The great Jean Simmons RIP

[stuart.uk]

Jean Simmons. one of Britain's greatest actresses has died

Her early career included playing a big band singer, possibly dubbed, in the classic war film The Way To The Stars. Though Valerie Hobson fans might disagree, I felt she was the better Estella of the two in David Lean's Great Expectations.

Another early hit was The Blue Lagoon where she and Donald Houston played teenagers on a dessert island after being shipwrecked. While it was thought at the time both performers would become major stars, Houston was soon playing character aoles such as Cliff Robertson's immediate boss in 633 Squadren.

In Hollywood Jean proved herself an all-round entertainer singing and dancing in Guys And Dolls. Like other Brit actresses, Jean was a good westerner, particulary in The Big Country. Back in Britain she played Susan Lampton in Man At The Top with Laurence Harvey. I haven't seen the film myself, but would like to see her playing a working class woman in the kitchen sink 60s drama.

Though Barbara Stanwyck got great acclaim in the U.S for The Thorn Birds, like Rachel Ward she was slaughtered in the UK. The one performer in the UK that got acclaim was Jean Simmons as Stanwyck's appearently timid sister, who later on proved she was actually quite a tough old girl. I remember her after a bush fire walking up to the bodies of her dead husband and son, showing real grit. Jean was also in North And South.

In the 90s Jean made two British movies, Her Own Rules, playing Melissa Gilbert's mother and the better Daisies In December, a love story between aging couple Simmons and Josh Ackland. Jean looked great in that movie. It was also good to see her work alongside Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote

PS-just thinking, after reminding myself about Jean's bar-room brawl in GADs and her tomboyish scene with Gregory Peck in The Big Country, she would have been a good action heroine

[Erika1712]

I hate to hear or read of any classic actor/actress dying because they grow fewer and fewer, but this one shocked and saddened me a great deal. Jean Simmons seemed to be a very lovely lady and she was a fine performer.
She is in so many great movies (a favorite is Guys and Dolls), but I also remember her well in the sweeping TV dramas Thorn Birds and North and South. I can't forget the genuine adoration that Patrick Swayze showed for her onscreen. It was touching to watch. Sad that both are now gone. She'll be greatly missed.

[stuart.uk]

I read somewhere a critic saying Elizabeth Taylor was to young to play Rebecca in Ivanhoe. I think while she was good, I think the fact she was at MGM made it easier to land the role. However, it's a role I could imagine Jean playing if anything even better than her fellow Englishwoman, particulary the scene where Rebecca tries to fight of her kidnappers while on horseback.

It's easy to compare IMO Taylor and Simmons. IMHO Liz was the bigger star, but Jean the better actress, though I think while Liz didn't do much quality work once past her 50s, Jean did.

[stuart.uk]

Here's a link to the 1949 The Blue Lagoon

[myrnaloyisdope]

Sorry to hear about the passing of one of my faves, I loved her drunken brawling in Guys and Dolls, and her wonderfully rich performance in Angel Face. She was one of the most strikingly and uniquely beautiful actresses I've ever seen, and wonderfully talented too.

[mrsl]

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Like everyone else, my heart breaks a little bit more with the passing away of each of these great stars. My idea of the perfect Jean Simmons role, and the photo that I remember most, is that of her in the long sleeved, velvet gown she wears in the final scene of Young Bess when she realizes she is no longer a child, but a Monarch to rule her country. That pose is astounding, it epitomizes the aura of a Queen.

I will miss her, but I did love to see her in her occasional recalled role with Angela Lansbury.
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[charliechaplinfan]

Her Ophelia was a joy to behold. I love her in Guys and Dolls, Black Narcissus Great Expectations and many, many more. In times gone by our channels would show some classic movies of recently deceased stars, well they didn't remember Brando, let's hope they do remember our home grown talented beauty.

I'm sad to think another link to the past has gone.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi,

Last night, TCM played 3 films in a hurred tribute to Jean Simmons -
"Great Expectations", "Elmer Gantry" and "The Happy Ending"....

I watched GE again for about the 6th time; and while it is a great movie, it is definitely not Jean Simmons movie. Also, while she's in EG much longer, it also is not her movie exclusively.
I did not watch THE and have never seen it, so cannot comment on it; but since she was nominated for an Oscar for it, I conclude it was her movie!!

Why not play "Young Bess" or "Angel Face" instead?

Even Martita Hunt had more time in "Great Expectations" and I always have a smile on my face seeing her in anything!
Only she could have played 'Baroness Liebenbaum' in "Anastasia" - a hammy, over-the-top performance indeed; but Gawd, ya gotta love her!!!!

Larry

[Lzcutter]

Larry,

I think part of the problem for the hurried tribute is that 31 Days of Oscar starts on Monday and if they hadn't done a tribute to her before then, it would have had to have been postponed until mid-March.

Can you imagine the crying and wailing from TCM City if that had happened? Within minutes of a classic film star or character actor's passing, they begin clamoring for a tribute so having to wait until March would have given them almost 50 days of complaining that they didn't honor Jean in a timely manner.

There are those already complaining about one of the three films that got bumped for the tribute.

Have I mentioned how much I love this place?

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Lynn,

I fully understand the many & varied problems TCM has whenever a star dies; and I'm not complaining about the films... I enjoyed both the first two that I watched and always have.

I just thought that "Young Bess" would have been a more starry performance to deoict her.
But, there may have been problems getting it - who knows???....

I think TCM does a remarkable job - and digging up so many of those forgotten & sometimes hidden treasures, is noteworthy indeed...

Larry

[Professional Tourist]

I think part of the problem for the hurried tribute is that 31 Days of Oscar starts on Monday and if they hadn't done a tribute to her before then, it would have had to have been postponed until mid-March.

Can you imagine the crying and wailing from TCM City if that had happened? Within minutes of a classic film star or character actor's passing, they begin clamoring for a tribute so having to wait until March would have given them almost 50 days of complaining that they didn't honor Jean in a timely manner.

But why should the tributes be hurried at all?

I don't watch television, and so perhaps the answer should be obvious, but, newspapers don't hurriedly write their obituaries when famous persons die -- they have them prepared in advance. TCM is dealing with classic cinema stars who are elderly and have not been making new pictures, for the most part, for many years. Couldn't they have their tributes prepared in advance for when these actors eventually pass away, and then when the time came they could air their thoughtful tributes right away?

[Lzcutter]

I think they do have some of their TCM Remembers tributes done ahead of time with rights clearances for the clips used.

However, doing a night of films is different. They can't reserve the films in advance from studios on the idea that when "Jean Simmons passes, we'd like to run ____________" as that film may be contracted to another network or be unavailable for other reasons when the need arises.

Also, I think the staff at TCM likes to do the tributes in a timely manner. Had Monday not been the start of 31 Days, they might have been able to take a bit more time. But 31 Days is one of the big promotions for TCM and the entire month revolves a certain theme. They also were able to snag some premieres as well as a number of Oscar nominated or winners that haven't been showcased in the last couple of years.

Like Larry I wish they had been able to get Young Bess which also appeared on TCM last summer as part of Stewart Granger's SOTM turn but they may have only been contracted for that airing.

Rental and lease agreements with the studios and the distributors are often tricky and budget costs also have to be factored into the mix.

Added to that peoples' expectations and what they have come to expect from TCM. I remember when Anita Page passed away two years ago. Her tribute came months after her passing and the clamor at TCM City for not doing it sooner was loud.

And TCM City is just a fraction of the response they likely get from viewers who don't belong to the message boards.

I do think the Programming Staff does their best but I also think they know, that like so much of their job, they can't make everyone happy but they try to make as many as they can happy.

[mrsl]

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I'm afraid if they had previously prepared verbal tributes to actors who had not yet passed, eventually they would begin to sound rote and not heartfelt. I would rather wait a week to 10 days and know that someone cared enough to sit down and write a eulogy (as such), than to have something that sounds like a commercial.

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[rudyfan]

Well, Robert Osborne was great in between the films shown last evening. Unfortunately for me, I'd never seen Elmer Gantry and I got a telephone call from a friend in need right as it started and I missed most of the film. I need to see if it will be on again during the Oscar month as I really want to see it.