BLOGATHON ANNOUNCEMENT

We classic film fans all have our favorite screen teams: Tracy and Hepburn, Fred and Ginger, Powell and Loy. You name ‘em, we got ‘em. But what about that most symbiotic of all relationships in motion pictures – The Director and His Star?

     

 I know, I know. These are poor examples:

  

We’ve seen that relationship go horribly wrong funny, or horribly wrong tragic. But I’m going to look at the bright side of things. For my first-ever blogathon hosting duties, I’d like to explore the times this relationship works wonderfully well. And when it works, it works because of the two-way street both parties travel…learning from each other and helping each other grow in their craft. So I invite bloggers near and far, hither and yon, and over hill and dale to join me in support of “SYMBIOTIC COLLABORATIONS.”

Everyone within an eyeball of my post who has a blog, is a blogathon veteran and knows the drill. But as a good director, I think I’ve got to set some guidelines:

• Check out my banners below ( which, of course, you may use ). Here you’ll get an idea of the Star-Director collaborations I’m talking about. These teams have made three or more films together so I am looking for posts about teams who’ve made at the very least THREE films. ( The third time’s a charm they say, and I’ll make only one exception: for Pabst and Brooks ).

• The collaboration can be for any genre ( drama, musical, western etc. ) or from any country ( I’m thinking Bergman, Lean, Kurosawa etc. ). No I’m not talking about directors working with their favorite cinematographers. I want to see the connection between who’s in front and who’s behind that camera. Now, what if the star is not your average ‘star above the title’ celebrity…but your dyed-in-the-wool, tried-and-true supporting player? Fine with me, as long as they worked together in three or more films. Boy, I can feel the shorthand now between John Ford and Ward Bond as I type.

• What if a bunch of you want to deal with Hitchcock. After all, he made four movies with Cary Grant and four movies with James Stewart. Since I don’t want any duplicates ( pssst, I don’t want any duplicates ), I wouldn’t want eight of you to all jump on “Notorious” or “Rear Window” or any one film by Hitch. He’s a big man….spread him around. You can all share collaborative teams, but only one film per team.

• This is where first come, first serve fairly comes into play, don’cha think? In the Comments section below, tell me which collaborative team and their film you’d like to write about. Here is where my secretarial skills of thirty-four years kicks in, even though I’m retired. Give me your name, your blog’s name and your blog’s URL. I’ll start logging you in and making everything nice and neat and organized.

There are so many star-director collaborations to choose from ( Capra-Stanwyck / Cukor-Kate / Wyler-Davis / Boetticher-Scott / Mann-Stewart / Sturges-Demarest and many many more ) so I hope your cups runneth over with choices. January is a ways away. We’ll be finished with all the holidays by then, but you know how time tends to slip away from us. I hope you all might find this a good topic to think about and write about. Yes, your guest posters are welcomed to join as long as they follow the guidelines.

Don’t mind me if I’m a bit of a noodge in putting out this announcement a couple of times before the actual blogathon. I look forward to hearing from all who want to join in. Now…let me find out exactly what a ‘dale’ is.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Banners are hot – linked:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

* * * * * * * * * * * *

* * * * * * * * * * * *

 

This list might help, though it’s only sprinkled with a few collaborations from the classic era. It might give you more ideas.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Please check back here for the roster to be updated. Thanks!

               BLOGS                                                                    TOPICS

• CineMaven’s Essays from the Couch ……….  Raoul Walsh & Ida Lupino
• Basement Tan  ………………………………..  Stanley Kramer & Spencer Tracy
• Blog of the Darned …………………………… Wilder & Holden Collaboration
• BNoir Detour ………………………………….. “Keeper of the Flame” ( 1943 )
• Brian Camp’s Film and Anime Blog   …….  Roy Rogers & William Witney
• Caftan Woman ………………………………..  David Butler & Bing Crosby 
• Cary Grant Won’t Eat You ……………… Preston Sturges & Joel McCrea
• Christy’s Inkwells  …………………………….. John Cassavetes & Gena Rowlands
• Cinema Cities ………………………………… “Notorious” ( 1946 )
• Cinema Crossroads …………………………. Frank Capra & Jean Arthur
• Cinematic Scribblings ………………………. François Truffaut & Jean-Pierre Léaud
• Crimson Kimono………………………………. Preminger & Tierney – “Laura”
• Critica Retrô ………………………………….. D. W. Griffith & Lillian Gish 
• Defiant Success ………………………………..Hitchcock & Grace Kelly Collaboration
• F For Films …………………………………… Akira Kurosawa & Tatsuya Nakadai
• Film Critique   …………………   Yasujiro Ozu & Setsuko Hara Collaboration
• Film Vulture  …………………………………… Akira Kurosawa & Toshiro Mifune
• Girls Do Films …………………………………. Elia Kazan & Marlon Brando 
• Laura’s Miscellaneous Musing …………….. “Scarlet Street” ( 1945 )
• Le Mot du Cinephiliaque …………………….  Akira Kurosawa & Takashi Shimura
• Love Letters to Old Hollywood ………………. Charles Walters & Esther Williams
• Make Mine Criterion!  …………………..  David Niven and Powell & Pressburger
• Meredy.com ………………………………….. “All That Heaven Allows” ( 1955 )
• Midnite Drive-In, The …………………… Howard Hawks & John Wayne
• Motion Pictures, The ……………………………… William Wyler & Audrey Hepburn
• Movie Classics ……………………………….. Raoul Walsh & James Cagney
• Movies Silently ………………………………..  “The Unknown” ( 1927 )
• Now Voyaging ……………………………….. C.B. DeMille & Gloria Swanson
• Old Hollywood Films …………………………  Josef von Sternberg & Dietrich
• Once Upon A Screen ………………………… Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon 
• Outspoken & Freckled ………………………. “Stagecoach” ( 1939 )
• Phyllis Loves Movies  ………………………… W.S. Van Dyke & Powell / Loy
• Pop Culture Pundit  ………………………….. “Meet Me in St. Louis” ( 1944 )
• Portraits by Jenni  ……………………………..  John Ford & John Wayne
• Second Sight Cinema ……………………….. John Huston &  Humphrey Bogart
• Serendipitous Anachronisms ……………….. Ed Wood & Bela Lugosi Collaboration
• Silver Scenes  …………………………….. Henry Koster & James Stewart
• Silver Screenings …………………………….. “The Letter” ( 1940 )
• Speakeasy ……………………………………. “Kansas City Confidential” ( 1952 )
• Spontaneous Whimsy …………………….. Howard Hawks & Cary Grant
• Stop Button …………………………………..  “Penthouse” ( 1933 )
• Wonderful World of Cinema ……………  Fritz Lang & Joan Bennett
• Wolffian Classics Movies Digest …………….. Mark Sandrich & Astaire / Rogers

Here is my second announcement for this blogathon——> Part Deux!

(  H O M E  )

___________________________________________________________________________