Re: AVA GARDNER THURSDAY TCM

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

Wow, I never knew that Ava had played William Devane's mother on "Knot's Landing", @Shelbelle. You're right, unexpected (and sort of hilarious) casting!

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

@Shelbelle wrote:
https://www.avagardner.org/

Museum in Smithfield, NC.

We always stop in Smithfield, NC because it has quite a few hotels, restaurants and an outlet. I always say one day we are going to stop at the Ava Gardner museum. Maybe one day when we don't have the dog.

Judaline · ‎03-10-2010

I heard a producer (director?) say when they first found Ava Gardner and asked her name, she said, as one word, AHHVAGAHDNAH. They said it was like she just came out of the cotton fields. She went a long way past the cotton fields.

I loved One Touch of Venus. She wasn't exactly the star, but she kind of stole the show. The song Speak Low played hauntingly througout the movie. I think Dlck Haymes sang it. What a beautiful song. I so loved the very end.

Judaline · ‎03-10-2010

@Oznell That pic of Ava and Robert Taylor. What a handsome couple!

Somertime · ‎09-18-2010

@Oznell I watched the documentary on TCM about Ava. It made me sad. I knew her time in Spain was a party time but I didn't realize how destructive it was for her. Spain afforded the privacy she craved until she became known for her drinking. She claimed she only made movies for the money that sustained her lifestyle. She said Hollywood changed her way of speaking, the way she walked, dressed, changed her so she was no longer recognized who she was. She had a fall from a horse that cut into her cheek and she became fixated on it and felt it damaged her beauty which it didn't. So sad. She chose it ignore Franco and anything political. She had enough of Spain in the 1960's and moved to London and refused to pay Franco the taxes she owed in Spain. Interesting bit of information, Franco used her residency in Spain to gain favor with the US and President Eisenhower who gave Spain a large amount of aid which Franco then invested in a movie studio similar to the one in Italy. As a result, many movies were made in Spain. Hers were The Naked Maja and 55 Days in Peking.....she was gorgeous in that one!

Her relationships were hotheaded starting with Sinatra but the worst was with George C. Scott who was violent and beat her. She became a recluse in London in later years and it has been said she played Sinatra's records over and over and kept every letter he ever wrote to her.

She was so beautiful!

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

@Somertime, thanks so much for that eye-opening report -- fascinating. I didn't know anything about her sojourn in Spain, so interesting.

I can well believe she was turned upside down by the Hollywood machine. She came from such a simple, disadvantaged background, then right into the "dream machine". The few interviews she gave, esp. later in life, are so revealing. I'm thinking of the one she gave to Rex Reed, although that had his typically charming, twinkly little spin on it, and more so, her sit-down with Dominick Dunne. You've probably come across them, but if not, I recommend. Her humor and candor stand out, and the bittersweet quality of her life.

Dominick Dunne gives an interesting picture of her life in London-- she apparently had an incredible apartment, and a trusted housekeeper from her Spanish days.

She was so good in "Seven Days in May" in that small role of the crucial woman that Kirk Douglas is tasked with getting info from, but is personally drawn to. She was so beautiful at every stage!

Judaline · ‎03-10-2010

@Somertime I watched it, too. I knew it but didn't know it was that extreme-her drinking. Like a man, they said. Didn't she know that drinking destroys a woman's looks? She was fixated on the scar, right. Do you think if she was still in that environment that she came from she would know and care how beautiful she was? She may have been better off-but we certainly wouldn't have.

I knew she died in London, having been living with her trusted housekeeper. They didn't say what she died of, did they? Do you know before I look it up?

Somertime · ‎09-18-2010

@Judaline Think it was pneumonia. I remember she was on an oxygen tank when she was interviewed by either Dominick Dunne or Rex Reed.

They said the loss of her father had a powerful effect upon her. She was very close to her sister Bappy who lived in NY and whose husband was the photographer who set her career in motion.

Her life in Spain seemed to be so destructive between the drinking, the parties, the lovers. In later years, she seemed to think her life as a woman had no meaning because she was not married and did not have children, she thought that this was what woman were made for. Those were the choices she made and seemed to regret the choices when looking back. So sad.