Monday, March 23, 2009

Worth Retweeting | Joan Crawford's Birthday



Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; (March 23, 1905 - May 10, 1977) was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford began a campaign of self-publicity and became nationally known as a flapper by the end of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well-received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s she was labeled "box office poison".

After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1955, she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, through her marriage to company president Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors but was forcibly retired in 1973. She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s, when her performances became fewer; after the release of the horror film Trog in 1970, Crawford retired from the screen. Following a public appearance in 1974, after which unflattering photographs were published, Crawford withdrew from public life. She became more and more reclusive until her death in 1977.

Today TCM celebrated Joan's 104th birthady with a marathon of of her movies including Award winning classics and some of her final campy and psycho-biddy flicks. It was a grand day of tweeting for TCManiacs following. Scroll down to see some of my favorite tweets...

Worth Retweeting


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TCManiacs: TCM All Day | Joan Crawford's Birthday | Today We Live | Humoresque | Possessed | Autumn Leaves | The Caretakers | Strait-Jacket | Berserk
about 13 hours ago from HootSuite · Reply · View Tweet


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royaltyisshe64: Also: why is it in any way necessary for Joan Crawford to be wearing a leotard? With buttons on it? And what on earth is up with her hair?
32 minutes ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
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royaltyisshe64: What are you trying to do--ruin my circus? Joan Crawford, Berserk! (1967)
about 1 hour ago from web · Reply · View Tweet
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trixr4kedzz: Love is fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell - Joan Crawford
about 4 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

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aprigliano: Joan Crawford was quite a, um, hard to look at woman. Exotic in the misshapen rare tropical fruit kind of way.
about 6 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

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SusannaCarr: "I need sex for a clear complexion, but I'd rather do it for love." – Joan Crawford, American actress born 23 March 1908
about 6 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

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1082118: Update: Humoresque grinds to a halt when John Garfield and Joan Crawford whine about how rich/poor they are; Oscar Levant is v. funny
about 9 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

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chipsbit: Bithday Quote of the day: If you have an ounce of common sense and one good friend you don't need an analyst. --Joan Crawford
about 10 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

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John_Taylor: "I never go outside unless I look like me the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door."~~Joan Crawford
about 10 hours ago from TweetDeck · Reply · View Tweet

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mypinkcure: no. more. wire. hangers!!!!! joan crawford special on tcm.
about 19 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

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bryarerose: lol. i love it when joan crawford slaps people! haha!
1 day ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

Who is this Adrian?

On my first viewing of Today We Live (1933) I am struck by a unique outfit Joan Crawford wears. During my usual research, I found the following comments on IMDb:
"Although the story takes place in England, during the World War I period (1916), 'Joan Crawford''s hairstyles and clothes are all strictly contemporary, including some very striking Adrian creations that were the very trademark of the time and place when it was being filmed (Hollywood, 1933.)"
"And Joan Crawford's teatime attire by Adrian, breathtaking as it is, is also uncomfortably out of place."
I go on to Wikipedia Humoresque the next movie on my TCM schedule, also starring Joan--its her birthday. I read...
Costumes for Humoresque were designed by Adrian and Bernard Newman.
Hmmm, who is this Adrian? I'm now embarrassed to admit I wasn't aware of this prolific designer.
Adrian Adolph Greenberg (3 March 1903 – 13 September 1959) most widely known as Adrian, was an American costume designer whose most famous costumes were for The Wizard of Oz and other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career, he designed costumes for over 250 films and his screen credits usually read as "Gowns by Adrian".
Turns out Adrian had dressed Joan again--actually again and again. Besides Today We Live (1933) Adrian and Joan also share credits for Grand Hotel (1932), The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), both Possessed (1931) and Possessed (1947), The Women (1939), Humoresque (1946)

Humoresque

Possessed(1947)
The Women

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First, I'll tell you who I am not. I am not affiliated with TCM. I am not some superbot created by software developers. I am not being paid by TCM or anyone else to dedicate my time to tweeting. I am a real flesh and blood human being. I am a real maniac for TCM. I really do keep my TV tuned to TCM 24-7. I created the TCManiacs twitter as a result of my sincere passion for watching Turner Classic Movies.

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