Wednesday, March 9, 2011

March Madness, The 1940s Bracket

Be sure to head over to All Good Things to vote in Monty's best actress March Madness tournament. Today it's round 2 of the 1940s bracket. The higher ranked seed won each of the first round match-ups, but I smell at least one upset in today's contests. The match-ups: Bette Davis v. Rita Hayworth, Vivien Leigh v. Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn v. Gene Tierney and Ingrid Bergman v. Olivia de Havilland.

By the way, that's Vivien Leigh and Lauren Bacall meeting Kay Kendall and Noel Coward for a friendly drink before the main event. They won't be so nice once they take the court, though, that I can assure you. The elbows will be flying!

Oh, and who won the right to represent the Silent Era/1930s bracket in the Final Four? Ten-seed Irene Dunne, the Cinderella of the tournament so far. She knocked off Clara Bow, Claudette Colbert, Barbara Stanwyck and Carole Lombard, heavyweights all. Congratulations, Irene!

14 comments:

mister muleboy said...

I'm no fan of Vivian Leigh, but I fear she'll mop up the floor with Betty Bacall


and what about that dark horse o' the 40s, Jane Greer?

Mythical Monkey said...

and what about that dark horse o' the 40s, Jane Greer?

So far as I can tell, she's not in this tournament. An outrage, I tells ya!

Maybe I should conduct my own femme fatale tournament ...

Mythical Monkey said...

I'm no fan of Vivian Leigh, but I fear she'll mop up the floor with Betty Bacall

Don't get tough with Slim. She's apt to slap you back.

VP81955 said...

Jane Greer wasn't in the field of 16; neither was Betty Hutton or Joan Fontaine.

monty said...

There were so many actresses that were left out but I intend to remedy that situation for next years' tournament. 64 was the perfect number that breaks down evenly all the way to 1. So I couldn't have done say 80 or 96 without doing some fancy footwork. But 128 is perfect. So look forward to next year's tournament being massive. Pretty much will include everybody. But I made need some help with that. Maybe we can cross the tournament over our blogs. And we each take an era, so that one champion will come from each of our blogs. Anyone game for that? It would be four of us and each responsible for 32 actresses in whatever bracket we take. I'm game and I figure 128 selections is too much for one person. Just let me know and we can plan on this super event for next March.

Mythical Monkey said...

I was just kidding about being outraged, but a massive 128 actress tournament sounds like a blast. You know, we could even get, say, four blogs involved with each blog being a bracket, working toward the Final Four.

Or eight blogs working toward the Elite Eight ...

Definitely something to plan on. The response to your tournament has been amazing.

monty said...

I'm all aboard MM...if we could pull it off, it would be amazing. I posted the idea over on VP's blog so we'll wait to see what he says.

Erik Beck said...

I just want to know who the hell the 17 people were who voted for Betty Grable over Kate Hepburn. That's insane.

Mythical Monkey said...

I just want to know who the hell the 17 people were who voted for Betty Grable over Kate Hepburn.

I'd say unless they were World War II vets nostalgic for their favorite pin-up, I couldn't begin to guess ...

The Grim Reaper said...

I just want to know who the hell the 17 people were who voted for Betty Grable over Kate Hepburn.


I'll hve the two of 'em duke it out, and I'll get back to you on the results. . . .

The Vintage Vamp said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Vintage Vamp said...

Yay Irene Dunne! Claudette Colbert was have been my first choice but if not her than I'm glad it's Irene Dunne. :)

Oh and Grim, I was one of the people who voted for Betty... I think Katherine Hepburn is overrated.

There I said it!

Mythical Monkey said...

Actually, I find that a lot of people don't like Katharine Hepburn. If you want what I would consider the ultimate litmus test of your Hepburn aversion, check out the bittersweet romantic comedy Holiday (1938) co-starring Cary Grant. It's Hepburn's most sympathetic role -- smart without being smug, vulnerable without being a victim. If you're willing to give her another try, Holiday might be your best bet, and if you don't like her in that, you have my permission to give up on her forever.

Ginger Ingenue said...

Oh wow, I just mentioned HOLIDAY! :)

That's one that really made me love Hepburn, too. 'Cause I wasn't wild about her for a while, but I think LITTLE WOMEN was actually the cure.