March Madness Preview #3: 1960s "The Girl Next Door"

March Madness Promo Poster #5: Shirley Jones

Repurposing an old favorite ...

My Favorite Performances By An Actress In The Sixties (A Baker's Dozen)

Monty of All Good Things is once again hosting his annual Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament this March. We here at the Monkey are proud to be handling the 1960s bracket.

To get into the mood, here's an idiosyncratic list of my favorite performances by an actress in the 1960s (in alphabetical order):

Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins). I could have also gone with The Americanization of Emily and The Sound of Music. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, indeed!

Doris Day (Lover Come Back). I prefer this pairing with Rock Hudson even over Pillow Talk.

Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffany's). Charade is another personal favorite, but the scene where Holly Golightly crawls through the window into George Peppard's bed puts this over the top.

Sally Ann Howes (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). A doll on a music box.

Carolyn Jones (Television's The Addams Family). Katie-Bar-The-Door and I have modeled our marriage on Carolyn Jones' Morticia and John Astin's Gomez. Without the seven-foot butler.

Shirley Jones (The Music Man). Serves me right for not being musical.

Angela Lansbury (The Manchurian Candidate). Boy, and you think you've got mother issues ...

Shirley MacLaine (The Apartment). Probably my favorite performance from the 1960s.

Misfit Dolly (voiced by Corinne Conley) (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer). Who among is so hard-hearted not to be moved by the tears of a doll? Especially a red-headed doll?

Julie Newmar (recurring role on TV's Batman). Julie Newmar's stoner Catwoman and Frank Gorshin's speed-freak Riddler are two of the greatest comedy villains of all-time.

Paula Prentiss (Man's Favorite Sport?) I'd go fishing with Paula Prentiss any day.

Diana Rigg (On Her Majesty's Secret Service). You should also check her out in Theatre of Blood, a Vincent Price masterpiece.

Tippy Walker (The World Of Henry Orient) One of the most poignant performances of the decade. Read about this great lost talent in The New Yorker (here).

1960s Era Final Match-Up

I'm a big fan of both Diana Rigg and Shirley Jones, but to be honest with you, I didn't know anybody else was and I fully expected Dame Rigg and Mrs. Jones—both seeded seventh in their respective brackets—to lose in the opening round. Instead, each of these Cinderellas has put together a magical run and one of them is advancing to the Final Four.

You'll have to ask Monty at All Good Things, the host of this annual Tournament, but I don't think a lower seeded actress has ever advanced to the Final Four.

Once again, your contestants:

Diana Rigg

Birth Name: Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg
Tourney Bracket and Seeding: "British Invasion" #7
Birth Date: July 30, 1938
Birthplace: Doncaster, Yorkshire, England
Height: 5' 8½"
Academy Awards: none
Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards: best supporting actress of 1969 (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
Three To See: On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Hospital, Theater of Blood
How She Got Here: defeated #2 Julie Christie, 43-19; #6 Angela Lansbury, 44-40; #1 Julie Andrews, 48-21; #1 Catherine Deneuve, 38-13

Shirley Jones

Birth Name: Shirley Mae Jones
Tourney Bracket and Seeding: "Song and Dance" #7
Birth Date: March 31, 1934
Birthplace: Charleroi, Pennsylvania
Height: 5' 5½"
Academy Awards: 1 win (supporting actress, Elmer Gantry)
Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards: best actress of 1962 (comedy/musical) (The Music Man)
Three To See: Carousel, Elmer Gantry, The Music Man
How She Got Here: defeated # 2 Shirley MacLaine, 45-42; #6 Liza Minnelli, 34-18; #1 Natalie Wood, 34-26; #1 Anne Bancroft, 34-18

The matches to determine the winner of each of the other eras should be up some time today. Remember:

Monty of All Good Things is hosting the 1930s bracket—Barbara Stanwyck v. Carole Lombard (click here).
Desiree of Rosalind Russell: Dazzling Star is hosting the 1940s bracket—Bette Davis v. Rita Hayworth (click here).
Kristen of Journey in Classic Film is hosting the 1950s bracket—Doris Day v. Ava Gardner (click here).

The Sweet Sixteen

Round Three of the 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament is complete and the Sweet Sixteen is set. The final results for the 1960s era by bracket:

"Song and Dance"
#7 Shirley Jones defeated #1 Natalie Wood 34-26.
"All-American Girls"
#1 Anne Bancroft 33 defeated #6 Paula Prentiss 33-22
"The British Invasion"
#7 Diana Rigg defeated #1 Julie Andrews 48-21
"A Foreign Affair"
#1 Catherine Deneuve defeated #6 Romy Schneider 34-30

The Round Four pairings by decade:

1930s
Barbara Stanwyck versus Greta Garbo
Carole Lombard versus Joan Blondell

1940s
Bette Davis versus Judy Garland
Rita Hayworth versus Gene Tierney

1950s
Audrey Hepburn versus Doris Day
Grace Kelly versus Ava Gardner

and here at the Monkey, with a couple of #7 seeds against a couple of #1 seeds, the 1960s pairings:

Anne Bancroft versus Shirley Jones

Catherine Deneuve versus Diana Rigg

Voting starts now and runs until Saturday evening. Gentlemen, start your engines!

MILF-y Madness Here At The Monkey

Once again, longshot Shirley Jones is on the verge of upsetting a higher-seeded contestant in the 2013 March Madness Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament. After squeaking past #2 seed Shirley MacLaine and crushing Oscar-winner Liza Minnelli, Mama Partridge (or do you prefer Madame Librarian Marian?) is at the time of this writing tied with last year's 1960 bracket winner, Natalie Wood.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Peel and that married broad from Belle de Jour (Anne Bancroft, Diana Rigg and Catherine Deneuve, respectively) lead their own contests by varying margins.

You've got only a few hours left to vote. Drop whatever you're doing and get to it!

Favorites, Cinderellas—And A Tie

The second round of the 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament is complete—well, almost—and among the winners are a mixture of favorites and Cinderellas. Here at the Monkey, each quarter-final round in the 1960s bracket includes a #1 seed and either a #6 or a #7 seed. The other eras produced similar results, with favorites such as Carole Lombard and Audrey Hepburn and longshots such as Eleanor Powell advancing.

And the 1940s era produced the first tie in the three-year history of the tournament, with Lauren Bacall and Ida Lupino deadlocked after three full days of voting. Desiree is hosting a today-only tiebreaker to determine the winner: "Which performance with co-star Humphrey Bogart did you like more? Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not or Ida Lupino in They Drive By Night." Click here to get your vote on.

Meanwhile, the rest of the tournament continues with round three.

Here at the Monkey, you have four matches to vote on:

"Song and Dance"
#1 Natalie Wood versus #7 Shirley Jones

"All-American Girls"
#1 Anne Bancroft versus #6 Paula Prentiss

"The British Invasion"
#1 Julie Andrews versus #7 Diana Rigg

"A Foreign Affair"
#1 Catherine Deneuve versus #6 Romy Schneider

Monty of All Good Things is hosting the 1930s bracket (click here).
Kristen of Journeys in Classic Film is hosting the 1950s bracket (click here).

Round Two (And More Round One Results)

Okay, round two is up and running—well, for the most part.

Kristen, who is hosting the 1950s bracket over at Journeys in Classic Film, discovered to her chagrin that the "free" site she was using to generate her poll wasn't so free after all. So she's starting part two of round one over again. Click here to recast your votes.

In the meantime, the rest of us are good to go. We'll be running half of round two through Wednesday afternoon, then the rest of round two on Wednesday night through Saturday (Kristen will run all of her round two Wednesday through Saturday). Got that?

In the 1960s bracket, here are your match-ups:

Song and Dance
#1 Natalie Wood versus #4 Ann-Margret

#6 Liza Minnelli versus #7 Shirley Jones

A Foreign Affair
#1 Catherine Deneuve versus #5 Claudia Cardinale

#2 Liv Ullmann versus #6 Romy Schneider

To vote in the other Round Two contests:

Monty of All Good Things is hosting the 1930s bracket (click here).
Desiree of Rosalind Russell: Dazzling Star is hosting the 1940s bracket (click here).

Oh, and for those keeping score at home, these were the results of Round One (Part Two) here at the Monkey:

#1 Julie Andrews def. #8 Margaret Rutherford, 41-14
#7 Diana Rigg def. #2 Julie Christie, 43-19
#6 Angela Lansbury def. #3 Jean Simmons, 44-22
#4 Maggie Smith def. #5 Vanessa Redgrave, 50-16
#1 Anne Bancroft def. #8 Julie Harris, 42-10
#7 Tuesday Weld def. #2 Jane Fonda, 41-24
#6 Paula Prentiss def. #3 Faye Dunaway, 38-25
#4 Patricia Neal def. #5 Geraldine Page, 33-30

First Round Results—And More Voting

One close race and a lot of blowouts so far in round one of the 1960s bracket of the Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament.

Some numbers for you:

In the "Song and Dance" category,
#1 Natalie Wood def. #8 Rita Moreno, 56-20.
#7 Shirley Jones def. #2 Shirley MacLaine, 45-42.
#6 Liza Minnelli def. #3 Barbra Streisand, 50-35.
#4 Ann-Margret def. #5 Diahann Carroll, 58-15.

In the "Foreign Affair" category,
#1 Catherine Deneuve def. #8 Jeanne Moreau, 43-22.
#2 Liv Ullmann def. #7 Lila Kedrova, 54-13.
#6 Romy Schneider def. #3 Anna Karina, 37-21.
#5 Claudia Cardinale def. #4 Giulletta Masina, 38-22.

"The Power of the Partridge," crowed Shirley Jones after her upset of #2 seed Shirley MacLaine. "Too many voters with too many memories of that hot MILF-y television mama—I couldn't lose!"

"I was jinxed from the word go," Shirley MacLaine said bitterly. "The first time I was ever kissed was in a cemetery. We went up there to smoke and somebody said kissing a smoker was like licking an ashtray, so we licked some ashtrays and then—oh, shut up and deal!"

In the other brackets, a couple of notable names went down to defeat—four-time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn and silent film legend Louise Brooks.

"Great minds discuss ideas," Hepburn said afterwards, "average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. And idiots vote for someone other than me! I won four Oscars, I wrote great books, I slept with Spencer Tracy, John Ford and Howard Hughes! And I was a huge star! I mean, I was in Rooster Cogburn and the Lady, dammit! What more do they want?"

Louise Brooks was unavailable for comment, busy doing her own thing and having much too good a time to bother chatting with blog typing sock monkeys.

Part Two of the first round starts now and runs until Saturday night. Remember:

Monty of All Good Things is hosting the 1930s bracket (click here).
Desiree of Rosalind Russell: Dazzling Star is hosting the 1940s bracket (click here).
Kristen of Journeys in Classic Film is hosting the 1950s bracket (click here).
and yours truly is hosting the 1960s bracket (you're already here)!

The Battle Of The Shirleys

A close contest between the two Shirleys. Vote now—before it's too late!!!

Sneak Preview: 2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament: The 1960s Bracket #8

Voting starts March 3rd.

Shirley MacLaine

Birth Name: Shirley MacLean Beaty
Tourney Bracket and Seeding: "Song and Dance" #2
Birth Date: April 24, 1934
Birthplace: Richmond, Virginia
Height: 5' 7"
Academy Awards: 6 nominations, 1 win (actress, Terms of Endearment)
Signature Role: Fran Kubelik (The Apartment)

versus

Shirley Jones

Birth Name: Shirley Mae Jones
Tourney Bracket and Seeding: "Song and Dance" #7
Birth Date: March 31, 1934
Birthplace: Charleroi, Pennsylvania
Height: 5' 5½"
Academy Awards: 1 nomination, 1 win (supporting actress, Elmer Gantry)
Signature Role: Marian Paroo (The Music Man)

with the winner to take on the winner of

Barbra Streisand

Birth Name: Barbara Joan Streisand
Tourney Bracket and Seeding: "Song and Dance" #3
Birth Date: April 24, 1942
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Height: 5' 5"
Academy Awards: 5 nominations, 2 wins (actress, Funny Girl; best song, A Star is Born)
Signature Role: Katie Morosky (The Way We Were)

versus

Liza Minnelli

Birth Name: Liza May Minnelli
Tourney Bracket and Seeding: "Song and Dance" #6
Birth Date: March 12, 1946
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Height: 5' 4"
Academy Awards: 2 nominations, 1 win (actress, Cabaret)
Signature Role: Sally Bowles (Cabaret)

Notes: The battle of the Shirleys; the battle of the Broadway divas.

2013 Favorite Classic Movie Actress Tournament: Shirley Jones

The Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards (1960)

Norman has mother issues. Well, don't we all. At least he can keep his in the fruit cellar.

PICTURE (Drama)
winner: Psycho (prod. Alfred Hitchcock)
nominees: Inherit The Wind (prod. Stanley Kramer); The Magnificent Seven (prod. John Sturges); Peeping Tom (prod. Michael Powell); Spartacus (prod. Edward Lewis)

PICTURE (Comedy/Musical)
winner: The Apartment (prod. Billy Wilder)
nominees: The Little Shop of Horrors (prod. Roger Corman); Ocean's Eleven (prod. Lewis Milestone); Where The Boys Are (prod. Joe Pasternak)

PICTURE (Foreign Language)
winner: À bout de souffle (Breathless) (prod. Georges de Beauregard)
nominees: L’Avventura (prod. Amato Pennasilico); La Dolce Vita (prod. Giuseppe Amato and Angelo Rizzoli); Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring) (prod. Ingmar Bergman and Allan Ekelund); Rocco e i suoi fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers) (prod. Goffredo Lombardo); Le Trou (prod. Serge Silberman); Les yeux sans visage (Eyes Without A Face) (prod. Jules Borkon)

ACTOR (Drama)
winner: Anthony Perkins (Psycho)
nominees: Ralph Bellamy (Sunrise at Campobello); Jean-Paul Belmondo (À bout de souffle a.k.a. Breathless); Yul Brenner (The Magnificent Seven); Kirk Douglas (Spartacus); Albert Finney (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning); Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry); Steve McQueen (The Magnificent Seven); Spencer Tracy (Inherit the Wind)

ACTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Jack Lemmon (The Apartment)
nominees: Jerry Lewis (The Bellboy and Cinderfella); Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita)

ACTRESS (Drama)
winner: Jean Simmons (Elmer Gantry)
nominees: Marie Dubois (Tirez sur le pianiste a.k.a. Shoot The Piano Player); Greer Garson (Sunrise at Campobello); Wendy Hiller (Sons and Lovers); Deborah Kerr (The Sundowners); Sophia Loren (La ciociara a.k.a. Two Women); Jean Seberg (À bout de souffle a.k.a. Breathless); Monica Vitti (L’Avventura)

ACTRESS (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Shirley MacLaine (The Apartment)
nominees: Doris Day (Please Don't Eat The Daisies); Melina Mercouri (Pote tin Kyriaki a.k.a. Never On Sunday); Paula Prentiss (Where The Boys Are)

DIRECTOR (Drama)
winner: Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho)
nominees: Michelangelo Antonioni (L'Avventura); Ingmar Bergman (Jungfrukällan a.k.a. The Virgin Spring); Jean-Luc Godard (À bout de souffle a.k.a. Breathless); John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven)

DIRECTOR (Comedy/Musical)
winner: Billy Wilder (The Apartment)
nominees: Jules Dassin (Pote tin Kyriaki a.k.a. Never On Sunday); Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
winner: Laurence Olivier (Spartacus)
nominees: Charles Bronson (The Magnificent Seven); James Coburn (The Magnificent Seven); Jack Kruschen (The Apartment); Charles Laughton (Spartacus); Fred MacMurray (The Apartment); Peter Ustinov (Spartacus); Renato Salvatori (Rocco e i suoi fratelli a.k.a. Rocco and His Brothers)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
winner: Shirley Jones (Elmer Gantry)
nominees: Anouk Aimée (La Dolce Vita); Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita); Annie Girardot (Rocco e i suoi fratelli a.k.a. Rocco and His Brothers); Glynis Johns (The Sundowners); Janet Leigh (Psycho)

SCREENPLAY
winner: Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond (The Apartment)
nominees: Joseph Stephano, from the novel by Robert Bloch (Psycho); Dalton Trumbo, from the novel by Howard Fast (Spartacus)

SPECIAL AWARDS
Elmer Bernstein (The Magnificent Seven) (Score); Alexandre Trauner and Edward G. Boyle (The Apartment) (Art Direction-Set Decoration); George Tomasini (Psycho) (Film Editing)