“In the whirlpool of modern life — The most difficult thing is to live alone”   Today is Silent Film Day, and I'm excited to share my new favorite silent film with you! Describing my newfound love for the movie Lonesome (1928) by Hungarian-American director Paul Fejos, I can't help but use simple, charming, lovely, exquisite, and romantically sublime words.  This film really knows how to nail the feeling of love at first sight, it had me totally swooning. The story takes place on July 3 in NYC, where two lonely souls living in boardinghouse rooms navigate their daily lives in the bustling city.      He toils as a machinist while she's a telephone switchboard operator, both yearning for something more than their mundane routines.  As the holiday weekend approaches, they find themselves grappling with how to spend their time when their plans fall through. Upon hearing a live band promoting that evening's carnival,  “There’s nothing like the hurly-...

Suddenly Kids grow up! Only yesterday they were red-hot athletes and hot dates...today they're gripped by grownup desires!   As you might have guessed, I love B-movie high school and teen angst flicks from the fifties and sixties. With Dick Clark making his dramatic film debut and Bobby Rydell’s "Swingin' School" playing during the opening, plus performances by Duane Eddy and James Darren, Because They’re Young ( 1960) is a film I couldn’t resist. The film is not as widely recognized or discussed as the more prominent teen classics of its era, such as Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955), largely due to its lack of the rebellious spirit and emotional weight that those films possess. It also falls short of the exhilarating entertainment in my earlier review of High School Confidential! (1958). Still, Because They’re Young is pretty good. Directed by Paul Wendkos (Gidget), this 1960 adaptation of the controversial novel "Harrison High" ...

  "I never take any notice of reviews - unless a critic has thought up some new way of describing me. That old one about my lizard eyes and anteater nose and the way I sleep my way through pictures is so hackneyed now ." - Robert Mitchum

Barbara Stanwyck Forbidden (1932) Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

     (Caricature Artwork by me. On watercolor paper, Derwent pencils)         "My talents fall within definite limitations. I am not as versatile an actress as some think. I have made enough faces"

  In December 1939, both Olivia de Havilland and Jimmy Stewart were traveling to New York City. Olivia was going to attend the city premiere of 'Gone With The Wind' at the Astor Theatre, while Jimmy was planning a Christmas visit to his sister. Coincidentally, Irene Mayer Selznick, who was a significant figure in the entertainment industry, proposed to Jimmy's agent, Leland Hayward, that Jimmy accompany Olivia to her high-profile event. This suggestion piqued Jimmy's interest, as he had met Olivia briefly in Hollywood and jumped at the opportunity to further acquaint himself with her.   “Jimmy met me at LaGuardia airport,” Olivia recalled to James Fishgall, author of Pieces of Time: The Life of James Stewart. “He even had the limousine drive out to the airfield. We were both quite shy and ventured one word at a time in our conversation.”        The kind of conversation they had must have been rather compelling. In no time, they became extremely close,...