Tennis, anyone?

A particularly good photo of me.



Now I know a lot of you think that we "Hollywood Types" just party and drink and dance all night, but we do enjoy a lot of others things, too! Like swimming, and playing golf, and, oh lots of things one could call "exercising", I guess. Afterall, we have to stay in "tip top" shape or chubby Mr. Mayer gets very huffy puffy!

Now the sport I particulary enjoy watching is tennis. Of course, there's a big "to do" about some sort of "open thing" in Australia or something like that, but it's just WAY too far away for me to hop on a plane and fly to AND still be back for my filming of "Red Dust" with Clarkie, and Clarkie said that if I were to ever show up late for work again, why he just wouldn't know what to do with me!
Me with Clarkie wondering "Will this boring, boring work day never end?"

Well, if you can't join 'em, beat 'em, I always say! So I decided to throw a party! I mean, uh, a tennis event... that's right...to exercise and stay in shape!

Don't I look pretty?

All of my friends from all over just couldn't wait to come! Ginger packed her things and returned early from her planned "boring and going nowhere" cruise. She knew the real fun was happening at my place!


We had a particularly cute ball boy -- Louise Brooks's younger brother! A real doll!
He was cute, but rather on the short side, and if there's one thing I've learned from life, it's that a small man isn't my kind of partner!
Ava Gardner couldn't hold back her excitement once she met "Brooksie" and had a bit of a hard time keeping her eyes on the ball!!

Bob came, but I can never tell if he likes watching or being watched more!

Of course, there were other men there, too, but I have to admit, I was mighty disappointed in the ones that came to play a serious game of tennis! People like Ray Milland and Ronnie Coleman not only wanted to play by the rules, they wanted to keep score! Talk about a drag!


Friends like Carole pretended that it was all just fun and games, but how many women do you know come to a party wearing a visor?

And whose idea was it anyway to invite Katie? Sure wasn't mine, I can tell you that! She can be so competitive at times, always wearing those pants of hers and insisting that I should too, and I find it all a lot of hooey! I tried to help her enjoy herself and get into the spirit of things by offering her some cocktails, but she just kept waving me off, telling me to get off the court. And it's my own court!!! Well!!!
After about 40 minutes in the hot sun, poor Ginger was getting to feel a bit worse for wear. She kept calling out to Brooksie, "Hey, kitty, kitty", insisting that she needed more tennis balls thrown her way! I think teetotalers must be particularly susceptible to sunstroke!

Norma was there, too, demonstrating that just because she may be "queen" of the MGM lot, she ought to be queen on my tennis court! A bit overdoing it, I think! Ronnie wasn't impressed and said that her technique was "highly irregular"!

Well, I can top that!

All in all, it was a great tennis tournament. But I did learn something. It is sure a lot more fun watching men play tennis than playing with the likes of Ray and Ronnie! I like seeing male athletes work really hard, all that running around, so sweaty and dedicated to their sport. It's very inspiring.


Oh, and this is what was going on "Down Under" at that big open I was telling you about! I love watching such a dedicated tennis player as Rafael Nadal, don't you? I wonder if he gets enough vacation time...hmm.....all work and no play just isn't the way to live, I say!




Rafael Nadal January 17th, 2009 Interview

Q. You've talked about the lack of matches in the buildup to the Australian Open. Are you, like Federer, you'd like to see it moved to February?

RAFAEL NADAL: Is a very good option, yeah. I would love have the first Grand Slam of the season a little bit later, yeah.

Q. Do you think that's a majority view of the players? Do you think a lot of the players would like to play this tournament a little bit later?

RAFAEL NADAL: I can't talk for rest of the players, but I think, yes. I think so. I think the feeling for everybody is the same: you start the season and after one week you are playing one of the most important tournaments of the season.
But this was like this for a long time. If this can change, I think gonna be perfect for us. If not, we continuing fight like this.

Q. Roger told us that the chairman of the ATP has visited you, him and Djokovic, spoke to you about new things in the ATP. Did you have any suggestions? Did you want any particular changes in the ATP system?

RAFAEL NADAL: For sure, I have some ideas, but I don't want to talk about this before I speak with the rest of the players. Sorry.

Q. You've been the chaser the last three years behind Roger. Now you are the person that people are going to chase. Does that change anything in your approach, how you look at it?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, probably in three months I asked this question 100 times (smiling). For me, one number doesn't change nothing, no? I was very happy be No. 2. I am very happy, for sure, be No. 1. But every year when I was No. 2, right now I start the season No. 1, every year the season start from zero from everybody, no? That's my feeling. Start the new season, my goal is still the same like before.
I don't know, later you gonna ask me if the pression is different. For me, no, the pression is the same because the goals is still the same. I try to improve my tennis because I still very young. I only have 22. Try to continue be in the top positions and try to continuing win tournaments. That's the three goals.
I have the same goals three years ago, two years ago, one year ago. So doesn't change. Nothing change in my mind. Well, right now for sure was important finish the season with the No. 1 ranking after three years being the No. 2. I am very happy for that. If this give me something, is more calm than more pression, no?


He's got a real cute way of expressing, doesn't he?

Being David Huxley

In his biography, Howard Hawks, the Grey Fox of Hollywood, Todd McCarthy writes of the difficulties experienced in casting the lead male role of Bringing Up Baby stating that the "beleaguered, constantly frustrated scientist David Huxley didn't seem like a very dashing, attractive role on paper..." Several famous actors were offered the role, but refused it.

The Ones Who Wouldn't Be David

Ronald Colman

Robert Montgomery

Fredric March

Ray Milland


Cary Grant had just finished his first comedy, The Awful Truth, and needed to complete a three-picture deal with RKO, but didn't think that he could portray an intellectual effectively (Grant had quit school at the age of 14). Grant got the only directing tip he would need from Howard Hawks. Hawks came up with a simple visual aid for Grant, telling him to keep the "bumbling, bespectacled, always-anxious screen character created by Harold Lloyd in mind."

Harold Lloyd being Harold Lloyd:




A special treat: Harold Lloyd in action.


Cary Grant as Harold Lloyd as David Huxley:




McCarthy continues: "Hepburn and Grant, who with their respective mates at the time, Howard Hughes and Phyllis Brooks, socialized a great deal off the set, were utterly full of beans on the shoot, overflowing with energy and thrilled to be working together. "We wanted it to be as good as it could possibly be," Hepburn said. Nothing was too much trouble. And we were both very early on the set. Howard Hawks was always late, so Cary and I worked out an awful lot of stuff together. We'd make up things to do on the screen..." During one scene, Hepburn accidentally broke the heel of her shoe. Grant whispered to her the line, "I was born on the side of a hill", which she adlibbed as she limped along. Hepburn added, "Cary taught me that the more depressed I looked when I went into a pratfall, the more the audience would laugh."

Ironically, many of Harold Lloyd's own early film personas were greatly influenced by Charlie Chaplin. Lloyd's most famous lasting character, "The Glasses Character" (shown above) is said to have been created after Roach suggested that Harold was too handsome to do comedy.

Films, like people, can be enriched by a knowledge of the past.