An Affair to Remember

Ok...so to start with, one of the most romantic and wonderful movies of all time. I am a puddle by the end of the movie. And I don't think Cary Grant has ever been more charming and handsome in any role as this one. So everyone probably knows the story: Two people engaged to other people meet on a ship and fall in love with one another and decide to meet on top of the Empire State Building on Valentines. Yes yes yes....everyone knows the movie. BUT...can we just stop and discuss one of the more romantic scenes ever witnessed on the big screen? Its so simple and not at all disturbing or ackward to watch (which makes my love for these films all the more intense: Note to film directos and writers of today--take some tips and points from the movies of old.) So back to the most romantic scene: Nicky (Cary) meets Terry (Kerr) on top of the ship after spending the day with his grandmother. Terry is crying and tells Nicky that that is what beauty does to her. So he leads her down the stairs and he gets to the end and she pulls him back up two stair steps and all you see is their legs and then she is crying again and of course she is crying because that is what beauty does to her and then I'M crying because GOD!!! Where did this type of romance go in our society? A simple kiss not even witnessed by anyone but says so much more than any sex scene in todays films or TV. And I want to be led down the stairs by my hand! And then the end....OH MY LORD THE END!!!! Oh my Lord....HE SEES THE PAINTING!! And he runs back to her...and they hug and they cry and OH GOOD LORD ITS BEAUTIFUL. Beautiful film. Beautiful story. Oh I just love it. I love it. Grant has raised himself a few notches in my book. Their acting is effortless and natural. Their chemistry together is beautiful to watch. See the movie for God's sake if you haven't seen it--YOUR LIFE WILL THANK YOU FOR IT!!

That is all for now....adiue (is that how you spell it?)

A Gentleman's Agreement

OK. So the year is 1947. Out comes a little controversial movie about anti-sematisim staring no other than the divine Mr. Peck. (Put his name behind anything and I'd consider it gold). The movie in which I speak of is "A Gentleman's Agreement" which about a single father (god he plays being a single father so well!) who is a journalist woking in NYC. He is given the assignment to write about antisemtatism which was a pretty risky movie for Fox studios seeing as how this was an incredibly sensitive subject at the time in our country-WWII going on and Hitler taking over Europe whilst killing millions upon millions of Jews. And only Mr. Peck could carry it with such passion and grace. This is probably my second most favorite movie of his because he has such a fervor to convey all the emotions that went on back then and how it must felt to be called "dirty Jew" or have your son come home crying because the boys at school wouldn't let him play dodgeball because he was jewish. Rather than just write the facts about how it must feel, Philip Green (Peck) pretends to be Jewish for two months and finds out how ostricized and how unfairly the Jews were being treated at this time in history. Great film. Great message. Great acting.
**Side note***
The leading lady is none other than Dorothy McGuire who later went on to play the Swiss Family Robinson mother as well as Old Yeller's mother in the Disney hit films that I grew up loving. I KNEW SHE LOOKED FAMILIAR!!!

**Side note**
Favorite scene I do believe would have to be Green consoling his son in the bathroom. Awww!! That's the kind of parent I want to be

So in conclusion, can any film with Gregory Peck be bad? Nope. Sorry. It can't. So watch the movie. It was great.

Until we meet again...expect my next review to be a Cary Grant film because he pretty stellar as well. I'm in the mood for a little Grant

A Place in the Sun

So onward we move to another movie which is a total buzz kill: A Place in the Sun. The movie wasn't bad necessarily (great acting, great actors, good story line) but wow....what an ending. Let's just say you don't walk away from this movie feeling inspired or anything. You should probably keep all sharp objects away from you for a good hour after the movie because you just want to kill yourself. That being said, you can't not like it. I mean...Elizabeth Taylor anyone?!?! She's GORGEOUS!! Gorgeous I tell you!!! Her lips....wow! Also starring, Montgomery Clift who is mildly handsome in my opinion (a little puny in this movie. He's much better looking in "From Here to Eternity") and we also have Shelley Winters. The movie was nominated for best actor (Clift) and actress (Winters) and best movie, but did not win. Clift stars as George Eastman, a hardworking young man who came from nothing and comes to work for his very successful uncle at "Eastman's". There, he meets "Al" (Winters) and they have a bit of "thing". He meets Angela Vickers (Taylor) at a party and its love at first sight for him, although she doesn't give him the time of day. So time goes on, he fantasizes about Angela Vikers while dating Al. What I love about old movies is that they don't show a full out sex scene--its just implied. No clothes coming off, no loud moaning noises that leave feeling very very ackward when you are sitting there with your mother or father. Its just implied that when he goes in the room at night and the next scene is the day and he is leaving you know that they "did the deed". And the deed they did do because Al becomes PREGNANT!! SCANDELOUS!!! Which is quite a shame for George Eastman because he meets up with Angela Vickers and she is completely taken with him and they completely in love. So now what? What is George Eastman to do with Al and his illegitmate child? Kill her of course! But does he? Who knows?!?! Well I do since I watched the movie. I leave you with this cliffhanger and its up to you to find out if he does or doesn't.
Until tommorrow...

For my next film, in my opinion is titled with the greatest name ever to grace God's green earth: Rebecca. Yes my dear friends, this movie is graced with one of the most lovely sounding words int he english dicitionary. So the movie "Rebecca" is based off the best selling book "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier. I have also read the book and its fantastic as well. Rebecca was Alfred Hitchcock's first American movie he ever directed and lemme tell you, it was great. Black and white films are near and dear to my heart. The lead actors in the film are Laurence Oliver, who was married to Viven Leigh of "Gone with the Wind" and Joan Fonataine who is still alive and well, one of the last 30's film stars to still be living. It was nominated for an academy award for best picture and won the great honor. The story is about a young man, Maxim de Winter, recently widowed who meets and falls in love with a beautiful young lady whose name is never given in the film, she is simply "Mrs de Winter". Maxim is incredibly wealthy and takes his new bride to his home, Manderley--a mansion beyond mansions. The film is about how the new Mrs de Winters always feels second rate to Rebecca, Maxim's first wife, and how she feels the servants in the household are out to get her. There is a huge twist at the end though that you never really see coming. Good movie.
The acting was great. I gotta say that Mr. Oliver is quite handsome (but then again, everyone looks great in black and white) and Ms. Fontaine is beautiful in her role. I love the way they speak and call eachother "darling"--no one says darling anymore. It was a great film and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As always, the book is better, but its always nice to see what you read brought to life.