Happy New Year

Hello everyone-

I hope you are all living it up somewhere, sleeping soundly, or maybe just on the internet like I am for your new year's eve. I'm not a big fan of this holiday, so I spent it with my parents. I am on the East Coast right now seeing family and friends. I go back to film school soon... and this past year has been a crazy one and one that has only deepened my love of cinema and the world of movies.

Though I haven't been the avid blogger I once was, I still love Ingrid Bergman as much as I did when I was more frequently posting.

I would like to tell you all that reading about classic film, writing about it and, of course, watching it has enhanced my abilities and knowledge at film school. I actually schooled this person, who shall remain nameless...

Here's my side of the story:

The person I was working with did a completely horrific job writing a script and was leaving everything until the last minute. I was trying to cut together a decent film noir and he was clueless... well... it came to "do you even know what your story is about?" and he didn't.

I literally chewed the man out by noting how Hitchcock's Notorious was pieced together-- plot point by plot point, detail by detail...

Well he was stunned. Left out to dry. I had had enough.

My editing teacher just looked at me, said "Very good." then slow clapped.

That's right. Slow clapped. If you don't know what this is-- google "movie slow clap" I'm sure something will come up.

I would like to thank the ghosts of Ingrid Bergman, Alfred Hitchcock, Ben Hecht, Alma Hitchcock, and what the hell... Cary Grant and Claude Raines (for good measure).

I hope everyone made a New Year's resolution to watch more Ingrid Bergman films or just classic films in general. Keep the art alive and feel free to comment.

Cheers!

Alexis

Event Through USC SCA

"Out Of The Archives" is an event happening now at USC SCA (aka, where I go to school). There is a huge collection of USC Warner Bros. Archives, stills from films, including Casablanca, on display from today September 16th through December 12th. The event is taking place at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (you might know them for the "Oscars") in the Academy Grand Lobby Gallery . Admission is free-- so if you're in the Los Angeles area, you should check it out! There are also rare photos of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, among others.

I'm hoping to get a free minute to get over there and see the photos... this semester has been insanely busy! Hope everyone is doing well.

Ingridly love,

Alexis

HAPPY 95th BIRTHDAY INGRID BERGMAN! :)

Real Life = Not Enough Blogging or Ingrid Bergman

Hi everyone.
So I finally just finished the TCM Classic Film Festival video!

I will be posting it shortly (it's mixing right now!)

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have been receiving your suggestions for reading, your ideas for posts and your own personal writing... I'm just SWAMPED with work right now.
2nd semester of Film School is a crazy time!

Anyway- a suggestion I have is that you write up whatever you want submitted for a post, send it to my email ingridbergmanfilms@gmail.com and I can post it (after, of course proof reading... gotta protect myself and the blog).

I know I owe a lot of posts... and I will get to them... it's just going to take some time this fall!

I hope to put up some posts on Ingrid's birthday.

Feel free to comment or remind me that you've sent me emails -- my brain is mush!

Enjoy the new TCM Video!

Ruby's Idea

One of our fellow Ingrid Fans, Ruby, had a marvelous suggestion under one of the comments of a recent post. She suggested that I write about who, what, why, where, when & how about Ingrid. Or in her (better) words "..the reasons I love Ingrid or curiosities, things about her I mean..."

So I am going to tell you about my reasons for loving Ingrid Bergman and what I am out to find or figure out thanks to her life or about her life. But let me tell you, the fun doesn't stop there, no way. I want YOU to respond with what Ingrid Bergman has done for you and what you do for her. How has she affected you? When did you start adoring her life, work, spirit, etc.? Anything Ingrid is welcome. I would like to hear from you in the comments, on Twitter, Tumblr, or send me a post that you have posted on your blog... I'll repost it (PUBLICITY for your blog. Yay!).

Here goes nothing:

What: My "Ingrid Friedel Bergman-Lindstrom-Rossellini-Schmidt Addiction/Fandom"

How/Who: I discovered Ingrid Bergman purely by accident, well I'd say more, the stars aligned and new light was shed in my life, but less dramatically-- by accident.

I have always been a fan of classic television and film. My parents influenced and encouraged this, as well as, participated in the hobby. I was watching TCM one night and came across this film Gaslight. As most of us know, this was Ingrid's first Oscar win, Angela Lansbury's first film, Charles Boyer's (looking handsome as ever) and Ingrid's first (of many) paring and directed by the fabulous George Cukor.

When I saw it, it was just a really creepy movie that kept getting better and better.

I consider myself lucky to have seen this as my first Ingrid film. She is spectacular. I mean her singing and jovial nature juxtaposed with her screaming and insanely amazing "knife scene" at the end. Brilliance in a can (literally, since film was canned in those days... hehe... film nerd joke!). I, then, decided that I was going to find all of Ingrid Bergman's films. With research and breaking my former thoughts of her just being a blown up icon-- how wrong was I!? I do want to say "Thanks Dad" for helping me feed my Classic Film addiction, day in and day out. :)

When: This was, embarrassingly, 3 years ago. I was just coming off an Anne Bancroft bender.

Why: Ingrid Bergman was devoted to her work and was described (by her daughter Pia) as "a train on the tracks" so I think if you weren't going the same way, look out. I feel that I am the same type of person. I think she was a woman who lived to act and did it well. She was incredibly human and made many mistakes, but never regrets. She seems exciting to me and I think she is one of the most beautiful creatures ever printed on celluloid.

Her career was beautiful as well... her history is thick with drama, adventure and interesting as hell. For these reasons, and many more, I follow the book of Ingrid.

Where: I originally discovered Ingrid Bergman in Easton, Maryland. I continued my research from the Eastern Shore-- but now I discover her wherever I go.

Including...

My School,

the MoMA in NYC and everywhere!

A New Look!

You may have noticed a big change around here... I have switched the look of Ingrid Bergman Life and Films...

I don't do this very often, because I'm a fan of remaining familiar and comfy when it comes to websites... easy to navigate and such. I felt, recently, that IBL&F just needed a new little spark. I'm still in search of a great template that reflects the feeling of Ingrid Bergman and Classic film... but for now, I feel like this template is like Ingrid's stint in Italy-- her "Rossellini Period."

(Ingrid and her puppy, Stromboli, named after the island on which they filmed the 1950 film Stromboli)

If you have suggestions of a good site full of blogger templates-- let me know!

Ingrid Bergman Official Page

I don't know if everyone is aware, but there is an Official Ingrid Bergman website. I'm not it (shedding a single tear), but it's worth checking out!

They aren't always up to date with updates, but they do post things about Ingrid as well as the rest of her family. There are links to other sites and I'm working on having my blog linked to them.

I was disappointed with the page last spring, I checked and it hadn't been updated in a year. It was sad to see that Ingrid's memory was, yes, still being upheld, but that it was being run by a company who wasn't investing any time. It was actually one of the major motivations toward creating this blog. This fall, however, I saw a piece on 60 Minutes about the company who manages her page, CMG Worldwide, about celebrities making money after they've died. It was interesting, and I wish I could find it online, but haven't had any luck, and it was what triggered me to check her page again. They updated it! I'm sure they did it because they knew the 60 Minutes piece would draw an audience to the pages, but it got the job done. I just hope they keep it up and don't let Ingrid's estate pay for them to sit around and let it coast. She would never have liked that!

Well just like Ingrid, I am "a train on a track" so I must get back to my hectic life of producing a film! I acted in one the other day-- got to play a bitch! -- Kept "WWIBD?" in my brain (as well as "WWMTMD?")-- you know "What Would Ingrid Bergman Do?" It was fun!

Hope everyone is doing well! We have 69 followers now! YAY!

Ingridly love,

Alexis

PS If you want to see Ingrid's official page... click here--> INGRID BERGMAN RULES!

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Today, Ingrid Bergman Life and Films is one year old.

We have 67 followers, 78 Facebook fans, a tumblr account linked to the site, have been reposted by blogs and websites, I've made tons of new friends and received Ingrid themed gifts from talented people all over the world and tweeted a lot since last March.

I cannot believe how fulfilling this blog has been. I mean, now I can because it's a part of my life, but I see, hear, notice, feel Ingrid Bergman around me everywhere.

Last year, I was still waiting to find out about Grad schools, had no real direction, didn't know what to do with my spare time. Once I started this blog, the support and direction followed. It was like the spirit of Classic Film and Ingrid Bergman (among the hundreds of stars everyone else blogs about) were pulling me and motivating me to steer toward my dreams. Reach for the highest stars. "Be yourself, everyone worships an original."

I have been learning so much from this blogging experience. I'm collecting Ingrid movies, branching my movie experience as well as my network.

I am so impressed by the following Ingrid Bergman has, especially how international it is. I love hearing from all of you. I love receiving tweets from various time zones, re-blogs from Canada, and DVD's from Spain! It just proves that Ingrid's immortalization through celluloid wasn't in vain, she will never die in any of our hearts.

I was hoping to have something monumental to talk about, but since I haven't even finished the Casablanca play by play (what is this? month 4 of not finishing?) I will only leave you with something that I feel captures the entire theme of the blog and this post.

Ingridly love to you all (thanks for that catchphrase Mike!) and enjoy.

Movies Unlimited: Movie Fan Fare

I am extremely happy today! Ingrid Bergman Life and Films has been re-posted and promoted by "Movies Unlimited: Movie Fan Fare"!!!

I was contacted by Chris Cummins from the website and he said the following:

"Hello,

We would love to repost your Casablanca: A History piece (http://ingridbergmanfilms.blogspot.com/2009/11/casablanca-history.html). The only changed we would make would be that we would include a new piece of art as the header image and insert a retail link to the film on our retail site. (www.moviesunlimited.com). If either of these changes is a problem, please let me know.

Additionally, at the bottom of your piece we would like to include a brief bio of you. Could we use the one from your website, or would you like to write a new 1-2 line bio for us? Either way is fine. We will give you a link at the bottom of the page as well. At this point, we would like to run the piece in approximately 2 weeks, we can email you when we know exactly when. Again, a million thanks for sharing this piece with us. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Chris"

Of course I said a giant "YES!" to the situation. Lol.

I am truly honored to have my blog represented in such a fashion. It's a feather in the cap of Ingrid Bergman as well. As long as she remains in discussions and around us, I'm doing my job!

The blog is almost a year old and you all have made it such fun to have an environment in which Ingrid is loved and respected.

Thank you Movies Unlimited and thank you for reading :)

TCM Poster Mock-ups

Recenlty, on tumblr, (If you're not following my page yet there, here's a link to INGRID BERGMAN FILMS TUMBLR) these "TCM posters" have been going around.

They are hilariously funny!

María, from Daisies and Buttercups (Be sure to follow her as well! She posts marvelous pictures of Ingrid), suggested we need to see some Ingrid posters like this.

Now, I'd say, we should suggest this to TCM, but I think it would be more fun if everyone came up with their own version of the poster (but in the same style and humor of the orignials) and make them Ingrid Bergman/ Ingrid Bergman film related.

What do you say? Shall we do this much like the logo contest?

Who's in?

If you want to do this, leave a comment and we'll get this party started--polls, rules, posts, etc!

Here are examples of the TCM posters:

60 Followers!

We've reached 60 followers here at Ingrid Bergman Life and Films!

Thanks for reading everyone! I'm so glad we can share in the "Ingridly love" of Ms. Bergman!

Merry Christmas!

God Jul! Which is hopefully Swedish for Good Yule! haha. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. I move to California on Sunday, I will hopefully watch the rest of Casablanca soon and post the play-by-play. I'll have internet asap, but who knows when...

Anyway, have an ingridly wonderful day! :)

Sincerely,

Alexis

PS

Watch The Bells of Saint Mary's if you're looking for a feel-good Ingrid Bergman Christmas movie. :)

And The Winner Is...

TOM!

Tom created the "Broachin' On Ingrid" logo and with 50% of the votes, he wins Taschen's photo book of Ingrid!

Here is Tom's acceptance speech. Congrats again!

"Thanks Alexis! I had fun working on your banner. I don't know if I have a speech, but I could share some Ingrid love! She's one of my favorite actresses. Though I haven't seen any of her Swedish films yet, I have two favorite English-language performances of hers. The first is Casablanca, and the other is A Woman Called Golda, her final filmed performance. Also, I just watched For Whom the Bell Tolls last weekend and loved her in it. Can't wait to read the biography, it sounds like a good one. I want to learn more about her early career and life. And am following your blog! Love it!!" On a different note, I will be moving right after Christmas, from Maryland to California...because of this, my post about Casablanca may be REALLY delayed. I will hopefully do it sometime this week... but I apologize for this extreme delay. I have the first part written, and if you'd like the play by play in sections, let me know and I'll post it as such. Thanks for your support and submissions- they're all fantastic logos and will be used!

LOGOS!

Here it goes! The logo contest.

The winner of this contest will receive a copy of Taschen's Movie Icons: BERGMAN

Here's how we will do this:

• I will post the logos below with code names.
• The code names will appear in a voting box on the sidebar
• You vote for the winners.
• All logos submitted will earn a spot on the site at some point. Of course the winner will have a long stay and first dibs, but everyone will be hosted.

Be sure to vote for your favorite!

Thank you to everyone who submitted. Your name will be revealed at the end (or your SN) and I'll contact you so that I can send you the prize! :)

Best of luck and thanks for reading!

Big Wheelin' Ingrid

Broaching on Ingrid

Family Ties Ingrid

Poster Child Ingrid

Purple Rain Ingrid

Logo Contest

I've been receiving fantastic logos!

Get your submissions in by 11:59PM EST on Wednesday December 9!

Thanks for your work and the logos are looking great- we'll start voting once they're in! :)

Ingrid Logo Contest

Hi all-

SO the votes are in and it looks like we're doing a logo contest. Please submit your logos in a comment area or email them to me.

I'll post them and we can vote on which ones we like the most. Then I'll figure out some prizes!!

Can't wait to see what comes out of this!!! :)

email them to ingridbergmanfilms@gmail.com

Ingrid Bergman Life and Films Logo Contest???

Should we have another Ingrid Bergman Life and Films logo contest? I was thinking about having an Ingrid prize this time... any thoughts?

I know that participation wasn't that high last time, but I did end up with a beautiful logo from Lolita... so it was definitely worth it...

Comment and let me know... I'll also put up another poll to see if anyone's interested.

Ingrid Bergman Life and Films Facebook Fan Page!

I have done a few things to keep up with you kids and the crazy times...

I have:

1. Added a facebook fan page to boost my connections with all Ingrid fans and another outlet for all of us to spread love of classic films. Feel free to join, share your fan pages here or on that page, link to it, post comments, share pictures, etc. There is a facebook badge in the sidebar, you can follow that as a link to the site or look up "Ingrid Bergman Life and Films" on facebook! Feel free to friend me :)
2. Added a "Linkwithin" bar under each post. This is more for fun and interested first timers. I noticed other bloggers hosting this addition to their pages, and I've used it to get lost in a labyrinth of amazing classic film posts, so why not give it a try? Lol.

So I will now get back to my research- I really am trying to pull this Casablanca post together- I just want it to be as well done as possible!

Attempting Casablanca--Oh Good Grief!

Due to Casablanca's overwhelming success over the past 67 years, I have to respect this and do my research accordingly.

I have tons of resources to help me out. I plan on giving you facts, quotes, historical data as well as background on the movie then doing a play-by-play of the film itself. The p.b.p. may be mixes of opinion, comments, sarcasm, film commentary, definition of what's going on as well as anything else I can conjure up. Hopefully everyone's cool with that. If you have disagreements, that's fine, I expect it. It's the #2 film of all time (AFI Top 100 Movies) so I expect everyone to have seen it as well as have opinions about the film.

Now I must get to my research, but I will leave you with this to get all engines revving!

Tumblr

Emily has hooked me on Tumblr.com.

That's right. Now there is a tumblr site connected with Ingrid Bergman Life and Films!

If you're interested in following my tumblr, or want to find other great Ingrid tumblrs, join in the fun!

My site is IngridBergmanFilms.tumblr.com.

Emily has a great Classic Film tumblr called NotoriousDreamTeam and she showed me another fantastic Ingrid tumblr called DaisiesandButtercups, filled with love, admiration for and photos of Ingrid Bergman.

If you miss their posts, or mine, please follow me on twitter and you're most likely to see them! @alexis_morrell