Film Noir Trivia Quest

On November 5, 2014February 1, 2015 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In Film Noir, old movie magic, stories of mystery and romance

1: In which of these three films did Claire Trevor star as a washed up Cabaret singer ?

A: ‘Borderline’ B: ‘Dead End’ C: ‘Key Largo

2: Which two of the above three films also starred Humphrey Bogart?

3: Which of these film noirs was directed by musical choreographer Busby Berkeley?

A: ‘Big Town’ B: ‘They Made Me A Criminal’ C: ‘Murder My Sweet’

4: Who starred in Berkeley’s film?

A: William Powell B: Edward .G. Robinson C: John Garfield?

5: Which of these three films did not star Fred Mcmurray?

A: ‘Double Indemnity’ B:’Dead Reckoning’ C: ‘Above Suspicion’

6: In ‘Above Suspicion” Joan Crawford and Fred Macmurray play a married couple who are also spies named ….

A: Mr And Mrs Jones B: Mr And Mrs Smith C: Mr And Mrs Brown

7: In which film does Virginia Field play a woman who kills her husband and wishes she could turn back time so that it never happened. Her wish is granted but will she or won’t she do it again?

A: ‘The Imperfect Lady’ B:’Waterloo Bridge’ C: ‘Repeat Performance?

8: In which film does Claire Trevor known as ‘The Queen Of Film Noir play a prostitute dying of consumption who happens to be the girlfriend of a character named ‘ Baby Face Martin’ played by Humphrey Bogart?

A: ‘Dead End’ B: ‘Borderline’ C: ‘Born To Kill’

9: Lizabeth Scott in ‘Too Late For Tears’ is a sweet housewife who finds bank rolls of money and wants to keep it. When her husband he says he wants to inform the police she kills him. What happens next?

A: She is blackmailed by a man who witnessed the murder. B: She escapes to Palm Springs with all the money. C: She is arrested and sent to prison.

10: Lizabeth Scott starred with Barbara Stanwyck in which film …?

A: ‘Dead Reckoning B: Desert Fury C: The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers.

11: In which film noir did Orson Wells play an ex nazi who finds solace in a small town where he marries well and becomes mayor?

A: ‘The Stranger’ B: A Touch Of Evil’ C: Citizen Kane.

12: Scarlet Street is a sinister tale in which an artist is swindled by a young couple who mistake him for a wealthy Man. The artist is played by…..

A: Humphrey Bogart B: William Powell C: Edward .G. Robinson

13: Evelyn Keyes who starred as Scarlett O’hara’s younger sister in ‘Gone With The Wind’ Made many film noir films. See if

you can complete the titles of three of these films

A: .. River ….. B: …… O’clock C: The …… that ……. New York

14: In one of the above films Keyes plays opposite Dick Powell who plays a casino owner framed for murder by the mob. He is a member of a rival mob and is already wanted by police. Keys stands by her man? Can you name the film?

15: ‘The Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ is the name of a song but is also the name of a very famous film noir that deals with the powers of predicting fate. What is the relevance of the title?

A: One of the main characters will die under the stars. B. Athousand eyes will be watching as a murder takes place. C: The killer can only see at night.

Have fun finding the answers to this quiz which you will find from reading various blogs on ‘bourgeoise Bloomers.’ These include blogs on Lizabeth Scott , Claire Trevor, Evelyn Keyes, Virginia Field, Film Noir and poem’So The Night Has A Thousand Eyes’. If you cannot find the answers I will endevour to cover them for you in future blogs.

Renee Dallow ( Hybiscus Bloom ) 5/11/2014

Vintage Hollywood Halloween

On October 31, 2014January 27, 2016 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In Now and then

Hollywood movies abound on the horrors of Halloween when witches come out to play and zombies roam the streets looking for new flesh. There is a fixation on the blood and guts of it all and there are many who thrive on it. Hollywood has been making films on the theme of Halloween for a very long time, however, and in the past they were much more glamorous. But what is it about Halloween that chills the blood and brings out the devious fiend of horrible antics residing within all of us? Well seems the whole thing is based on a Catholic tradition of celebrating ‘All Saints Day’ would you believe? The belief is that on ‘All SaintsDay’ the dead are purified in heaven. There are those, however, who have died and are not yet purified and are caught in the middle and must be helped along.

All Hallows Eve is the night before ‘All Saints’ when the dead and the undead meet. Supernatural beings roam the earth in the forms of witches, goblins and warlords meeting with the souls of the undead trying to prevent them from entering heaven. The Celts celebrated ‘All Hallows’ by lighting bonfires to immitate the sun and ward off the coming winter just as lighting candles on the graves of the dead is a way of warding off evil. Really it is a clash between Saints and sinners which goes way back to when the church tried to stamp out pagan celtic rituals by conjuring up these mythical beings of hell and beating them at their own game.
The toffee apples and apple cider with potato pancakes and pumpkins comes from the Christian tradition of abstaining from meat eating on this Holy occasion. On Halloween humour and ridicule go hand in hand with images of horror to confront the power of death. So enjoy your evening of fraternising with lost souls and remember to treat your visitors. If you donate food you it will bring good fortune. An ‘All Saints’ Tradition and probably the only day when the zombies got a good feed.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ONE AND ALL

Gabby Du Gaffe

C/O

Renee Dallow ( Hybiscus Bloom ) 31/10/2014

Busby Berkley Choreography of the 1930s

On October 14, 2014September 26, 2016 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In Movie Magic

Busby Berkeley was the man responsible for all that wonderful choreography we see in those glamorous films of the 1930s. Lot’s of beautiful girls in rows or stacked on top of each other. He would create giant sets with hundreds of scantily clad beauties,smiling faces, arms outstretched, legs extended , parading in front of a camera mounted on a monorail. They were grouped in formations to create moving patterns which could weave in and out of the sets.

Some of the sets were pretty spectacular too. Whole city blocks were represented together with lavish gardens and swimming pools. Berkeley worked with some of the biggest stars of the day as well as being responsible for the establishment of some fresh new faces.

Ruby Keeler was probably one of the greatest discoveries of the 1930s and her clumsy hoofer appeal was all the rage. Ruby could dance up a storm on her own and yet still complement the line up without standing out too much on a limb. She and Dick Powell danced their way through ‘Footlight Parade’ and ’42ndStreet’ to an audience base dogged by the great depression and brought good cheer to all. Other films included ‘Zeigfeld Follies with Lana Turner, Judy Garland and Hedy Lamar which was, of course, a winner. With a cast like that how could it not be?

Who better to work with lines of chorus girls than Busby Berkeley just as Zeigfeld had done in his hey day. It was Busby,however, who added dance to what had traditionally been just lines of gorgeous gals in glamorous costumes. Rows of men in tuxedos were also added and they danced too. Busby Berkeley was apparently married six times but these marriages didn’t last long as he was very close to his mother who was herself a former broadway star and a hoofer to boot. Pardon the pun. In 1935 he was driving whilst drunk and crashed. Two people died as a result and Berkeley was charged with manslaughter. His career was put on hold for the duration of the trial but continued to flourish afterwards. Annex - Powell, Dick (Gold Diggers of 1935)_01 He turned to directing and was equally as successful with films including ‘ They Made Me A Criminal’ with John Garfield one of Garfield’s best films. It was always going to be the musicals, however, in which Berkeley excelled and to this very day he is revered as one of the greatest choreographers ever both in film and on the Broadway stage.

So for all you hoofers out there look out for the musicals of the 1930s when Berkeley was in full swing, put on your taps and dance.

Bourgeoise Vintage Season

On October 2, 2014December 17, 2014 By Renee Lou Dallow ( Bourgeoise Bloomers )In Changing the world, comfort zones, Film Noir, old movie magic

Being Bourgeoise is about vintage fashion,movies,dogs,home decorating and a look at past verses present. As I am also a writer I have included poetry, prose and plays written by myself.

I have created three characters to present vintage themes.

Gabby Du Gaffe, Wanda Wey Awrf, and Betty Bourgeoise