30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 30 - Something you’d say to Deborah if you had a chance

oh my, i think i would’ve been absolutely speechless (at least at first) if i had a chance to talk to Deborah. anyway, i don’t think i would be too original. of course, i would say how much i love and admire her, that watching her in films have brought me so much joy and emotions and pleasure. that i love so many of her films but i wish she’d played even more roles that were up to her talent and that she’d gotten at least one competitive Oscar. and how much i wish i’d seen her on stage. and how much i envy her ‘cause she got to be kissed by Cary Grant. and what a pity it is she never wrote a memoir. and.. man, i guess i’d go on for hours and never shut up. poor Deborah )) but basically i’d try to convey my love and respect and admiration for this fantastic actress and loveliest human being, bless her beautiful soul.

and this concludes my 30 days of Deborah Kerr *sigh* hope you enjoyed it at least half as much as i did :))

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 29 - Your favourite of Deborah Kerr’s friends

this isn’t easy, Deborah had many friends i love and would like to mention.. so i’m cheating:) and naming at least 4 of them: Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons and Audrey Hepburn. boy, how i’d love to hang out with this cosy little group!

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 28 - A favourite photo of Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant

i actually love every single photo of these two together. so let it be this one. aren’t they adorable? ♥♥♥

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 27 - A candid photo of Deborah Kerr

Deborah sharing a good laugh with Barry Nelson, taken during the run of Seascape in 1972. she looks absolutely adorable!

(via)

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 26 - A role you wish Deborah Kerr would have been cast in

one of the things i feel sorry about is that Deborah never worked with Alfred Hitchcock. i know she was approached for the role in Dial M for Murder but chose to do The End of the Affair instead. but oh well, Grace Kelly did fine in that movie, and i don’t think the role would’ve been right for Deborah anyway. the role i think she would’ve played beautifully is Kim Novak’s part in Vertigo (i’ve nothing against Kim, she did a good job there). playing various characters in the same movie is something Deborah had done before (she played 3 roles in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp) and this would’ve gotten her a chance to work with both Hitch and Jimmy Stewart. just think about it! my, that would’ve been great..

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 25 - A glamorous photo of Deborah Kerr

this is a photo from my second favourite Deborah photo shoot (the favourite is this one). very beautiful and glamorous.

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 24 - An item from your Deborah Kerr collection

here it is, my preciousss ♥♥♥

it’s practically on it’s way to you, Z, i swear!

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 23 - Favourite character played by Deborah Kerr

Deborah created so many wonderful characters during her career that it’s really difficult to choose. i love her Karen in From Here To Eternity, her Hannah in The Night of the Iguana, her Sarah in The End of the Affair, her Terry in An Affair to Remember, her Miss Giddens in The Innocents, her Ida in The Sundowners and so on. but if it has to be just one character i’ll go with Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy.

Laura Reynolds is a headmaster’s wife who turns out to be the only person to defend and try to help a student who is assumed by everybody to be homosexual and bullied for that by his classmates. Deborah created the role of Laura both on stage and on screen. and i believe, this was one of the characters she felt very close to her heart. this compassion for somebody being persecuted and bullied for being different was something Deborah shared with Laura. the character and the actress were a perfect blend. overall the stage production (directed by Elia Kazan) was for Deborah and the rest of the cast a happier experience compared to the film (directed by Vincente Minnelli) where some changes had to be made to downplay the openness of the material. here’s a extract from Deborah’s biography about the stage production:

Tea and Sympathy opened at the Barrymore Theatre on her birthday, 30 September, 1953. Anderson [the author of the play] says: ‘What a birthday she gave us all! As everybody knows, she was magnificent in the part of Laura Reynolds; she received a standing ovation and Broadway took her to its heart. In addition she was an exemplary STAR, never letting down, an example to the rest of the cast. It was a very happy company, and she played for two seasons, one on Broadway and one on the road, without missing a performance. 
[…]
I’m sure Deborah won’t mind my mentioning a little organization which Kazan and Jack Kerr and I had, the ALDK’s: this stood for the Associated Lovers of Deborah Kerr.’

and another extract on her performance from a critic’s review:

‘Deborah Kerr is enjoying a triumph for the awareness of her performance and the apparent ease with which she transfers this across to the audience. Every possible nuance in the wife’s character and the situation she catches and records with the sensitivity of a seismograph needle’.

from ‘Deborah Kerr’ by Eric Braun.

in short: where is my time machine?! i would’ve loved to see this on stage. but oh well, at least we have a movie version with the original cast. and even if it’s not as good as the stage production i still love it. 

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 22 - A picture of Deborah Kerr with no make-up on

there was a pic a wanted to post but i can’t find it *sigh* so i’m posting a screencap from Black Narcissus instead. a) because i love it; b) because it’s pretty; c) because she was hardly wearing any make-up in this film. so there.

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 21 - Someone you would have liked to see Deborah Kerr star in a film with

definitely with Katharine Hepburn. in some good old crazy comedy. oh, it would’ve been marvellous!

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 20 - A picture of Deborah Kerr at home

here’s a pic of Deborah and family in early 1950s at home in Pacific Palisades. Deborah is reading to little Melanie and Francesca while her then husband Anthony Bartley is bored taking a nap.

(via)

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 19 - Favourite outfit worn by Deborah Kerr in a movie

since i already posted about the lovely dress she wore in Black Narcissus, i’ll go with another favourite, the one she wore in An Affair To Remember. isn’t it gorgeous? 

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 18 - Favourite picture of Deborah with pets/animals

some of my favourite pictures of Deborah with animals come from the set of The Sundowners (1960). just look at the adorableness! ♥♥♥

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 17 - One Deborah Kerr item you’d love to own

well, since Cary Grant can hardly be classified as an item.. there are actually several Deborah items i’d love to own. but if i could have just one i would choose her honorary Oscar that states she was an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance. and in an imaginary world i would’ve liked to have an Oscar that the bloody Academy should have given her for her fantastic performance in The Innocents. boo!

(via)

30 days of Deborah Kerr

Day 16 - Favourite Deborah Kerr photo shoot

another tough choice but i’ll go with this lovely photo shoot done on March 1, 1947 by Bob Landry. i just love how relaxed and adorable she looks on these pics. and her straw hat is fantastic :D