The Merry Widow (1934)

Academy Awards, USA 1935

Won Oscar

Best Art Direction Cedric Gibbons Fredric Hope

MGM
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Jeanette MacDonald is a wealthy widow in a fictional eastern European country who flees to Paris to find happiness. One of the reasons she is leaving is to escape the amorous advances of a high ranking military officer, Maurice Chevalier. After he gets caught in the bedchamber of the queen, Chevalier is banished to Paris as well, where he of course meets up again with MacDonald in Maxime's nightclub. Despite her resistance, he continues to pursue her and she eventually gives in, leading to the inevitable happy ending. Chevalier's playboy character is insufferable, although MacDonald calls him out, in the end she still falls for his offensive chauvinism. There are the usual plush Lubitsch settings and some interesting fluid camera movements, but Chevalier always seems to get in the way.

It's a Great Feeling (1949)

Academy Awards, USA 1950

Nominated Oscar

Best Music, Original Song Jule Styne (music) Sammy Cahn (lyrics) For the song "It's a Great Feeling"

Warner Bros.
Directed by David Butler
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Amiable send-up of Hollywood which takes place almost entirely on the Warner Bros studio lot. Doris Day is a waitress from Wisconsin looking for her big break. Jack Carson is a broke actor trying to convince a producer to let him direct his next film. He needs Dennis Morgan to star in it as well. He resorts to lies and trickery to get both Day and Morgan to go along. There are breaks for songs, some hilarious inside jokes, as well as cameos and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the famous studio at work.

Edison, the Man (1940)

Academy Awards, USA 1941

Nominated Oscar

Best Writing, Original Story Hugo Butler Dore Schary

MGM
Directed by Clarence Brown
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Story of the American inventor from his humble beginnings in a New York City basement to his worldwide fame after introducing the electric light bulb. There are plenty of detours along the way: he gets married and has kids, after an initial success he goes broke when he fails to find any new inventions and his long struggle with the light bulb. It's interesting but routine, with too many montages to show the passing of time and Tracy failing to provide the necessary spark.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Academy Awards, USA 2008

Nominated Oscar

Best Writing, Original Screenplay Nancy Oliver

MGM
Directed by Craig Gillespie
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(MGMHD)

Ryan Gosling is a socially inept twenty-something living in the garage of his brother's house. One day a co-worker at his office job shows him a web site that sells sex dolls. He seems disinterested, but a few months later a large box containing a doll is delivered to his house. He adopts it as his girlfriend, talking to her as if she were a real person. When he brings her to dinner with his brother and wife, they are aghast and make an appointment with a psychiatrist. The doctor believes it is a harmless delusion that will eventually fade and encourages them to play along. Soon the whole town is in on the act as Lars and his sex doll go to parties, attend church, etc. I was initially skeptical of what on the surface seems to be a one-joke movie. However, the script cleverly manipulates the emotions of the viewer so that we eventually become part of the joke. Like everyone else in town we care about the doll because we care about Lars. Still, the "quirky" midwestern characters are frequently cliches, the camera tends to wander in that trendy shaky cam kind of way, the music is quirky light jazz more suitable for a Volkswagen commercial, all modern touches that detract from rather than add to what is otherwise a fine little "dramedy", to use a modern phrase.

Queen Bee (1955)

Academy Awards, USA 1956

Nominated Oscar	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Charles Lang
	Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Jean Louis

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Ranald MacDougall
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Let's see, Joan Crawford is married to Barry Sullivan, whose character is named "Beauty" because of a scar on his face. Beauty is an alcoholic who no longer loves his wife. One night he makes a pass at poor little Lucy Marlow, a naive cousin visiting for awhile, who of course falls in love with him despite their large age differences. Meanwhile, Beauty's sister is in love with John Ireland, an employee in the family business. Joan once had an affair with Ireland many years ago, but still loves him, and when he gets engaged to the sister she is determined to stop it by revealing their romance. This leads to a suicide, which in turn provides a motive for all of the remaining characters to murder Joan. This trashy melodrama has a mild plot twist for the ending and is nicely shot in black and white by old pro Charles Lang, but the lasting impression is a poor imitation of Tennessee Williams. Joan has played the bitter, aging matriarch a few too many times now, and it is starting to wear thin.

Torch Song (1953)

Academy Awards, USA 1954

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Supporting Role Marjorie Rambeau

MGM
Directed by Charles Walters
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Joan is the tyrannical star of a new Broadway show who decides what songs she will sing, who gets hired and fired, and so forth. After the original piano player quits, he is replaced by a blind player who is the only one with enough guts to tell her what he really thinks. At first she is aghast and has him fired, but gradually falls in love. In a case of art imitating life imitating art, Joan essentially plays herself, or at least the public perception of it. The amount of alcohol consumed by the characters is astounding, foreshadowing perhaps Joan's own struggle in her personal life. Here, however, Joan looks fit and dances and sings with ease, including a number in black face that ends with her yanking off a wig in gaudy day-glow make up. Joan's singing voice is dubbed by India Adams. Hilariously entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons. Joan is well on her way to the tail end of her career, a shell of her former glory.

Possessed (1947)

Academy Awards, USA 1948

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Joan Crawford

Warner Bros.
Directed by Curtis Bernhardt
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

In the opening sequence, a dazed Joan Crawford wanders around nearly deserted LA streets, eventually waking up in the psycho ward. She is given drugs and recounts to the doctor the events that brought her there. Once a nurse maid to a wealthy baroness who committed suicide, she blames herself for the tragedy, even imagining she murdered the woman in one delusion. To make matters worse, she is hopelessly in love with a selfish, alcoholic pianist who won't return it. She agrees to marry the wealthy widow, hoping his wealthy will make her happy even though she doesn't love him. Instead, her sanity begins to slip away. A very entertaining Hitchcock-style psychological melodrama.

Humoresque (1946)

Academy Awards, USA 1947

Nominated Oscar

Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Franz Waxman

Warner Bros.
Directed by Jean Negulesco
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

John Garfield gets a violin instead of a baseball bat for his seventh birthday, much to the displeasure of his practical father, a grocery store proprietor in New York City. Garfield grows up to prove him wrong, becoming a world-famous violinist after much hard work. He gets help from wealthy patroness of the arts Joan Crawford, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship. Garfield and Crawford constantly trade shots at each other, much like Garfield's more familiar boxing persona. She eventually gets a divorce from her husband, but can't live with the fact that music will always be more important to him, leading to an overwrought finale. Crawford is at the height of her beauty here, mature, sensitive, even when playing an alcoholic, and is luminously photographed by Ernest Haller. Garfield even manages to convince as a violinist, with some nifty trickery to make it appear he is actually playing.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Academy Awards, USA 2010

Won Oscar	Best Motion Picture of the Year Kathryn Bigelow Mark Boal Nicolas Chartier Greg Shapiro
	Best Achievement in Directing Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director.
	Best Writing, Original Screenplay Mark Boal
	Best Achievement in Film Editing Bob Murawski Chris Innis
	Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Paul N.J. Ottosson Ray Beckett
	Best Achievement in Sound Editing Paul N.J. Ottosson
Nominated Oscar	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Jeremy Renner
	Best Achievement in Cinematography Barry Ackroyd
	Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Marco Beltrami Buck Sanders

Summit Entertainment
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Summit Entertainment)

A new sergeant takes over command of a small bomb squadron in Iraq. His reckless methods clash with the more experienced crew. They go from one tense situation to another, never quite sure if it is their time to die. At night, they get drunk, listen to heavy metal and play violent video games. A countdown clock tells us the number of days left in their rotation. However, when the sergeant finally gets home he is bored and immediately signs up again for more of the same. The plot, if you can find one, is episodic and the characters broadly drawn. It is shot in the trendy shaky cam style that tries to pass it off as a documentary, but instead just gives it an amateurish, sloppy look.

Blue Sky (1994)

Academy Awards, USA 1995

Won Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Jessica Lange

Orion Pictures
Directed by Tony Richardson
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Military man Tommy Lee Jones leads an unsettled home life with his wife Jessica Lange and their two teenaged daughters. Forced to move from Hawaii to a dreary Alabama military base, Lange takes it out on her husband by having an affair with the commanding officer. Personal and military affairs converge when he is committed to an institution by the same officer involved in a cover up of a nuclear test accident. Their marriage stretches the theory of "opposites attract" to its extreme, their are obviously ill-suited for each other and one has to wonder what they were thinking. Lange's performance is nearly over-the-top as a wild glamor girl who emulates Hollywood stars, while Jones is stone-faced as a scientist struggling to reconcile his morals with his duties as an officer.

The Good Earth (1937)

Academy Awards, USA 1938

Won Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Luise Rainer Luise Rainer became the first actress and first performer to win consecutive awards for lead roles.
	Best Cinematography Karl Freund
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Director Sidney Franklin
	Best Film Editing Basil Wrangell

MGM
Directed by Sidney Franklin
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Poor Chinese farmer Paul Muni takes a wife and over the course of several years buys land and becomes wealthy. However, drought ruins his fields and the family is forced to flee to the city and beg for meals. They get caught up in a political revolution, where his wife stumbles on a bag full of jewels which they use to return to their farm and buy even more land. His wealth allows him to take a second wife, which ruins the family, and a locust plague almost wipes out the farm. Works best when it sticks to the universal themes of farming and family, but tends to bogged down in the second half when the "second wife" arrives. Muni is not a very convincing Asian, and neither is Luise Rainer as his wife for that matter, both in heavy makeup.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

Academy Awards, USA 1995

Nominated Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Dante Ferretti Francesca Lo Schiavo
	Best Music, Original Score Elliot Goldenthal

Geffen Pictures
Directed by Neil Jordan
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

Reluctant vampire Brad Pitt recounts his life to modern day writer Christian Slater. It's a sordid tale of a "family" headed by Tom Cruise, who creates Pitt for a companion, who then creates Kirsten Dunst as their little daughter to complete the household. They wander around New Orleans slaughtering innocent victims, until Dunst realizes she will never grow up and takes revenge on Cruise by burning down the city. She and Pitt then go to Paris for more of the same, eventually meeting more vampires led by Antonio Banderas. The tone veers erratically from horror to comedy to romance, never quite able to decide what it wants to be. A lot of little things bothered me: despite their unhappy existence the vampires are easily killed by fire or sunlight, why not just commit suicide?, all of the vampires have long hair and contact lenses, Kirsten Dunst's little girl rampages, the wire work which results in unnatural motion, Guns N Roses covering the Rolling Stones for the final song...

Maytime (1937)

Academy Awards, USA 1938

Nominated Oscar	Best Sound, Recording Douglas Shearer (M-G-M SSD)
	Best Music, Score Nat W. Finston (head of department) Score by Herbert Stothart.

MGM
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Opera prima donna Jeanette MacDonald falls in love with aspiring singer Nelson Eddy, much to the displeasure of her mentor and fiance John Barrymore. The two young lovers spend one glorious day alone at a French May Day festival, then part for seven years. She becomes a star on stage but her marriage to Barrymore is an unhappy one. Returning to America, she is cast in a new opera, costarring with who else but her old flame, which is immediately rekindled. There is a tragic ending more appropriate for an opera, and a wraparound narrative with a pat Hollywood happy ending for counterbalance... neither one really works.

Mannequin (1937)

Academy Awards, USA 1939

Nominated Oscar

Best Music, Original Song Edward Ward (music) Chet Forrest (lyrics) Bob Wright (lyrics) For the song "Always and Always".

MGM
Directed by Frank Bozarge
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Factory girl Joan Crawford marries a low life gambler for love, hoping she will change his ways. After a few months, they are still broke and going nowhere, so he suggests she marries wealthy Spencer Tracy who is in love with her. The plan backfires when Joan falls in love with him for real. A predictable rags-to-riches-to-rags story, though Bozarge does milk it for all it's worth and Crawford is at times luminous.

Tom Sawyer (1973)

Academy Awards, USA 1974

Nominated Oscar	Best Costume Design Donfeld
	Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation Richard M. Sherman Robert B. Sherman John Williams
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Philip M. Jefferies Robert De Vestel

United Artists
Directed by Don Taylor
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Tired musical "adaptation" of Mark Twain, with Johnny Whitaker playing the free-spirited boy in Hannibal, Missouri. When Tom and his best friend Huck witness a murder in a graveyard, they go on the run. Their raft gets hit by a river boat and they end up on an island where they can live free from all the restrictions they despise. However, Tom gets homesick for his Aunt Polly and the two make a surprise visit to their own funeral. The final showdown with a crazed Indian killer takes place in a cave. This might have worked better as just a plain old drama, I can't remember a single song. Filmed on location in Missouri, but still somehow seems contrived and far away from the Mark Twain original.

Little Women (1949)

Academy Awards, USA 1950

Won Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Cedric Gibbons Paul Groesse Edwin B. Willis Jack D. Moore
Nominated Oscar	Best Cinematography, Color Robert H. Planck Charles Edgar Schoenbaum

MGM
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nostalgic glimpse at life in the mid 19th century, centered around a warm home consisting of four girls, their mother and housekeeper. June Allyson is Jo, the tomboy and aspiring writer, who more or less tells the story. She flirts with the boy next door, only to leave him for New York, becoming best friends in the process. Janet Leigh is her big sister, both wise and proper, occasionally clashing with Jo, a budding romance with another boy. Elizabeth Taylor is Amy, the prim, stuck-up one of the bunch, but mellowing over the course of the years covered in the film. Margaret O'Brien is the youngest, Beth, a sickly girl with a love for music, befriending the elderly matriarch next door. The fine ensemble cast is rounded out by June Astor as Marmee, the mother who holds them all together. The time and setting simply radiate in Technicolor: from the warm, amber glow of the kerosene lights to the red velvet interiors of the wealthy family next door. The plot only falters perhaps in the final act, where the sentimentality takes a turn for the maudlin.

When Ladies Meet (1941)

Academy Awards, USA 1942

Nominated Oscar

Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Cedric Gibbons Randall Duell Edwin B. Willis

MGM
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Author Joan Crawford falls in love with her publisher, a married man. Robert Taylor, in love with Joan, concocts a plan for the two women to meet, neither knowing their true identities. Instead of sparks flying it's a more somber affair. Herbert Marshall as a dull, middle-aged publisher that two young, beautiful women fall in love with is unconvincing. Robert Taylor can be grating as his juvenile rival. However, the dialogue is witty, even adult at times, and the screenplay adeptly steps around the implied infidelities.

Funny Lady (1975)

Academy Awards, USA 1976

Nominated Oscar	Best Cinematography James Wong Howe
	Best Costume Design Ray Aghayan Bob Mackie
	Best Sound Richard Portman Don MacDougall Curly Thirlwell Jack Solomon
	Best Music, Original Song Fred Ebb John Kander For the song "How Lucky Can You Get"
	Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation Peter Matz

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Herbert Ross
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Sony Movie Channel)

Barbra Streisand reprises her role of Fanny Brice, a successful vaudevillian who becomes involved with showman Billy Rose, played by James Caan. He talks her into doing his latest show, an overblown production that self-destructs on opening night. Naturally he falls in love with her, but she only "falls in like" with him. For some reason she accepts his marriage proposal but is surprised when it turns out unhappily. The only bright spots in this superficial story of a relationship between a middle-aged diva and selfish showman are a few songs that rise above the melodrama. Omar Sharif, Roddy McDowall and especially Ben Vereen are wasted in supporting roles.

Music for Millions (1944)

Academy Awards, USA 1946

Nominated Oscar

Best Writing, Original Screenplay Myles Connolly

MGM
Directed by Henry Koster
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Precocious 7-year-old Margaret O'Brien drops in on big sister June Allyson, a member of a symphony orchestra led by Jose Iturbi. The orchestra is mostly women, since the men are off fighting the war, including Allyson's new husband who has not written in months. A telegram from the Army informing her of his death is intercepted and hidden from her by the other girls. To make matters worse, they write a fake telegraph in which he is found alive on a desert island. However, it turns out to be real, due to the prayers of O'Brien and Allyson, followed by the orchestra performing Handel's Messiah. Subtle it is not.

In the Line of Fire (1993)

Academy Awards, USA 1994

Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role John Malkovich
	Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Jeff Maguire
	Best Film Editing Anne V. Coates

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDNet Movies)

Middle-aged Secret Service agent Clint Eastwood tangles with ex-CIA psycho John Malkovich who has plans to assassinate the president. Eastwood deals with his clueless superiors, his own frail health and the guilt from failing to protect JFK in Dallas. He also makes time to romance fellow agent Rene Russo in a tepid and unnecessary distraction. It all lunges forward to the inevitable Big Action Finale featuring implausible perfect timing which allows Eastwood to redeem himself.

Sunrise at Campobello (1960)

Academy Awards, USA 1961

Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Greer Garson
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Edward Carrere George James Hopkins
	Best Costume Design, Color Marjorie Best
	Best Sound George Groves (Warner Bros. SSD)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Vincent J. Donehue
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Future president Franklin Roosevelt is stricken with a disease, believed to be polio at the time, which leaves him paralyzed and unable to walk. His dedicated wife nurses him through the initial illness and the long years of rehabilitation. An asthmatic friend and savvy political manager keeps his name afloat in the papers while his wife makes her own political speeches. He is eventually tapped to nominate the governor of New York for president at the convention. The final scene shows him walking to the podium, an accomplishment far greater than the speech itself, wisely not shown. Based on a play, it suffers from the occasional stage-bound feel. It spends far too much time on his family life, especially the trivial details with their somewhat bratty kids. Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson's performances are more like imitations, but are still impressive.

Richard III (1995)

Academy Awards, USA 1996

Nominated Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Tony Burrough
	Best Costume Design Shuna Harwood

United Artists
Directed by Richard Loncraine
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(MGMHD)

Ian McKellen plays the deformed, deranged royal who murders his way to the throne. Shakespeare's words are transferred to 1930s England, but with a twist: it has been turned into a Nazi-style state with Richard III its Hitler. While this may have looked good on paper, the change of setting just adds another layer of confusion to the already dense Shakespearean prose. As a result, McKellen more often seems comical than mad. Frequent asides spoken directly into the camera may have worked on stage, but are distracting on screen. Americans Annette Bening and Robert Downey, Jr. are miscast and clearly in over their heads.

Victor Victoria (1982)

Academy Awards, USA 1983

Won Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score Henry Mancini Leslie Bricusse
Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Julie Andrews
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Preston
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Lesley Ann Warren
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Blake Edwards
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Rodger Maus Tim Hutchinson William Craig Smith Harry Cordwell
	Best Costume Design Patricia Norris

MGM
Directed by Blake Edwards
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Down and out nightclub singer Julie Andrews is befriended by an out of work cabaret star. He cooks up the idea for Julie to pretend to be a female impersonator. Apparently in 1930s Paris, a gimmick is needed for a woman to succeed. Well, it works, Julie becomes a sensation and they move from their flea-ridden hotel to the penthouse. Visiting Chicago nightclub owner James Garner falls in love with Julie, after he verifies that she is really a girl by sneaking into her hotel room. Julie falls in love with him, but he can't handle pretending to be gay in order not to blow her cover. About half way through the film I realized it was supposed to be a comedy, not a good sign, and it never got any funnier. Garner is bland and the on-screen chemistry with Julie practically non-existent. Saved only by Julie's singing.

In the Shadow of the Stars (1991)

Academy Awards, USA 1992

Won Oscar

Best Documentary, Features Allie Light Irving Saraf

First Run Features
Directed by Allie Light and Irving Saraf
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Docurama)

Members of the San Francisco Opera Chorus, not the leads, are the subject of this documentary. It turns out that these are mostly ordinary folks with an extraordinary passion for and dedication to their craft. I was struck by the image of a truck driver practicing while on the road. Then there is the story of the kid from the Bronx mugged three times by the age of 12, lucky to get out alive, much less end up singing for a living. One woman struggles between her desire for a home and family and the demands of living on the road. There is of course plenty of opera on display and by the end you will recognize many of the faces onstage during the performance, a uniquely satisfying experience.

Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)

Academy Awards, USA 1972

Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Vanessa Redgrave
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Terence Marsh Robert Cartwright Peter Howitt
	Best Costume Design Margaret Furse
	Best Sound Bob Jones John Aldred
	Best Music, Original Dramatic Score John Barry

Universal Pictures
Directed by Charles Jarrott
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

In this sequel to Anne of the Thousand Days, Elizabeth has grown up to be queen of England, but fears that Mary, her cousin and queen of Scotland, will take away her throne. She conspires to ruin Mary by sending a hotheaded, homosexual dolt as bait for marriage, which amazingly works. The unhappy marriage results in a child, but also her eventual imprisonment after her husband is murdered by traitors. The film ends much the same way as the first, with a beheading and a child left alone to inherit the crown. Briskly paced and filmed in authentic castle locations, but gets bogged down in trashy melodrama. Richard Burton is sorely missed.

The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)

Academy Awards, USA 1937

Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Beulah Bondi
	Best Cinematography George J. Folsey

MGM
Directed by Clarence Brown
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

The first half chronicles the doomed juvenile romance between debutante Joan Crawford and sailor Robert Taylor. They laugh and giggle their way all the way to the altar, but he dies on ship duty. The focus then abruptly shifts to Washington, DC, where Joan is romanced by competing senators while serving as the defacto first lady for Andrew Jackson, "Uncle Andy" to her. Politics get in the way of one romance while gossip almost ruins the other. Interminable film populated with crude stereotypes, including Beulah Bondi's Oscar nominated performance as the pipe smoking wife of Uncle Andy. Even Jimmy Stewart manages to be irritating as Joan's drunk friend.

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)

Academy Awards, USA 1970

Won Oscar	Best Costume Design Margaret Furse
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture Hal B. Wallis
	Best Actor in a Leading Role Richard Burton
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Geneviève Bujold
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Anthony Quayle
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium John Hale Bridget Boland Richard Sokolove
	Best Cinematography Arthur Ibbetson
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Maurice Carter Lionel Couch Patrick McLoughlin
	Best Sound John Aldred
	Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) Georges Delerue

Universal Pictures
Directed by Charles Jarrott
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

When King Henry VIII falls in love with the young sister of his wife, he will stop at nothing to make her his own. The headstrong Anne Boleyn demands that he first get a divorce. However, the pope will not grant one prompting the split between England and the church. Free, Henry and Anne marry and for a short while live happily in love. When their first child turns out to be a girl, Henry is furious and his eye begins to roam for Anne's replacement. He imprisons Anne and falsely convicts her of adultery, leading to her untimely beheading. However, her sacrifice allows their daughter to become the future Queen Elizabeth. It is well acted and handsomely mounted, but historical inaccuracies and a tendency for the actors to overindulge prevent it from becoming anything more than a royal potboiler.

Whiplash (1948)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Lewis Seiler
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Dane Clark is a struggling artist and boxer in California. He falls in love with a strange woman who buys one of his paintings, then abruptly leaves. He eventually catches up with her in NYC. She turns out to be married to a boxing promoter who takes Clark under his wings. Dane soon becomes involved in the melodramatics of their unhappy marriage. The boxing finale and pat happy ending are uninspired. You know there are problems with the script when it asks us to root against a guy in a wheelchair.

The Band Wagon (1953)

Academy Awards, USA 1954

Nominated Oscar	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Betty Comden Adolph Green
	Best Costume Design, Color Mary Ann Nyberg
	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Adolph Deutsch

MGM
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Washed-up, middle-aged actor Fred Astaire, basically playing himself, travels to NYC with hopes of reviving his career on Broadway. He hooks up with a couple of old pals who convince an overly dramatic actor to produce their script. However, when it gets changed from a breezy comedy to a dreadful Faustian drama, it flops. Luckily, Astaire has an extensive art collection and decides to put on the show as it was originally written. This contrived backstage musical produced by MGM may have elaborate musical numbers (the "baby" scene a notable exception), but the dramatic interludes are poor. For instance, Astaire and costar Cyd Charisse's scene in a hotel room where she breaks down crying is downright cringe-worthy. Their budding romance is never convincing and they should have stuck to just dancing. Comedy relief by Nanette Fabre and Oscar Levant is more irritating than funny.

Love Letters (1945)

Academy Awards, USA 1946

Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Jennifer Jones
	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Hans Dreier Roland Anderson Sam Comer Ray Moyer
	Best Music, Original Song Victor Young (music) Edward Heyman (lyrics) For the song "Love Letters"
	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Victor Young

Paramount Pictures
Directed by William Dieterle
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Joseph Cotten writes love letters for his Army pal while on the front lines in Europe. He ends up falling in love with her after reading her return letters. Sent to England after an injury, he inherits a remote country  estate which happens to be nearby her address. He finds out his pal was murdered and his wife supposedly put away in an asylum. Meanwhile, he meets a mystery girl at a party who turns out to be, you guessed it, the same woman, only she has amnesia and can't remember any of her past life. They fall in love anyway, but eventually she starts remembering what happened. Briskly paced and with at least one surprising plot twist, it managed to hold my interest despite all of the coincidence and melodrama. Ayn Rand manages to work in some interesting philosophical points. Moody black and white photography by Lee Garmes makes the most of the isolated English countryside and manor.

The Locket (1946)

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by John Brahm
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

A wealthy man is approached by a psychiatrist on his wedding day. He spins a tale about his fiance to which he claims to have been married. In the flashback, the psychiatrist is similarly approached by a stranger, who in turns spins a tale, a flashback within the flashback, of his relationship with the same woman. Finally we learn that her psychiatric problems lead to kleptomania and eventually murder, tied to an event in her childhood shown as a flashback within a flashback within a flashback. This is the only triple flashback I can recall, other than The Saragossa Manuscript which had at least six before I lost count. Anyway, the plot turns to the melodramatic, with one man committing suicide and another sent to a sanitarium. The woman herself breaks down during a memorable walk down the aisle.

La Pointe Courte (1955)

Janus Films
Directed by Agnes Varda
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

A Parisian couple meet in a rural fishing village, his birthplace, to discuss their disintegrating relationship. The locals dodge government officials trying to stop their illegal fishing activity. They live in abject poverty with a very large cat population. A sickness strikes down one of the children of the village, but hardly anyone notices. Later, the Parisians attend a festival where the fisherman joust on top of elaborately decorated boats. The juxtaposition of the boring conversations between the couple and the far more interesting daily lives of the villagers is unclear; as one of them notes, "they talk too much to be happy". The first-time director, a still photographer, occasionally poses the actors in artistic positions, but it only calls attention to itself. The amateurs of the village can't resist occasional glances at the camera. There is one drowned cat and talk about drowning kittens.

Our Dancing Daughters (1928)

Academy Awards, USA 1930

Nominated Oscar	Best Writing, Achievement Josephine Lovett No official nominees had been announced this year.
	Best Cinematography George Barnes No official nominees had been announced this year.

MGM
Directed by Harry Beaumont
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Flappers Joan Crawford, Anita Page and Dorothy Sebastian struggle to reconcile their freewheeling love lives with their desire for husbands. Crawford falls for millionaire Johnny Mack Brown, only to watch as he is stolen away by Anita after Johnny has second thoughts about her lifestyle. Of course, he doesn't know about Anita, leading to a showdown with Joan after a big party for the ending. Meanwhile, her other friend Dorothy gets married, but her husband resents her past leading to more problems when the old "crowd" show up at their house one day. Encapsulates the inevitable day of reckoning at the end of a decade of questionable morals, but too obvious and melodramatic to be more than a curiosity today.

A Star Is Born (1954)

Academy Awards, USA 1955

Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role James Mason
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Judy Garland Judy Garland couldn't attend the ceremony because she was giving birth to her third child and only ... More
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Malcolm C. Bert Gene Allen Irene Sharaff George James Hopkins
	Best Costume Design, Color Jean Louis Mary Ann Nyberg Irene Sharaff
	Best Music, Original Song Harold Arlen (music) Ira Gershwin (lyrics) For the song "The Man that Got Away"
	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Ray Heindorf

Warner Bros.
Directed by George Cukor
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDNet Movies)

Aging actor James Mason hears struggling nightclub singer Judy Garland after hours one night in a Hollywood bar. Convinced she will become a star, he uses his influence with his movie studio to get her a screen test. While not an instant success, she does eventually become the star he foresaw. However, his own movies are losing money and he is dropped by the studio. Unable to cope with his loss of stature, or her rise, he turns to alcohol. He hits rock bottom when he takes over her acceptance speech at the Academy Awards and is sent to a sanitarium. She sticks by his side, right to the downbeat, bitter ending. Dramatically uneven, and packed with a few too many Garland production numbers, it does, however, provide an incisive behind-the-scenes look at fame and fortune, Hollywood style.

Golden Boy (1939)

Academy Awards, USA 1940

Nominated Oscar

Best Music, Original Score Victor Young

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Sony Movie Channel)

Overconfident young boxer William Holden talks his way into fighting for reluctant NYC manager Adolphe Menjou. After he proves himself in the ring, Menjou is convinced he can become a champion. However, Holden has second thoughts, since in his heart he really wants to be a musician and satisfy dear old dad, Lee J. Cobb in a terribly stereotyped performance. Holden eventually succumbs to the money and fame of boxing, disappointing everyone around him, including girl Barbara Stanwyck. In the climactic fight, he wins the right to a championship, but at a great cost. While it has some genuine moments, there are just too many shortcomings to overlook, not the least of which is 20-year-old Holden's shaky performance in his first screen credit.

Written on the Wind (1956)

Academy Awards, USA 1957

Won Oscar	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Dorothy Malone
Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Stack
	Best Music, Original Song Victor Young (music) Sammy Cahn (lyrics) For the song "Written on the Wind". Victor Young's nomination was posthumous.

Universal-International
Directed by Douglas Sirk
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Alcoholic playboy Robert Stack, son of a Texas oil baron, falls in love with company secretary Lauren Bacall. He vows to change his ways, if she will only marry him, preferably on their first date. His best friend Rock Hudson, a poor geologist, is also in love with Bacall, but she succumbs to the wealth and persistence of Stack before he can do anything about it. He sobers up for a year, but all of that changes when his doctor tells him he is unable to have children. He falls into a depression and goes on drunken rampages. Bacall gets pregnant anyway, leading to suspect her and Hudson of having an affair. Meanwhile, Rock is pursued by bad girl Dorothy Malone, Stack's sister, even though he has no feelings for her beyond friendship. Melodrama elevated to high art, lushly photographed in Technicolor. Malone got the Oscar in a flashy role, but Stack gives the more impressive performance.