Saturday, October 09, 2004

JANET LEIGH (1926-2004)

RODNEY DANGERFIELD (1921-2004)

Hitchcock specialized in icy blondes, but Janet Leigh's coldness didn't balance itself with enough sexiness or beauty the way Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren or Grace Kelly's did. Maybe that's why he only worked with her once. Still the shower scene is probably the most famous and parodied Hitchcock segment of them all. It seems similar to the way Fay Wray was forever known as the King Kong kidnap victim despite making nearly 100 other films.

Leigh did make two other classic films, TOUCH OF EVIL and MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. I didn't find her particularly memorable in either. Her most important contribution may be Jamie Leigh Curtis. It's not to say that she wasn't talented. She just didn't have enough of whatever it was to be a legend in her own right.

Rodney Dangerfield was a funny guy and as a child of the 80s I'll always remember him from CADDYSHACK and BACK TO SCHOOL, two otherwise average films that made me laugh when I was a kid. I probably saw Caddyshack 20 times back then.

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