Autumn Blog Updates - Suggestions Wanted!

It's officially Autumn and I'm so excited because it means that I can now put up one of the colorful autumn headers that I made! This is my favorite season for several reasons which include the sights, colors, smells and feel of the whole thing! Yay!
I'm ready to crunch through autumn leaves which rapped up in a pretty shawl and sipping hot apple cider! :)

So I've changed my header but I've also made a few other changes. If you'll notice my sidebar has changed as well. I added pretty artwork to my links on the top of my sidebar. I've also included a list of my period film reviews to the sidebar.
My favorite is the beautiful period artwork with some of my favorite quotes! And now I need your help! I need more quotes to add and I'd really like some suggestions. Old-fashioned quotes - suggest away! :)

I have three free-standing pages as well. Old-Fashioned Films is a list of old-fashioned or period dramas which I suggest. I recently added a list of Black & White films which I enjoy. Any additions to these lists are very welcome!
The Old-Fashioned Blogs page contains blog button links to some of my favorite blogs. If I don't have a link to your blog here let me know if you have a free blog button I can add.
The Old-Fashioned Me page is all about me. I hope to add photos and more about myself as time goes on.

Here's my previous header:

My New Favorite Show

Although my favorite old-fashioned time periods are Regency and Victorian I also enjoy more modern time periods such as the 1930's-1950's. I have recently discovered what is now my new favorite TV show. Ever heard of the 1950-1967 run TV game show "What's My Line?"? Far from being just another game show with expensive prizes and screaming contestants, "What's My Line?" (a.k.a. WML) was really silver screen history in the making!

WML featured a team of four panelists who weekly would rise to the challenge of guessing the occupations (or "lines") of three guests by asking yes or no questions. Each time they received a "no" answer the guest would get an amount of money. 10 "no" answers and the guest would have stumped the panel and would walk away with $50. Each show also featured at least one mystery celebrity guest (usually an actor, but sometimes a singer, athlete or political figure) who would disguise his or her voice while the blindfolded panel would try to guess who the mystery guest was. After the mystery guest's identity was revealed the panel would often discuss the celebrity's recent TV appearances or film credits.

There were also celebrities on the panel. There were three regular panelist (pictured above) which featured Arlene Francis (at left, a stage actress), Bennett Cerf (at top, co-founder of Random House publishing) and Dorothy Kilgallen (at right, journalist and columnist). The fourth panelist was usually another celebrity, one time they even had Frank Sinatra join them!

The life of the show was really the show moderator John Charles Daly (at bottom in photo, reporter/newscaster and journalist) who kept the rowdy panel in line and enjoyed watching them get stumped. What fun they all have!

So what guests did the show feature exactly? Absolutely everyone who was anyone! Here's just a few guests pictures with links to where you can watch their special appearances on YouTube.

American sweetheart, actress Debbie Reynolds. Starlet of such lovely films as Singin' In The Rain and The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Miss Reynolds appeared on WML at least three times and was proclaimed queen of voice disguises. My favorite appearance features her as a blond imitating Hungarian born actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. You can watch it here.

Funny girl, the spunky Doris Day. A lovely voice and talented actress, Ms. Day stared in such great films as On Moonlight Bay, By The Light Of The Silvery Moon, The Glass Bottom Boat and Do Not Disturb. She appeared on WML at least twice and had a hard time fooling the panel with her distinctive voice. You can see an appearance here.

Charming southern gentleman Andy Griffith. Known best for his role as Sheriff Taylor, Mr. Griffith's southern drawl is hard to disguise but he had lots of fun in both of his appearances on WML. You can watch my favorite here.

Darling Dezi Arnaz & Lucille Ball. You probably know them best from "I Love Lucy" fame but they were popular long before that in movies and radio. They tried their hand at stumping the panel when they appeared together but always did a better job when they appeared separately. I love Lucy too, she's so funny! You can view my favorite here.

Lovely songstress Julie Andrews. Before her role in Sound of Music, Ms. Andrews delighted audiences on stage starring as Eliza Doolittle in Broadway's My Fair Lady. Her appearance on WML is simply delightful, you can see it here.

Country star team Dale Evans & Roy Rogers. This real husband and wife team are my absolute favorite mystery guests. They appeared at various times by themselves but together they are even sweeter. Genuine down to earth folks who were kind and true Christians in their real lives. They are so much fun to watch here.

So many other wonderful and talented actors, singers, musicians, athletes and even a politician or two graced "What's My Line?" during the 1950's and 1960's! Including but not limited to: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Greer Garson, Mickey Rooney, Jimmy Stewart, Bob Hope, Gene Kelly, Yul Brynner, Angela Lansbury, Charlton Heston, Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, Colonel Sanders (KFC founder), former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and even the man who voiced the original Donald Duck!

Lots of good clean fun! It is my new favorite show and I highly recommend you enjoy the clips I linked to this post and go over to YouTube and enjoy the hundreds of clips that are there! I learned so much about movie and theater history and the lives of those connected to it. I'm sure you can find your favorite silver screen actor or actress! :)

Dear Mr. Knightley

Last night my family and I watched again BBC's newest adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. I know this adaptation has it's faults but I really love it, in fact I think it's my favorite Emma adaptation now. There are so many lovely features: costumes, scenes, dances, actors, and a script that leaves very little of original story out!



My family and I enjoyed watching it immensely (it was my 5th time viewing it)! We particularly enjoyed Johnny Lee Miller's performance as Mr. Knightley. And I must say I am "falling in love" with Jane Austen's wonderful mature hero of Emma like never before!



Because I not too long ago made a great many screencap banners (with words, from Emma) I decided the rest of this post will be devoted to these banners and the various things that occurred to me while watching Emma last night.



Mr. Knightley lives so close to Hartfield that he walks over almost every day! He also frequently advises Mr. Woodhouse on buisness and stays to dinner. He comes and goes at all respectable hours and doesn't hesitate to use side doors. It's no wonder Emma thinks of him as an older brother and not a possible husband.



In this version of Emma, Mr. Knightley even has his own chair to pull up by the fire! He also is very at home using their ink and paper to write letters.



Mr. Knightley is such a gentleman and a kind caring friend to everyone and especially to Emma. He's so kind and attentive, so courteous and yet very practical. He is the very best friend anyone could wish for!



But Mr. Knightley also has a very good buisness head on his shoulders. He has done very well with the estate of Donwell Abbey, his farms and land yield abundantly. Mr. Knightley is definitely more at home talking crop rotations with his tenants than dancing in the finest London drawing rooms!



It occurred to me that since Donwell Abbey is so close to the town of Highbury and since the Knightleys are the richest and most prominent family around that Mr. Knightley must be the chief employer of Highbury's vicar. Then I remembered that in the book Mr. Knightley meets with Mr. Elton frequently on parish business. So really far from being Mr. E's "my friend Knightley" he is actually Mr. Elton's boss in every sense of the word!



Since the Knightley family are the chief employers of the vicar it popped into my head that Mrs. Bates' descended husband and Miss Bates' father (and Jane Fairfax's grandfather) was the former Reverend of Highbury. Mr. Knightley's kind attentions are directed toward these two ladies because he is kind, but also because he feels a responsibility to help them since his family has helped support them for years! He is always bring them gifts of food and acting on their behalf with business and letting them use his carriage when he sees the need. What a gentleman!!!



Mr. Knightley realizes he loves Emma almost as soon as Frank Churchill starts showing attentions to her. But he is quiet about his love for her and allows her to make her own choice.
"Brother and sister, no indeed!" is the one phrase not included in this adaptation that I miss the most!



My favorite scene in this film is definitely the proposal scene! It's full of lovely confessions and sweet moments.

Below are some banners with screencaps from this proposal scene:













Smoldering looks that just melt the heart! What a silly fan girl I've become! :)



The biggest illustration of Mr. Knightley's love for Emma is his willingness to relocate from his bachelor's pad, his ancestral pile of Donwell Abbey to the more confined and feminine Hartfield. He's has the perfect kind temperament to live in the same house with Mr. Woodhouse day in and day out.



I love that in this film the outward affections are very gentle and tender. Mr. Knightley is content just to hold Emma's hand in his, happy that her heart now belongs to him.



There's only a few other literary heroes who deserve happiness more than dear Mr. Knightley!



What are your thoughts on Mr. Knightley? Did you like this adaptation of Emma? Who are your favorite Jane Austen heroes?

Hope this silly post brightens you day! Sorry for posting so many banners, I just had too much fun making them! :)

September Header

It's September! I'm so excited because it means we're that much closer to Autumn! In honor of this lovely new month I've changed the header. I really wanted to put up one with Autumn colors but I've restrained myself and chose another from one of my favorite literary adaptations.

Can you guess what miniseries this header photo is from? It might be a bit hard but you can see two of the characters at the far left and the house the heroine lives in at the right.

Below is the header for July/August 2010. I really did love the colors and brilliant art of my last header but it wasn't until a couple weeks ago that my sister pointed out to me that I had misspelled the second Old-Fashioned! Oh well, it was pretty anyway! :)

It's been rather hot and humid in my neck of the woods lately! I long for the cool breezes and chilly nights of Autumn!

Just for fun I've this lovely video featuring Old-Fashioned ladies from my favorit period films! The music is lovely too so enjoy!

Hope you're having an absolutely delightful day! God bless! :)