Reader's Choice: Lady in a Cage (1964)

New bi-weekly Monday series. By popular vote you selected this streaming film for screening & discussion...

by Nathaniel R

Where did the sayings "wear your influences / heart on your sleeves" originate? No matter the etymology of the phrase we think it disagrees with fussy widow Mrs Cornelia Hilyard. Her billowy sleeves aren't half as expressive as the sheer scarf and shawl like top over her simple house dress. She fidgets with it constantly, untying and unbuttoning the extra layer of fabric due to the unfortunate duet of a broken air conditioner and a great lady's modesty!

The influences and emotions clinging visibly to this lady in her cage, or rather Lady in a Cage (1964), are much the same. Screenwriter Luther Davis and Director Walter Grauman throw just about everything they can think of that was cinematically en vogue or brazenly attention-grabbing in the early 1960s into the mix (drug use! homosexuality! juvenile delinquents! sex! formerly glamorous leading ladies getting sweaty and desperate and humiliated for your viewing pleasure). The film's sociopathic parents -- its daddy is Psycho and its mommy is Whatever Happened to Baby Jane -- have cast a long historical shadow over Lady in a Cage...

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Beauty vs Beast: Say it With Cerulean

Jason Adams of MNPP here with your brand new edition of our "Beauty vs Beast" poll -- not to over-Meryl us (does such a thing exist?) with two Meryl polls in the span of three weeks on top of her much-talked-about turn on Big Little Lies, but it was the 13th anniversary of The Devil Wears Prada back on June 30th and it suddenly struck me like a very expensive coat in the face that, blasphemy of blasphemies, we have never done a Prada Edition for this series. I KNOW!! Insert a gif of one of Miranda's withering glares here. Shameful. So let's see if the Anne-Hatha-lovers have any tricks up their designer sleeves...

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PREVIOUSLY Last week between bouts of Meryl we tackled another queen of screen Olivia de Havilland, and while she may not have taken down Ryan Murphy with her Feud-based lawsuit Livvy at least got one over on that other queen Monty Clift, taking 59% of your Heiress vote. Said joel6:

"Morris is a beauty and perhaps Catherine is too naive but that's her father's fault not hers. Morris is a low down gutter snake that gets exactly what he deserves and seeing Catherine serve it up to him is sweetness itself. Olivia de Havilland gave several great performances but this is the cherry on top of the cake! Wishing her all the best as an awesome 103 year old and as long as her health holds may she see many more birthdays!"

Beauty vs Beast: I Ain't Sayin' He's a Gold Digger

Jason Adams of MNPP here with another round of "Beauty vs Beast" silliness, wherein we ask you to lay claim to your loyalties with regards to a pair of typically warring movie characters, naughty and nice or sometimes something a bit grayer -- this week we're wishing a happy 103 years young to the great Olivia de Havilland, turning our eyes to her Oscar-winning role in William Wyler's 1949 film The Heiress. Olivia plays "Catherine," a spinster-type who falls for "Morris"... who is played by Montgomery Clift so it's quite easy to know right off the bat why she falls for him. But is he only in it for the ruby buttons?

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PREVIOUSLY Pride Month is kaput and with it our fourth and final LGBT-related poll, which had you choosing between gay Meryls -- Clarissa from The Hours managed to both buy the flowers and storm the poll, taking 71% of your vote. Said Biggs:

"Clarissa partnered up with Allison Janney; Jill with Woody Allen. Clarissa wins."

Happy National Siblings Day!

by Mark Brinkerhoff

Fontaine and de Havilland in 1967 at a Marlene Dietrich show

“I bequeath all my beauty to my younger sister Joan, because she has none.”
- Olivia de Havilland, according to her “will,” age nine

 Apocryphal? Who can say. Delicious? 100 percent!

 

Though chronicled to death (at TFE and elsewhere), the purported feud between the most famous siblings of Hollywood’s Golden Age endures like no other. Why? Because it seems silly and pointless in retrospect, as most sibling rivalries and familial angst do. But rather than dwell on the negative, let’s turn our attention to more positive outpourings of mutual love and respect, shall we?

 

Here are 10 of the more famous (in some cases infamous) siblings over the years on the ties that bind—and unbind—them to each other, not to mention the public’s imagination...

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100 Oldest Living Oscar Nominees & Winners

This list is now updated and living here.