Our heart goes out to the divine Julie Andrews in what is surely a difficult time as her husband the writer/director Blake Edwards passed away a few days ago. We apologize for the delay in honoring him. Edwards was long beloved and praised for his comic sensibilities as a writer and director, most famously within The Pink Panther series starring Peter Sellers.
What was less often noted is that he was often responsible for shining a flattering light on actresses, no matter your feelings about him getting Julie out of her clothing. His late career efforts in this realm (Ellen Barkin in Switch and Kim Basinger in Blind Date) weren't as magical as his earlier work but he had a hand in big moments in the careers of Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn and was absolutely crucial to Julie Andrews career.
Blake and Natalie Wood in 1965
If you haven't seen many of his pictures, program yourself a festival at home with these highlights.
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) the most universally beloved Audrey Hepburn movie.
The Pink Panther (1963) though any in the series will do. My favorite as a wee toddler was the one where Sellers is wearing a facial disguise that melts and his nose starts dripping. Anyone remember which in the series that was?
The Great Race (1965) Check out how jaw droppingly gorgeous Natalie Wood is in this all-star comedy. Some consider it the peak of her beauty.
"10" (1979) A massive hit when it appeared making Bo Derek and Dudley Moore incredibly famous. Julie Andrews co-stars.
Victor/Victoria (1982)-You know this one already. Watch it again. Isn't it one of the most rewatchable films ever?
And maybe end with one of his other collaborations with wife Julie Andrews. He directed her frequently. I didn't personally like their last film together That's Life (1986) but you could try Darling Lili (1970) a war film where Julie sings and is paired with Rock Hudson or The Tamarind Seed (1974) where Julie is romanced by Omar Shariff or their infamous showbiz satire S.O.B. (1981). Though moviegoers who liked Julie Andrews abso-squeaky clean sometimes resented her husband for his playful and frisky remolding of his wife's image whether that was striptease musical numbers or gender bending (clips from Darling Lili and Victor/Victoria follow), Julie herself obviously enjoyed it.
Julie Andrews in S.O.B. (1981)
As is true with most comedically gifted filmmakers, Edwards had to wait for an honorary Oscar late in life rather than win one in competition. He was only nominated once, for the screenplay to the wonderful gender-bending farce Victor/Victoria (1982) which happens to be the last musical hurrah of Julie Andrews. Along with Breakfast at Tiffany's it will undoubtedly live forever.
To celebrate the 75th birthday of the great Julie Andrews, our favorite singing governness, our favorite magical nanny, our favorite gender bending toast of Paris. Something big was in order. Why, she's practically perfect in every way... so in her honor, a resurrection of a long dormant exhaustively researched 100% true* series that was once the Film Experience's most popular feature.
1935 Julia Wells is born to Mrs. Barbara Wells in Surrey, England. Mr. Wells is not the father. Scandal! This bastard child will one day become the icon of squeaky clean family entertainment. She won't always enjoy it. At her christening the good fairy Fauna grants her the gift of song
One gift, the gift of song,
Melody your whole life long!
The nightingale her troubadour,
Bringing his sweet serenade to her door.
(We figure that's the only way you get a voice that lovely.)
1940 Having already recognized the fairy's generous gift, non biological daddy Ted Wells sends Julia to live with mom's new man Ted Andrews (also not her biological father --- so confusing!) who is better equipped to give her the musical education she needs.
1947 Julia -- now "Julie Andrews" -- makes her professional debut at the London Hippodrome singing the aria "Je Suis Titania" (i.e. 'I am Titania' -referencing the Queen of the Fairies in A Midsummer Nights Dream, no doubt an homage to generous Fauna) from the opera Mignon. She blows the roof off the place.
1951 Does not prick her finger and fall into an unnatural slumber but is, by now at 16, a British star of stage and radio. Waits impatiently, but sweetly, for love's first kiss total world domination.
1954 Start at the top: Debuts on the American stage on Broadway in the lead role of The Boyfriend.
1956 Wouldn't it be loverly if she originated the plum role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and concurrently became a superstar with the live television airing of the musical Cinderella? Statistics vary but her numbers are basically up their with the explosion of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show and the final episode of M*A*S*H. We're talking everyone... or roughly 10 times the numbers that even the biggest "event" nowadays.
1959 Love's first kiss: Marries set designer Tony Walton who she met on the stage in London many years prior whilst playing the Egg in Humpty-Dumpty.
1960 Her eggs produce first child, Emma. Also creates the original Guinevere in the smash hit Broadway musical Camelot.
1962/1963 Julie, already a household name in America, is passed over for the movie version of the role she created in My Fair Lady because Jack Warner, in a typically lazy movie industry move (that we still see every day in 2010) only wants someone "bankable." Never mind that her first two movies become enormous "all time" blockbusters, each outgrossing My Fair Lady (which was also a hit with "bankable" Audrey Hepburn). Nobody can see into the future and most people aren't willing to risk casting based on rightness for a role... even though anyone in the right role at the time can become bankable as Mary Poppins will soon prove.
1964 Kill Audrey, Vol 1: Julie's movie debut Mary Poppins outgrosses My Fair Lady.So much for not bankable.She also stars in the acclaimed adult-oriented drama The Americanization of Emily, a film which she reportedly loves, though few notice in the enormous wake of that flying nanny.
1965 Kill Audrey Vol. 2: Julie wins the Oscar, besting Audrey Hepburn (who actually wasn't nominated but this isn't the way history remembers it. Shut up!).
As follow up, Julie spins around on a mountain top; billions of people all over the world get dizzy, and thousands of fairies are born. The Sound of Music outgrosses every movie that's ever existed including Gone With the Wind (if you don't adjust for inflation).
After defeating Audrey Hepburn, Julie targets Vivien Leigh. 'You can make one dress out of curtains? Amateur!'
Von Trapp play-clothes
1966 Hitchcock, having worn on Tippi Hedren's last nerve, has to find a replacement blonde. He tries Julie out for Torn Curtain. Outcome: Not icy and anonymous enough for Hitch. They never work together again. The film is a big hit. So is Hawaii that same year. Even outside of musicals Julie is beyond bankable.
1967 Julie stars as wannabe flapper Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie. People remember it today as a misfire or flop but sorry: another huge hit, the biggest in Universal's history up till then. Julie + musicals =box office gold.
1968 Except when it don't. Oops. Star, a bloated biopic of Gertrude Lawrence becomes her first failure. Julie divorces Tony Walton and...
1969 ...marries Blake Edwards after filming Darling Lili (1970) for the director with Rock Hudson.
1970s After five years on the mountain top of global stardom, Julie bows out of the movies, making only two more films over the decade. She has two more children and then adopts two more still. She makes multiple television appearances.
1981 Blake convinces his wife to bare her breasts, which he had undoubtedly seen thousands of times already but he's a sharer. Her boob flash in S.O.B totally scandalizes Mary Poppins fans and my parents (also Mary Poppins fans). I remember the fallout vividly from my youth. They were furious.
1982 Despite her "betrayal" of squeaky clean loving fans, Hollywood and pop culture reembrace the icon when Victor/Victoria hits. Her multi-octave slide in "Le Jazz Hot" shatters glass and thousands more fairies are born. Julie is nominated for another Oscar for her woman-pretending-to- be-a-man-pretending- to-be-a-woman nightclub act wherein she falls in love with gangster King Marchand (James Garner again) or "Fairy Marchand" as his arm-candy girlfriend rechristens him in a jealous rage.
1983 Julie Andrews loses the Oscar to Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice as would anyone from any year in any film under any circumstance.
rest of the 1980s makes a few more movies with Blake Edwards but nothing ascends. Bares her breasts again opposite Rupert Everett in Duet For One (1986) but few notice. You only get a shock from that once.
1990s-1999 returns to Broadway, eventually revives Victor/Victoria in new form, refuses a Tony nomination for their "egregious" snubbing of her fellow cast members. Vocal problems begin. Undergoes surgery for throat nodules and something goes wrong and she is unable to sing again. A special new circle of hell is created for whomever is to blame though...
2000 ...here on earth the matter is settled in a malpractice lawsuit. Julie's Just Rewards: She becomes "Dame" Julie Andrews by order of the Queen.
2001 Speaking of Queens... The Princess Diaries opens, surprising virtually everyone by becoming a smash with non-bankable Anne Hathaway in the leading role of the Princess and non-singing no-longer bankable Julie as the Queen of Genovia. The hit film will win her a new generation of young fans and set in motion a new career in children's films, albeit usually just as voice work. As in...
2010Despicable Me wherein Julie Andrews plays the disapproving mother of super villain Gru. On October 1st, Julie Andrews celebrates her 75th birthday.
Here's to her next quarter century as one of the great entertainers of all time!
Streep at 60: More movie discussions to follow but today we're discussing Oscar competitive fields again (the winner links take you to their acceptance speech)
The Best Actress races of 1982 and 1983 hold special meaning for me as they were my inaugural Oscar years. On April 11th of 1983 I saw my first Oscar ceremony. My only point of reference for the glitzy tradition was that my parents and my older siblings didn't like it -- something about Star Wars being way better than Woody Allen??? --and even though my parents didn't take me to that many movies, I had somehow seen and liked 3 of the 5 Best Picture nominees (Gandhi and the two blockbusters Tootsie & E.T.) For the first two years of my Oscar watching I saw a total of ZERO Best Actress nominees. My how life has changed.
1982...
Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria -this is the one I desperately wanted to see, being in love with both Mary Poppins and Maria Von Trapp. My parents refused to take me, muttering something about Julie Andrews appearing in a porno... I was very confused.
Other '82 female leads for context: Diane Keaton in Shoot the Moon, Teri Garr in One From the Heart, Carol Burnett in Annie, Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Nathalie Baye in The Return of Martin Guerre and Michelle Pfeiffer in Grease 2
Streep Stats: With this win Meryl became the 4th actress to win an Oscar for a Nazi/Holocaust related drama. It didn't happen again until Winslet won this past February for The Reader. Meryl was not, at 33 then, the youngest actress to win a second Oscar. Luise Rainer still holds that title winning her second Oscar in 1938 when she was only 28. Even Jodie Foster couldn't top that (her Silence of the Lambs win came at 29 years of age).
Other '83 female leads for context: Arielle Dombasle in Pauline at the Beach, Mariel Hemingway in Star 80, Bonnie Bedelia in Heart Like a Wheel, Sigweavy in The Year of Living Dangerously, Susan Sarandon & Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger and Babs in Yentl.
Streep Stats: Despite being only 34 years old when her 5th nomination rolled around, Meryl doesn't hold the record for fastest to get there: Bette Davis held the record for 65 years (accomplishing it by the age of 33) until Kate Winslet took over earning her fifth nomination (Little Children) at 31. I'm guessing that record holds for as long as Bette's did.
Give or take Norma Shearer who is either tied for 3rd place or in 5th place depending on how you count her nominations
What are your ideal Oscar shortlists / wins in 1982 and 1983? If you haven't seen very many early 80s movies, which are you most eager to finally get to?
Since I don't have my normal access to time and photoshop, Tuesday Top Ten today is a pity party story of yours truly. I wasn't actually due @ Indianapolis until today but I flew in two days early because Lesley Ann Warren was going to be at this party for the 10th anniversary of Going All The Way (which also curiously marked my 10th anniversary of semi regular film festival attendance since I saw that feature at Sundance 10 whole years ago) So, yeah, flew in 48 hours early to meet Lesley Ann -- I'm that way when it comes to actresses. Anyhow... her being a celebrity she didn't show to the party. She didn't even show in Indianapolis. But perhaps it was for the best...
Ten Embarrassing Things Nathaniel Might Have Done Upon Meeting Lesley Ann Warren
awkward icebreakers
10 Told her about the festival volunteer who said "Who is Lesley Ann Warren?" in all sincerity when I expressed excitement about meeting her. Comfortable!
09 Waited impatiently for any anecdote from anyone at the party that included the line "too make a long story short..." so I could interrupting shout "TOO LATE!" like Lesley & I were reenacting Clue. Movie stars surely love to relive ancient movie jokes.
08 Confessed that I always play Miss Scarlett in "Clue". If some evil soul snatches her up first: I go with Green, White, Plum, Peacock, or Mustard...in that order.
07 Demanded to speak to her manager about her abundant "mom of...", cameos, and tv guest spots. Musicals are back --look into it. Get it together manager 'o' Lesley!
inappropriate & inebriated
06 Told her about the time my friend and I (parents safely asleep) tried to freeze frame a VHS copy of Choose Me to catch a glimpse of Keith Carradine's goodies. We were unsuccessful: maybe she can fill us in on what we missed?
05 Demanded a play by play of A Night in Heaven particulary the scene where Christopher Atkins (playing her student who just happens to be a local lusted after stripper and he's hot for teacher too -scandal!) shoves her hand down his pants. That was so not "simulated"...details, Lesley, details.
04 (Still drunk) Asked if she still gets mistaken for Susan Sarandon (an 80s problem) and for the charming follow up question: please rank your jealousy re: your divergent 90s careers on a scale of 1 to 10.
03 Bombarded her with endless questions about Oscar night March 1983 despite our conversation taking place in April 2007. (Perhaps cried salty 40 proof tears when describing her loss. She so deserved it.)
02 Proclaimed in best Norma Cassady voice "Lesley--iiiIII'm Horny!"
01 Refused to leave her side until she agreed to call me "Pooky"
It's that time again. Last Sunday in the month = A "Supporting Actress Smackdown" with StinkyLulu and posse.
This months installment is very near and dear to my heart: 1982. Why so dear? Well, it's the first year in which I noticed that these golden thingamajigs called Oscars existed. I was staring at a TV Guide in March and there was this photo of an Oscar and behind it, pics from all five best picture nominees (Gandhi, ET, Tootsie, The Verdict, and Missing) --three of which I had seen and had "feelings" about. I had to watch. The rest is history. Oscar night immediately became my favorite holiday. Here's the 'NatReel'...
That's five clippy minutes with a high-spirited crop of Oscar Contenders, three of whom are in movies I never tire of (Tootsie & Victor/Victoria) so head on over and join in the discussion over at the "Supporting Actress Smackdown"
It's Tuesday. Time for "A History of..." But today we're doing things a little differently. It's an Illustrated History of Gender-Bending @ The Movies. Today's topic is inspired in part by the fact that it's the birthday of one hit wonder Jaye Davidson who startled moviegoers in The Crying Game many years ago.
1930s Marlene Dietrich puts on a suit. Garbo strolls around like she has an extra bit between her legs. Millions swoon.
1993 Kurt Russell discovers eyeliner in Tombstone. Val Kilmer still upstages him.
1994 Guy Pearce cannot find a copy of The Texas Chainsaw Mascara. Still looking. Has now also misplaced his career. I swear that Guy. If his head weren't attached...
2006 Amanda Bynes in She's the Man finally replaces Barbra Streisand in Yentl as the world's most unbelievable and ugly boy. Babs sends 'thank you' note.
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