Sorry to in-butt, Roger; but, Frank, your comment reminded me of Edison's pithy and axiomatic brief concerning the "chief function of the body" being "to carry the brain around." (I guess that slips under the radar of some.)
'Sides, like Jean Harlow, who considered undergarments unnecessarily constricting, MM never even wore underpants. Arthur Miller confirmed this fact:
Well. I do think it amusing that the subject of underpants draws several comments -- including two (so far) by me -- but highbrow stuff like blasphemy and Oprah and poetry goes generally unremarked. I should add that I know from personal repeated observation that on at least one occasion MM wore undies -- in that subway grating scene in "The Seven-Year Itch," with Tom Ewell looking on so bemusedly.
Frank was a trifle too subtle in raising the bar vis-à-vis meaningful discourse, je pense. But, yes, indeedly, Roger, MM certainly wore "undies" in The Seven-Year Itch, no doubt about it. S'pose the point I was trying to convey involves the notion only children and men wear underpants; women wear lingerie, thongs, g-strings, bikini bottoms, garter belts, crotchless panties, knickers, bloomers, merry widows, and yadda-yadda-yippee!
Wikipedia's entry concerning underwares contains a wealth of information (and, in order to stay the corset, there's even a section on religious significance of said garments):
http://tinyurl.com/fbgqc
When it comes to boxers, briefs, or going commando, there are no losers (or, at least not in my books, all twenty-odd of 'em).
P.S. I do think misogyny is a form of blasphemy, though . . .
"Stay the corset" -- very good. Panties, now -- always a titillating word, which I take it was part of your point. Anyone remember the scene in "Anatomy of a Murder" when the lawyer Joseph Welch, playing a judge, had to talk the courtroom through getting used to hearing the naughty word? Settle the folk down so he could get on with the trial. It was a better role than the one he played at the Army-McCarthy hearings. Also good about misogyny/blasphemy -- meaning She wouldn't like it?
The pleasure's mine, RKM (and, yours, too, seems, given your vast love of literary discussion that gets down and purty). I *do* remember that scene in Anatomy of a Murder, arguably the greatest court-room drama ever created on celluloid. Still, I've spent three days trying to find a clip of it and cannot. Why it hasn't been uploaded to YouTube, huh? Hrmm . . .
Amazing flick. "Socko Cinema!"
It snagged the 1959 NYFCC Award for Best Screenplay (Wendell Mayes) and Actor (James Stewart):
"Doesn't a woman instinctively know when a man's on the make?"
http://tinyurl.com/2j8tl8
With a sweet tip of the lip from Otto Preminger, a blast from the cast of this classic (when "Duke" juke joints were a jumpin' and ceremonial gavels were a thumpin') . . . It was based on the novel penned by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker (using his "Robert Traver" pseudonym); he fashioned the storyline from a 1952 murder trial in which he acted for the defense. (And, yep, there's even a reference to "a girdle" in it.)
While perusing YouTube clips surrounding the film, I also found this lovely and rather naively rah-rah-raw newsreel describing the United Artists' premiere of AM in downtown Detroit. A lifetime ago, it seems to me, now. How the skyline has changed (since I lived on the Detroit River for a year in mid-nineties Windsor, ON, CANADA):
http://tinyurl.com/yq7d26
Then, there's . . .
http://tinyurl.com/34ms4q
. . . a scene proving why Stewart received his fifth and final AA Nom. You're right, Roger K.:
IRL, the visiting-judge character, the lawyer Joseph N. Welch of the Army-McCarthy hearings you ID, deals with Stewart begging the court to allow him to cut into the apple; and, he almost breaks character with a smile shadowing his intensity as well, of course, reminding us of Adam & Eve and fig leaves, another kind of underwear, n'est-ce pas?
See? On-topic and on-target. A Natural Bull'sigh.
Note the clock, pocket watch, apple (pie), batting averages, all as American as it goodly gets and Jimmy gots one of the berry best bets. Miss him. Miss the Goddess, too. You're too sharp, I can't slide a single curve by you. Salut!
underpants are indeed a necessity
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall that Marilyn Monroe would have disagreed.
ReplyDeleteNo, she needed them too, Frank: To keep her ankles warm.
ReplyDeleteNow, if a man had said that, Susan ...
ReplyDeleteAh, literature! I could discuss it all day!
ReplyDeleteIt's about time the level of discussion here got raised a bit, Roger. don't you think?
ReplyDeleteSorry to in-butt, Roger; but, Frank, your comment reminded me of Edison's pithy and axiomatic brief concerning the "chief function of the body" being "to carry the brain around." (I guess that slips under the radar of some.)
ReplyDelete'Sides, like Jean Harlow, who considered undergarments unnecessarily constricting, MM never even wore underpants. Arthur Miller confirmed this fact:
"If I see an ending, I can work backward."
Well. I do think it amusing that the subject of underpants draws several comments -- including two (so far) by me -- but highbrow stuff like blasphemy and Oprah and poetry goes generally unremarked. I should add that I know from personal repeated observation that on at least one occasion MM wore undies -- in that subway grating scene in "The Seven-Year Itch," with Tom Ewell looking on so bemusedly.
ReplyDeleteFrank was a trifle too subtle in raising the bar vis-à-vis meaningful discourse, je pense. But, yes, indeedly, Roger, MM certainly wore "undies" in The Seven-Year Itch, no doubt about it. S'pose the point I was trying to convey involves the notion only children and men wear underpants; women wear lingerie, thongs, g-strings, bikini bottoms, garter belts, crotchless panties, knickers, bloomers, merry widows, and yadda-yadda-yippee!
ReplyDeleteWikipedia's entry concerning underwares contains a wealth of information (and, in order to stay the corset, there's even a section on religious significance of said garments):
http://tinyurl.com/fbgqc
When it comes to boxers, briefs, or going commando, there are no losers (or, at least not in my books, all twenty-odd of 'em).
P.S. I do think misogyny is a form of blasphemy, though . . .
"Stay the corset" -- very good. Panties, now -- always a titillating word, which I take it was part of your point. Anyone remember the scene in "Anatomy of a Murder" when the lawyer Joseph Welch, playing a judge, had to talk the courtroom through getting used to hearing the naughty word? Settle the folk down so he could get on with the trial. It was a better role than the one he played at the Army-McCarthy hearings. Also good about misogyny/blasphemy -- meaning She wouldn't like it?
ReplyDeleteThe pleasure's mine, RKM (and, yours, too, seems, given your vast love of literary discussion that gets down and purty). I *do* remember that scene in Anatomy of a Murder, arguably the greatest court-room drama ever created on celluloid. Still, I've spent three days trying to find a clip of it and cannot. Why it hasn't been uploaded to YouTube, huh? Hrmm . . .
ReplyDeleteAmazing flick. "Socko Cinema!"
It snagged the 1959 NYFCC Award for Best Screenplay (Wendell Mayes) and Actor (James Stewart):
"Doesn't a woman instinctively know when a man's on the make?"
http://tinyurl.com/2j8tl8
With a sweet tip of the lip from Otto Preminger, a blast from the cast of this classic (when "Duke" juke joints were a jumpin' and ceremonial gavels were a thumpin') . . . It was based on the novel penned by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker (using his "Robert Traver" pseudonym); he fashioned the storyline from a 1952 murder trial in which he acted for the defense. (And, yep, there's even a reference to "a girdle" in it.)
While perusing YouTube clips surrounding the film, I also found this lovely and rather naively rah-rah-raw newsreel describing the United Artists' premiere of AM in downtown Detroit. A lifetime ago, it seems to me, now. How the skyline has changed (since I lived on the Detroit River for a year in mid-nineties Windsor, ON, CANADA):
http://tinyurl.com/yq7d26
Then, there's . . .
http://tinyurl.com/34ms4q
. . . a scene proving why Stewart received his fifth and final AA Nom. You're right, Roger K.:
IRL, the visiting-judge character, the lawyer Joseph N. Welch of the Army-McCarthy hearings you ID, deals with Stewart begging
the court to allow him to cut into the apple; and, he almost breaks character with a smile shadowing his intensity as well, of course, reminding us of Adam & Eve and fig leaves, another kind of underwear, n'est-ce pas?
See? On-topic and on-target. A Natural Bull'sigh.
Note the clock, pocket watch, apple (pie), batting averages, all as American as it goodly gets and Jimmy gots one of the berry best bets. Miss him. Miss the Goddess, too. You're too sharp, I can't slide a single curve by you. Salut!