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Post by carol on Jul 6, 2010 10:30:54 GMT -5
I've been wondering about this for quite a while. We all know she made millions of movies, but what do you guys think is the movie that the general public mostly associates Kate with? I've always thought it was The Philadelphia Story but I've been thinking it probably is The African queen.
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Post by CrazyForKate on Jul 6, 2010 12:37:03 GMT -5
I would say different movies for different parts of her career (and, often, the age group that would have seen it, excluding us fans who watch everything): The Philadelphia Story, African Queen, and On Golden Pond.
Maybe also Little Women (I know a lot of people report seeing this as their first KH movie, usually from other people who loved it first) and/or Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (the movie most of my older relatives mention first).
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Post by charliesgirl7681 on Jul 6, 2010 13:43:22 GMT -5
GWCTD or AQ. Both are showen in schools the most and if you are not an old Hollywood fan this is either how you get started or how you learn who KH is.
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Post by martha on Jul 6, 2010 17:41:41 GMT -5
this is where we cue judy to tell us of how she first fell for kate when she saw GWCTD for the first time. right? my feelings for kate are so intense and so idiosyncratic that i can't talk about the rest of the world's response to her, only my own. the young-ish me would say PS .. the older almost attorney (i lasted a year in law school and really disliked it) and long time married person to a real partner now says AR ... but that's very personal, right? Charliesgirl's points about which films are shown in schools, though, tells us perhaps what the current school aged generation might say about this question.
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Post by CrazyForKate on Jul 6, 2010 19:03:14 GMT -5
Yeah, Charliesgirl, my first film was AQ, and that seems to be true of a lot of people. I think its appeal is maybe because it's so different from her other films- and therefore attracts people who might not ordinarily watch her other famous ones. It's adventure- has Bogart and Huston involved- and, I think, easily appeals to a wider age group.
As for school-age people...I'm afraid most of them say, "You mean Audrey, right?" I don't know if it's just Canada, but KH does seem to be passed over here in favour of other classic stars. Charliesgirl, I've never heard of a school showing a KH film (even my university's film department seems to shun her)! Imagine studying AQ...paradise. That's really lucky for those who attend those places!
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Post by charliesgirl7681 on Jul 6, 2010 20:19:28 GMT -5
I know the upper English departs showed GWCTD. I've heard other departs showing AQ because of the cast and direction. The only clip I ever remember being used of KH's is the scene between O'Tool and Hepburn in Lion in Winter. We went over the language and diction. It is a beautiful film. I had heard of Hepburn and knew who she was but wasn't a fan. That really caught my attention.
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Post by Judy on Jul 7, 2010 12:37:11 GMT -5
this is where we cue judy to tell us of how she first fell for kate when she saw GWCTD for the first time. right? my feelings for kate are so intense and so idiosyncratic that i can't talk about the rest of the world's response to her, only my own. the young-ish me would say PS .. the older almost attorney (i lasted a year in law school and really disliked it) and long time married person to a real partner now says AR ... but that's very personal, right? Charliesgirl's points about which films are shown in schools, though, tells us perhaps what the current school aged generation might say about this question. Yep. I can still vividly recall the feeling when this actress I'd never heard of burst through the door ... "Joey! Joey!" I don't think it's too big a stretch to say that my life and imagination were forever altered at that moment a long, long time ago. I also agree that being so immersed in her, it's difficult to know what the general public would think is her most famous.
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Post by dreamer on Jul 7, 2010 13:29:55 GMT -5
this is where we cue judy to tell us of how she first fell for kate when she saw GWCTD for the first time. right? my feelings for kate are so intense and so idiosyncratic that i can't talk about the rest of the world's response to her, only my own. the young-ish me would say PS .. the older almost attorney (i lasted a year in law school and really disliked it) and long time married person to a real partner now says AR ... but that's very personal, right? Charliesgirl's points about which films are shown in schools, though, tells us perhaps what the current school aged generation might say about this question. I can only agree with you Martha ;D Only even though I have worked within the law system for 12 years and my first was AR - I still can't decide which one - but IF I had to pick one it would be GWCTD - LIW - AA - WOTY or AR - but PLEASE don't force me
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Post by carol on Jul 7, 2010 16:11:48 GMT -5
As for school-age people...I'm afraid most of them say, "You mean Audrey, right?" I don't know if it's just Canada, but KH does seem to be passed over here in favour of other classic stars. That's what I've always felt. I've always thought that she was kinda 'underrated' when it comes to classic stars. Younger people seem to love Audrey, Marilyn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Julie Andrews, Doris Day and a few others, but they rarely mention Kate. I think it's because she's more than just a 'classic movie star', I mean, even if you're not a classic movie fan, you've probably heard of her and you probably even like her, specially if you're over 30 or something. That was very confusing, I'm sorry, but you get what I mean. Over here, I think she's quite popular. But I don't know about other countries.
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Post by CrazyForKate on Jul 8, 2010 1:39:20 GMT -5
I think it's also because she didn't really have an "iconic image" like Audrey in the Tiffany's getup or Marilyn on the subway grate...or James Dean leaning on anything. (Not to say, of course, that she wasn't beautiful or iconic...just that she generally doesn't have her face plastered on handbags.) It's shocking how many people say "Oh, I love (insert star here)" and then haven't seen any of their movies.
What also surprises me is how many people actively dislike her. Either they insult her personality (usually when she is being compared to Audrey, Meryl Streep or Bette Davis, all of whom of course cannot be complimented without denigrating Kate), or the time-honoured "she only played herself". I usually command these people to watch Bringing Up Baby and Long Day's Journey Into Night, THEN tell me that.
I can see, at the same time, how she can be somewhat polarizing. Her strong personality can definitely turn people off. She's not as traditionally "likable" as some of the other stars...but that's what makes her so fascinating. My guess is some people just have difficulty accepting someone different from the norm, and Kate was certainly that, and though it won her many fans, it definitely made things difficult at times. (This is certainly not true of all those who aren't fond of Kate!)
Sorry for the monologue...
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Post by HollywoodHepcat on Jul 8, 2010 2:15:53 GMT -5
Proboards just ate my entire post, so here's what I said in bullet point form: • Kate crashed my party at age 9, and my life has been on hallucinogenics ever since. • Everyone at one point or another may feel their favorite star has been overlooked in some capacity---I think Kate's doing just fine in this respect, certainly compared to others from the Golden Age. Am I miffed when I see teeny-boppers carry around those purses with Audrey's mug slabbed on the vinyl? Slightly, but only because I know they probably have no idea who the hell Katharine Hepburn even is---everybody's ignorant until they're showed a ~better way. (My apologies to any of the loyal Audrey fans who might read this; I think she's great! Just too-too-too tutu? Well, you know what I mean.) It's possible these kids also rate Stephanie Meyer as the post-modern Shakespeare, so... [How infuriating are those Twilight books?] • In a survey film class I took many moons ago, we were screened BUB; it was received almost as well as the time of its initial release. I'm hardly a misanthrope, but I wanted to murder my fellow classmates by the end of the film. Therefore, while I do inhabit a sort of maternal regard towards those teeny-boppers with their purses, I probably won't like you if you're 20-something, twirling your hair and spouting, "OH EMM GEE, LYKE ISN'T THAT AUDRY SO PRETTYYY~!!1!! WAT'S A KATE HEPBURN?" In fact, I wish you would fall into a hole. One step forward and two steps... • I have no comprehension of her most famous role in so-ciety today, but I'll tell you what it should be: What even IS this poster. Is... is he NAKED while straddling that plane? It's my favorite movie, you guys.
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Post by HollywoodHepcat on Jul 8, 2010 2:27:57 GMT -5
That isn't to say, if you don't like Kate then I don't like you. She's a Grade A Twit with mannerisms to high heaven and has a grating voice; believe me, I feeeeeeeeeeeeel yoooooou, Joaaaaaannaaaaaa.
Just, don't be a jerk about it and we're cool.
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Post by Judy on Jul 8, 2010 8:32:42 GMT -5
That isn't to say, if you don't like Kate then I don't like you. She's a Grade A Twit with mannerisms to high heaven and has a grating voice; believe me, I feeeeeeeeeeeeel yoooooou, Joaaaaaannaaaaaa. Just, don't be a jerk about it and we're cool. I've got a long rant rumbling around in my head but until I can sort it out and splurt all over this board I just have to say - seriously, does anybody WANT to see her face plastered on handbags? Does anybody WANT to see her in a GAP ad? I've got nothing against the cool factor of either - and I adore Audrey - who I'm only using as an example since she was brought up - but I don't WANT to see her turned into kitsch - even if the kitsch is created by fans (and excepting, of course, the loopy stuff you come up with miss HollyHep). She was, in my view, an artist on many levels - and a great star. Almost everywhere you look on the internet, she is used as a touchstone for a certain sort of quality - from fashion to food to how to make a romantic comedy. The references are all over the place, invoking her name as shorthand for style, pragmatic no-nonsense, integrity. Of COURSE, there are people who actively dislike her, as I think CFK said. She was, after all, pretty strong stuff - and it was ever thus until the media turned her into a national monument. And once that happens there are always people who think it's their duty to be contrary. Lots of people like her? Okay, I'll prove how avant-garde I am by turning up my nose at her. But a lot of the time - and especially on horrid forums like imdb - that's just a lot of adolescent posing. A backlash by some who like to consider themselves cultural rebels or something. And it's more about them and their petty arguments with each other - which can turn insanely vitriolic - than about Kate Hepburn. In an interview years ago, she referred to these great, big monuments like Bogart and Cooper, etc, having passed on. The interviewer spoke of new buildings being constructed to take their place and how sterile and uninteresting they were. And Kate interjected "until people get an affection for the new buildings and life goes on." Life does go on, I guess. But I'm quite content to live with and in those old buildings. From my perspective, she is far from being forgotten. But then I'm in my fifties - got a few years on most of you - and maybe one day she will be a curiosity to the general public. But to anyone who "gets" her as I did from the moment I saw her and as just about all of you here did/do - that will never happen. I'm pretty confident that in the year 2075, there will be some 9 or 12 or 13 year old who will happen upon one of her movies and "get" her, too. And then maybe they'll influence a friend. And then there will be two of them, cookie. Two. The loveliest number in the world..... Contrary to what you may think, this was NOT the rant I had planned. Still got that one rumbling around in my skull....But this one'll do for now. Now go on back to your wraslin' match....
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Post by CrazyForKate on Jul 8, 2010 13:23:53 GMT -5
No, no, Judy, I know what you mean. I don't think anybody here would want her to be turned into kitsch- I was just saying that's why she's not as highly recognized by younger generations. Quality, unfortunately, is so often passed over in the name of exposure. (Not to say that any of those actors weren't quality- but you know what I mean.)
And Amber? That is totally an orange leotard, complete with ballet slippers. He is clearly trying to impress the Russian woman by pretending to be Baryshnikov.
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Post by Judy on Jul 8, 2010 13:37:35 GMT -5
No, no, Judy, I know what you mean. I don't think anybody here would want her to be turned into kitsch- I was just saying that's why she's not as highly recognized by younger generations. Quality, unfortunately, is so often passed over in the name of exposure. (Not to say that any of those actors weren't quality- but you know what I mean.) And Amber? That is totally an orange leotard, complete with ballet slippers. He is clearly trying to impress the Russian woman by pretending to be Baryshnikov. I get it. I didn't think you were implying that you wanted to see her on a cereal box...A lot of young people don't recognize a lot of things until they are introduced to them. So, my answer to the lack of recognition that many of you encounter is: educate. That may not always work the trick - as with the friend who watched Bringing Up Baby and STILL didn't like it or her. But it could be the start of something wonderful for someone. So, if the younger generation doesn't recognize her, where did all of YOU guys come from?
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