#gigi perreau

[movie-titlecards]

Journey to the Center of Time (1967)

My rating: 4/10

So this is, for whatever reason, pretty much a remake (a kind word, others are available, many ending in "-off") of Ib Melchor's The Time Travelers, except with interminable stock footage instead of magic tricks and amputees. That being said, the businessbastard's suicide by time machine is kind of fun.

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[70s80sandbeyond]

Gigi Perreau in Tammy Tell Me True (1961)

[postersdecinema]

Viram a Minha Noiva?

EUA, 1952

Douglas Sirk

6/10

Tutti-Frutti

"Has anybody seen my Gal" é um filme cheio de surpresas. Desde logo o facto de ser uma comédia, timidamente musical, realizada pelo rei dos melodramas, Douglas Sirk. Não posso deixar de referir que, pese embora o filme seja ligeiro, a veia melodramática está sempre presente, assim como um moralismo, bem característico da década de 50, no cinema norte-americano.

O tecnicolor, assim como o guarda roupa e o comportamento dos personagens, tornam pouco convincente a reconstituição dos roaring twenties, apesar dos speakeasy da Lei Seca, das salas de cinema mudo, com música ao vivo, e do charleston dançado nas festas de família. Parece exatamente o que é, um filme dos anos cinquenta a querer evocar algumas referências da década de vinte, sem nunca convencer o espectador. Um baile de máscaras, ao ritmo do charleston.

Mas se é também uma surpresa ver Rock Hudson num papel secundário, maior espanto causa ver James Dean, sentado no bar, com uma única palavra no script, que nem lhe mereceu o nome nos créditos finais.

Pela positiva destaca-se a incontornável figura de Charles Coburn, já com 75 anos de idade, mas com uma vitalidade invejável, a liderar este elenco de estrelas subestimadas, onde se destacam também uma jovem Piper Laurie (com 20 anos) e uma ainda mais jovem Gigi Perreau (com 11 anos), que nunca conseguiu, em adulta, a popularidade e reconhecimento como atriz que teve em criança, na passagem dos anos 40 para os anos 50.

O argumento é banal, a história moralista, pouco consistente e inconclusiva, as mudanças repentinas de personalidade, de alguns personagens, incompreensíveis.

Em suma, é uma comédia ligeira, que vale sobretudo pela improvável dupla Charles Coburn e Gigi Perreau, e se esquece num abrir e fechar de olhos.

Tutti-Frutti

"Has anybody seen my Gal" is a film full of surprises. First, the fact that it is a comedy, timidly musical, directed by the king of melodramas, Douglas Sirk. I cannot fail to mention that, despite the film being light, the melodramatic vein is always present, as well as a moralism, very characteristic of the 50s, in North American cinema.

The Technicolor, as well as the characters' wardrobe and behavior, make the reconstruction of the Roaring Twenties unconvincing, despite the Prohibition speakeasies, the silent movie theaters with live music, and the Charleston danced at family parties. It looks exactly like what it is, a film from the fifties wanting to evoke some references from the twenties, without ever convincing the viewer. A masked ball, to the rhythm of the Charleston.

But if it is also a surprise to see Rock Hudson in a secondary role, it is even more surprising to see James Dean, sitting at the bar, with a single word in the script, which did not even deserve his name in the final credits.

On the positive side, the unavoidable figure of Charles Coburn stands out, already 75 years old, but with enviable vitality, leading this cast of underrated stars, which also includes a young Piper Laurie (20 years old) and an even more young Gigi Perreau (aged 11), who never achieved, as an adult, the popularity and recognition, as an actress, that she had as a child, in the transition from the 1940s to the 1950s.

The script is banal, the story moralistic, inconsistent and inconclusive, the sudden personality changes of some characters incomprehensible.

In short, it's a light comedy, made especially worthwhile by the unlikely duo of Charles Coburn and Gigi Perreau, and forgotten in the blink of an eye.

[duecredits]

Gigi Perreau

Journey to the Center of Time (1967)

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 2.6

Beer Birthdays

Henry Miller (1857)

George Wiedemann Jr. (1866)

Brian Ford (1964)

John Foster (1965)

Jay Sheveck (1970)

Erin Fay Glass (1971)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Mike Batt; rock musician (1949)

Bob Marley; reggae musician, singer (1945)

Eric Partridge; lexicographer (1894)

Michael Pollan; journalist (1955)

Adam Weishaupt; German philosopher (1748)

Famous Birthdays

Rick Astley; pop singer (1966)

Nicolaus Bernoulli; Swiss mathematician (1695)

Eva Braun; model, Hitler's mistress (1912)

Robert Brooks; Hooters restaurants founder (1937)

Tom Brokaw; television journalist (1940)

Aaron Burr; politician, U.S. Vice-President (1756)

Natalie Cole; singer (1950)

Alice Eve; actor (1982)

Mike Farrell; actor (1939)

Scipione del Ferro; Italian mathematician (1465)

Anton Fokker; aviation pioneer (1890)

Gayle Hunnicutt; actor (1943)

Károly Kisfaludy; Hungarian poet (1788)

Mary Douglas Leakey; archeologist (1913)

Theodor Lessing; writer (1872)

John Henry MacKay; anarchist (1864)

Patrick MacNee; actor (1922)

Barry Miller; actor (1958)

Kathy Najimy; actor (1957)

Gigi Perreau; actor (1941)

Ronald Reagan; 40th U.S. President (1911)

Axl Rose; rock singer (1962)

Babe Ruth; New York Yankees OF (1895)

Jeb Stuart; confederate calvary commander (1833)

Rip Torn; actor (1931)

Robert Townsend; actor, comedian (1957)

Francois Truffaut; French film director (1932)

Michael Tucker; actor (1945)

Mamie Van Doren; actor (1931)

Karel Wellens; Flemish artist (1889)

Otis Williams; rock musician (1936)

[dreamsandnightscapes]

Gigi Perreau

[project1939]

Day 39- Film: Has Anybody Seen My Gal? 

Release date: June 25th, 1952. 

Studio: Universal 

Genre: Comedy 

Director: Douglas Sirk 

Producer: Ted Richmond 

Actors: Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn, Gigi Perreau, Lynn Bari 

Plot Summary: In 1920’s New York, a hypochondriac millionaire thinks he is about to die with no heirs. Remembering the lovely woman from his youth who refused his proposal, he becomes convinced she is what spurred him on to financial riches. What if he left his fortune to her family? He locates her descendants and decides to check them out incognito, hoping to discover that he can trust them with the money. 

My Rating (out of five stars): **½  

I’ll admit I was disappointed with this movie. It looked kind of cute and colorful and fun. Well, it was colorful. It was also a bit overly cute and a bit under the bar of fun.  

The Good: 

The color was gorgeous Technicolor in all its glory. 

Rock Hudson. He was really charming and charismatic, and his acting wasn’t stiff at all. I can see why he was just on the edge of becoming a huge star. 

The little daughter Roberta, played by Gigi Perreau. She was so natural for a child actor, I even paused the movie to look her up. By the end of the movie, however, her character was pretty grating. 

Another James Dean blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo! He played a guy at the soda fountain asking for a ridiculously complicated drink. He had literally one line. But this is the third time of the project so far he’s had that. 

The cuteness of the time period, the clothing, etc. Part of it was good fun, but... 

The Bad: 

The way the film was trying so hard to be overly nostalgic, constantly hitting us over the head with the fact that it was the 1920s. Remember prohibition? Scoff-laws? Speakeasies? Old time soda shops? Cloche hats? The Charleston? They even showed you how to do it, in case you forgot. Can you believe steak was 35 cents a pound? And eggs were 33 cents? If you compare it to Singin’ in the Rain, which also took place in the 1920s, you can really see the difference. Singin’ definitely had reminders of the time period, but the plot always took precedence. It never stood still for nostalgia p*rn. 

The way the plot went off the rails for the last hour. Forty-minutes in, daughter Millie gets engaged to Hudson, and the family anonymously receives the fortune. And there’s almost an hour left! Everything kind of fell apart from there. The plot just wasn’t structured well at all. 

I didn’t really like Charles Coburn’s millionaire character. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but I was really sick of him by the end of the movie. 

The other characters were not really fleshed out enough for me to feel really invested in them. Piper Laurie was given top billing as Millie, but I couldn’t really tell you anything about her except that fact that she was of marrying age. 

I hated the mom character. She was part of why everything suddenly went off the rails. Her personality after she acquired the wealth changed so fast it was totally unrealistic. The family mongrel? Get rid of him! We need French Poodles now! Sell the family business! We can't be working plebs anymore! Etc. 

The ending. It was also not very satisfying, not very realistic, and it left some significant strings flapping around. (Like flappers? Sorry, couldn’t resist a really bad groaner.) 

[creepingirrelevance]

Gigi Perreau, The Rebel, 1960

[fitesorko]

Gigi Perreau

[soupy-harry]

Clint Eastwood, Gigi Perreau, and Carolyn Huges on set of Rawhide episode "Incident at Poco Tiempo", June 14th, 1960 [X]

[gatutor]

Zachary Scott-Gigi Perreau "Shadow on the wall" 1950, de Pat Jackson.

[autumncottageattic]

There's Always Tomorrow (1956)

based on a novel by Ursula Parrott

[retrorewind-kid]

[jerseydeanne]

Meghan Markle's ex-teacher praises her 'devoted' dad and has 'no idea' why pair fell out

Meghan Markle’s ex-teacher praises her ‘devoted’ dad and has ‘no idea’ why pair fell out

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 2.6

Beer Birthdays

Henry Miller (1857)

George Wiedemann Jr. (1866)

Brian Ford (1964)

John Foster (1965)

Jay Sheveck (1970)

Erin Fay Glass (1971)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Mike Batt; rock musician (1949)

Bob Marley; reggae musician, singer (1945)

Eric Partridge; lexicographer (1894)

Michael Pollan; journalist (1955)

Adam Weishaupt; German philosopher (1748)

Famous Birthdays

Rick Astley; pop singer (1966)

Nicolaus Bernoulli; Swiss mathematician (1695)

Eva Braun; model, Hitler's mistress (1912)

Robert Brooks; Hooters restaurants founder (1937)

Tom Brokaw; television journalist (1940)

Aaron Burr; politician, U.S. Vice-President (1756)

Natalie Cole; singer (1950)

Alice Eve; actor (1982)

Mike Farrell; actor (1939)

Scipione del Ferro; Italian mathematician (1465)

Anton Fokker; aviation pioneer (1890)

Gayle Hunnicutt; actor (1943)

Károly Kisfaludy; Hungarian poet (1788)

Mary Douglas Leakey; archeologist (1913)

Theodor Lessing; writer (1872)

John Henry MacKay; anarchist (1864)

Patrick MacNee; actor (1922)

Barry Miller; actor (1958)

Kathy Najimy; actor (1957)

Gigi Perreau; actor (1941)

Ronald Reagan; 40th U.S. President (1911)

Axl Rose; rock singer (1962)

Babe Ruth; New York Yankees OF (1895)

Jeb Stuart; confederate calvary commander (1833)

Rip Torn; actor (1931)

Robert Townsend; actor, comedian (1957)

Francois Truffaut; French film director (1932)

Michael Tucker; actor (1945)

Mamie Van Doren; actor (1931)

Karel Wellens; Flemish artist (1889)

Otis Williams; rock musician (1936)