene in the YouTube clip above and the actress, Claudette Colbert, did not want to do this scene showing so much leg but when she saw the actress who was going to stand in for her, she decided to do the scene herself!  "That's not my leg!" is what she was reported to have said.
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For the Oscars tonight, I really like Eddie Redmayne.  I have not seen him in the movie, "The Theory of Everything" but just from the trailers, you can see that it is an extraordinary portrayal.  I really liked him in a mini series on TV called "Pillars of the Earth".  I thought he was very good too in the movie, "My Week With Marilyn".  Richard just reminded me that we also saw him in "Birdsong", a World War I drama.  He puts me in mind of another British actor that I have written about before....David Niven.  Charming and talented, and they both seem to be cut from the same cloth...witty and appreciative of all that comes their way.

David Niven won an Oscar for the movie, "Separate Tables" in 1959.  On his way to the podium, he tripped and fell on the steps.  When he accepted his award, he said the only reason that he had fallen was because he was loaded...and then, he paused and the audience roared with laughter, thinking he was drunk! He later said that he was going to say that he was loaded down with good luck charms but when he got such a laugh, he decided to leave it at that,
But hey, this is America and there is no time for the Brits to have their little pauses.   (David Niven always did tell the funniest stories and he was very quick witted...some of his stories were true but I am sure that he embellished a great many of them to get the most laughs!)  How do I know so much about David Niven?  I have read his books!  "The Moon Is A Balloon" and "Bring On The Empty Horses", are really funny books.  I wish that someone would make a movie about David Niven.  When this happens, and I can just see it happening...you can say you read it here first!




   I found a clip on YouTube for you. One year, David Niven was presenting at the Oscars and a streaker went passed him while he was on stage.  So quick and funny, not too many could think of such a perfect response. 
Some British humour for you and no, spell check. I meant to spell it that way for the Brits, if you don't mind!  This was in front of one of the hotels along the seafront in Eastbourne...it looks like it says FREE BEER!  But it doesn't, it says Free Wi-Fi and Great beer!  So Funny. Well, I thought so anyway, but then, I don't get out much.

17 comments:

  1. I remember that thing with David Niven. How funny was that. I don't think I ever saw It Happened One Night...but I love Clark Gable and I will look for it now.
    Have a great night- watching the Oscars here, too- xo Diana

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    1. Oh, I adore Clark Gable. I need to do a post about him, he was a great guy too, not just a great actor!
      xx

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  2. I too remember David Niven and the streaker. He defused the situation with his usual classy humor. It Happened One Night is one of my favorite movies (I seem to have a lot of favorites). Silence of the Lambs followed the book better than any movie I have seen but the book was better. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the creepy movie. I saved the awards show so I can watch it with no commercials. I will watch it when I go to bed early tonight.

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    1. I know Silence of the Lambs was very popular but I didn't care for it. I either like a film or I don't, period. HA! I also watched the Oscars until it caught up to current time, and then went to bed. I watched the rest today! (Monday). You can also fast forward thru bits you don't like, AND the commercials!

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  3. At my local (the Irish pub on Ludwigsburg's market square) has the same "Free Beer" advert on one of the blackboards - when you get nearer, you can see that it actually says "Free Internet and Great Beer" :-)

    I've not seen any of the movies you have mentioned here, but I do like Claudette Colbert, and also David Niven. I remember you wrote about him before.

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    1. It was a funny sign for me since as I was walking along the seafront in Eastbourne, I could see the FREE BEER, but couldn't see the rest until I got closer! Once you have seen it, it wouldn't be funny anymore!
      Yes, I really do like David Niven. I mean it about a movie about him, I am certain that someone will make one someday. I will be the first one to review it!!

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  4. A lot of pubs have no adopted the "Free wifi cold beer" sign joke. It was funny at first but now it's a bit overdone. Way to kill the joke. To be honest I'm not much for the Oscars. I don't watch a lot of movies and awards have never really excited me anyway. Unless I get one in which case I'm going to love them of course. It's cool you keep in mind all the old movies and actors though. And that Bugs Bunny, or at least one of his mannerisms, was inspired by a short bit from a movie.

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    1. One thing about me...you do not want to play against me in some kind of trivia game if the questions involve anything about old movies. I will most likely beat you every time! The same goes for cartoons, must have spent most of the 60's watching TV.

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  5. I remember that Oscar year with the streaker. And I remember streakers. Goodness, I'm old. LOL

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    1. Streakers! Ha! We are so old! When you type that word, "streakers", the computer doesn't recognize it and says you are spelling it wrong! You gotta laugh!

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  6. Sometimes the award shows are dramatic, and sometimes it's just too easy to know who will win.

    That sign is funny the first time, but after a while i'd guess it would get old.

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    1. I always read so much about movies, that I can always predict who will win. I think the Oscars are always worth watching, I love seeing all the elegant gowns and hoping for a few magic moments.

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  7. I reckon that sign is meant to be read as Free Beer - they want to reel people in! xx

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    1. Oh yes, of course, I know that is what they are trying to do. I was trying to think of a photo that would go with this post, and I think David Niven would have approved of this one! xx

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  8. That sign is just too funny! I loved It Happened One Night and I sure didn't know that's how Bugs Bunny came to be. Sheesh!

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  9. Big fan of that film and also Arsenic and Old Lace. They never show old black and white films now on television here yet some of them are really special, even today. Elmer Gantry was another very different great film. The 39 steps. (the older version)
    Memories....

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  10. I love watching the Oscars...I always have.

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