Okay, welcome everyone to another edition of Classic Tuesdays, the virtual edition. My name is Dan. I'm the Director of Development and Programming for the Bedford Flyhouse. Very glad to have you joining us here tonight. Before we hear from John on the Lady Eve, a couple of reminders, please. If you are interested, there is a Q&A button on your devices. It's at the bottom of your screen on a laptop. It should be at the top of your screen on an iPad. If at any point afterwards you'd like to hear from John on a particular topic, please don't hesitate to post a question and we will make sure that he answers it. A couple of just quick housekeeping things. We are featuring starting this Friday and every Friday in May curbside concessions for your weekend home viewing if you are interested. You can go to our website and there's different packages of popcorn and candy all prepared under the strictest safety protocols in these times for you, including beer and wine packages. 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And so now we're going to hear from John on the lady Eve and then we'll be back to take your questions. Hi everyone, it's John Farr. Welcome back to Virtual Classic Tuesdays brought to you once again by the Bedford Playhouse in Bedford, New York. Even in the midst of this pandemic, we're going to do all we can to make the month of May merry as it should be. There's a saying I really love. Supposedly uttered by an old actor on his deathbed. When a visiting friend expressed sympathy, the actor looked at him and said, dying is easy, comedy is hard. Well, for roughly a decade during Hollywood's golden age, Preston Sturgis made comedy look easy. He did it first as a screenwriter in Hollywood, then leveraged his enormous success to become the first writer to sit in the director's chair. He opened the door for other writer directors to follow like Billy Wilder and John Huston. Yet unlike those two men who enjoyed long careers behind the camera, Sturgis was like a missile who skyrocketed into the stratosphere and then fell to earth. But back in 1941, when he made the Lady Eve, he was the wonder kind of Hollywood. He was also a highly colorful character. Unlike most of his peers, he came from a background of culture and privilege. His mother Mary was a Bohemian fashion designer with a boutique in Paris who became best friends with the famous dancer Isadora Duncan. Sturgis, in fact, spent a lot of his childhood in Europe and considered Paris his second home. Always precocious, he dabbled in a variety of occupations as a young man. He worked for his mother for a while, then tried his hand at inventing. He even came up with a kiss-proof lipstick, whatever that means. Sturgis didn't actually start writing until he was 30. His second play, strictly dishonorable, he wrote in just six days and it became a huge hit on Broadway. Hollywood was the logical next stop. When he arrived in the early 30s, he discovered to his shock that screenwriters were basically second class citizens. Sturgis would be different. His prodigious gift for script writing, soon evident in classics like 20th Century, The Good Fairy, and Easy Living, made his salary soar at Paramount Pictures. But for him, the money wasn't enough. As he put it, when a good picture is made, everybody's a winner except the writer. He wanted to direct. Now by 1939, his scripts were selling for about $30,000 a pop. So he came up with a special offer. He'd sell Paramount his next script for just $10 if he was allowed to direct. Well, it was an offer the studio couldn't refuse. The resulting film, The Great McGinty, was a hit. And Sturgis became the first recipient of an Oscar for best original screenplay. Now McGinty had not cost much to make, nor had his follow-up feature, Christmas in July, both released in 1940. So this next project, The Lady Eve, would command a bigger budget and bigger stars. Sturgis had actually turned out a first draft of the script back in 1938. It was based on a short story called Two Bad Hats, about a father-daughter team of card sharks. Originally a vehicle for clutter at Colbert, over time the project had Paulette Goddard and Madeline Carroll attached to it, with both Joel McRae and Fred McMurray considered for the male lead. However, by the time Sturgis was in the driver's seat, he was set on Barbara Stanwyck. She and Sturgis had met a couple of years before. When she starred in a charming picture he'd written called Remember the Night. Like most all of Hollywood, he greatly admired Stanwyck's talent and professionalism. The Brooklyn-born actress had no star attitude, paled around with a crew, and was totally down to earth. And though she was a big star, she'd confided to Sturgis that good comedies, really good comedies, rarely came her way. And she wanted to do more of them. So he promised to give her one. Now she eagerly accepted the starring role of Jean, the beautiful card shark who later transforms herself into an English lady, the Lady Eve Sidwich. For Charles Pike, the heir to a brewery fortune who becomes Jean's latest mark, Paramount negotiated with Daryl Xanac at Fox to borrow Henry Fonda. Born in Nebraska, Fonda had first studied acting in Omaha with Marlon Brando's mother before heading east, where he shared lodgings with another struggling young actor named James Stewart. Fonda ventured out to Hollywood in the mid-30s and Stewart followed soon after. Five years later, both men were stars. In fact, both were Oscar-nominated in 1940. Fonda for the Grapes of Wrath, Stewart for the Philadelphia Story. And as some of you may know, Stewart won. Now Stanwyck and Fonda had been paired together two years before in a forgettable comedy called The Mad Miss Manton. And now, working with the genius, Preston Sturgis, they both knew they were in a different league. To play Stanwyck's father and partner in crime, Sturgis cast Charles Coburn, a lifelong stage actor who began in films at age 60 and never looked back. He'd go on to win an Oscar in 1944 for a fabulous comedy called The More the Marrier with Joel McCrae and Gene Arthur. He'd also appear in two Marilyn Monroe films, 1952's Monkey Business and the following year in Gentlemen Prefer Blonds. The rest of the casting was equally inspired. First, Rotund, the character actor Eugene Pallett was selected to play Charles Pike's father. He'd appeared in some of the best comedies of the 1930s, most notably My Man Godfrey and Topper. Next, any fan of the Astaire Rogers musicals will remember English actor Eric Bloor, who most always played a valet. Here he poses as English nobility. Finally, there's William Demerist as Muggsy, Charles Pike's honorary bodyguard. Baby boomers like me will always think of him as Uncle Charlie in the 60s TV comedy My Three Sons, but he had a long career before that. The most prominent member of the Preston Sturgis stock company, Demerist appeared in no less than eight Sturgis films, including all the great ones. By all accounts, there was a magical atmosphere on the set of The Lady Eve. Unlike many directors who demanded discipline and quiet, Sturgis encouraged interaction, even a bit of chaos. For instance, journalists as well as other guests and observers were always welcome on the set. Those who attended were called that Sturgis wore eccentric clothing and a brightly colored beret so he could always be spotted through the crowd. Even with all the commotion, Sturgis had incredible powers of focus and concentration, so shooting proceeded smoothly. Reportedly, while he could be tough and demanding, even arrogant with his producer, crew, and supporting cast, he always treated his leading players with respect. On most movie sets, when there was a break or another setup, stars would retire to their trailers or dressing rooms to rest or rehearse on their own. Not so on The Lady Eve. Between takes, Fond and Stannock would sit with Sturgis and he'd regale them with jokes and funny stories about his past. Often they'd also discuss the next scene and make refinements on the spot. They didn't have a problem with one cast member, Emma the King Snake, who was in hibernation mode during the shoot, so she was often sleeping and shedding her skin. This caused quite a few delays. When The Lady Eve was released in March 1941, critics raved and the public flocked to see him. Bosley Crowther gushed in the New York Times. Now there's no question about it. Preston Sturgis is definitely and distinctly the most refreshing new force to hit the American motion pictures in the past five years. Having long to do more comedies in 1941, Barbara Stannock would experience a banner year in the genre. First, she was paired again with Fonda in a comedy called You Belong to Me that Failed to Catch Fire, but directly after that she was cast in Howard Hawks' delightful Ball of Fire written by Billy Wilder and starring Gary Cooper. Now that was a big hit for which she'd receive her second Oscar nomination. Both she and her co-star Henry Fonda would go on to have long careers in film and television. Fonda received an honorary lifetime Oscar in 1981 and by coincidence, Stanwick got hers the very next year. She'd been nominated four times, but never won. And in that year 1982, Henry Fonda finally won his first competitive Academy Award at age 76 for On Golden Pond, the oldest actor ever to win. He died just months later. Barbara Stanwick passed away in 1990, age 82. Sadly, the brilliant Preston Sturgis would not enjoy the same longevity. Between 1942 and 1945, he made three more acknowledged classics, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, and Hail the Conqueror Hero. But his luck turned sour with the ending of the war. His last arguably great film, 1948's Unfaithful of Yours, was a box office disappointment. And all too suddenly, Preston Sturgis went from hero to has been. There always seemed to be projects that didn't pan out for him. For a while, he partnered with Howard Hughes, but that ended badly. Always fond of alcohol, Sturgis became a heavy drinker. He went through four marriages and invested heavily in an LA restaurant and nightclub called The Players, which drained all his savings. Then the IRS went after him. Throughout all this misfortune, he never gave up. Preston Sturgis just died of a heart attack broken alone at New York's Algonquin Hotel in 1959. He was just 60. He'd even composed his own witty epitaph. Now I've laid me down to die. I pray my neighbors die too deeply into sins that I not only cannot hear deny, but much enjoyed as time flew by. Two weeks from tonight on May 26, please join me again as we celebrate the sublime on-screen pairing of Spencer Tracy and Catherine Hepburn and one of the best films, Adam's Rib for any time on Amazon. Now I'm happy to take your questions. Okay, so we're ready for John. Hi, John. Hey, everybody. Fire away. I hope you all enjoyed the film. All right, well, I've only seen it about 30 times. All right, so we had a couple questions that were submitted in advance. John, you want to go through it? I think there's some questions we have in advance. I'll feed you a couple of them. The first one is with regard to Barbara Stanwyck. They were very much well known for being dramatic actors, not so much comedians. So what was the casting of this particular film, for lack of a better word, I guess, considered to be a gimmick that you had these great dramatic actors playing comedy? They're great dramatic actors, but first and foremost, they were great actors.  And if you're a great actor, you want to stretch yourself and show that you can do comedy. And, you know, not everybody thought that Clark Gable was a great actor, but he, and he played all these heroic roles, but he, the only Oscar he won was for a comedy, because he showed he could do comedy. And that was, and it happened one night in 1934. So you didn't have to sort of, it was not just comedians, quote unquote, or comic actors like Jack Benny or Bob Hope, who, who did comedies. If you were a great actor, part of how you proved it was being able to do comedy. And of course, there's no better example of that than Cary Grant, who was one of the great comic actors ever, but he was also a leading man who did a lot of, you know, Hitchcock and a lot of other different kinds of things. So Barbara Stanwood was just superb and wanted to do more comedies because then as now, now it's even worse. Now there are very few really, really good comedies, because they're hard to do. In those days, there were a few more good ones. The screwballs were happening. And, but you couldn't always get Carol Lombard, who was a comedian and known for, for that. And the Barbara Stanwicks of the world really wanted to get in on it and show that they could do it. And of course, no, she's so good in this. And so is Henry Fonda. Now, Henry Fonda would never be known as a, as a comic actor. Honestly, this is the, this is the one role where he got a chance to show what he could do.  He plays a complete doofus. You love him, but he doesn't know what hit him. And that's the joke. He doesn't know what hit him. But he wanted, you know, he was a great actor. He'd just done Tom Joed, Grape Sabrat, very serious part. He wanted to change the pace and he wanted to, actors wanted, great actors want to show their range. So it was not a gimmick far from it. And by the way, the studio heads and the production heads are not sitting there going, oh, what, let's do this. It'll be a great gimmick. They want to make sure that whoever they cast in a comedy can do comedy. Otherwise it falls flat. So they had to believe that they could do it, but obviously they could. And, and then the other thing is you have this blanket underneath tremendously skilled character actors who are great in comedies, Eric Bloor, and Bill Demerist, and these people who were just, you know, died in the wall, comic actors, and they helped it along. But, you know, there's no question about it. This was no gimmick. This was two great actors.  What's the next question? Okay. Yep. We got it. We have another one. Can you talk a little bit about films that Preston Sturges wrote, but didn't direct? Like how did he get the, how did he get them to agree to let him direct a film? Well, he became one of the, the, the most highly paid screenwriters in Hollywood. And what's interesting is in those days, he was under contract to Paramount. So they could have him do anything that, for instance, 20th century. I always thought I've talked about 20th century a couple of times already. It's, it's a great screwball comedy. You know, Ben Hect and Charles MacArthur were involved. We did hers for His Girl Friday. We talked about that. And Sturges contributed to that script. So in those days, you didn't always get credit for the script, but you were brought in to do additional dialogue if you were under contract in the studio. And if you were a great, what was called and is still called script doctor, that was huge. Robert Town was a great script doctor, you know, the guy who did Chinatown. And Sturges did that, but he did a wonderful film directed by William Weiler called The Good Fairy, 1935. He got screenplay credit for that. And that was starring Margaret Sullivan. Margaret Sullivan was in shop around the corner. She was married for a brief period to Henry Fonda, if you can believe it. It was a small world. And she was absolutely delightful and brilliant. And that's just a charming movie. It's very much, it's Ernst Lubitsch style kind of film. And then another great screwball that a lot of people, I hope you all have your pens out, because you should be watching these wonderful comedies. Another great one that he did is called Easy Living from 1937 with Gene Arthur in a very young Ray Milland and a wonderful character actor called Edward Arnold. And that was 1937. And then he did a Ronald Coleman picture called If I Were King. And then he did a movie called Remember the Night, which I referenced with Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanley, which was absolutely wonderful. And he just did such a good job and he had such a, such a talent that he commanded top dollar. But he was absolutely determined to direct. I mean, there was just, he was going to do it. And once he managed to open that door, it was the floodgates sort of opened. Here's a quote, good question. Do you think was Barbara Stanley breaking new ground when she has that line, let's go to bed? How did they get that past the production code? Well, everything was a fight. But when you say let's go to bed, that can be freighted with innuendo or not. I could say that like right now, I'm a little tired. Let's go to bed. These were things that were fought for. And directors and studio heads and screenwriters were there going up against Joseph Breen and his Legion of Decency and saying, this is important. They'd say this is objectionable. They had to take a lot out, but there were certain things that they were able to keep in. And it really helped when you could say something that didn't have any, that was subtle enough and didn't have any swear words in it or objectionable language, that you could, it would slip by. I mean, not all these, the sensors who actually were reading all these scripts, they weren't all that, they're not all of them were that bright. So, you know, the whole game back in the day was being clever enough to slip this stuff by them. If it was sufficiently subtle, there's a line in The Awful Truth, which I love, which is, you know, where Irene Dunn is being, you know, it's being said that she had an affair with her music teacher and one point she says, well, that's true, Armand. Nobody could accuse you of being a good lover. You know, this is 1937. In the context of the scene, it was funny and it got by. It was hit or miss. So, I don't know what else to say about that. Okay, we have a couple of questions that are sort of along the same lines regarding Henry Fonda's character that he plays him as being either extremely unaware, he's being played for a sucker, he falls in love with the same woman multiple times. So, there are two separate questions about that, which is, was he really so gullible, or do you think he was playing along the entire time, or was he genuinely just clueless? He was gullible and clueless. This is a guy who studies snakes. He's interested in snakes and reptiles. And he doesn't know a lot about women. And so, there's no doubt about it. He is not playing along. He's smart enough to know when he's been deceived.   He gets that.   But when this other woman comes into his life, who looks like her, you have to go with it a little bit. But can you imagine? I mean, we all kind of think about this. When we meet someone who, think of meeting someone who's like a double of someone else that they knew in the past, it can happen.  I mean, they're, you know, we all, it's been discussed how we all may have a double somewhere in the world. And we just don't know about it. Someone who looks a lot like us. And then all of a sudden, there she is. And she's being presented as this great lady.  And she does a very good job of being someone else. So the answer to the question is, he is gullible. He is a, he's a good man.  He's great looking. But, and he has great taste in interesting women once he meets them.  No, no doubt about it. And that's partly why you love him. I mean, he's, he's a lovely, sweet guy who in a way is being completely victimized, except for the fact that we know that Jean falls in love with him. And even when she's impersonating Lady Eve, Lady Eve, she's still in love with him. In fact, that's really why she's doing it. Not for revenge. It's because she still loves him. Was the film shot in a studio or actually on a ship? Did you get that last one? No, it was shot in the studio. Yeah, it was not, it was, it was shot in a studio for sure. They did not need to shoot, they did not go, in those days you shot on sets unless it was absolutely necessary not to shoot on set. Okay. It's referenced in the film that because of the war, the cruise ships, yep, you hear me? Can everybody hear me? Okay. It's referenced in the film, John, about the cruise ships. Okay, great. I can hear you now. The cruise ships have stopped running because of the war. Does that foreshadow the effect of the war, when the war starts right around this time on screwball comedies, because they start, the Hollywood starts making more war effort films. What do you think about that as far as the screwball comedy genre? Well, in a way, you can look at it that way. But so this movie is being shot in late 1940, early 1941. So the war in Europe is on and raging, but we're not in it yet. So those of you who have read a lot of World War Two history know that the crossing to Europe was a dangerous proposition even before we got into the war because there wasn't a lot going on because Europe was at war, England was at war, France was at war, Germany was at war. There wasn't a lot of the ocean liner activity going over to Europe, plus you never knew what could happen. You could get bombed by or have a German submarine attack you. So even though we were not in the war, so but it was still that period when we were neutral and we were in this place where we were transitioning from America first, which was like we didn't want to be in the war. We didn't want any foreign entanglements. We had loved the fact that we had an ocean between us and all that chaos and Roosevelt bringing us into the reality that we had to get into it. And we should get into it because we wanted to save Great Britain, which was our closest ally. And of course, Japan made it easy for us because they bombed us in December of 1941. That was six months after this movie was released. So, but even before, as I say, even before we were in the war, you weren't taking a lot of cruises over to Europe because the war in Europe was already raging. And of course, to your other point, even though Sturgis made a couple more great comedies during the war, the first one of which really is a classic screwball, the Palm Beach story, which is 42. Now, the screwball really was over after that because during the war, the sophistication that's at the heart of these movies, that really was more a product of what the Great Depression audiences wanted, which was to see rich people being silly and being able to both laugh at them and also drink in the luxury of it. That all went away and it was much more about supporting the boys overseas and war pictures and building up the morale. So that all changed and that changed really very, very quickly. Hope that answers it. Okay, this is a costume design question, John, which should be right up your alley. Yep, costume design question, you ready? Oh, thank you. Upon viewing Barbara Stanlick's outfit, Barbara Stanlick's outfit on the first Lady Eve entrance into the party is strikingly similar to the one she wore in a key scene decades later in the Thornbirds. Do you know if that was intended as an homage to the Lady Eve? I don't. That's a great question. I doubt it, but it might be. If so, no one's really written about it. It is interesting. I mean, Barbara Stanlick wore clothes beautifully. She was, the thing you ought to know about Barbara Stanlick is she was tiny. I mean, really, really, really tiny. She wasn't that she was that she was tall enough. I think she was, you know, five, five or something, but she was really, really thin. If I'm not mistaken, and I could be mistaken, but I believe Edith Head, who was a legendary costume designer, was involved in this production. Forgive me, I could be wrong, but I think she was. And she understood how to dress Barbara Stanlick, because if I can just bring up one scene, that scene where she's first in his state room sort of stroking his hair, Roger Ebert said that was one of the sexiest scenes in all movies. And I know what he's talking about, and that outfit that she's wearing in that scene is so flattering to her. So the costume designer understood how to take this extremely slender, delicate figure and dress it in such a way that she was extremely beautiful and sensuous, which is, because that is an amazing scene, in my opinion. I have to look up at that, Edith Head. I'm sorry. I thought it was she, but I could have it wrong. Okay. The next question is, how did Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanlick get along behind the scenes? Oh, they, everybody got along Barbara Stanlick. You know, Henry Fonda was a tough nut to crack. He was very contained, not brimming with warmth. He was a shy man, frankly. He was shy. And he said once, he said, I like acting because I get to put on a mask. So it was a classic situation of I don't want to be myself. I'd like to escape it to somebody else. But he also had great respect for fellow professionals. And Barbara Stanlick was so adored in Hollywood because she just, she was one of those rare people who was as successful as she was. And she'd been a star in Hollywood a lot longer than Fonda. She was, she was out there making, she was in the late silent era. So she was making movies in the late 20s. Fonda didn't really get out there until the mid 30s. And she was just such a pro. And yet at the same time, so down to earth and so direct and cool and kind that they got along just fine as they would have. Everyone got along. But nobody didn't get along with Barbara Stanlick unless they were complete creeps. Was it very common for actresses to show their mid rift back in those days? No, it was not. It was not common. And it probably was a little tricky, but again, it's the total, it's the total effect. I mean, Stanlick, Stanlick didn't have a, she wasn't Marilyn Monroe. So there was this, she looked sexy, but it wasn't too much. And in the context of who she was playing, it got by now. Again, I can't, I wasn't there. I read the memos, but I'm sure there was a fight about it. I'm sure there was a, but if it was done tastefully, and it was done tastefully there, it's not like she's an epikini. Usually after a fight, they could, you know, they would allow it. But it wasn't common. There wasn't a lot of bare midriffs back, back in 1941. Okay. One question is regarding what the questionnaire is referring to as perhaps the worst British accent, which makes the roosts less believable. Did they not use voice coaches?  Yes. Stan, I mean, which accent are we talking about? Yeah. Yeah. So you were talking about the British accent. So I guess that would get... I think they did use... Yeah, I mean, all the British accents were authentic except the Lady Eve. So Eric Ballora was authentic and, you know, all of that. But you're right. I mean, I think that's well taken. It isn't a very good accent. You know, Barbara Samick was from Brooklyn. So was she Meryl Streep in terms of accents? No. But part of it is you don't want it to be so good that you forget that it's a put-on. I mean, that's the way I always looked at it. There are moments when you think really, I mean, Fonda and the rest of them wouldn't know that this doesn't really sound like an English woman, you know. So it is a little bit tricky, but I think we're meant to play along with it because in a sense we know she's putting it on. And it isn't... My view of it is it isn't so bad that if you... And you're looking at this beautiful woman who's so charming and charismatic, takes over the whole party and, you know, Eugene Pallett is so in love with her, he doesn't care whether... He's not saying what part of England is she from.   This is a charming woman who is being presented as royalty. Maybe she spent some time in America. I mean, of course, I've met a lot of... Over my years, I've met a lot of English people who were born in England who spent a lot of time over here who sound sort of like that. They're sort of, yes, it's an English accent, but it's also... There's a lot of Americanisms in there. So yeah, it's put on a little bit, but part of that is that we never forget that she's doing this act. But it is, it's a tricky balance. I think they did give her, I think they did coach her and she did the best she could. That's my impression. I don't think they just said, Babs, you go ahead or she was known as Missy. That was her nickname. Missy, you go ahead and take a pass at an English accent and we'll just shoot. I think she had some coaching for sure. Okay. This one is sort of harkening back to the discussion you're talking about, the war period, given that the film was made before the war actually started. Is it Muggsy's impression about how one can change while doing an accent in impression of Hitler? Yeah, that was an impression of Hitler. Although, as I understand it, he was actually, the language was Swedish. And he's saying something ridiculous in Swedish. I don't know why that is, but yeah, no, that's definitely Hitler. He's doing Hitler. Hitler was very much on everyone's mind. Again, it was that moment when it was just beginning to dawn on Americans that as much as they didn't want to get into this war, that they might have to. And this was the man who was taking over Europe. So that was definitely Hitler. No doubt about it. All right. We have actually one more question that's been submitted, which is how unusual is it for the time that by the end of the film, Fonda and Stanwyck are equals rather than having either one of them subjugated in any way? It's an interesting question. In the realm of screwball comedy and in the realm of film, you have your Carol Lumbarves and my man, Godfrey, who's a complete dits whom you love and root for and adore, but she's ditzy. But if I look at screwball comedies, there are a lot of screwball comedies where the women and the women leads are as clever and as powerful as the males. They don't necessarily have careers or anything else, but they are in the driver's seat in terms of defining the action. So I don't watch a lot of these movies and think in terms of he comes out on top and she's subjugated. At the end of the day, romantic love is the great equalizer. And you're not thinking in terms of gender roles or anything else. You're thinking in terms of what we want a happy ending. We want this couple to get together through all the weirdness that happens. They end up getting together because at the end of the day, love conquers all. But it's not like in these movies, oh, the starring actress is somehow subjugated to the male. Very often it's quite the other way around. And if you think about it happened one night, I don't think of Claudette Colbert as being subjugated in any way. In many ways, she's the one with the money. She's going to marry Clark Gable because she loves him, but I don't think that their marriage is going to be one where he's lording it over her or anything else. One of the things I love about screwball comedies, same thing with The Awful Truth, which by the way is one of my favorite movies of all time with Kerry Grant and Irene Dunn. There's no issue with, oh, is Irene Dunn going to be subjugated to Kerry Grant going forward? These are equals who are having a battle of wits and figuring out a way to get together again or get together for the first time or the third time or whatever it may be. And it isn't so much who's dominant and who's submissive and subjugated. You feel, I feel, that they are equals. They're different, but they're equals. And it is the battle of the sexes, which is so fascinating. Now, I know I will pitch the next classic Tuesday, which I hope you all come to, which is Adam the Rib. It's the same thing. It's the battle of the sexes. It's Catherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Now, who's the stronger one? Who is the one who's going to be subjugated? Neither of them. Neither of them would permit it. And they will fight not to be. So that's the great fun of it and the great glory of it, the great strength of it is that these female characters in a lot of these screwballs, I put my man Godfrey aside because their Carol Lombard is, again, supposed to be this lunatic, I mean, a ditzy character. But that's not all the ladies of screwball. That's one role. So at the end of the day, you root for both of them. You root for them to get together. And to me, at least, intellectually and in terms of their overall strength, they're equals. And that's very important as part of the joy of it. All right. Well, that was the end of the questions that we had. So thank you everybody who submitted a question. I hope you got the answers you were looking for. As John mentioned, we'll see you back here for Classic Tuesdays in two weeks with Adam's Rib. We are doing trivia tomorrow night, online trivia. If you're interested, you can find that information on our website and a whole host of other virtual programs that we have coming up all on our homepage for you to take a look at and hopefully participate in. So thanks again, John, as always. I really appreciate it. Thank you again, everybody, for participating and have a good night. Thank you. See you next time.


If dogs are man's best friend, what are cats? While dogs are usually described as loyal, friendly, and devoted, cats are more often described as independent or ambivalent, even by those that love them the most. But while cats may play up their nonchalant reputation, they're hiding unconditional love and affection beneath that facade. After all, a 2019 research study published in the Journal of Current Biology found that cats are just as strongly bonded to us as dogs or infants. That means they're not fooling anyone. If you're looking for a cat that's naturally sociable, however, you should know that certain breeds have more affectionate and amiable personalities. Whereas the American Kennel Club recognizes nearly 200 dog breeds, cat breeds aren't as well-established. The Cat Fanciers Association, CFA, currently recognizes 45 cat breeds, including the ever-popular American Shorthair and the exotic Bengal. These breeds span a wide range of personality types, from curious and athletic to fun-loving and intelligent to vocal and insistent. And of course, some breeds are known for their loving, sweet, and people-friendly personalities. Maine Coon. Recognizable by their large size and tufted paws and ears, Maine Coons are known as the gentle giants of the Cat Fanci, according to the CFA. Though these cats may be large, they're known for being affectionate with other cats, people, children, and dogs. In general, they don't mind snuggling up on your lap, and they like to show their love through chirps, trills, and other sounds. They're also quite smart, some people consider them dog-like because they can learn to respond to basic commands. Unlike most cats, the Maine Coon also has an affinity for water, so don't be surprised if you see them playing in their water bowl or the shower. Siamese. According to the CFA, the Siamese cat is known for its striking blue eyes, inquisitive personality, and loving nature. The CFA calls the Siamese the quintessential people cat. They want to be in your lap, on your bed, or at your table, and they want to talk to you while doing it. They're also very vocal and talkative, they're known for the variety of sounds they make, and their willingness to meow at you to get your attention. Beyond that, Siamese are extremely loyal and affectionate, they're likely to get attached to their people in the house, though they might be more cautious of strangers. They also pair well with other cats, who help the Siamese expel their energy and curb their anxiety when they're home alone. Abyssinian. Abyssinians are one of the oldest known cat breeds, their history dates back to ancient Egypt. Today, they're less known for being lap cats than for being loyal companions that want to do whatever you're doing. In general, abysses are people oriented, not to mention extremely smart. They love to be the center of attention, and they're happy to learn and perform tricks. They're usually curious and playful, so while these cats are devoted family members, they can get bored very easily. You don't want to leave an Abyssinian cat home alone for a long time, and you should make sure to have regular playtime with this feline. Ragdoll. Ragdolls are gentle, laid-back cats that love to follow you wherever you go. They're great lap cats who've been known to greet family members at the door. Plus, they can learn to play fetch. Known for their sweet temperaments, ragdolls get along nicely with other cats as well as dogs. Their gentle nature also makes them well suited to families with children and seniors. While they're playful, they're not overly active, they prefer to hang out on the floor instead of finding a high perch to rest on. Sphinx. Known as the hairless cat, the Sphinx is unmistakable. They're friendly, outgoing, and smart. They also love to be the center of attention, they might even get in trouble just to make sure you're watching. With their love of attention, the Sphinx can be mischievous and silly, but they're also very affectionate. They always want to be spending time with you, or showing off for you. And though they're curious and playful, they love to snuggle up in a warm spot when they get tired. Hello. This video is sponsored by Beemix Pets. Are you looking for high-quality cat collars at an affordable cost? Check out BeemixPets.com. Use coupon code KittenLife, to get 20% off. Persian. Persians are one of the most popular cat breeds, known for their sweet, gentle personalities and adorable expressions. These long-haired cats tend to prefer it when it's calm and quiet, which makes them excellent lap cats. Persians also love routines and are generally well-behaved companions. They like spending time with you and finding a favorite place to curl up for a nap. They can sometimes be playful, but they're not overly demanding, and they don't have a reputation for getting into trouble. Plus, while they're not as chatty as some of the other breeds on our list, they're known for their melodic chirps when they do feel like talking. Burmese. Burmese are affectionate cats who want to spend as much time with their families as possible. According to the CFA, they have such an irresistible appeal that they've long been known for winning over people who thought they didn't like cats. They're also energetic, almost dog-like, and known to enjoy games of fetch. They're smart and confident and love to be active family members. They like to follow you from room to room, cuddle up on your lap, and sleep on your bed. They also get along well with children as well as other cats and dogs. For many Burmese cat owners, just one of these felines isn't enough. Berman. Another blue-eyed beauty, the long-haired Berman, is exceptionally sweet, gentle, and sociable. Bermons love to be with people, and they're great at socializing with humans as well as other animals. They're also easygoing and patient, which makes them a great choice for families with children. Plus, though they thrive on attention, Berman cats are generally quiet. Like some of the other cats on our list, they're known for having more of a chirp-like voice than a meow when they do speak up. Exotic Shorthair. Sweet, quiet, and affectionate, the Exotic Shorthair is very similar to the Persian cat, who's bred in almost the same way, except for their coat. Exotic Shorthairs are loyal companions who love to spend time with you. However, they're not overly demanding, they prefer to quietly ask you for attention. They're playful, fun-loving, and generally easygoing. But they're not very talkative, instead, they're known for making quiet, squeaky meows. Because of their adaptability and general friendliness, Exotic Shorthairs can fit in with families of all kinds. Scottish Fold. Not only are Scottish Folds adorable, they're adaptable, sweet, and loving companions. These cats are quiet and docile and aren't demanding in any sense. They get along happily with other cats and dogs, as well as children. In fact, the Scottish Fold is likely to prefer having a companion, they don't like being left at home alone for long periods of time. And while they're occasionally playful, they usually like to perch on your lap or gently snuggle up next to you. Despite their quiet personalities, these cats are pretty laid back, and they can adjust to new people or situations with ease. How To Choose A Cat For Your Family When you're looking for a feline friend to join your family, it's important to remember that there are many factors, in addition to friendliness, that can go into deciding which cat breed is right for you. Though these breeds are known for their friendly personalities, all cats are different, so it can be helpful to talk to a breeder or shelter for more information about specific cats that you may be interested in bringing home. Some cats can refuse to socialize with other pets, particularly other kitties. Cats often prefer to live alone, so think very carefully before getting another one. Most cats will be friendly with cats they grew up with, but they may not accept having to share your home with a new cat. If you do want to get another cat, you'll need to introduce them patiently and carefully.  Give them the love and affection they need s and they'll give it right back. If you enjoyed this video, kindly press the like button. Also don't forget to subscribe with notifications on, so that you don't miss out on videos like this. Thank you for watching.


This research has developed a new type of electrocatalyst that combines ruthenium and nickel nanoparticles with nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers. The resulting material is able to perform both the hydrogen evolution reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction at a much lower voltage than previously used materials, making it ideal for use in a hydrogen fuel cell. This article was authored by Mei Qianli, Hu Yu'an Wang, Wen Dongzhu, and others.