tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924668268143757716.post1100697791016189712..comments2024-01-24T15:33:58.720-05:00Comments on A<br> Mythical<br> Monkey<br> writes<br> about<br> the<br> movies: Best Actress Of 1931-32: Norma Shearer (Private Lives)Mythical Monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11330587602682498820noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924668268143757716.post-22481270192481815312011-11-09T23:50:26.555-05:002011-11-09T23:50:26.555-05:00As a big Shearer fan, I disagree with some of what...As a big Shearer fan, I disagree with some of what you said; indeed, I find her later films to be her best since to me her acting ability, and beauty, had both increased over the years. Still, I loved reading this post. As someone who possesses a rather in-depth knowledge of Shearer, I can confirm your suspicions. Yes, she did suffer from insecurity; her smile was a way to conceal the things in her life that bothered her. She was very self-conscious about her face and body. Her husband was slowly dying; she bore him 2 children despite having no maternal instinct, and the pressure of motherhood and its challenges intimidated her greatly, as did the knowledge that she could never be a good mother. Indeed she was so uneasy around her children that she never spent time with them without a nanny or nurse present. Her family's inherited mental illness troubled her, and she lived in daily fear of succumbing--as she tragically would--to bipolar disorder. Most of her later film roles were Irving's doing; again, I loved them. But for those who wonder, she always liked better the 'bad' girls she played in her Pre-Codes. She was, to me, a wonderful actress and a very beautiful woman whose career ended too soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924668268143757716.post-65855689829992602562010-03-22T09:19:31.585-04:002010-03-22T09:19:31.585-04:00By the way, mister muleboy, if you happen to bump ...By the way, mister muleboy, if you happen to bump into Douglas Fairbanks (no reason to think you <i>would</i>, of course, but you never know), you might mention that Eric Beck of the Boston Becks left him a comment way back in the <a href="http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/2009/08/best-supporting-actor-of-1929-30.html" rel="nofollow"> Wallace Beery wins supporting actor</a> essay ...Mythical Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11330587602682498820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924668268143757716.post-8979515489849820352010-03-22T08:56:19.292-04:002010-03-22T08:56:19.292-04:00like taking off your pants at a funeral -- a defin...<i>like taking off your pants at a funeral -- a definite faux pas</i><br /><br /><br /><b><i>Now</i></b> you tell me. . . .mister muleboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14367123802128879318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924668268143757716.post-68423838164673525482010-03-19T09:11:49.424-04:002010-03-19T09:11:49.424-04:00Since you feel the need to defend your choice ...
...<i>Since you feel the need to defend your choice</i> ...<br /><br />Well, in my circle of friends and family, admitting to an affection for Norma Shearer is like taking off your pants at a funeral -- a definite faux pas. But, you know, a man's got to do what a man's got to do.<br /><br />I think you nailed it when you said that Shearer's best performances tended to be in lackluster movies. When, for example, Shearer and Clark Gable are on screen together in <i>A Free Soul</i>, it's a lot of fun to watch. The rest of it, unfortunately, not so much.<br /><br />Conversely, her best movie, <i>The Women</i>, required her to play the thankless role of a woman too good for her own good while Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell get all the good lines and fun business. <i>Private Lives</i> is just about the only time in the sound era where everything lined up for her -- good part, good performance, good movie.Mythical Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11330587602682498820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6924668268143757716.post-90201766401491395932010-03-18T18:12:07.566-04:002010-03-18T18:12:07.566-04:00Since you feel the need to defend your choice, I w...Since you feel the need to defend your choice, I will quote part of my review of The Divorcee, which will go up and soon as I re-watch Big House and Disraeli:<br /><br /><br /><br />When I first started watching the early Academy Award winners, I was struck by Norma Shearer. She seemed to somehow combine sensuality and innocence into one thing and I thought she was the best actress of the early sound films, the one who made the best transition out of the silents, showing that she could act with a face and with a voice. It was such a shame then that her best performances, The Divorcee and A Free Soul, were in films that were so lackluster. Even going back, I don't think as highly of Shearer as I did when I first started watching her films. I still find her to be a true beauty, and she, more than anyone else outside of Garbo, could encompass that early sexuality and still act. She was a far better actress than Clara Bow or Louise Brooks and much better looking than Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn.Erik Beckhttp://nighthawknews.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com