xoxoxo e: Ann-Marget

Friday, December 07, 2018

favorite movie #102 - holiday edition: pocketful of miracles

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #102 - Pocketful of Miracles (1961) - Superstitious bootlegger Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) won't make a move without the good luck apples he gets from street person Apple Annie (Bette Davis). But Annie has gone off the rails — her young daughter Louise (Ann-Margret, in her debut role), who has been educated abroad, is engaged and coming to the U.S. to meet her mother for the first time. And Louise thinks her mother is a socialite, Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. The Dude can't do business without Annie, and Annie can'r sell apples when she's on a bender. The Dude's girlfriend Queenie (Hope Lange) tries to fix up Annie while his right-hand man Joy Boy (Peter Falk) tries to salvage his business — and steals the movie. It's all very silly and sentimental and lots of fun. Fun fact: Director Frank Capra had filmed the story once before, as Lady for a Day, in 1933.

Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) and Joy Boy (Peter Falk) pick up one of Annie's (Bette Davis) apples

Annie tries to pick up her letter from Louise at a fancy hotel

Queenie's nightclub act

Hope Lange as Queenie

Peter Falk as Joy Boy

The dude still needs Annie's apples

Ann-Margret as Louise

Holiday connection: Louise's visit takes place during the Christmas season.

Monday, August 09, 2010

i know it's elvis week, but . . .

. . . I have to share my favorite number from my favorite Elvis movie, Viva Las Vegas—featuring Ann-Marget singing "Baby Blue Racing Car."

Movies like this were very formative for me growing up. They were filmed while I was just an infant, some even before I was born, but became television movie staples when I was an older kid.

Ann-Marget was adorable, she could sing and dance, and at the end of the movie she drove off in the sunset with Elvis. She wasn't just a submissive Bond girl, the other sixties female hottie prototype that was on television when I was first thinking about boys and how to look sexy. She was sassy and spunky and an entertainer in her own right.

Of course at the end of the movie it's hard to beat Elvis singing the title song, but she gave Elvis a run for his money. It's one of the few Elvis vehicles where the female lead actually gets to lead, which is why it's my favorite Elvis movie, and that's due to the charm and talent of Ann-Marget.