Thursday, September 09, 2010

Judy Garland's Clark Gable Fixation

Actors on Actors



You know what's odd? Though Judy Garland excels at dreamy sadness, I always end up smiling when I listen to her sing. As soon as she tears up onscreen I feel way better; she alchemizes sadness and turns it towards the bittersweet at the very least. I love her two movie shout-outs here in Love Finds Andy Hardy: one is to Greta Garbo but she also has to reference her main man.
I'm allowed to go to picture shows. That is if Nurse is feeling able. But we only go to Mickey Mouse, I'm not allowed Clark Gable!
Oh Judy. They'd let you go to Clark Gable pictures if you hadn't already gotten so stalkerish just one summer earlier in The Broadway Melody of 1938.



All of this begs the following question:
Who made you love them when you were only 15?

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21 comments:

Volvagia said...

Wow. Bad form on the casting decision if that's true. Couldn't they have switched Cary Grant off a movie onto this one? So as to not break reality? (Seriously. Making ANY reference to a star when he's a character in the movie unintentionally destroys the fourth wall.)

par3182 said...

way way way back in the summer of 'grease' i was turing 15 when i discovered olivia newton-john was turning 30...on the same day!

we still go together like ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong...

Rick Schoen said...

I turned 15 in 1978, so it would have to be Andrew Stevens in The Fury or Dennis Quaid in Breaking Away.

Volvagia said...

I was 15 in 2005. And while my fellow students were, at the very least, living the straight myth, I was realizing I felt the same toward sexuality and even dating as my 12 year old self. Let's just say that films allow me a pure escape. So long as those films aren't like Fatal Attraction or Black Narcissus. (On the other hand, something like Salo or Irreversible? Signed right up.)

Popcorn and Cigarettes said...

In 2002 I was deep into my love for Nicole Kidman, and The Hours only cemented my love for her that much more.

Erik said...

I'm with par3182. I think I saw "Grease" six times because of Olivia Newton-John. Later that summer I had the good fortune of seeing her in person. I lived in Minneapolis, she came to Olivia, Mn., for a town parade (the name thing), and my father, a reporter and movie critic, covered it for The Minneapolis Tribune. I saw her in the parade. I waved. She waved back. Later I cursed myself for not having tried to do more--like speaking.

NATHANIEL R said...

awwwww... i love hearing from Grease peops. I didn't see it until 1981 (my parents wouldn't let me go the movie. ARGH.) but i'm always glad to hear from readers who remember the 70s.

there's so much 60s stuff in the air now what with Mad Men i'm hoping we get some dramatic 70s revival next (it's always comedic when anyone tries to go there. but the 70s are so interesting)

Billy Held An Oscar said...

Jane Fonda was my crush/obsession at 15 years old. The crush began with '9 to 5' when I was 10. It then went viral with 'On Golden Pond'.

When I graduated from the eighth grade we had to create a class prohecy to be read at our graduation ceremony. My prophecy read : William G Carey Jr will become an Academy Award winning actor and team with Jane Fonda to become the next Hepburn & Tracy.

I sat there beaming as they read it. My parents, on the other hand, were mortified.

Stenar said...

I was younger than 15, but Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu. When I was 15, Whitney Houston. Later, Nicole Kidman and Sissel.

Volvagia said...

And when someone tries to think about the 80s, they present it as an unsustainable lifestyle (See: The Wrestler, Kickin' it Old School and even Hot Tub Time Machine.) So equation 60s period pieces = usually presented as dramatic, 70s period pieces = usually presented from teen perspective, and if from that perspective always comedic. 80s period pieces: Usually presented as victims of an unsustainable lifestyle. Sometimes you wonder, when watching Hollywood's modern interpretation of that period if anyone could possibly have lived through it.

Mr. Movie Geek said...

Nothing compares to those middle school days spent daydreaming about Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge!. Those blue eyes...that voice...

Talone said...

When I was 15 in 1999 I was obsessed with everything Ewan McGregor related (Danny Boyle movies, Star Wars and the very indie/gay stuff) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy and Cruel Intentions).

And I always dreamt about a movie starring these two together (directed by Alexander Payne of course, I was also obsessed with Election).

FrenchGirl said...

when i was 15, i adored Schwarzie's body and Costner's smile!

/3rtfu11 said...

The front man of Jamiroquai [b]Jay Kay[/b].

Volvagia said...

Wow!!! Adoring "Schwarzie's body", by which I assume you mean the Rushmore star Jason Schwartzman, is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard. Costner's smile though? Completely normal.

FrenchGirl said...

@volvagia:i talked about Schwarzenegger's body( and i say nothing about his "acting")because i saw Terminator for the first time in 1991(OMG i'm old!)

FrenchGirl said...

and i forgot i was fan of Ripley in "alien" movies also

Simon said...

I'd say Tom Hardy, but there's still a few months to go, so I'll stay undecided for now. Yeah.

Chris said...

Well I'm 15 now, and I'd have to say Meryl Streep. I don't remember how it started, but I know that its love.

Marion Cotillard, Amy Adams and Carey Mulligan would be close runner-ups.

Clarence said...

Strange, I just fell in love with Meryl Streep when I was 15 (or when I was 14 since I did love her in The Devil Wears Prada). But yeah, Sophie's Choice did me in with my eternal adoration for her. :) Also, I loved Marion Cotillard ever since, well duh, La Vie En Rose and that was when I was 15 :)

NATHANIEL R said...

yay, i'm so happy we have such a wide spread of ages here. Nice to hear these responses.