Month: March 2025

Favorite Actress – Katharine Hepburn

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When I was in my 20s I went through a bit of a classic movie phase and Katharine was a big part of that. I think the first movie I saw her in was Sylvia Scarlett (1935) where she pretended to be a boy. It was a good indication that she did things her own way. She is smart and funny and quick as a whip. I love how she challenged norms and stayed true to herself.

She was born in 1907 Connecticut to a doctor and a suffragette. One of her brothers committed suicide in his teens and it affected her greatly. Even though she had a house in NYC and rented in LA when she filmed there, she consider Connecticut her lifelong home. She was married, but it didn’t work out and the married Spencer Tracy became the love of her life.

She is the only actress to have 4 Oscars.

I recently watched Call Me Kate on Netflix and it’s fantastic if you’re a fan. I also read The Private World of Katharine Hepburn by John Bryson and loved it! You can check it out here.

These are the movies I remember watching.

The A movies

The Philadelphia Story (1940) is one of my all-time faves, also starring Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. A perfect romantic comedy.

State of the Union (1948) also starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson. It is amazing how little has changed in politics in 75 years!

Desk Set (1957) also starring Spencer Tracy. An office romance.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) also starring Cary Grant. A goofball of a romantic comedy.

The African Queen (1951) also starring Humphrey Bogart. A sailing adventure!

On Golden Pond (1981) also starring Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda. Henry and Katharine both won Oscars for their performances.

The B movies

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) also starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katherine’s niece, Katharine Houghton. Interracial relationships served.

Holiday (1938) also starring Cary Grant. Her sister gets the man, sort of.

The Lion in Winter (1968) also starring Peter O’Toole. Henry II has a choice to make.

The B-/C+ movies

Summertime (1955) Venice is my favorite city so I loved that this showed the romance of the place.

Sylvia Scarlett (1935) also starring Cary Grant. Gender swapping hijinks.

See my other Top 100 Actors here.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

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The Frozen River. Historical Fiction, 5 stars, 432 pages, 2023

A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

from Goodreads

This was on so many favorites last year and now I know why! Historical fiction loosely based on a short period of time in the life of midwife Martha Ballard.

It starts with a birth and a dead body found in the frozen Kennebec River in 1780s Maine. It’s a bit mystery, a bit history lesson, a bit pre-constitution court drama, and a whole lot of a woman’s role in the world at the time.

I loved it and that was before the Author’s Note at the end! I loved learning about the process and the real Martha Ballard, midwife to the births of 1000 children.

Perfect for cold weather so get busy! Have you read this one?

“And then I cry. Mostly for Rebecca and the tiny, unwanted beating heart deep within her womb. But also for myself. And our daughters. And for every other woman who lives, suffers, and dies by the mercurial whims of men.” Vassalboro Wednesday, December 23