Showbiz History: Addams Family, Husbands and Wives, James Marsden
Friday, September 18, 2020 at 7:00AM 9 random things that happened on this day, September 18th, in showbiz history...
1951 The film adaptation of the Broadway smash A Streetcar Named Desire opens in movie theaters, with all but one of its principal cast intact... the leading role which went to Viven Leigh instead of stage star Jessica Tandy. Leigh would soon win her second Oscar for it.
1964 Goldfinger (one of the very best Bond movies) opens in movie theaters in the UK (though it wouldn't make it to US screens until Christmas time)...
On the same day over in the US, the influential sitcom The Addams Family begins its short-lived two season run on ABC starring Oscar nominee Carolyn Jones as Morticia and future Oscar nominee John Astin as Gomez.
1965 Two classic sitcoms, I Dream of Jeannie and Get Smart start their five season long hit runs on television.
1968 Funny Girl premieres in NYC followed by an immediate theatrical run.
1987 A hugely varied weekend in US movie theaters, the kind we just don't get anymore (and not because of COVID lol) in which moviegoers had abundant choices in genres: Erotic thriller and eventual Best Picture nominee Fatal Attraction was the #1 film, followed in descending order by the Robert Downey Jr/Molly Ringwald comedy The Pick-Up Artist, the horror film Hellraiser, and the crime-ridden high school drama The Principal.
Meanwhile action comedy Stakeout, romantic drama Dirty Dancing, steamy political thriller No Way Out, musical biopic La Bamba, romantic comedy Can't Buy Me Love and steamy crime drama The Big Easy all continued their successful runs in the top ten. (In short a lot of different genres but far hornier than movies are now). The biggest per screen average though went to the limited release opening, Merchant/Ivory's gay drama Maurice starring James Wilby and Hugh Grant who shared the Volpi Cup for Best Actor in Venice. Unlike its immediate predecessor though, A Room With a View, Oscar wasn't very interested giving it only 1 Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design.
1992 Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives arrives in theaters with the press heavily centered around the Mia / Woody / Soon Yi breakup scandal. Also opening that weekend in movie theaters: School Ties with a who's who of then-rising male stars (Fraser, Damon, Affleck, O'Donnell, Hauser, Rapp, Batinkoff, etcetera), Cameron Crowe's romcom Singles, and the comedy Captain Ron. But it was the all star caper Sneakers, released the previous week, that was #1 at the box office with all of the new films settling for the 2-5 on the top ten.
1998 Family cancer drama One True Thing starring Meryl Streep and Renée Zellweger and action comedy Rush Hour starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are the new wide releases in movie theaters.
2011 The Emmys are held and in the last chance for Friday Night Lights, Kyle Chandler finally wins his long overdue Best Actor trophy "clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."
Today's Birthday Suit
Mmmm James Marsden. Happy 47th. What's your favourite Marsden performance?
Other Actors Born Today: Nina Arianda (36), Liv Mjönes (41), Alison Lohman (41), Jason Sudeikis (45), Jada Pinkett Smith (49), Aisha Tyler (50), Christopher Heyerdahl (57), Anna Deavere Smith (70), Beth Grant (71), Frankie Avalon (80); Other Showbiz People Born on this Day: Comedian Billy Eichner (42), Athlete Lance Armstrong (49), Oscar nominatd composer John Powell (57), Director Mark Romanek (61); Gone But Not Forgotten: Icon Greta Garbo (born on this day in 1905), Oscar winning Cinematographer Jack Cardiff (born on this day in 1914), Actor Rossano Brazzi (born on this day in 1916), Actor Jack Warden (born on this day in 1920), Best Supporting Actress nominee Grayson Hall (born on this day in 1922), Comic Actor Fred Willard (born on this day in 1933), Soprano James Gandolfini (born on this day in 1961)
Reader Comments (30)
James Marsden - the most boring screen presence in the history of movies?
i was going to name one of james marsden's better known comedic performances but then i remembered him making out with jesse bradford so 'heights' gets my vote
Looking at the birthdays ... whatever happened to Nina Arianda? She had such a (n admittedly very brief) "moment" a few years back.
Favorite Marsden: Enchanted. 🥪☕
I think he's pretty great in Westworld, but Marsden was incredible in Enchanted
The best of me, Hairspray, the Notebook, Unchanted and tv series Second Noah are my favorite performances of James Marsden :)
I love Marsden's 2 breakout 2007 performances, Enchanted and Hairspray, he was soooo good in both. Also I think he is perfect in The D Train. He has the charisma, beauty, acting chops and comedic timing of an old Hollywood leading man.
That take on 1987 - thank you! Well illustrates how much things have changed. For the worse.
And huh re: Maurice and awards. Any idea why? The subject mattert? Because otherwise, well that was the era of Room With a View and Howards End and Remains of the Day, even Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, and I can see how the Academy would respond more to those than Maurice, but still - Maurice is very good.
Thanks for including Batinkoff in that list. He was my favorite back then (although sure, even that early it was clear Damon should have quite a career ahead of him).
I kind of think Hairspray features the perfect Marsden performance (he's excellent and the role suits him perfectly), but as to favorite: 1) Heights, 2) Bachelorette, 3) Sugar & Spice. Looking forward to him in The Stand.
Favorite Marsden: Enchanted. 🥪☕
I was in college that weekend in 1987 (ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!), and a mixed group of us went to "Fatal Attraction" before the party.
After the movie, we went back to the dorms to further discuss the movie rather than go to the party. It affected us. Great debate night on the sexual politics of that movie. Still wish Glenn had won for this, in a great lineup.
That listing of '87 films made me remember being an avid moviegoer at the time with barely enough time to see everything that was playing that interested me. Now, even pre-covid there were maybe two films in a month, and sometimes not even that many, that I'd be intrigued by and even then I might not make the effort to get to them. Sad that variety has become so limited.
I think Jessica Tandy was a fantastic actress and I'm sure she was marvelous on stage in Streetcar but I can't imagine anyone besting Vivien Leigh's Blanche on film.
Favorite Marsden performance is probably Heights but his work in both Enchanted and Hairspray is looser than anything else I've ever seen him do. The genre seems to allow him to display a relaxed charm that isn't usually present.
Those 1987, 1992, and 1998 (well, One True Thing, at least) movies are a walk down memory lane.
I watched Maurice for the first time recently. It is a very good film, but not quite as good as the best Merchant-Ivory films because Hugh Grant is so much more charismatic than the lead actor. When Grant leaves the film, you feel a major vacuum and wish he'd return.
I'll join the chorus praising Marsden in Enchanted.
He also is great in The Notebook.
Husbands and Wives: Woody Allen's best film ever.
And I didn't forget Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters.
It's hard to pick just one Marsden - he's so dependable - I kind of love him in everything.
James Marsden so often gets cast as a romantic partner for the lead female role but has to compete with other men (Notebook, Enchanted,the Xmen series) or a cause in the case of Westworld. He rarely gets the girl in the end.
James Marsden I think is awesome. He was a hoot in Enchanted. He just played the buffoon prince charming perfectly. And also props to Timothy Spall as his devious aide who goes into an existential crisis.
Vivien Leigh was the only person not in the Broadway cast and apparently Kazan used this fact to make her seem isolated from the cast to influence her performance.
Marseden's best performance is his chest and jaw line.
Can everyone agree that Mia Farrow is absolutely at her best in Husbands and Wives,why no 92 sympathy nomination,she's never been nominated for anything.
Mark -- alas I cannot agree. I think Farrow is brilliant in several Woody Allen movies but I'd argue that is one of her lesser performances. She's good in it sure, but it doesn't feel special. Judy Davis runs away with that movie and leaves everyone else in the dust.
Wait, what? Oh, the '80s...
That fifth slot should have gone to Maurice, Full Metal Jacket, Cry Freedom, Dirty Dancing, Radio Days or The Princess Bride. (Oh, the '80s...)
Favorite Marsdens: The D Train, Dead to Me season 2.
@markgordonuk: Mia is even better in The Purple Rose of Cairo and Alice.
NATHANIEL R
Exactly. Judy Davis is the film. I'm still irritated she didn't win.
Apparently Judy Davis had developed somewhat of an unpopular reputation among some peers by that point. Sluizer hated her so much, he contacted Woody Allen and asked him how he could even deal with her. He said he just gave her the papers and never talked to her again. Some people even blame her for River Phoenix' state of mind before his death, which is pretty absurd. It's no wonder she couldn't nab that deserved Oscar.
working stiff -- ooh hard disagree. I think Fatal Attraction is better than most of those movies. It's like *the* erotic thriller of the 80s, after BODY HEAT of course
Mia's 5 best performances in my mind:
1) Rosemary's Baby
2) Purple Rose of Cairo
3) Alice
4) Broadway Danny Rose
5) Husbands and Wives
I agree that Judy Davis walks away with Husbands and Wives.
My top 5 Mia performances would be:
1. Rosemary's Baby
2. Purple Rose of Cairo
3. Radio Days
4. Widow's Peak
5. Alice
@ Nathaniel: well, we agree on Mia. ;-)
It's rare that my tastes align with traditional Academy voters, but like them I don't see Body Heat, The Last Seduction or any other pulpy, camp(-adjacent) erotic thriller as Best Picture material. Which is why I just can't take Fatal Attraction seriously as an Oscar nominee. Snobby genre bias, I know.
Perfectly acceptable: Phantom Thread, Rebecca, The Letter, even Mildred Pierce.
Judy Davis gives one of my favorite film performances ever in H&W. Just tremendous.
Was anyone ever hotter on film than Brando in Streetcar?
I know Judy Davis already said in one interview that she thought she overacted in Husbands & Wives. For me, she totally nailed the neurosis and minute emotional fluctuations of Sally so well -- I met a few women like that. I'll watch her in anything but obviously have not kept up since The Dressmaker and other films of hers in the past.
Birthday greetings to Mark Romanek who directed one of my fave films: Never Let Me Go.
I have nothing substantial to contribute for James Marsden, except that he danced and sang really well in Hairspray. He should consider taking more singing roles on films and stage in the future. He can play the sad and tragic life of saloon singer David Allyn.
"Hey, Stella!", "I will not be ignored, Dan", "I vant to be alone." Such wonderful memories.
¡Sacrilegio! I don’t quite enjoy La Leigh in ASND. Don’t get me wrong. I know she’s excellent and deserved the O. The performance is flawless in what she (and the director I guess) decided to do. Not a wrong note. But the wrong composition. I don’t like her take on the character: too fragile and crazy from the beginning. Not a trace of the formidable woman who decided to fuck all those boys in such a place. Not a great adversary for the abominable Stanley. But of course, that’s my take on the character. Anyway, for me, the movie is BRANDO, BRANDO, BRANDO. (And Tennessee.). One of the greatest piece of acting ever. Let me iterate: She’s excellent and deserves all the accolades. I have seen all her movies, not that many, and I am a fan. I still feel the same ache I felt when I heard she had died.