Mary Astor as Norma Desmond

Fascinating ... and not very good. I don't mind at all that she's different than Gloria Swanson. I mind that she doesn't seem to give a crap about anything she's saying.

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Updated On: 1/21/13 at 06:26 AM

You're welcome.

Have you ever heard any of those abbreviated radio plays of then current films? They usually featured a star not in the actual film, but one just as notable.

I find in those radio plays the actors aren't as invested as I'm accustomed to seeing them. They seem to do just dash off a performance. I put Astor's Norma Desmond in that category. There are glimmers of what might be a commanding yet nuanced performance, but you figure she needed Billy Wilder guiding her.

You figure too that at the time television was still considered a second rate medium. She probably had a little fun, cashed the check, went home, and forgot about it.

Of course the real fun is watching a great actor take on a great role associated with someone else. We get a lot of that in the theatre, but oh so rarely in film.

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Updated On: 1/21/13 at 11:31 AM

Exactly!

Rosalind Russell in NINOTCHKA.

So much fun.

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I still get chills from Agnes Moorehead's 'Sorry Wrong Number'

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