Whenever I host classic films, I wade deeply into the weeds of each picture. (What can I say? Card-carrying nerd, reporting for duty.) In 2019, while researching my introduction to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, I stumbled across James Stewart’s last words and they got me all verklemmt...Read More
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Rhett and Scarlett in Gone With the Wind. Nick and Nora in The Thin Man. Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca. They’re just three of cinema’s most renowned couples. And then there’s Fay Wray. She was part of two legendary duos, on screen and off.Read More
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Walter Matthau was Jack Lemmon’s frequent co-star and best friend. Lemmon gave the eulogy at Matthau’s funeral, and a year later, was himself laid to rest near his pal in the same cemetery.Read More
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Brain vs. brawn. Good guys vs. outlaws. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance may focus on a fatal duel, but it’s definitely not a typical shoot-‘em-up Western.Read More
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As a writer, I’ve always marveled at people who adapt books for the screen. On the upside, the scriptwriter gets the benefits of an established story, characters and dialogue.Read More
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When I was a child, my mother’s Aunt Irene would sometimes visit us. Irene was deaf, but she communicated by reading lips and speaking in what sounded like French to my young ears. Mom, who had grown up around Irene, could understand her perfectly. I felt as if I needed those headsets that U.N. delegates wear so translators can interpret the proceedings in the listener’s native tongue.Read More
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