Luckily I got my pyjamas finished - buttons and all - just in time, and knitting and movies to while away the hours.
Speaking of, I was delighted to discover this blog post about the two starlets I've been most entranced with of late - Barbara Stanwyck and Ginger Rogers. Apparently both were avid knitters when not lighting up the screen!
In my most recent binge, I've watched Barbara in The Lady Eve and Ginger in Roberta and Flying Down to Rio and The Gay Divorcee.
I have to say, I never cared for the line about Ginger doing everything Fred did, except "backwards and in high heels" - Fred's greatest performances were solos after all! But Ginger is far the better actor; she has a great sense for comic timing, and shone in roles with no dancing at all (e.g. The Major and the Minor, or Monkey Business). I don't think any director cast Fred in a non-dancing role, and unlike Ginger, he never won an Oscar for his acting.
Both played smart, funny heroines - no shrinking violets they! Barbara I think will always be my number one for her performances in Double Indemnity and Ball of Fire, but my whole life I've wished I could dance like Ginger.
And now, I think I'll take some cough syrup and fall asleep to Fred's soft-shoe sandman routine in Top Hat.
