The Fly is Here

I saw the original The Fly (1958) film yesterday and was struck by how wonderful it actually was.

Sometimes the Sci-Fi and acting can just be so cheesy, but I thought the wife, played by Patricia Owens, was wonderful.

You have to admit the premise sounds a bit strange and could have been way over the top. A husband creates and matter displacement machine and his matter accidentally gets mixed up with a fly's.

Well, Helene, his wife, spends the film looking for his head which has been been attached to a fly. This could have been extremely poorly, but I was totally enthralled with the film.

Spoiler alert

The ending was super shocking and I was incredibly freaked out by the husband's head on the fly's body about to be eaten by a giant spider. I was super grossed out. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys a fun sci-fi film that is actually very well acted.

Painting Pillars, Fabulous Costumes, and 1951 Meals

Started off the morning watching a film I haven't seen yet, 1954's There's No Business Like Show Business on Fox Movie Channel. I adored the costumes, but I am not a huge Ethel Merman fan (I know, sacrilege). Loved this pink and white number on Marilyn.

Donald O'Connor and Marilyn Monroe

in There's No Business Like Show Business

I've been trying to make a point of doing some cleaning every day, so hopefully my house will be clean soon. Unfortunately I went downstairs and saw the pillar in the picture below. The paint chip just started bothering me so much I had to take care of it. Sometimes I just get so fixated on something, that I have to take care of it right away - regardless of the task I should be working on.

The Offending Pillar

So I ended up spending the afternoon dusting, washing, and painting my basement pillar. I can't imagine a lot of you were doing the same thing :)

So when dinner came around, I was at a loss. I decided to check out a few of my vintage pamphlets. Econo-Meals sounded pretty good since I have been out of work over a month and scrounging for meals, and it turned out the good people at Crisco came to the rescue.

I went with Meal #3, Frankfurters with Barbecue Sauce and Potato Pancakes. This was actually pretty filling by itself, so I didn't make the Cabbage Salad or Spice Cake. This 1951 meal was actually pretty good. Fairly easy, but loads of cleanup.

Barbecued Frankfurters in Famous Dave's Classic Barbecue Sauce

No, I didn't take the time to make my own barbecue sauce (I'm not that ambitious). I just used my personal favorite sauce from my favorite restaurant, Famous Dave's.

My first attempt at Potato Pancakes. Not too bad for a first try, huh?


More cleaning tomorrow, and hopefully I will be able to think of something to make for dinner.

Still Cleaning . . . unfortunately

(Photo 1946 MNHS Online Collection)

Had major issues lately which has kept me from posting. I apologize to my loyal readers. Long and short of it, my house was trashed and I only have my top floor clean plus 1 room on my main level and other issues I'm dealing with. I've been busy trying to recover from it, so please forgive the lack of posts. Had a few bad weeks, with more to come, but I have wonderful people around me who have been helping me stay sane. I luv u all :)

Vintage Book of the Week - The Gracie Allen Murder Case by S.S.Van Dine

(Image from http://warren-william.com/blog/)

I had high hopes for this one because I adore the Philo Vance books and films, but after reading The Gracie Allen Murder Case, I was really annoyed. I know it is sacrilege, but I can't stand Gracie Allen! Her voice and manner are just grating to me. This book fully captured her mannerisms, so I suppose S. S. Van Dine did a good job.

Philo Vance for some reason came across Gracie Allen and her entourage. She basically helped Philo Vance solve the mystery. There were some site antics with her family and George Burns. They weren't yet together at the beginning of the novel, and at the end they got engaged. For some reason they also both worked at a perfume factory.

This was a pretty good book if you love Gracie Allen and mysteries. I love mysteries, but not really Gracie Allen. She seemed like a sweetie, but that voice is just nails on a chalkboard for me. Oh well, on to the next mystery.

What 100 Stars Want in 1956 - Cleo Moore

Lovely Cleo Moore (Oct. 31, 1928 - Oct. 25, 1973), was another "B" movie queen. Obviously stunning, I don't believe I have seen her in any of her films. Known also for her publicity stunts including saying she would run for Louisiana governor. What did the stunning Cleo wish for in 1956?

"Personally, I want to subdivide my acreage in Tarzana in San Fernando Valley and build more houses on it." - That's a first. Sounds like she was really driven in terms of her property. After Cleo retired from the screen, she did go into real estate. This is obviously a sign of that.


"Professionally, I want dramatic roles instead of sex roles" - Unfortunately it sounds like she had mostly sex roles.

"I'd like to see more and more children get out of the cities and into the suburbs where they can enjoy the advantages of country life" - Lots of kids are in the suburbs now, but I don't think they are really living the country life. Too many electronics around.

Crying over Creativity

Thanks to Mark for letting me know about http://guromusic.blogspot.com and http://pakway.blogspot.com. My entire post was taken directly (the Marilyn Monroe 1956 wishes) and put on one of the sites. There is a disclaimer on the bottom, but there is ZERO credit given. It is fine to put up the best of the web, but it would be nice to be credited. I spend a lot of time working on my posts (approximately 2 hours per post). I try to credit those I get help from, that's why a lot of my pictures have the little Life logo on them. I definitely try to tag the source if nothing else. I appreciate everyone who does credit me when they use the content. Thanks for reading my rant and that's the last I will say about the subject.

We Have a Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my 100 Followers Giveaway. I wish I had prizes for everyone. My favorite star is Rita Hayworth, of course, so everyone got it correct. I should have asked a harder question:) So without further ado, the winner is . . .

Baroness Von Vintage!

Baroness, please leave your address in a comment so I may send you your book: Bette Davis, Larger Than Life. (I've got Comment Moderation on and I won't post the comment so no one else will see the address.)

As a side note, have been having some issues at home, but will get back to posting more regularly soon :)

Cheesy Sci-Fi Fest on TCM - It Came From Beneath the Sea

Enjoying some fabulous cheesy sci-fi on TCM tonight. It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955)is a great example of classic 1950s sci-fi

Of course there is some kind of creature that mutated because of some kind of atomic activity. In this case, atomic bomb tests in the ocean by the Navy creates a Giant Octopus. So enjoy the trailer in all it's suction-cup glory!

Looking for my Shamrock Shake

Looking forward to hopefully getting a Shamrock Shake. Otherwise I may have to figure out a way to make one myself!

Whatever happened to Uncle McGrimace? He must have ran off with my Shamrock Shake!

Just a reminder, only 4 more days for the 100 Subscribers Giveaway!

Chronically Vintage Giveaway

One of my favs, Jessica @ Chronically Vintage, is having a giveaway. To celebrate the first anniversary of LA Vintage's online site, they are giving away a $100 shopping spree.

Be sure to check out Chronically Vintage to enter the giveaway and LA Vintage to check out some fab finds like these (my favs).

Just a reminder about my 100 subscribers giveaway - just 7 more days to enter!