Sybil Bruncheon's "Who'z Dat?"... Marlon Brando (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004)

Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American screen and stage actor. He is widely regarded as having had a significant impact on the art of film acting. While he became notorious for his "mumbling" diction and exuding a raw animal magnetism, his mercurial performances were nonetheless highly regarded, and he is widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential actors of the 20th century. Director Martin Scorsese said of him, "He is the marker. There's 'before Brando' and 'after Brando'." Actor Jack Nicholson once said, "When Marlon dies, everybody moves up one." An enduring cultural icon, Brando became a box office star during the 1950s, during which time he racked up five Oscar nominations as Best Actor, along with three consecutive wins of the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

[Want to read other stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's Hollywood's Hysterical Histories... Theresa "Tootie" Smith...

As a very young child, Theresa Smith (born to Alonzo and Anna Smith of St. Louis, Missouri, and nicknamed "Tootie"), began her career singing and dancing even in the cradle. Her first public performances were for friends and neighbors of her family often for holiday occasions where she would team up with her siblings doing impressions and various Vaudeville songs about exotic places or disreputable persons involved in piracy, white slavery, bootlegging, and even cannibalism.

Though seemingly humorous, there were dark undertones to these little showlettes, and frequently little Tootie would end up in some sort of altercation or violence, often in alleyways behind a theatre... or her nursery school. At the tender age of 7 she almost wed an indigent character actor from a local dinner theatre before her parents (usually absent and uninterested) interceded with local authorities to stop the marriage ceremony literally at the altar just before the groom could say, "I do!"... Little Tootie then descended into a bizarre nether-world of carny-shows and cult-films and political scandal... before she finally disappeared from all respectable society.

(Top row L to R: 1) Little Tootie singing with her older sister Esther whom she later hooked on heroin and marijuana and abandoned in a Women's House of Detention. Her brother Lon is seen accompanying the girls on his banjo. He was later drugged, abducted, and sold into white slavery by Tootie's 3rd grade boyfriend, possibly to Arabia, Madagascar, or somewhere in Akron. The banjo was never found. 2) Tootie at the age of 5 rescued by police from her agent (pimp?) after being robbed of her night's salary at Bluestein's Bimbo & Burlesqueerie in Poka-Ma-Hola, Arkansas. 3) Tootie with her almost husband, Edward "Big Ned" Bunsterston seen in this photo just after she pinched his bottom. 4) Tootie photographed with her doll/ventriloquist dummy Madame Shahtzi, a German fraulein known for her suggestive cabaret songs and off-color limericks about sailors and long voyages at sea without women-folk. Bottom row L to R: 5) Tootie with Mr. Ruffski, one of many animals from the local pound that she did cult-films with as the only human in the cast. Eventually church authorities interceded, and many of the animals were rescued to good and loving homes. 6) Tootie at the birthday celebration for the MGM studios. She was told by the secretary to LB Mayer, that if she would wait in his office, he might come by with a piece of cake and she could sit on his lap! 7) Tootie broadcasting as Wee Tootsen Stroodlehoff, the Nurnberg Nightingale, during World War I when she may have been a double-agent for the Kaiser. 8) Tootie reduced to being a hobo when she returned to the United States and was only partially cleared of sedition charges. 9) A photo taken in the 1940s of acclaimed Dr. Mary Edwards Walker... or a stage magician named The Magnificent Mr. Majooski, either of whom may or may not be Tootie disguised to conceal her true identity.)

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's "St. Patty's Cinema"...

"When I tell you to ditch the shirt, you hop, ya hear me, my wild Irish Rose?... and ya better NOT be a leprechaun where it counts!"...

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's "Who'z Dat?"... Happy Birthdays on March 5th...

Clockwise from top left: James Sikking, Joan Bennett, Samantha Eggar, Dean Stockwell, Jack Cassidy, Virginia Christine, Rex Harrison, Henry Daniell, Henry Travers, and Elaine Page.

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's "A Few of My Favorite Things"... John DiLeo's "There Are No Small Parts"...

You know when someone gives you a box of luxury chocolates, maybe for your birthday?... no, I'm talking about LUXURY chocolates! Not some past-its-freshness-date Whitman's sampler from the corner drugstore or a Fanny Farmer hand-me-down from Aunt Edith! I'm talking about Teuscher Champagne Truffles with NO crushed red velvet bow or a smirking bunny with a bent tinfoil ear... ok? You get the idea! Well, if you've ever had the delicious pleasure of that, you know that you savor each one you carefully lift from its pleated paper cup. You really look at it, maybe smell the deep chocolate perfume coming off it before you slowly slip it into your mouth. There's no racing through the box, wedging one after another, unfinished onto the conveyor belt of your gaping tongue and maw, right? It's an exercise in being present and appreciative of something truly wonderful...

Well! Having said all that, there is a newly published book by a truly wonderful writer and film fanatic who has over-ridden any restraint you might have to "savoring", blah, blah, blah! It's "THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS" by John DiLeo; a collection of extraordinary essays on film performances of ten minutes or less that are unforgettable, perhaps even iconic, and that are immediately recognizable. Even if you "can't quite place the name" of the actor, you might be able to recite every line, and with the same cadences and emotions that earned them a place in this book! Reading these essays, starting with the first one of Elsa Lanchester's in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), you may find yourself gobsmacked by DiLeo's astute joy and celebration of each actor's incredible talent in such a small space; how can an artist render so much with so little? Well, that's genius for you! Eleven of these one hundred gems were nominated for Oscars, and two won, each with an onscreen time of less than 7 minutes! An Oscar in less than 7 minutes!!! Talk about nuance!

Reading some of these essays may bring you to knowing laughter, some may move you to tears, but all of them will certainly impress you with DiLeo's knowledge and discernment. I opened the book and sat stunned that he had chosen performances, one after another, that I had always treasured, even as a child. And how wonderful too, to see major stars take a brief turn "just for the fun of it"; Marlene Dietrich in TOUCH OF EVIL (1958), Gene Hackman in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974), or Al Pacino in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019).

Back to the box of chocolates; I savor a box of Teuscher Champagne Truffles, one at a time, and certainly NOT finishing all of them in one sitting. Sadly, these essays are so delicious that many readers have stated that they opened the book... and read on and on, page after page, gorging themselves on his erudition, humor, wisdom, and on the combination of his subjects' brilliance and his for celebrating it... I am one of those readers!... wolfing down one after another, swearing to take a break, and making the mistake of "oh, just one more"! Why couldn't he have made it 200 performances??... Or is there perhaps a sequel?? (I hope, I hope, I hope!)... Thank God, gorging on John DiLeo is non-fattening. Oh, and when you've finished, you can start all over again!

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's "Who'z Dat?"... Happy, Happy Birthday to PINOCCHIO (February 23,1940)...

On February 23rd, 1940, Walt Disney's PINOCCHIO was released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures. It wasn't just the children who sat thunderstruck at the visuals, imagination, and deeply moving story of a little toy that wanted to "be real".... When Monstro the Whale swept onto the giant movie screens of America with surging waves and tiny seagulls skittering out of the way to emphasize the appalling scale, when the ironically named Pleasure Island towering over the boys began to whirl into a terrifying nightmare of glittering lights and donkey-ears, and when the final resolution of death and transfiguration took place with the Blue Fairy and Jiminy Cricket standing by, gasps, screams, and tears flowed freely...

Whatever Disney's personal issues and prejudices were, his ability to mobilize the great talents that made one iconic piece of art after another at his studios remains fixed. 82 years later, even the stills from this and so many of his other films are spellbinding... "Cartoon"??? "Cartoon"... The word is laughable...

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's "Hollywood Lines That Might Have Been"...

Birdie Coonan to Margo Channing…

"So the doctor prescribes six packs a day, a quart of Kentucky bourbon, and non-stop basting with butter!... You'll definitely win the Sarah Siddons as Biggest Smoked Ham!"...

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's Silly Cinema Sequels!!...

EARTH vs. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956) starring Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor... the little known sequel to ALL ABOUT EVE (1950).

The story follows the tragic career of playwright Lloyd Richards, who, after the failure of his Broadway play "Tippy-Toes On The Back Staircase", loses his marriage to Karen, his friendship to Margo Channing, and any possible romantic involvement with Eve Harrington, Birdie Coonan, Miss Caswell, or Addison DeWitt. Unable to ever get another reservation at the Stork Club, he changes his name and goes out West posing as a scientist or a writer.. or... whatever. He remarries eventually and after a lackluster career with cacti and prairie dogs, he is attacked by aliens and flying saucers. Ray guns, brain-washing, and merriment ensue... along with some property damage. Interestingly, this is his second run-in with people from outer space... well, the third, if you include Max Fabian...

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

Sybil Bruncheon's “A Few of My Favorite Things”… Agatha Christie's "Hercule Poirot"...

These are some of the most famous portrayals of Agatha Christie's iconic character, Hercule Poirot... and each may have its strong points, entertaining nuances, or annoying weaknesses.

In my opinion, and again, it's only my opinion, (like my feelings about performances of Jane Marple) some are loaded with brilliance, and others are... um... well, nearly unforgivable. In fact, I will not even name them all because of that; sulky, arbitrary, unintelligible, pedestrian, self-indulgent, high-schoolish, frivolously clownish... I'm amazed Christie hasn't clawed her way up through the rocky clay to seize some of them by their throats and drag them to Hell!

On the other hand, for me, there are two ideal Poirots; for the "small screen", it's of course, David Suchet. Interestingly, if you've seen him in other projects, he personally bears no resemblance to the little Belgian detective, short of being... well, short. (He's only 5' 7") He created the small egg-shaped appearance of Poirot by padding himself, changing his center of gravity, slowing his stride to mincing little steps, confining all his gestures to close-to-the-torso hand-fluttering, and reducing his naturally deep manly voice to higher-pitched whispering. His Poirot could almost be accused of being a fey "camp" impersonation of a 1930's "faggot". His fussing and compulsive housekeeping would be off-putting in a lesser actor, but Suchet carries it all off, and charmingly so. Coincidentally, Peter Ustinov, who played Poirot to Suchet's Inspector Japp many years earlier, told Suchet that he could play Poirot himself and gave him some of the Christie books to read... and the rest is history, literally! Suchet holds the record for playing the little detective in more projects, in more venues, and for more years than any other actor... in history!! His mustache alone underwent an extraordinary evolution as can be seen in the reruns!...

... and a Poirot for the "silver screen"? For me, it can only be Albert Finney. When he first appeared in 1974, audiences were startled by Finney's mannerisms, his stylized vocalization and gestures, and the fact that he'd evolved from being a "leading man" (of sorts) into a such an extreme almost freakish character. But director Sidney Lumet loaded the film with such an extraordinary supporting cast, such style and elegance, such beautiful cinematography, editing, and a lush film score to boot, and all confined in the tight compartments of the Orient Express that Finney's Poirot felt perfectly natural. His meticulous fastidiousness even while dying his hair and mustache is perfect. In fact, he was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actor, and the film received another five nominations in other categories.

When the story was remade yet again later in 2017, the budget was 50 times greater; there were spectacular but unnecessary CGI exteriors and vistas, a surprising dearth of style and elegance, and superfluous embellishments... like that absurd mile-wide mustache, and reconfigured into a Van Dyke of all things!!... you notice I haven't mentioned the actor/producer by name... oh well.

I guess it just goes to show that some characters in the history of fiction, no matter how iconic and brilliant, are not "actor proof"... Fortunately, Christie was dead before most of these stumbling attempts were made. A blessing of sorts. Right before she died, she stated that MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974) was one of her two most favorite films of her work. The other was WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957)... with no Hercule Poirot!

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]

A New Sybil's "WHO'Z DAT?"... DENNIE MOORE (December 30, 1902 - February 22, 1978)

Darlings! Mummie has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place"... well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the stars that the public worships...

...I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? …well while you’re considering it, I’d like to introduce one of those special actresses whose voice is instantly identifiable even though technically she had a very small amount of actual “screen time” in any particular picture. Her voice, her face, her mannerisms… all as vivid as the entire careers of many major stars! Her name?...Dennie Moore (December 30, 1902 – February 22, 1978).

Moore was born in New York City to Jewish parents, Oren Moore, a cantor at one of the local synagogues and Gabriella Gefen. Some sources indicate she was born Deena Rivka Moore, or possibly Florence Moore, but she legally changed her name to Dennie so as not to be confused with the Vaudevillian/silent film actress Florence Moore who was twenty years her senior. It has also been reported that she changed her forename given her parents' disapproval of her becoming an actress. In the late 1920s, she began to pursue an acting career on the Broadway stage. Her Broadway shows included A LADY IN LOVE, THE TRIAL OF MARY DUGAN, CROSS ROADS, TORCH SONG, TWENTIETH CENTURY, PHANTOMS, CONFLICT, ANATOL, and JARNEGAN.

In the 1930s, she decided to embark on a film career and in 1935 she arrived in Hollywood and made her screen debut in an uncredited role in the Cary Grant-Katharine Hepburn film, SYLVIA SCARLETT for RKO Pictures. She primarily was what is known as a "free-lance actress" and floated between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. Studios. In the years to come she would specialize in playing dumb blondes, maids, and wisecracking but gold hearted sidekicks. In the course of her film career, she would appear in twenty-two films between 1935 and 1951. Some of her film credits include parts in TWENTIETH CENTURY (1934), BOY MEETS GIRL (1938), SATURDAY'S CHILDREN (1940), DIVE BOMBER (1941), and ANNA LUCASTA (1949). Of course, for film buffs, especially of Hollywood’s “Golden Age”, her appearance as Olga the manicurist in George Cukor’s THE WOMEN (1939) remains her highest achievement! Even though Moore is only briefly in two scenes, her presence is considered to be one of the most striking in a star-studded cast including the iconic Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, and other character-actress mega-talents; Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Phyllis Povah, Lucile Watson, Marjorie Main, Virginia Grey, Ruth Hussey, and dozens of other fabulous women!

By the mid-1940s, Moore found herself getting less work in Hollywood, but more parts on the New York stage. In 1951, she made her last screen appearance as Mrs. Bea Gingras in THE MODEL AND THE MARRIAGE BROKER. During the course of her film and stage career she had acted with the greats including John and Lionel Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Errol Flynn, Marlene Dietrich, John Garfield, Joan Blondell, Edward Arnold, Melvyn Douglas, and Ginger Rogers.

Moving back to New York City she made one final performance onstage in THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK in the role of Mrs. Van Daan. In 1957, she retired from acting altogether, aged 54.

After her film career in Hollywood ended, Moore sold her home and permanently moved back to her native New York City, where she lived the rest of her life. Following her retirement she was active in campaigning civil rights for Jewish communities and women's rights. She did have an array of colorful friends from her acting days; they included Sylvia Sidney, Rosalind Russell, and Norma Shearer (whom she was befriended by while they starred together in THE WOMEN), and June Clyde and Fay Wray (both Mormons whom she called the ''Loveliest Latter Days who ever lived." Moore died of natural causes on February 22, 1978, aged 75, in her Manhattan apartment on Park Avenue. She left no immediate survivors. She was cremated and her ashes scattered off her balcony onto the streets far below.

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]