Sunday, November 14, 2010

ode to stany

Barbara Stanwyck --Stany-- is my all-time favorite actress. I love all of her films, but especially her early 1930's roles when she was just overflowing with emotion and energy, and her late 30's/early 40's masterpieces like Meet John Doe, Christmas in Connecticut, The Lady Eve and My Reputation. She was completely natural, and yet slides so easily into different characters that you forget that she's playing a part. She was a favorite among directors for delivering practically perfect scenes in the first take, and for always being prompt and totally up to speed on her lines. She was skilled, but made it seem spontaneous -- able to drop a tear on cue, jump and slide into a perfect split or perfect the art of flapjack flipping on camera. You may not call her your number one favorite, as I do, but there's no denying the girl had talent.

So here's my tribute to my favorite actress, set to Goldfrapp's tune "Happiness."