Turner Turns 69

Today marks the 69th birthday of one of my favorite actresses of all time, Kathleen Turner. She blazed onto the silver screen in 1981 with “Body Heat” and became one of the most sought after actresses in Hollywood.



Rather than allow herself to get typecast, she focused on selecting roles that were daring and showcased her acting chops. In “The Man with Two Brains” (1983), she played the money-grubbing Dolores who marries brain surgeon Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (Steve Martin) for two reasons: his money and her love of torturing men. She withholds sex from her husband but gives it up freely for his landscaper, Juan (Russell Orozco).



“Romancing the Stone” followed and catapulted her fame even higher. Her follow-up to that was the wacky “Crimes of Passion” (1984). As a fashion designer by day/hooker by night, this one has to be seen to be believed.


 
“Prizzi’s Honor” (1985) is a favorite of mine. Turner portrays a hitter who falls for Jack Nicholson, also in the same profession. Like most of her roles, her characters love passionately, but in the end, their need for self-preservation (and often wealth) win out in the end.



“Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986) works in spite of the fact that she was a 32 year old woman portraying a high school senior. As in “Grease,” the surrounding cast were also much older than the characters that they portrayed. Other than that, it is a sweet, charming film for which Turner was deservedly nominated for an Oscar.



“The Accidental Tourist” (1988) is a sad yet hopeful story of what happens when the death of a child tears a marriage apart but allows the couple to live a more authentic life by pursuing what they truly want.



“War of the Roses” (1989) is my very favorite Turner film. She really should have won an Oscar for this one; she and Michael Douglas gave a painfully accurate portrayal of what happens in a disintegrating marriage where one partner feels unheard, ignored, and unappreciated.



“Serial Mom” (1994) runs a close second. “Suzanne Somers, this is my BAD side!” is one of many lines that Turner delivers with relish in this John Waters movie.



I had the honor of meeting Kathleen backstage after she acted in the short-lived Broadway play, “High” back in 2011. She was engaging in conversation and gracious up to a point, and then it was time for us to leave. This was not hard to imagine after having just finished her performance. 



I hope we continue to see her continue her craft and creating memorable characters for many years to come!

See more Kathleen Turner photos at my main website.

Daveland On Location: Double Indemnity

"Double Indemnity" (1944) has just been released for the first time on Blu-ray. Watching it last weekend, I was reminded of the genius of Director Billy Wilder. He took a decently written novella by author James M. Cain and fleshed it out into a film noir classic, creating the text book example of how the genre should operate.



Cain's dialogue was spiced up by detective fiction author and screenwriter Raymond Chandler ("The Big Sleep") and Wilder. Despite the fact (or maybe because of it) that the two didn't get along, the dialogue far surpasses the original. The interplay between femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) and insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) sizzles, laden with double entendres that allowed the film to pass the strict censors while still letting the audience know exactly what was going on, even if they didn't see it.



Stanwyck steals the picture. Wearing a cheap blonde wig that Wilder picked out for her, she transforms into the scheming wife who'll stop at nothing to get what she wants. MacMurray was an excellent choice, playing against type as the poor schmuck who is lost in the haze of sexual attraction, losing any sense of morality because of it.

Many films were inspired by "Double Indemnity," most notably "Body Heat," from 1981, starring Kathleen Turner and William Hurt. The storyline was not much different, but definitely a lot more graphic than its predecessor.



In 1982, comedian/writer/musician Steve Martin paid homage to the Film Noir genre with the hilarious, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid." In one sequence, he dons the horrid Barbara Stanwyck wig, recreating the "Double Indemnity" scene at Jerry's Supermarket.



Here, Detective Rigby Reardon (Martin) in drag successfully attracts Walter Neff with a bewitching perfume called "Fondle Me."



Thanks to the well executed inter-cutting of current and vintage footage, a serious scene from "Double Indemnity" becomes a riot in "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid."



Surprisingly enough, the imposing Spanish Colonial style Dietrichson home from "Double Indemnity," built in 1927, still exists.



Other than an unfortunate change of garage doors, you would think you'd stepped back in time looking at the Beechwood Canyon home today, which is still a private residence.





You might even find an insurance man on the steps, still waiting for his femme fatale.



See more vintage & current Daveland Hollywood Movie photos on my main website.