An essay on Deborah Kerr written when I was 14

You know when you're looking for something that you will probably never find and in the process of searching for that something you unearth something that is much more exciting than the original thing? (Wheew!). Yeah, well that happened to me today. I was looking for a guitar book that my parents got me about 4 years ago (I'm attempting to teach myself...) and instead of finding that I found a folder full of old school essays and stories. Amongst them were some classic film related gems that I thought I'd share. This one about Deborah is the first, so I hope you enjoy the ramblings of my 14 year old self in all of their grammatically erroneous glory!

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Thanks For the Memorys 

(you know it's going to be good when I mess up the spelling of the title ;D)

"Shall We Dance?" is perhaps one the most unforgettable lines from any musical ever. No less so is the face we associate with those words - the charming, flushed face of Anna Leonowens played by the most beautiful and brilliant actress, Deborah Kerr. She is the woman I most admire. It doesn't seem right to call her "woman" - she was a "lady"! (all I'm going to say is: LOL WUT?)

                                       

She wasn't just a wonderful  actress she was a kind and considerate person off the screen. If anyone wrote her letter, they would be sure to get a reply as she had a considerate knack of replying to all letters. (what is a 'considerate knack' though??)

She made about forty-five films in a career spanning from 1941 until 1985. Her most memorable films are, "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", "Black Narcissus", "Edward, My Son", "Quo Vadis?", "From Here To Eternity", "The King and I", "Separate Tables", "The Sundowners", "The Innocents", "The Chalk Garden", and "The Prisoner of Zenda" (clearly I have always had a hard time just listing the essentials). Her own personal favourite was "The Sundowners" in which her role as Robert Mitchum's sheep farmer's wife was performed without make-up. It is considered one of her finest acheivements. The role she is probably remembered most for is her magical portrayal of Anna Leonowen's in "The King and I". Althought she was dubbed by Marni Nixon for her songs, the film will endure forever as one of Deborah's best roles and as one of the best musicals ever made.

Her role in "Edward, My Son" in 1949, garnered her first adcademy Award nomination of six: "From Here To Eternity", "The King and I", "Separate Tables", "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison", "The Sundowners". It's quite incomprehensible why she never won an Oscar as at least three of those roles she was nominated for, she deserved one. (don't even try to understand that sentence. it's impossible. I wrote it and I have no idea what it means.) She was awarded an honorary oscar in 1993 (it was actually 1994) in appreciation of her unappreciated work in many fine films. 

She died on October 16th, 2007 after becoming bedridden from the effects of Parkinson's disease.

I think that she epitomised the grace, beauty, elegance, and talent of Hollywood's Golden Age, and I am so happy to find that so many people echo my thoughts on this amazing lady. There are more than a thousand obituries about her on the internet, not just written by newspapers but by people who knew her, whether old friends or people who admired her and met her, and by people who never met her but who just want to pay a tribute to this wonderful lady. On youtube there are hundreds of videos in memory of her. 

Now all that remains for me to do is to echo the words of Glenn Close when she presented Deborah with her honorary Oscar, saying that is was being given to "an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline, and elegance.".

Have a photo of Deborah and Donna (Reed) playing golf to ease the pain.

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I know you're all in awe of my prowess as a writer but please, before you go and set fire to all of your essays, stories, poems etc. in a fit of jealous rage, inflate my ego a little more by telling me what you thought about the masterpiece above. Speak to you soon!

Film Reviews by Yours Truly....aged about 12.

I stumbled across the notebook with these in today - after searching for them in vain a couple of months ago when Millie blogged about her "pretentious movie reviews" from when she was about 11.

So, I thought I'd share some of them with you because....well, I don't know why, to be quite honest, as they're so obnoxious and drivelsome (copyrighted!)

[Grammar and spelling intact!]

My Fair Lady

Wonderfully expensive looking musical that goes from high points to low points. It seems to drag on for an awful long time but the brilliant cast make it well worth watching. A lot of the songs are in actual fact more like soliloquays, but nevertheless it is a thoroughly enjoyable film for all the family. ****

Blossoms In The Dust

This is my favourite Greer Garson film of all time. Greer plays her part to perfection and it is such a POWERFUL performance. She has a leading [it actually looked like "leeching" man...but that was just my horrific handwriting!] man (Walter Pidgeon) for 20-30 minutes but after that for about another 70-90 minutes She is the only principal. Lesser actresses would have crumpled and so ruined the film, but Greer is at her most glorious best. The only fault I can pick with it, is that it is quite along time before you actually feel interested and not ready to turn it off and watch Dream Wife as I was! But once you get past the 20-25 minute mark, it's quite impossible to switch off! *****

[I don't remember a time when I didn't like Walter Pidgeon, but it seems as though I used to only enjoyed the film after he'd been killed off! ;D )

All About Eve

Extremely enjoyable film. Probably Bette Davis' best [WHAT!?] and if you are familiar with her you will soon be able to tell why. It seems to have been made for her [oh my word!]. The film and her character of Margo Channing. It oozes the bitchiness [ :| ] of an old stage actress being moved into the shadows of a new actress [yeah, because I really knew about that!]. Old film fans and people with show-bizzy tendencies [*cringes*] will have a field day! *****

Cheaper By The Dozen

When I watched this I thought "Ok, I get it. At the end, ill looking Myrna is going to die and Daddy will start thinking about his 12 kids more instead of inventing ways to have a bath in 2 minutes!". But no, I was all wrong. So I have a grudge against this film. But I watch it to enjoy Myrna's steller performance. It's enjoyable but very clichéd. It is a great family film though and perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon. ***

[That has to be one of the worst reviews the world has ever known!]

I would post some more but some of them are so ridiculous and horrific that it wouldn't be fair to unleash them on the world! ;D

My Joan Crawford: The Signature Collection (you have to say it like one of those annoying voice-overs in ads for razors or aftershave! ;D ) box set came today, so that's rather exciting! (I never thought I'd be saying that about anything to do with Joan...) It amuses my childish mind that The Star came today too - do you think Bette and Joan fought as they were pushed through the letter box!? ;D

Well, that's all for today! I hope you're all having nicer weather than we're having here!

Ok, Now I Feel Stupid

You may have noticed, and I really hope you DIDN'T, that I made a birthday post for Clara Bow today. I am so embarrassed my face actually felt like it was going to burn off in shame! ;D Anyway, the reason for this terrible mistake is because I somehow got it into my head that her birthday wasn't on the 29th anymore, it was on the 26th. When I suddenly realised that no.one.else.at.all. was posting Clara Bow birthday posts, I decided to check the date...and that brings you to where I am now. You could cook a roast on my face, it's so hot with embarrassment...

So, stay tuned for Clara's birthday post on the 29th!!