spompermayer

"Carnival in Flanders"

This a clever, charming film that depicts the womenfolk of a Flemish village winning over Spanish invaders. The mayor's wife rallies the women to use all their power and resources to seduce the Spaniards--and it works!

There are some very funny moments involving the vigil for the "deceased" mayor (especially when the court midget blackmails him). Most films about the 17th Century are pretty stodgy, but "Carnival" is delight.

I recommend this film.

Mother's Day is this Sunday, and one of my favorite traditions is to curl up in front of the set and watch Faye go on a rampage! Her above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty performance as Joan is sight to behold. The costumes are a spectacle as well.

Everyone has their memorable moments & favorite lines--mine is the part later in the film where Joan stands-in for Christina on the soap opera ("The Cue Cards! Hold 'em up where I can see 'em!" and "It will be GRAAAAAND!").

After seeing this film, you'll never look at a Joan Crawford film the same way. In fact, whenever I see a celeb doing a 'heartwarming' family promo, I always wonder what goes on after the cameras are turned off.

An uncanny thing about Joan & Faye is that their careers have taken similar paths--both made film-bombs in their later years. So one has to ask, where does Joan Crawford start and Faye Dunaway end...?

YOU FIGURE IT OUT!

I was hoping this film would have the sardonic humor of 'Smile' - a film that parodied beauty pageants. No such luck! The movie quickly goes downhill after the opening cheer sequence. In the first 15 minutes you know who the winning squad is, so rest of it is a bunch of whining and in-fighting among the vapid blondes. The only interesting character is Huntley Ritter's Les, the gay yell king with the gorgeous smile.