Lydia Hamessley

@lydiahamessley

Musicologist. Author — Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton (U of Ill Press) and Dolly Parton’s Jolene (Oxford Univ. Press). Professor of Music, Hamilton College. Cyclist, banjo player, old movies, antique quilts. 🪕🐈🎶🎥🚴🏼 #TCMParty

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Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· 26d

How did they ever think to cast Jean Hagan as Lina Lamont in #SinginInTheRain? But thank goodness they did! She’s heartbreaking in #TheAsphaltJungle. (PS: I can syew.) 😂😂😂 #SummerOfDarkness #TCMParty

Black and white photo of a woman looking down having a man. She looks disheveled. She’s wearing a jacket and her hair is mussed.

The same actress as in the other photo. This photo was in color and the actress is all glamorous in sparkling clothes like a 1920s flapper. And she’s blonde.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jul 4

And Marie Windsor looks like Allison Janney. #ForceOfEvil #TCMParty

Black-and-white photo of a woman from the 1940s. She has a large locket on and her hairstyle has bangs

A color portrait of a woman looking right at the camera. She has bangs swooping across her forehead

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jul 4

This gal, Doris, looks like Sarah Paulson, right down to the slight overbite. #ForceOfEvil #TCMParty

Three people looking intently at one another standing over a desk. Two are men in suits one as a woman in a dress.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jun 30

Drawing of an arch monument in Washington DC. It has gold decorations and looks very tacky. There is a Ferris wheel in the background. Two people (man & woman) with a child are commenting: ”to quote Dolly Parton… ‘it costs a lot of money to look this cheap.’”

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jun 19

Mel Brooks spoofed that spider web shadow perfectly in #HighAnxiety. #Suspicion #TCMParty

A woman dressed in a black suit is looking upset. There’s a shadow of a window over her, the panes of the window form, a kind of spiderweb looking shadow.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jun 6

What in the sam hill are you doing?…… 🍁 #ToKillAMockingbird

Two photos. One on the top is of a young boy pouring maple syrup all over his meal of meat, potatoes and vegetables. The photo on the bottom is of a little girl looking at him in disbelief. It’s from the movie To Kill a Mockingbird.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· May 31

Gorgeous. This is the best time of year to be there. Here’s my sunset in Morton-in-Marsh when I was there on a cycling tour in 2018. It’s of the hotel Redesdale Arms on the high street there. #Cotswolds

A photo of the hotel and shops on the high Street in Morton-in-Marsh. It’s at Sunset so the sky is glowing pink and yellow and blue and the building buildings are a wonderful honey color.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· May 30

If I could do the two for one segment on #TCM, I’d do #DoubleIndemnity followed by #BodyHeat. #TCMParty

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray standing in the little grocery store. They’re surrounded by cans on the shelf. She’s wearing sunglasses and he’s wearing a black hat.

William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. They’re sitting at a bar and she’s holding a cigarette.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· May 25

My Navy dad. He was 92 in this photo at the USS Hornet docked in Alameda, CA. It was great to spend an afternoon on the ship with him there. You could tell he just loved soaking it all up again since he served on several aircraft carriers. #TCMParty #TheBestYearsOfOurLives

An older man standing in front is of a gray aircraft carrier. He’s wearing a tan jacket and a World War II baseball cap.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· May 17

And her novel #ThePriceOfSalt was made into the film #Carol with the fabulous #CateBlanchett and #RooneyMara. However, neither of them played psychopaths or sociopaths. 😂 So I guess Highsmith had a wide range, huh? 🤔 #TCMParty #StrangersOnATrain #NoirAlley

A scene from Carol. Cate
Blanchett is wearing a tailored teal dress. Rooney Mara is dressed in a black sweater with a dark navy blue jumper. Cate has her hands on Rooney’s shoulders, and Rooney is playing the piano.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Mar 29

You’re gonna need a bigger ant trap. #Them! #TCMParty

A box of raided ant traps. It shows a kitchen with counters and a sink.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Mar 27

Ugh! My cable box just decided to reboot. And why does that take so long?! In the meantime, I think I’ll order this for our library. Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores That Changed Cinema. I’ve enjoyed Eddie’s interview with the author, Steven C. Smith. #Vertigo #TCMParty

The blue, black, and white cover of the book mentioned in the post. It has a large picture of Hitchcock and a small smaller picture of Bernard Herrmann conducting.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Mar 3

Hitch liked the cantilever design! #NorthByNorthwest #Vertigo #TCMParty

The two main characters from Vertigo looking at a pink strapless bra. Jimmy Steward on the right bending down. Barbara Bel Geddes standing to the left.

A mid-century cantilevered house - a large sunroom off the right, supported by beams at an angle.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Feb 15

This is a great book about them that seems based in facts. Go Down Together: The True Untold Story of #BonnieAndClyde by Jeff Guinn. #TCMParty

A black-and-white photo of the real Bonnie and Clyde on the book cover Clyde is wearing a hat and their embracing and looking at the camera.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Feb 15

Totally agree! 👍 It’s fabulous. And he used that kind of look of a sea of desks again in #TheApartment. #TCMParty

A movie still from the film the apartment, 1960. It features rows and rows of desks with typewriter on them.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Feb 15

Wow! What a lineup for today! #TCM #TCMParty

A screenshot of today’s film lineup on the TCM website.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Feb 7

Carol Burnett holding luggage over her head like Olivia de Havilland did in the movie

Carol Burnett coming down the stairs with her luggage.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Feb 5

Like this guy from #BenHur. And they’re both wearing their little skirt/tunicS. 😂 #TCMParty

A scene for Ben Hur of a Roman soldier with a helmet that has the scrub brush type top on it.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Feb 3

Did anyone else notice the similarity in expression when Elmer Fudd sees Brunhilda/#BugsBunny and when Therese sees #Carol? #What’sOperaDoc #TCMParty #LooneyTunes #RooneyMara

Elmer Fudd dressed as a Viking looking love smitten

Rooney Mara as Therese in the movie Carol. She’s wearing a Santa hat and his all love smitten.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jan 22

When did #TCM start putting these kinds of warnings on their site? It’s right under the time. #TCMParty

A screenshot of the film main streets. A man in a suit. Underneath the. Is the text, graphic language, violence.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jan 19

Happy 80th Birthday to #DollyParton! 🦋 I've written two books about her songwriting: Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton (2020) Dolly Parton's Jolene (2025) @illinoispress.bsky.social @academic.oup.com #HamiltonCollege www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0... global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Photo of Dolly C. 195. She's looking up. She's wearing a dark denim jacket with rings on her fingers. It looks like she's on stage. The background in all black.

Photo of Dolly Parton writing music. She's wearing a simple white long-sleeved dress. She's sitting with her legs crossed and holding a guitar in her lap. With her right hand she's writing down lyrics. on a pad of paper.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jan 11

So true!

Tabby cat in a funny position on the couch - with her back feet almost over her head.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Jan 4

I LOVE the Flat Iron Building! #TCMParty #TheSecondWoman #NoirAlley

A sepia-toned image of the tall triangular Flat Iron Building in NYC.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Dec 30

Yay!! All day New Year’s Day! #TheThinMan #NickAndNoraForever #TCMParty

A screenshot of TCM’s schedule for New Year’s Day. It’s a marathon of the thin man movies.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Dec 27

Anyone else flashing back on to this when you see all these Romans? #TCMParty #BenHur #WarnerBrothers #MarvinMartian

Drawings of the animated character, Marvin Martian. He has a helmet with a broom on the top of it like a Roman hat.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Dec 13

I didn’t realize J.D. Pickett was in these Christopher Guest movies. 🤯 IYKYK. #TCMParty #BestInShow #TheWaltons

A picture of the actor who played JD Pickett on the Waltons. He’s wearing a white shirt with a tie and a dark vest.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Nov 30

That barn painting (from his little plaster model) was reminiscent of Thomas Hart Benton's works. #TCMParty #ThePassingParade

A painting of a barn on the left. It's on fire, and someone is taking a horse out of it. In the foreground is someone pumping water up from a well.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Nov 30

I got curious about the names Ruby and Pearl, so I searched in the book the film is based on. That idea of Pearl having an odd look is in the book ("moon face") - and notice the description of her as looking like a doll. I think I have to read this book! #TCMParty #TheNightOfTheHunter

Three excerpts from the book. One says that Pearl's doll's "face is not unlike her own." Another says Pearl has a "moon face."

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Nov 23

Like the ending of #Casablanca. “Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” They walk off together into what looks like a starry sky. #DoubleIndemnity #TCMParty

The final shot of the movie Casablanca with the two men walking away from the camera together into the hazy background.

Lydia Hamessley@lydiahamessley· Nov 23

The sound of that car door slamming lined up with the moment she lit her cigarette. It reminded me of that great moment in that fabulous cartoon send up of #ToHaveAndHaveNot. #BacallToArms #DoubleIndemnity #TCMParty