A Year with Kate: A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

In which two ingénues are introduced...

A girlish debutante in a white gown floats down the stairs and into her waiting beau's arms. Gracefully, they glide around the dance floor sharing quips and quiet smiles. Thus is the world introduced to Katharine Hepburn in A Bill of Divorcement in 1932. It's a pretty enough entrance, but somehow inauspicious for Kate the Great. It is just so entirely Movie Ingénue Ordinary. The girl floating down the stairs could just as easily be Jeanette McDonald or Joan Bennett. Considering who Katharine Hepburn was and who she became, one would expect her to come striding into the room like a Greek goddess. Katharine Hepburn would make many more striking and characteristic entrances later, so for now we'll settle for this beautiful-if-ephemeral debut of the ingénue, and proceed with my own introduction.

My name is Anne Marie, and Katharine Hepburn is my idol. The first movie I ever saw her in was The Philadelphia Story. Kate was powerful and witty. She wore pants and still looked glamorous. To an awkward tomboy in middle school, she was everything. This idolatry only intensified as I grew. But recently, while perusing IMDb, I discovered two shocking things: 

1. I have only seen a third of Katharine Hepburn's movies
2. There are exactly 52 of them. 

This presents me with an exciting opportunity: "A Year with Kate"... 

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Film on Film: 5 Classics That Deserve a Film of Their Own

[Editor's Note: Here's abstew with 5 Hollywood on Hollywood pitches. Co-sign!]

It's no secret that one of Film's favorite subject matters is, well, itself. The past two Best Picture winners (The Artist and Argo) have had Hollywood and the art of film-making at their core. And this weekend another film-on-film, Saving Mr. Banks, about Walt Disney's decades long struggle to bring Mary Poppins to the big screen expands across the country in its quest to join those previous films in Oscar glory. The story seems ready-made for the movies - beloved source material, larger-than-life characters/personalities, and, just because it can, a hard-knock-life childhood back-story thrown into the mix. (If the old Hollywood angle doesn't win them over why not add the Academy's other irresistible allure: the biopic. It's two films for the price of one!)

I'm sure many people were unaware what went into trying to convince author P.L.Travers to sign over the rights to Disney and I'm sure even fewer people knew about Travers' back-story. But so many classic films have equally fascinating behind-the-scenes stories that would make just as compelling films. In honor of Saving Mr. Banks, here are 5 other classic films that deserve their own film treatment. So, quiet on the set...Action! 

The Wizard of Oz 

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Potent Quotables - Margo Channing in All About Eve

Anne Marie here, looking forward to the end of the holidays when we can all toast the new year with a martini in hand. Many iconic movie lines seem to have come from characters who were three sheets to the wind, so I'd like to celebrate a few of them. I'll start with one of my favorite divas: Margo Channing, Star of Screen and Scotch. Her poison of the night is martinis very dry; buckets of them in fact. During her party - after "fasten your seat belts" but before the bumpiest part of the night - Margo corners Max to deliver this gem:

 

Bill's thirty-two. He looks thirty-two. He looked it five years ago, he'll look it twenty years from now. I hate men."

Though swimming in her self-pity at the bottom of a martini glass, Margot Channing is still a star.

Stars - even drunk ones - get the best lines, and the true insight and witty delivery speak to both Bette Davis's fantastic acting and Mankiewicz's devilish dialogue.

What's your favorite tipsy movie quote?
Slur it out in the comments, won't you?

Cinema Swimwear: Some Like It Hot

This summer The Film Experience is launching its own swimwear line!

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Click to magnify"The His Her and Her Jazz Age Romper"
★★★★★ - 23 Reviews 

Product Details
Whether you're hiding out from Chicago mobsters after accidentally witnessing a murder (and, really, who hasn't been there - am I right, ladies?!?) or you're just looking to snag that perfect bespectacled millionaire husband on his Florida vacation (Cary Grant impression, optional) these award-winning creations from designer Orry-Kelly are anything but the fuzzy end of the lollipop. No need to remind yourself, "I'm a girl. I'm a girl..." as you're bound to turn heads in this suit as you frolic in the water with your all-girl jazz band ensemble. 

Color
Available only in Black with White piping detailing along the neck, sleeve, and bottom. All the looks from this collection were originally supposed to be in color (as stipulated in Miss Monroe's contract) but, trust us when we say that Black and White is much more flattering on all types...

Sizes
The cut is becoming from famously curvaceous to mannishly big in the shoulders and arms. The peplum also hides any areas you wish to disguise from pregnancy to that little something extra between your legs.

Price
Now available for rental from our Florida hotels. Yes, nothing says 'good personal hygene' like a communal bathing suit.

Details & Care
Do beware of your charms as you may find yourself the recipient of a marriage proposal from wealthy older gentlemen. Oh, sure, that may sound perfect - especially when it comes with a diamond bracelet - but you'll have to reveal some very personal details before the honeymoon. 

Regardless of your choice of swimwear, the most important thing to remember is that every girl is beautiful in her own unique way. Regardless if you are a Marilyn:

Or a...eh...Daphne:

Well, nobody's perfect...

Also Available From This Manufacturer 
The Heston Tattered Trunk
Mr Ripley Racing Brief
The Honey Ryder

How Many Biopics is Liz Going To Get?

Late last year Lindsay Lohan did her best Elizabeth Taylor for Liz & Dick on Lifetime though by all accounts her best wasn't very good. Now BBC is getting in on the action with the far more respectable Helena Bonham Carter as the movie star of movie stars. This will be Helena's most challenging role in a good long while, don't you think? [More after the jump...]

Helena as Liz & Liz as Liz; she did love her caftans!

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