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Janet Leigh passed away...
Hey folks, Harry here... I'm in the middle of finishing my DVD column for the month of October (to appear later tonight) - but realized before getting some rest, that Janet Leigh was just announced as having passed away.
While PSYCHO is a great movie, I've always been annoyed that that was the movie that so many most knew her from. That bit of screaming to Herrmann, Hitch's camera and that blade. But PSYCHO isn't anywhere near my favorite Janet Leigh film.
My fave is Richard Fleischer's THE VIKINGS alongside Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis and Ernest Borgnine (who just owns all in that flick!) She's so lovely, so beautiful. The scene where Borgnine gives her to his one-eyed son, and Kirk begins to bellow on his way to "TAKE" her... the fear, yet the resolute nature she has of not giving him what he wants. He wants to be clawed, resisted and he wants to fight her as much as to bed her. He sees her as his to be broken to his will, but she saps his will to mount. A fantastic scene.
My next fave Janet Leigh film also has a creepy "TAKE" scene. Janet played strong women in terrible situations, quite often in her career, but in TOUCH OF EVIL - she's a part of - given my soberness, given my mood, what on somedays I call Welles' best film. TOUCH OF EVIL is just wondrous. She plays the American wife, to her Mexican D.A. husband, played by famed Latino, Charlton Heston. I think his real name was Carlos Del Gato. From their initial scenes to that fateful motel with Dennis Weaver playing an unhinged scared as all hell manager type... Just great.
Then there's Anthony Mann's THE NAKED SPUR where Jimmy Stewart plays an open sore of a man with teeth and claws, determined to get what's his no matter who must pay. Janet plays a tomboyish gal that's caught up in the midst of his drama, but don't think for a second that buys her an ounce of sympathy. Stewart isn't seeing invisible rabbits or earning angels' their wings on this watch. He's a killer, one out of the civil war, one that expected to die, and comes back to nothing, but pain and desperation. Robert Ryan is great here too. Just an amazing film!
MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (the real one) - Just one of the great films. What is Janet doing in this film? Is she on the level, is she on the hammer and sickle side? Along with so much of this film, the level of perceived reality by the characters, as well as the audience just swirls, and I love it. Fits PERFECTLY into the time the story was told from. That paranoia, well, it exists today, and the idea of people on our street, that we've known being the enemy that will kill people on command... well, this film is everybit as vital as the day it came out. Great work from Janet again!
George Pal's HOUDINI -- By no means a "greater" film than PSYCHO - I just happen to love it more. Tony Curtis' HOUDINI and her Beth may not be great characters or even closely resembling anything close to the reality of Harry Houdini. But I love George Pal's reimagining of the history and their love. It's sappy and filled with maple syrup, but damn if it isn't sweet, and I don't want Tony to go the way he goes... I mean, it ain't right. A great double feature for MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID btw. (another of my fave flicks.)
Then there is PRINCE VALIANT - God I love this silly wondrous movie. From the scenes of her trying to fend off the advances of Sterling Hayden's astonishingly great Sir Gawain.... and James Mason's equally great Sir Brack... To resisting then falling for this heathen viking played by Robert Wagner, known to the world as PRINCE VALIANT. I LOVE IT!!! I mean, you've got Victor McLaglen playing a viking named Boltar.... Isn't that all you need? OH - and for eye candy competition there was Debra Paget, but Debra... I love ya, but Henry Hathaway shot Janet Leigh's Princess Aleta to be the most lovely luminescent being this side of Lana Turner in THE THREE MUSKETEERS. I've seen this film countless times, a childhood fave that I've had on video since 1978. And on 16mm since 1995.
Then there is BYE BYE BIRDIE... now, that's totally Ann-Margret's film, but when EVERYTHING'S ROSIE cha cha cha... and she steals it. She's hilarious and wonderful in the film, and so gracious on screen.
PSYCHO is a great and an important and an iconic role for Janet Leigh, but at least in my household, she'll be remembered for quite a bit more... especially for Kathy Williams in Antonio Bay... God, I love THE FOG... She'll be missed.
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You were a great actress and beautiful person.
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I watched The Vikings just 2 weeks ago and loved her performance. Thank you, Harry, for not just focusing on her role in Psycho, but hitting all the highpoints in her diverse career, including The Manchurian Candidate. RIP Janet.
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The Fog is indeed awesome. "Sandy, you're the only person I know who can make "yes, ma'am" sound like "screw you." "
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But heck , Naomi Watts is checking her upskirt!!!!
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Great actress, great legacy...it's a shame to see it all come to an end. On another note, though I need to ask someone about this sentence: "she's a part of given my soberness, given my mood, what on somedays I call Welles best film." What the hell does that mean? Is that some sort of code language? Is Harry a Windtalker or something? Seriously, someone help me out.
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I never got tired of watching Janet Leigh on screen - no matter what she was in, she just seemed to glow. My favorite scene of hers in The Vikings is when she rowing that boat with Tony Curtis and he rips the back of her dress - her reaction is great. And she certainly had a good sense of humor about herself, judging by all the times she had to talk about the most famous and horrifying scene in film history. She is another reason why it's a blessing to have movies exist, so we can watch her in her better days. May flights of angels sing thee to your rest, Ms. Leigh - and thanks for giving us Jamie Lee!
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Among all those old beautiful, resilient B&W scream queens of my earliest recall. Sigh... Hard to believe they're almost all gone now. Harder still to believe how few great actresses have risen to take their place. Jamie Lee Curtis will always be remembered, of course (Janet's blood couldn't have hurt!), but except for Nicole Kidman's surprisingly great turn in THE OTHERS and Naomi Watts (shedding the embarrassment of a CHILDREN OF THE CORN sequel) to blow my mind in THE RING, who else can be considered a modern horror heroine? Certainly there are no more "scream queens," exclusive in our minds to the genre. The world has moved on. RIP, Janet.
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And I have no one to hug me.
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Well, I think tonight I'll pop in MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE into the DVD player, uncork a bottle of wine and toast on the greats. Rest In Peace. (BTW- Which film is that second picture from?)
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This is odd, for years I've had mounted posters from Vertigo & Psycho on the wall where I can see them from my desk and Janet Leigh smiles over at me even as I type this. Although I agree she will always be remembered for "Psycho", my favorite Janet Leigh momens were in Halloween h20, when Jamie Lee makes an admonishing remark about being mothered by her, and the moment she approaches her car - the same one used in Psycho 40 years later and a whisper from Hermann's score can be heard in the background.
Rest in Peace, Miss Leigh. You are a true Hollywood legend. -
Harry was right about Touch of Evil. She had that perfet noir look, too bad she wasn' in more of them. I hated her manchurian candidate performane though, that scene on the train with sinatra just goes on and on and sucks the life out of the film. the movie is going great up to that point then grinds to halt. Other than that she was great. RIP.
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Oct 04, 2004 11:27:38 AM CDT
By the way, that "leather & lace" gunslinger photo is um..intere
by otter
Is that a publicity shot for one of her movies??
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A fan says farewell.
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JET PILOT may be ludicrous crap, but see it for teenaged Leigh lit by Sternberg. Whoosh! And her closeups in SCARAMOUCHE just might be the greatest use of Technicolor ever. Very sad to see her go-- she had guts and glory.
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It should speak volumes about her career and her importance in the history of cinema when people immediately think of her famous moment in
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She was good in movies other than "Psycho," but that shower scene might just be the most famous scene in movie history to date, and Janet Leigh spent decades basking in the glory of her performance in that scene and that movie. Leigh was Oscar-nominated for playing Marion Crane, shower victim, and she was good in that movie way before she got in the shower -- remember her then-daring opening scene with John Gavin in the hotel room, wearing her undies? "Touch of Evil," "Psycho" and "The Manchurian Candidate" are her "trilogy of terror," three great thrillers in which she gave three great performances (unmatched by Anne Heche and Kimberly Elise in the remakes), but yeah, there are all those other movies, too. Marion Crane died 44 years ago, horribly and far too young. Janet Leigh died this week, peacefully, with her husband and daughters by her side, and still far too young. RIP.
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...when they were both in physical therapy together a few years ago. She said Janet was one of the most genuinely nice people she met during her recovery (from a bad auto accident). There was not an ounce of movie star pretention to her. Even though they only knew each other for a short while, they managed to form a special bond that my wife feels to this day.
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The star of my second favorite horror movie Psycho and mother of the star of my favorite Halloween. She will be missed.
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Oct 04, 2004 2:44:43 PM CDT
A beautiful and iconic actress yet seemed to have no vanity.
by fatal discharge
She was so down-to-earth and you can also feel that in how her daughter Jamie-Lee turned out especially in the comedic roles where she never takes herself seriously to glorious effect. Janet had undying beauty too and wasn't botoxed into a frozen mask uncapable of showing emotion like many of today's aging actresses are unfortunately going for. Touch Of Evil, Psycho, The Manchurian Candidate are all in a hallowed place and she has gone to another.
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One more of the greats moves on. At least she got to see how many of her films were to be regarded as masterpieces. Rest in peace, Janet.
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Just watch her interview on the Psycho DVD. What a classy woman. She loved life, never resented any of the success her talent brought her, and just seemed to be a genuinely beautiful person. And she did produce a daughter who is one of the best actresses of her own generation. What a wonderful life. We should all be so lucky. Rest in peace, Ms. Leigh. You were a great one.
And Chicken George, you nearly made me cry. Beautiful words, and you even dropped the all caps for the moment. Your words, compared to The Sucks Guy's words, truly shows who is the better man here. -
The Black Shield of Falworth!
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RIP Janet Leigh.
I've only ever seen her in Psycho, so perhaps I should start renting these pther films.
P.S. You can count Neve Campbell as a modern screamqueen. -
I met her briefly once when her book on the making of Psycho came out about 10 years ago. She was very sweet and radiant, even then in her late 60s.
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For those who don't know, Borgnine played Kirk's father in that one even though he's actually a year *younger than Kirk. The others are all great milestones from her career as well, and don't forget that classy Columbo episode she did where she was the aging movie star (the one and only murderer Columbo *didn't catch at the end). Farewell, Janet.
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Even in the movie the Fog she had on this nice tight sweater and.....well R.I.P lovely lady.
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Ah man this sucks. RIP Janet Leigh. Your in 3 of my all time faves : Psycho, Manchurian Candidate, and Touch of Evil. You even passed the scream teen gene on to daugher Jamie Lee, and got to costar with her in the Fog (another great flick) and H20. Not to mention you got a 12 year old boy a bit too excited watching Psycho in that killer bullet bra. Seeing as I saw that in the 80's , it shows that beauty isn't only generational but can transcend time. Your right up there with Grace Kelly in my book.
Another loss in a big year of losses, but one that shouldn't be overlooked.
(I'd also like to mention I saw the Psycho remake on Scifi the othernight and want to revise my Gus Van Sant is a sad hack campaign. Just the audacity of copying and destroying a work bt the BEST director in film and is shameful. And Anne Heche ain't no Janet Leigh.)
RIP janet you will be missed. -
Not one of Ms. Leigh's most memoerable and demanding roles (she plays Van Heflin's June Cleaver suburbanite wife) but a very underrated and underseen noir. Robert Ryan plays one of his greatest anti-hero roles. Fred Zinnemann directed it as a very fascinating critique on the 50's postwar myth of suburban Americana.
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Oct 05, 2004 3:18:09 AM CDT
This is like when Ray Charles or Ronald Reagan died... I could h
by theginger twit
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Oct 05, 2004 4:50:08 AM CDT
who? it's like when john smith died... I didn't care then eithe
by logofdoom
hey! a formerly hot chick died, that's what sucks about life. It happens every day.
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now THAT
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Back to School. Classic Simpons episode. A couple good stanups. Man, I will u Rodney. R.I.P.
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