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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Throwback Thursdays

Old School Movie Memories: Mahogany



Okay since I was probably all of six years old when this movie was released in 1976, I didn’t exactly catch it in the theaters. I must have seen it for the first time on television. Probably a Saturday or Sunday afternoon… You know back when they used to show those back to back Karate flicks and every now and then you’d catch a movie like Mahogany , Claudine or Let’s Do It Again …. I will say that while I liked Lady Sings the Blues I LOVE Mahogany . After Claudine , it is probably one of my all time favorite old movies. The chemistry between Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams is amazing. And it’s even worth enduring that weird relationship she develops with the character played by Anthony Perkins. Because in the end she “gets her ole man back!” I also loved that even though she becomes this big time model in the film, for a large chunk of it she’s just a regular Chi-town girl. We don’t have nearly enough black love movies. But this one is a classic and it will always be in my top ten. What older romantic movies make your top ten list? And while you ponder that question think about these… “Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know?” LOL. Have a great weekend!

14 comments:

Angelia Vernon Menchan said...

I loved Mahogany also, but Lady Sings The Blues was my fave, huge Billy Holiday fan...but the style of Mahogany was second to none, Ms Ross is Diva personified...Thanks Lady Gwyneth we love Throwback Thursdays...

angelia

Chicki Brown said...

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I've never seen Mahogany straight through. For some reason it just didn't grab me. Now Lady Sings the Blues was my flick. I even bought the soundtrack (on vinyl, of course) and played it non-stop. Lady Di did such a phenomenal job putting her spin on those old Billie Holiday tunes.

PatriciaW said...

Have to admit I saw this one as a first-run in the theatre. Didn't particularly care for it then--in part because I'm not crazy about Diana as a songstress--but it has grown on me over the years. Because that's some romance!

vickiwe said...

I have to agree with Angelia and Chicki, while I enjoyed Mahogany...I loved Lady Sings The Blues..."Do you want my arm to fall off" LOL

Sparkle was another one of my favorite way back in the day movies with a love theme to it.

Victoria

Angelia Vernon Menchan said...

Vickiwe,
Sparkle is a fave of mine also, I have seen it so many times, Lonette McKee was fabulous in that...

blessings,
angelia

vickiwe said...

She sure was. It's a shame her career hasn't gone that far. She was good in The Cotton Club, too.
Some dirty buzzard stole/borrowed my Sparkle DVD! Can't find it anywhere!

Victoria

bettye griffin said...

I'm glad others have gone before me and said they weren't crazy about Mahogany. Like Patricia, I saw this in the theaters, and I remember thinking something along the lines of, "There went two hours of my life that I'll never get back." I didn't like the movie. I can even go so far as to say it was one of the silliest films I'd ever seen, a waste of considerable talent. I predicted on the spot that Diana Ross' film career would not survive such a turkey.

I thought that Lady Sings the Blues, while handsomely produced, didn't deserve to be called a biography. So much of it was fiction, and it didn't help that petite brown-skinned Diana Ross didn't look or sound anything like Billie Holiday. If they made it today, a tall, big light-skinned gal like Queen Latifah would be a great choice.

I did like Sparkle, and I still have the Aretha Franklin soundtrack. Funny, even way back then the actress Mary Alice was playing mama parts.

If I had to choose my favorite black romance from back in the day (and there's not a whole lot to choose from), I'd probably pick Black Orpheus from 1959 (no, I didn't see that one in the theater). Even with the subtitles, it was wonderful.

As Angelia said, we love Throwback Thursdays, so keep them coming, Gwyneth!

Gwyneth Bolton said...

Nobody likes Mahogany but me? Well, at least y'all like Throwback Thursdays... LOL. I know that it gets weird throughout the entire middle. I think I love it so much for he beginning and the end. I love the chemistry between Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams. The scenes at the beginning and the end of the film when she shows up at his rallies always make me smile... :-) Thanks for checking out the post, everybody!

Gwyneth

Michelle said...

I liked Mahogany but I preferred Lady Sings the Blues. I even find myself singing Good Morning Heartache regularly to my honey! LOVE THAT SONG. LOVE BILLIE. LOVE DIANA. Great trip down memory lane.

Don said...

You always have the good stuff. I watched this movie. Love the theme song.

Gwyneth Bolton said...

Thanks for checking out the Throwback Thursday post, Michelle and Don! :-)

Gwyneth

Anonymous said...

Girl, me and my bestfriend was talking about Ms Ross this past weekend. This and Lady Sings the Blues are classics.

Gwyneth Bolton said...

Shelia ~ Ms. Ross was sho nuff The Boss... :-)

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