A Gay/campy chronicling of daily life in NYC,with individual kernels of human truth. copyright 2011 by The Raving Queen
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Girls, This Just Shows How Dumb The IMDB Movie Data Base Is!!!!!!!!!!
One of the first things I do in the morning, darlings, while sipping my morning coffee, is go on IMDB, to find out, first, whose birthday it is today, and, second, who may have passed on. The names I saw this morning really did not resonate with me, but one glaring omission did.
Today happens to be the birthday of the actress formerly known as "the Viennese cupcake," none other than Miss Luise Rainer!!!!!!! Who, with faculties still intact, and a rather active social life in this town, (though not as frantic as the Raving Queen, darlings!!!!!) reaches the grand old age of......102!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course, those running IMDB probably have no idea who she is!!!!! She just happened to be the first actress to win the Best Actress Oscar twice in a row, back in 1936 and 1937, respectively. The first prize went to her Anna Held in "The Great Ziegfeld," chiefly for the "telephone"
scene", where a still in love Anna gallantly congratulates her ex, Flo Ziegfeld, (William Powell) on his upcoming engagement (or is it wedding????) to Billie Burke (played here by Myrna Loy!!!!!!) But the real gem came the following year; darlings, you have to see her as O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's "The Good Earth." As Irving Thalberg's last worked on production, it was given all the visual sweep (the locusts plague scene is classic!!!!!) and epic scope MGM could muster, but in having Paul Muni (good, but not as much so as Luise) playing the farmer, Wang Lung, not to mention Charley Grapewin (yes, darlings, Uncle Henry from 'Oz" as a coolie!!!!!!) as the patriarch, it was victimized by the political incorrectness of the time (not even Anna May Wong ended up in it!!!!) that was still in place by the time "Flower Drum Song" came along!!!!!!!!! But don't let any of this stop you from taking in Luise Rainer's spectacular performance; the one thing you will come away from this film, remembering, and one of the few times that an Oscar was given justly!!!!!!!!!!!
So I think attention should be paid to Luise on this day. Maybe some Viennese pastry, or strudel, darlings!!!!!!!!! I can just see the look on Monsieur's face, when I ask him to make it!!!!! Better go to the bakery, loves!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday, Luise!!!!!!!!!! Here's to you reaching 103!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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