The Beautiful Natalie Wood (1938 - 1981)

Born as Natasha Nikolaevna Zacharenko, Natalie married Robert Wagner (R.J.) twice in 1958 and 1972. She was only a child when she was being cast in the 1947 film, "Miracle on 34th Street" in 1947. Her big break came when she played Judy in "Rebel Without A Cause" opposite James Dean as she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress. Then she went on and made many big box office movies. I just list a few of my favourite ones below:
Kings Go Forth
Marjarie Morningstar
All the Fine Young Cannibals
West Side Story
Splendor In the Grass
Gypsy
Love With The Proper Stranger
Inside Daisy Clover
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
The Candidate
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Meteor
Brainstorm


Her Death - "On 27th November, 1981, R.J. and Natalie went out on their boat, The Splendour. Joining them was Christopher Walken, Natalie’s co-star from Brainstorm. Sometime after midnight on Saturday, November 28th, Natalie said goodnight to R.J. and left him talking to Walken on the main deck. That was the last time Robert Wagner would ever kiss her goodnight. Somehow, Natalie accidentally slipped and fell overboard. When R.J. discovered that Natalie was missing, he called the authorities to help him search for her. The next morning, in the first hour of light, Natalie’s body was found. She had drowned."

Here's the YouTube link of Natalie and Richard Beymer in West Side Story lip-singing Somewhere (actually sung by Jim Bryant & Marni Nixon):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BQMgCy-n6U&feature=related
Natalie in Gypsy with the striptease number Let Me Entertain You:

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Sultry Beauty - Ava Gardner (1922- 1990)

This dark-haired beauty was said to be the love of Frank Sinatra's life! Their marriage only lasted 6 years - from 1951 to 1957. She was also the inspiration for one of his most magical songs, "I Am a Fool To Want You", recorded after their separation. Here is a video showing many of her pictures with Sinatra singing this song in the background:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcU_cZ6ULK4&feature=related

At Ava's funeral, it was reported that a black limousine had parked behind the crowd of 500 mourners. No one came out from the limousine, but it was assumed that the anonymous mourner was Frank Sinatra. A floral arrangement at Ava's graveside simply read: "With My Love, Francis".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrJ0Dx1qrb0&feature=related

She's very beautiful in "Barefoot Contessa" which unfortunately I didn't get to see. Ava did a good job in playing the poor Julie in "Show Boat"; however, they could have used her own voice instead of dubbing it with Annette Warren's. Then I like her more in "Pandora and The Flying Dutchman" where she played the ill-fated Pandora who fell desperately in love with the immortal Dutch captain Hendrick van der Zee (played by James Mason), who had murdered his innocent wife in a jealous rage. I was a kid when I saw this movie and couldn't understand the story at all, so I am looking forward to seeing this movie again some day.

Ava in the 1951 movie - Show Boat:
(1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAVpanO7lYY&feature=related
(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGOyycNqiWA&feature=related
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The Greatest Male Star Of All Time - Valentino

Anthony sent me a Powerpoint file with 16 Greatest Male Stars of all time (you can download this file from my Related Link on the right - Jade T's Page), but among the 16 of them, I only like Montgomery Clift. And the greatest Male Star of All Time is missing from the file! He's Rudolph Valentino - (1895 - 1926) born as Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla! You can view more of his photos from the following link:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0884388/mediaindex

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Remembering Montgomery Clift

One of my sister's favourite movie stars in the fifties was Montgomery Clift (or Monty Clift: 1920 - 1966). My sister (no. 11) and I saw a lot of his movies during the fifties; one of them was called "A Place In The Sun" where he starred with Liz Taylor. He was so beautiful looking then! Later in the sixties, he made 2 more movies with her called "Suddenly Last Summer" and "Raintree County", both wonderful films.

But his looks had changed due to the accident he had when he smashed his car into a telephone pole. He needed extensive reconstructive surgery on his face (although his broken nose was never repaired) and he returned after several weeks to finish the film, "Raintree County". His previously handsome appearance now permanently disfigured and now they tried to film just his better looking side of his face. By this time, Clift had become hooked on alcohol and pain pills, and his health deteriorated. Taylor and Clift remained close friends until his death.

I also caught a few of his old movies on TV sometime ago, notably "The Red River" with John Wayne and "The Heiress" with Olivia de Havilland. I really think he's a great actor in those movies. I could never forget the scene in "From Here to Eternity" when he played the trumpet with tears in his eyes after he learned of his buddy's death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fxH-2LnRkc&feature=related

One of his fans has placed the whole film "The Heiress" on YouTube in 13 parts. Here they are:
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSmlpfVmYb8&feature=related
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0ia7GxRtpc&feature=related
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Im1BSUaoCQ&feature=related
4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unVzfQItgbY&feature=related
5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iCtnB1OkQE&feature=related
6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTChHQMPqKE&feature=related
7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVybKeFQIQ&feature=related
8) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vIay2OBfgY&feature=related
9) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DLLsupOAEc&feature=related
10) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zGkQvkxbWQ&feature=related
11) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ezD6pYYpE&feature=related
12) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of2352SjxvA&feature=related
13) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvf943Ccsjo&feature=related
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k. d. Lang - Anne Murray - Celine Dion (previously appeared on 阿立粵曲天地 談天說地 - 被遺忘了的中西舊歌星、影星及其歌曲與電影 on Feb 10, 2008)

(1) k. d. Lang 曾灌錄過 Roy Orbison 的 Crying，唱來很有情感，雖然不及原唱者，但是別巨一格，我也喜歡她年前唱的 Constant Craving，在 YouTube 更可找到她與 Roy Orbison 在 1987 合唱的 Crying，她很久沒有新曲，最近才出了新 CD - Watershed (released Jan 25, 2008)，共11首曲，在網上試聽，只覺音韻及旋律都很柔和，聽來悅耳但嫌節奏太緩慢，連聽十首八首，可能要睡著了，再找不到她唱 Constant Craving 時的那種神韻，也許她在嘗試另一 style。 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78eQbwe3-9o&feature=related9o&feature=related

Compare with Roy Orbison's Crying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzezIg2Ei0A

(2) 加國的低音歌后Anne Murray 最近也有新 CD 叫 Duets: Friends & Legends (released Nov 13, 2007) 共17 首曲，是她以前跟其它名歌星合唱的曲 (多數是她的舊曲)，再經過特別加工的 rearrangement，在網上試聽，音響效果仍覺上乘，尤其是她與 Dusty Springfield 合唱的 I Just Fall In Love Again，還有幾首難得再有機會合唱的：Daydream Believer (with Nelly Furtado); Time Don’t Run Out On Me (with Carole King); Cotton Jenny (with Olivia Newton John); A Love Song (with k. d. Lang); You Needed Me (with Shania Twain); Snowbird (with Sarah Brightman); When I Fall In Love (with Celine Dion)，這 CD真是值得買來聽聽. Click the following Link to hear the duets : http://music.download.com/annemurrayduets/3600-8741_32-101105906.html

(3) 最後要談的是加國最紅的、又是世界聞名、人所共知的 Celine Dion，她的歌聲清脆甜美，音色響亮，是一位數十年來難得的歌手，她的音域比Barbra Streisand 更勝一籌，我最喜歡她重唱 The Power of Love 一曲，唱來比原唱者 Jennifer Rush 還要動聽，她唱的一首 My Heart Will Go On (電影Titanic 的插曲) 曾流行一段時期，那時電台每天都播上這曲四、五次這麼多，還記得我的幾位同事嚷著要扭息電台，其中一位還說：If I hear this song one more time, I will chop the radio in half! 在 2003 Celine Dion 簽了三年合約在 Las Vegas 登台演唱，幾乎場場滿座，我們去到 Las Vegas 也買不到票看她的 Show。最近她也出了新 CD (Taking Chances – released Nov 9, 2007) 共 17 首曲，在網上試聽，也覺不錯。
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The Good Earth, Sayonara, Flower Drum Song, etc...(previously appeared on 阿立粵曲天地 談天說地 - 被遺忘了的中西舊歌星、影星及其歌曲與電影 on Feb 2, 2008)

‘大地’ (The Good Earth) 一片，我也沒有看過，1937 年我還未來這世界，但曾翻閱荷李活的名片項列，這電影是得過獎項的名片，但卻沒有 ‘像亂世佳人’ (Gone With The Wind) 那部電影常被放上電視重播，我現找來 Youtube 的 link 可以讓大家看到你說的男女主角造型，覺得很是欠真實感，不過既然女主角憑此片獲得奧斯卡金像獎，那她一定是靠演技取勝！http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wikdhr0WiU&feature=related


記得在 ‘六福客棧’ (The Inn Of Sixth Happiness - released in 1958) 片中，也找外國人來演中國人，無端把男主角的角色從一個純正的中國人改成中西混血兒，看來很不順眼的，還是到八零至九零年代，才有像 The Last Emperor (1987) 及 The Joy Luck Club (1993) 等影片，看到中國人演回中國人，才覺舒服！七零年代有李小龍在荷李活，但是在五零和六零年代，就好像沒有代表了，關南絲之走紅是因為越南影星阮南絲 (France Nuyen) 拒演 ‘蘇絲黃的世界’ (The World of Suzie Wong) 呢。


電影 (櫻花戀) 的主題曲 (SAYONARA) 是 Irvin Berlin 為這電影而作的，並不是舊的那首同名的曲，這片中的女配角 Miyoshi Umeki 曾灌錄此曲，也好似有日文版本、曾在電台播放過，她憑這電影獲得奧斯卡最佳女配角金像獎，這曲在原本的電影 soundtrack 上是該女主角 Miiko Taka 唱的。

Miyoshi 在去年八月過身，享年 78 歲，她曾在 Rodgers & Hammerstein 的花鼓歌 (Flower Drum Song) 百老匯舞臺劇飾演 Mei Li 一角，而 Pat Suzuki 扮演 Linda Low 一角，後來這劇被搬上銀幕，改由關南絲 (Nancy Kwan) 演 Linda Low，但是如要我選擇聽好的歌曲，我還是喜歡聽原裝 Broadway Musical 的版本。劇中的幾首名曲是百聽不厭的：A hundred million miracles; You are beautiful; I enjoy being a girl; Choy suey; Love look away 等等。至於為什麼荷李活要找幾位日本人包括男主角 (由 James Shigeta 飾演) 來扮演中國人，真是不得而知，大概那時代的中國影星當中，找不到會能歌善舞的吧！
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