Movies

Friday Night Clam Bake – #19: The Days of Whine and Poses

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Note: I realize it’s not Friday, but I just stumbled across this one in the archives and felt compelled to share it again. Enjoy.

For this week’s Bake, we’ll be sticking with the trivia angle, although I’m switching from music to acting. (Before you run screaming from the room, sit your ass back down. I’ll be offering clues this time, so it should not be as traumatic. And here, take some of my anxiety meds. I’ve got plenty. They give me enough to cause a five-ton elephant to stare at a Pink Floyd album cover for three hours.)

I’ll be presenting photos of actors and actresses in their younger days, and your only duty is to figure out who they are. Some of them will be obvious if you have a keen eye, others not so much. I will then follow the photo with several clues (the exact number will fluctuate depending on my focus level for this project, a caveat that should accompany everything I do). There will be measurable gaps between the photos and each of the clues.

And what do the gaps mean, young grasshoppers? It means you should scroll slowly and not race through the whole mess like a wild boar on crack. (Of course, this is a free country, and you can do whatever you want in your life that proves most satisfying. I’m just giving you an option.)

I should also point out that some of these snaps have been prior victims in the whole Crusty Pie/Past Imperfect mess. So, if you’ve been a somewhat-faithful, long-term reader (and still have basically admirable memory-retention skills), you have a leg up in the challenge. (Where does that “leg up” phrase come from, by the way? I’m sure it has an innocent derivation, but I’ve always thought it seemed a bit ribald. I digress.)

Ready? Here we go…

 

1.

 

Bryn Mawr College, 1928

 

As Eleanor of Aquitaine: “Don’t fret. We’ll wait until you’re dead to do it.”

 

Spencer Tracy

 

 

 

2.

 

I was an extra, along with Joan Crawford, who played chorus girls dangling from a chandelier in 1925’s “Pretty Ladies”

 

Why are they always casting me for Asian parts?

 

Thin Mints

 

 

3. 

 

The woman is Jean Harlow, not our target.

 

He might have been responsible for what happened one night.

 

And he certainly doesn’t give a damn, Scarlett.

 

 

4.

 

Bit of a French-sounding last name.

 

Heathcliff.

 

Married Vivien Leigh.

 

 

 

5. 

 

Had a son who pled guilty to manslaughter. (Didn’t expect me to go that deep, did you?)

 

Refused to accept his Best Actor Oscar and sent Sacheen Littlefeather instead.

 

Coulda been a contender.

 

 

6. 

 

No

 

Wire

 

Hangers

 

Ever!

 

(Is she serious with that cross around her neck? Girl, please.)

 

 

7.

 

He was in the first film to win an Oscar for Best Picture . (Small role, but still.)

 

He won a Best Actor Oscar for “Sergeant York”.

 

He won again for “High Noon”.

 

 

8.

 

Miss Jean Brodie

 

Professor McGonagall

 

Downton Abbey

 

9. 

 

Ball of Fire

 

The Big Valley

 

Double Indemnity

 

 

10.

 

“I’d like to kiss ya, but I just washed ma hair.”

 

“But you are, Blanche. You are in that chair.”

 

“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy…”

 

 

Continuing our recently-minted tradition, do not proceed past the Giant Duck unless you are ready for the answers.

 

 

 

The Cast:

1. Katharine Hepburn

2. Myrna Loy

3. Clark Gable

4. Laurence Olivier

5. Marlon Brando

6. Joan Crawford

7. Gary Cooper

8. Maggie Smith

9. Barbara Stanwyck

10. Bette Davis

 

Previously published. Please sound off in the comments concerning your thoughts on the preceding randomness. How many did you get? Do you feel astonishingly old if your got them all? What are your favorite movies that featured these actors? Do you find it shameful that I know so many movie quotes? So many roads to choose. The world is your oyster, shuck it like you mean it…

Cheers.

 

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37 replies »

  3. 6 out of 10… I’m hanging my head in shame☹ I’m a big fan of The Golden Age… I shouldda known ( back of hand to forehead, sharp turn of head… shoulders dropping, hand dropping, head angling down) *whisper* I shouldda known.
    💕

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • You’ll surely get an “A” for effort… NOBODY knew who Myrna was by the way, so that ought to ease your shame a bit. And Joan Crawford? Uh, who knew she dabbled in extra curricular substances? And the hair… wow. No wonder her eyebrows grew out of control later in her life.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    • Angie: To be fair, I wouldn’t have know some of these myself. I just spend WAY too much time googling vintage photos and I snatch up the really intriguing things that I find…

      Melanie: I LOVE the Myrna Loy photo. From what I’ve researched, she intentionally wanted that photo shoot to show her in a natural way without the Hollywood glamour…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  7. I got them all, except Myrna. I couldn’t remember her name…and Joan? I got that one, based on the clues, but it sure doesn’t look like her.
    And, isn’t that Jack and Lee in the top picture?
    Hmm…do I feel astonishingly old? Nope! Astonishingly smart. LOLOL

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Yep, the Myrna photo was tricky, fully fess up to that. Likewise with the Joan photo. She looks like someone just shoved a cattle prod where cattle prods aren’t normally shoved.

      And yep, part two, that’s Jack and Lee in the opening photo, a still from “The Days of Wine and Roses”, which led to my wordplay with the title of this post.

      I never feel old. I prefer the term “well-seasoned”… 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  8. Between the photos and the clues I got them all. Myrna Loy was the hardest and I’m still scratching my head over “Thin Mints.” Thin gave me “a leg up” but “mints?” Please advise.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. SPOILER ALERT!! I’m gonna share my answers, so no peepin’ if you’re planning to ‘take a guess’ too!

    1. Katharine Hepburn (those cheekbones don’t lie)
    2. Not a freakin clue. Thin mints? And Asian? The eye slant is all wrong (no profiling intended)
    3. Clark Gable Harlow was far too easy.. 😉
    4. That chin gives me a clue but damned if I know his name! He saw a brief airing (unless I’m mistaken, which does happen. A LOT too.) aired in R.E.D. and R.E.D. II Right? Wrong. It’s Olivier. Isn’t it?
    5. Marlon Brando (I rely on the kindness of strangers….)
    6. I don’t know who she is, but someone has been over-partaking in the speed… Wire hangers? Um…Mommy, Dearest?
    7. Going with Gary Cooper (because of the films listed, not because I have a clue)
    8. Miss Maggie Smith (you forgot “The Best Marigold Hotel” and “The Lady In The Van”…but they were rather later in her career span)
    9. Barbara Stanwyck. Who could mistake her?
    10. Bette Davis. She has the eyes…
    11. Big Yellow Duckie of Awesomeness….

    I got all but two. And maybe that’s one and a half…as the “Mommy Dearest” reference was spot on.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • I have to fess up that the most difficult one for me, as I amassed these photos over the years, was the Gable and Harlow shot. I had no idea it was him, as I initially found this who knows where, tucked it into my “Past Imperfect Prompts” folder, and I only fleshed out the details once I started researching. (I knew Harlow right away.) I never thought Clark Gable was ALL THAT, but I think he looks rather tantalizing in this shot. Maybe it’s the frisky-farmhand angle, who knows.

      I’m very curious about who you originally thought #4 might be, especially since you mention Red and Red II, and I really enjoyed both of those movies, but I’m not making the connection with the actor you had in mind. (Complete trivia: There’s a scene in “Red” that takes place on a New Orleans street right outside the tiny hotel where we always stay when we visit that city. This means nothing, but it was a personal thrill to watch that scene.)

      I love that you love the Yellow Duckie of Awesomeness. His deflated ass is stashed in one of the storage facilities here at Bonnywood, I’m just not sure where…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. 8/10, and ain’t that sad? Myrna Loy sprung straight to mind and I don’t know why, Yet Stanwyck remained firmly behind the mental curtain. And I know Maggie Smith but the name. just wouldn’t Duh!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • There’s nothing the least bit sad about 8 out of 10. There were some freebies in this mess, but most of them were pretty tricky. If I hadn’t done the research myself, I would be clueless on several of them…

      Like

      Reply

  13. I can watch movies like “Wuthering Heights” and “Mutiny On The Bounty” forever, any version, even black and white ones. Wow, it’s true, I mean the manslaughter case. I googled it and only found very limited information about it. Did Brando’s son have a moment of “Mutiny In Hollywood”?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Agreed, I can watch some old movies over and over and over again. There’s a certain charm that is lacking these days, even if those old movies were completely manipulated.

      And you’re spot-on with the “Mutiny in Hollywood” angle. Christian Brando lost his mind for a bit and chaos ensued…

      Liked by 1 person

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