Coquette (1929)

Academy Awards, USA 1930

Won Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Mary Pickford

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

Southern flapper Mary Pickford falls in love with country bumpkin Johnny Mack Brown, much to the chagrin of her gentlemanly father. Pickford and Brown are spotted going alone into his mother's house after a dance, leading to unflattering gossip in town. Although innocent, Brown does the right thing and asks Pickford to marry him. However, her father thinks differently, leading to a showdown and tragedy. Pickford is unconvincing as a flapper with a drawl and over-emotes in the silent tradition.

Married to the Mob (1988)

Academy Awards, USA 1989

Nominated Oscar

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Dean Stockwell

Orion Pictures
Directed by Jonathan Demme
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDnet Movies)

Michelle Pfeiffer tries to start her life over after her hit man husband is murdered by mob boss Dean Stockwell. Friendly FBI agent Mathew Modine falls for her while conducting undercover surveillance to convict Stockwell of the murder. Their budding romance comes unraveled when his real identity is revealed by his superiors who blackmail her into framing Stockwell during a trip to Miami. Demme's broad farce expertly plays off gangster stereotypes and action movie cliches. However, it relies too much on romantic comedy cliches, nullifying much of the intended satire. The end result is somewhat muddled, not funny enough for a comedy, but not serious enough for a drama.

The Great Lie (1941)

Academy Awards, USA 1942

Won Oscar

Best Actress in a Supporting Role Mary Astor

Warner Bros.
Directed by Edmund Goulding
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Suave George Brent marries tempestuous pianist Mary Astor, living a life of all-night parties and booze. When it turns out their marriage isn't legal, he leaves her for old flame Bette Davis, living a quiet life in the country. One day he goes missing on a trip to Brazil and is presumed dead. Astor is pregnant with his child and makes a bargain with Davis to have it in exchange for money while Davis raises it as her own. When Brent turns up years later alive, they have to sort the whole mess out. Watch in horror as the cast chain smokes endless cigarettes and sip on "frosty" mint juleps served by Bette's black slaves while Astor pounds out the theme music on piano over and over. Will Brent choose her or Bette? What about the child he fathered in Brazil? Why doesn't Bette just murder Mary and end everyone's agony? Neither plot twist would have been unexpected in this unintentionally hilarious soap opera.

A Few Good Men (1992)

Academy Awards, USA 1993

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture David Brown Rob Reiner Andrew Scheinman
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Jack Nicholson
	Best Sound Kevin O'Connell Rick Kline Robert Eber
	Best Film Editing Robert Leighton

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Rob Reiner
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDnet Movies)

Cocky Navy lawyer Tom Cruise is assigned his first real trial case of defending two Marines accused of murdering another in Cuba. Although he easily reaches a plea deal, the defendants convince him they were only following orders and he agrees to take it to trial. However, evidence is tampered with, a key witness commits suicide and Marine brass is trying to cover it up. His only option is to force a confession on the stand from the towering figure of Jack Nicholson as a Marine colonel. The main problem is that it really has no one to root for: Cruise is irritating, Nicholson is downright evil and the accused Marines are simple minded.Nonetheless, it is undeniably entertaining, but also contrived and over-the-top, especially the final showdown between Cruise and Nicholson.

Four Daughters (1938)

Academy Awards, USA 1939

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role John Garfield
	Best Director Michael Curtiz
	Best Writing, Screenplay Lenore J. Coffee Julius J. Epstein
	Best Sound, Recording Nathan Levinson (Warner Bros. SSD)

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

Unconventional musical household consisting of patron Claude Rains and his four daughters is turned upside down by the arrival of carefree composer Jeffrey Lynn. The girls all fall in love with him, but only the youngest, lovely Priscilla Lane, catches his eye. He eventually proposes, but is left at the altar when she realizes one of her sisters is in love with him and heartbroken. She takes off with eternal pessimist John Garfield to New York City, where they live happily but in poverty. Time passes and they return home for Christmas. Garfield realizes his wife is still in love with Lynn and takes a drastic course of action. A good story with unexpected plot twists, realistic characters and atmospheric touches by director Curtiz.

One Foot in Heaven (1941)

Academy Awards, USA 1942

Nominated Oscar

Best Picture

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

Fredric March quits med school to become a minister after being "inspired" one day in church. His girl decides to marry him anyway, much to the dismay of her parents. They spend their life moving from one church to another, living in broken down homes, raising their children to be an example to others and dealing with a series of minor crises. There are a couple of interesting scenes, such as when March agrees to watch a William S. Hart silent western so he can prove to his son how immoral the movies are but ends up liking it, but mostly it's episodic and preachy.

One Night of Love (1934)

Academy Awards, USA 1935

Won Oscar	Best Sound, Recording John P. Livadary (sound director)
	Best Music, Score Louis Silvers (head of department) Thematic music by Victor Schertzinger and Gus Kahn.
Won Technical Achievement Award	For their application of the vertical cut disc method ("hill and dale recording") to actual studio ... More
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture Columbia
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Grace Moore
	Best Director Victor Schertzinger
	Best Film Editing Gene Milford

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Victor Schertzinger
My rating; 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Aspiring opera singer Grace Moore moves to Italy in hopes of advancing her career. She is discovered singing in a pub by famous teacher Tullio Carminati, who takes her under his wing. She lives in his house and undergoes rigorous training for months before making her debut. Romantic entanglements ensue when they fall in love but won't admit it, confusing her other boyfriend Lyle Talbot. It all gets worked out in the end and she makes a successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera. I could do without all of the romantic nonsense, but the singing is good and there are extended scenes from Carmen and Madame Butterfly.

All This, and Heaven Too (1940)

Academy Awards, USA 1941

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Barbara O'Neil
	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Ernest Haller

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

Bette Davis becomes governess in an unhappy house in Paris. She gets along wonderfully with the children and their father, Charles Boyer. However, his miserable marriage pushes them to the verge of an affair, though they keep a respectful distance. The French press makes a scandal of their appearance together at the theatre, inciting his wife into a rage of jealousy. She is eventually forced to resign and lives in near poverty until Boyer discovers her fate and confronts his wife, leading to tragedy. Boyer, and aristocrat, is protected from the police by French law, but Bette is put on trial. She finds peace only after retiring to America as a schoolteacher. Fatally overlong, this melodrama lacks a sympathetic character, even Bette as the kind governess seems a bit detached. There are too many scenes with cute kids, including an annoying French boy who speaks with a southern drawl. Barbara O'Neil makes the most of her role as the evil wife.

Magnificent Obsession (1954)

Academy Awards, USA 1955

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Jane Wyman

Universal International Pictures
Directed by Douglas Sirk
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Playboy Rock Hudson has a speedboat accident which indirectly results in the death of a local doctor. Later, he causes another accident which results in the blindness of the doctor's wife. Despondent, he tries to overcome the guilt by writing large checks and turning to alcohol. Nothing works until a friend convinces him that anonymously helping others will change his life. He tries it and is immediately rewarded, so continues until he becomes "obsessed" with his new outlook. He falls in love with the widow, Jane Wyman, not revealing his identity until months later. He takes her to Europe in search of a cure which fails. She leaves him and disappears for years. In the intervening time he becomes a neurosurgeon, eventually using his skills to save her life and restore her sight. Ridiculous melodrama advancing a Christian agenda, with overbearing music and contrived plot.

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Academy Awards, USA 1999

Nominated Oscar	Best Sound Kevin O'Connell Greg P. Russell Pud Cusack
	Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing Dave McMoyler

TriStar Pictures
Directed by Martin Campbell
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDnet Movies)

Zorro is a masked hero of the common people in old California who fights for their freedom from oppression by the ruling aristocracy. His arch enemy kills his wife, kidnaps his infant daughter and throws him in a dungeon for 20 years. He escapes and vows revenge by training a young thief to become his successor. Together, they save California, free the peasants from slavery and get revenge on past injustices. It's a big, bold Hollywood blockbuster, riddled with cliches, bogged down by romantic interludes and unnecessary comedy relief.

The Letter (1929)

Academy Awards, USA 1930

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Jeanne Eagels No official nominees had been announced this year.

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Jean de Limur
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Jeanne Eagels is a bored housewife living on a remote Asian rubber plantation. One night she murders her lover in a rage of jealousy. During the ensuing trial she claims self defense and is acquitted. However, a letter she wrote to her lover asking him over on the fatal night is in the hands of his lover, who wants both cash and revenge. They meet in an atmospheric den in the sex district of Singapore where Eagels is shamed in front of the girls. She gives the letter to her lawyer who eventually turns it over to her husband. The final speech of Eagels to her husband is hilarious, crying "Rubber! Rubber! Rubber!" and confessing to all her transgressions. The remake starring Bette Davis in 1940 is vastly superior.

My Favorite Year (1982)

Academy Awards, USA 1983

Nominated Oscar

Best Actor in a Leading Role Peter O'Toole

MGM/UA
Directed by Richard Benjamin
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

A nostalgic look at 1954 through the eyes of a young assistant on a live TV comedy show in NYC. When a swashbuckling movie star with a reputation for booze and women is scheduled to appear on the show, he is given the task of making sure he shows up on time for rehearsals and the show itself. The two become unlikely friends and learn some hard lessons along the way. Peter O'Toole is perfect as the movie matinee idol, careening from full-on drunkard to suave gentleman with ease. His costar Mark Linn-Baker is less sympathetic, an aspiring comedian in love with another staff member. The attempts at comedy are not funny and the film probably would have worked better as a nostalgia-twinged drama. Nonetheless, there are some wonderful character vignettes, particularly Linn-Baker's Brooklyn family.

Romancing the Stone (1984)

Academy Awards, USA 1985

Nominated Oscar

Best Film Editing Donn Cambern Frank Morriss

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDnet Movies)

Romance novelist Kathleen Turner goes to Colombia to exchange a treasure map as ransom for her kidnapped sister. She takes the wrong bus from the airport and ends up stranded in a mountainous jungle. Luckily for her American Michael Douglas is walking by and saves her from a man who tries to steal the map at gunpoint. She pays Douglas to take her to the nearest city, leading to a series of adventures while pursued by bad guys. Turner undergoes an unconvincing transformation from helpless female lost in South America to a confident lover able to overcome large men with guns. She is placed in sexually provocative poses at inappropriate times by the director, undermining that supposed transformation. In the most obvious example, the famous "mud slide" scene ends with Douglas' face planted between the legs of Turner. A rampant sexist undertone is pervasive and downright embarrassing. The stunts are derivative of all things Indiana Jones. Danny DeVito is wasted as a stereotyped hoodlum spouting vile one liners. There is a gory scene in which a mechanical alligator bites off a man's hand. Simply awful.

Madame Pimpernel (1945)

Academy Awards, USA 1946

Nominated Oscar

Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Alexander Tansman

Adelphi Films (UK)
Directed by Gregory Ratoff
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

American Constance Bennett and British Emmeline Quayle are living in Paris as the Germans march on the city. They join the mass exodus but get stuck in a traffic jam, so take a side road where they end up at a friendly country inn. The innkeeper is harboring a downed British pilot, and the two ladies decide to sneak him back to Paris. They arrange to smuggle him out of the country, an experience they find so gratifying they decide to stay behind and help more escape. This goes on for a couple of years, until the Germans finally trap and arrest them. Luckily the Americans arrive just in time to liberate the city and the prisoners. Despite the subject matter it's a leisurely paced, almost comic, story of two of the more unlikely members of the Paris underground.

This Above All (1942)

Academy Awards, USA 1943

Won Oscar	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Richard Day Joseph C. Wright Thomas Little
Nominated Oscar	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Arthur C. Miller
	Best Sound, Recording Edmund H. Hansen (20th Century-Fox SSD)
	Best Film Editing Walter Thompson

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Anatole Litvak
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Socialite Joan Fontaine joins the British WAAFs, where she meets mysterious man Tyrone Power on a blind date. Power obviously has something to hide: he spouts off on politics and class warfare, but won't talk about his past, especially his time on the front in France. They fall in love during a romantic getaway to a swank hotel, but the arrival of an old Army buddy gives him away. He goes on the run from authorities and  Fontaine, but mostly from himself, his crisis of conscience finally being resolved with the help of a friendly pastor. There are moments of propagandist patriotism and a melodramatic ending that goes on a little too long, but superb black and white cinematography by Arthur Miller artistically captures wartime England.

Their Own Desire (1929)

Academy Awards, USA 1930

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Norma Shearer

MGM
Directed by E.Mason Hopper
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

A middle aged man falls for a younger woman and divorces his wife of over 20 years. His daughter Norma Shearer disowns him. Later, she falls in love with young Robert Montgomery. They get engaged only to find out her father and his mother are the lovers that broke up their parents' marriages. At first she wants to call it off, but after getting caught on a lake during a thunderstorm and stranded on an island she changes her mind. Very creaky early talkie featuring a giggly Shearer.

State Fair (1933)

Academy Awards, USA 1934

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Writing, Adaptation Paul Green Sonya Levien

Fox Film
Directed by Henry King
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Country bumpkins travel to the "big city" for the annual state fair. Mom enters her pickles and mince meat while dad babysits his hog. Meanwhile, their naive teenage kids find first love. Daughter Janet Gaynor falls for a fast talking newspaper reporter while son Norman Foster takes up with a sideshow trapeze artist. Both relationships are about as believable as the scenes featuring two pigs talking to each other. There is a modicum of fair atmosphere, but even that is ruined by an over reliance on back projection for almost every scene.

The King's Speech (2010)

Academy Awards, USA 2011

Won Oscar	Best Motion Picture of the Year Iain Canning Emile Sherman Gareth Unwin
	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Colin Firth
	Best Achievement in Directing Tom Hooper
	Best Writing, Original Screenplay David Seidler
Nominated Oscar	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Geoffrey Rush
	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Helena Bonham Carter
	Best Achievement in Cinematography Danny Cohen
	Best Achievement in Film Editing Tariq Anwar
	Best Achievement in Costume Design Jenny Beavan
	Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Alexandre Desplat
	Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Paul Hamblin Martin Jensen John Midgley
	Best Achievement in Art Direction Eve Stewart (production designer) Judy Farr (set decorator)

The Weinstein Company
Directed by Tom Hooper
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Weinstein Company)

A prince reluctantly becomes a king when his brother gives up the crown to marry a divorced woman. The newly crowned king seeks out a therapist to correct his lifelong speech stammer. After other physicians have failed, he goes to the unconventional Geoffrey Rush, a man with little or no credentials but plenty of results. The two strike up an unlikely friendship during his long days of therapy. Meanwhile, Hitler invades Poland and England declares war on Germany. The king is called upon to rally the nation with an incredibly important speech to be broadcast on radio. It is up to Rush to help him through, as therapist, English citizen and friend. Beautifully filmed on many UK locations with a (mostly) fluid camera, though the inevitable modern shakiness does occasionally creep into some scenes. Firth is stunning in the lead role, and Rush almost his equal. My only gripe would be a certain coldness to Firth's character that makes it hard to sympathize with him at times.

Love Me or Leave Me (1955)

Academy Awards, USA 1956

Won Oscar	Best Writing, Motion Picture Story Daniel Fuchs
Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role James Cagney
	Best Writing, Screenplay Daniel Fuchs Isobel Lennart
	Best Sound, Recording Wesley C. Miller (M-G-M)
	Best Music, Original Song Nicholas Brodszky (music) Sammy Cahn (lyrics) For the song "I'll Never Stop Loving You"
	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Percy Faith George Stoll

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

Rags to riches story of aspiring singer Doris Day, who reaches the top with a lot of help from Chicago gangster Jimmy Cagney. The only problem is he expects a lot in return, but when all she can give is her thanks, he takes it anyway. She marries him out of spite but turns to drinking and loses all interest in life. Hollywood comes calling and she is reunited with her old flame and piano player. She finally gets the courage to leave Cagney, but he's not going down without a fight. Day can sing but she lacks the acting chops necessary to pull off such a dramatic role; Cagney, however, is a ticking time bomb, his Martin Snyder is as rough a character as any in his long and storied career in the gangster genre.

Now, Voyager (1942)

Academy Awards, USA 1943

Won Oscar	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Max Steiner
Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Bette Davis
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Gladys Cooper

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

Aging spinster Bette Davis, complete with eyeglasses and absurdly bushy eyebrows, lives in a Boston mansion with her domineering mother. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Bette retires to a sanitarium in the country for a few months. She returns a new woman, literally: chic, sophisticated and with pencil-thin eyebrows. She immediately takes a cruise to Brazil where she has an affair with a married man. Back home, she tries to forget him and even gets engaged to another man, but all for naught. He shows up again years later and sends his own teenage daughter to the same sanitarium, where Bette adopts her as the child they never had. Neatly left out of the story is his own wife, who seems to have no say in the matter. It's a ridiculous soap opera made tolerable by Bette's usual superior performance.

The Hasty Heart (1949)

Academy Awards, USA 1950

Nominated Oscar

Best Actor in a Leading Role Richard Todd

Warner Bros.
Directed by Vincent Sherman
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

A Scottish soldier with only weeks to live is sent to a recovery ward in a hospital. The doctors do not tell him about his fate, but they do tell the other members of the ward and their head nurse. The proud Scotsman, in a marvelous performance by  Richard Todd, resists all efforts by the others to befriend him. On his birthday, the nurse decides they should all give him a traditional kilt, which finally breaks the ice. Surrounded by friends for the first time in his life, the man never stops talking. He also misinterprets a friendly kiss from the nurse and proposes marriage. However, when the doctor finally tells him the truth he is devastated, thinking his so-called friends were only taking pity on him. It's up to Ronald Reagan, of all people, to set him straight. Based on a play by John Patrick, it is a very emotional, sensitive portrayal of a man learning that he doesn't have to face life, or death, alone.

Marie Antoinette (1938)

Academy Awards, USA 1939

Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Norma Shearer
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Morley
	Best Art Direction Cedric Gibbons
	Best Music, Original Score Herbert Stothart

MGM
Directed by W.S. Van Dyke II
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Hollywood biopic of the Austrian princess and her arranged marriage to the heir to the throne of France. Norma Shearer shines in perhaps her best role, transforming herself from excited young girl, to disappointed wife, to Parisian pleasure seeker and all the way back again, bravely appearing without makeup in her final scenes on the way to the guillotine. Robert Morley is impressive as the meek king who finds strength in her. Overlong, to be sure, but the pace in the second half picks up considerably as the royal family flees the mobs of the French Revolution. This film solidifies in my mind the place of Shearer as the best actress of the 30s, although Garbo, Crawford and Davis tend to be the best known today, each is overrated in their own way and it is Norma who stands above them all.

Camille (1936)

Academy Awards, USA 1938

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Greta Garbo

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

Robert Taylor falls in love with Greta Garbo at the opera. She mistakes him for a rich baron, otherwise his lack of wealth would have prevented them from ever meeting. She tries to break it off when she learns his real identity, but he persuades her that he loves her, really, really he does. They spend one idyllic summer in the country until his father comes along and convinces her to leave him. For some reason she agrees and pretends to fall out of love with him, taking up once again with the rich baron. Months of unhappiness pass until they are reunited on her death bed. A silly, tragic romance among the selfish aristocrats of 17th century France. For some reason there is no character named Camille, though Garbo's character does like camellias, so I suppose that is the tenuous connection to the title.

Valmont (1989)

Academy Awards, USA 1990

Nominated Oscar

Best Costume Design Theodor Pistek

Orion Pictures
Directed by Milos Forman
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(MGMHD)

Young widow Annette Bening manipulates those around her for her own pleasure. She wants to ruin an arranged marriage by having the 15-year-old bride-to-be lose her virginity to her friend, enemy and sometimes lover Colin Firth. He, meanwhile, is in love with Meg Tilly, happily married until she falls for his carefully planned seductions. Firth ends up sleeping with everyone, but must own up to his deeds in a duel against an unexpected opponent. An exquisite production which uses candlelight, elaborate costumes and French locations, but the material is so trite it seems wasted. Nonetheless, it does maintain a certain sense of fun amongst all of the dreadful backstabbing and lust on display.

Libeled Lady (1936)

Academy Awards, USA 1937

Nominated Oscar

Best Picture

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

Newspaper editor Spencer Tracy hires scam artist William Powell to get the paper out of a libel suit after printing a false story about heiress Myrna Loy. The concoct a scheme to trap her in a compromising situation while crossing the Atlantic by ship. Powell needs a wife, and Tracy agrees to allow his fiance Jean Harlow to marry him to carry out the plan. Well, everything goes wrong: Powell falls in love with Loy, Harlow falls in love with Powell and Tracy is left with the lawsuit. Of course it all works out in the end. Fast-paced and worth a few chuckles, Powell's fishing scene is a stand-out, a good time killer but hardly best picture material.

Designing Woman (1957)

Academy Awards, USA 1958

Won Oscar

Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen George Wells

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

Badly dated "battle of the sexes" between sportswriter Gregory Peck and fashion designer Lauren Bacall. They get married on a whim while on vacation in California. However, when they get back home to NYC and get to really know one another, they find they are just barely compatible. She gets jealous of a picture of his old girlfriend, who also happens to be the star of a Broadway show she is working on. Meanwhile, he has to hide out from thugs who want him killed over a story he is writing. There is a ludicrous final fight scene featuring a bongo-playing dancer taking out an entire car full of mafia men. It doesn't even work as unintentionally funny, which applies to the whole film.

The Cooler (2003)

Academy Awards, USA 2004

Nominated Oscar

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Alec Baldwin

Lions Gate Films
Directed by Wayne Kramer
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDNet Movies)

William H. Macy's luck is so bad that he works in a Vegas casino as a "cooler": just standing next to someone makes them lose. The casino is owned by old school mafia-type Alec Baldwin, who resists all efforts to modernize it. When Macy plans to leave, Baldwin hires waitress Maria Bello to convince him to stay. However, the two end up falling in love for real and Macy's luck changes for the better. An interesting rumination on life, love and luck, laced with explicit sex and jarring violence. The casting is perfect, with Baldwin in particular having a field day as the brutal casino owner coming to terms with the life, or lack thereof, he has built around him.

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)

Academy Awards, USA 1937

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Film Editing Conrad A. Nervig

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

A drunken British lawyer falls in love with the wife of one of his clients. First he gets him off a charge of traitorism by manipulating a key witness. Years pass, and a revolution sweeps through France. The man is tricked into going there to help a friend, but it's really a trap by the evil Madame De Farge who wants to see all of the descendants of an aristocrat sent to the guillotine. Arrested and convicted by the corrupt French judicial system, he awaits his sentence. The lawyer, still in love with his wife, performs a final act of heroism to save him. Perhaps I am too familiar with the book, but I found this cold and impersonal. Madame De Farge is an ogre that threatens to take over the entire movie. Her cat fight with Miss Pross is in poorly coordinated fast motion. Pedestrian direction by Conway results in a missed opportunity.

Three Smart Girls (1936)

Academy Awards, USA 1937

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Writing, Original Story Adele Comandini
	Best Sound, Recording Homer G. Tasker (Universal SSD)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Henry Koster
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Juvenile nonsense about three girls who travel from Switzerland to NYC to "save" their father from a money-grubbing woman and reunite him with their mother. Deanna Durbin, in her feature film debut as Universal's new "discovery", leads the pack of mischief makers who hire an alcoholic Hungarian count to romance dad's fiance, though he is replaced by a game Ray Milland at the last second. The girls pout and cry whenever they don't get their way and Deanna bursts into operatic song at every opportunity, including in a police station when she runs away to get attention. Desperate.

Romeo and Juliet (1936)

Academy Awards, USA 1937

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Norma Shearer
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Basil Rathbone
	Best Art Direction Cedric Gibbons Fredric Hope Edwin B. Willis

MGM
Directed by George Cukor
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard tackle Shakespeare's famous story of doomed lovers in Italy. They get lots of help from a lavish MGM production. The balcony scene has never looked better: in an exquisite garden complete with reflecting pools. The Shakespeare-ease takes a bit to get accustomed to, but after awhile the awkward sentence construction starts to come more naturally. Shearer and Howard are too old for their roles, but still manage to pull it off, even the final double suicide avoids becoming maudlin. John Barrymore and Andy Devine ruin every scene they are in with terrible comedy relief.

Love Field (1992)

Academy Awards, USA 1993

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Michelle Pfeiffer

Orion Pictures
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(MGMHD)

Unhappy Dallas housewife Michelle Pfeiffer, with an obsession for Jacqueline Kennedy, takes a cross country bus ride to attend the president's funeral when he is assassinated in her home town in 1963. Along the way, she befriends black man Dennis Haysbert and his young daughter. After the bus is in an accident, she discovers bruises on the girl and mistakenly assumes she has been kidnapped by Haysbert. She calls the FBI and they spend the rest of the movie on the run from the police. While credibility is not the film's strong point, and the Jackie O connection unclear, it is a powerful document of race relations in the Deep South and a tender love story between a lost woman, a black man facing his past and the little girl that brings them together.

Life with Father (1947)

Academy Awards, USA 1948

Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role William Powell
	Best Cinematography, Color J. Peverell Marley William V. Skall
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Robert M. Haas George James Hopkins
	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Max Steiner

Warner Bros.
Directed by Michael Curtiz
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Nostalgic and often hilarious look at an upper class family in New York City at the turn of the century. William Powell rules his household with a firm hand, or so he likes to think, but when visiting relatives reveal he has never been baptized, it's almost more than he can handle. His wife Irene Dunne not only believes that he won't get into heaven, but that they may not even be married at all. Meanwhile, their oldest son Jimmy Lydon falls head over heels for visiting cousin Elizabeth Taylor. The father and son talk about women is classic. It's all easy-going, the only drama comes from a brief illness due to accidentally drinking some "balm" one of the other son's is peddling (don't even ask), in gaudy Technicolor, but never, ever boring.

The Constant Nymph (1943)

Academy Awards, USA 1944

Nominated Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Joan Fontaine

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

Composer Charles Boyer visits his aging friend and teacher at his remote Swiss homestead. It's a kooky musical family, with two teenage daughters running around barefoot through the hills, then performing classical music after dinner. Joan Fontaine plays the daughter hopelessly in love with Boyer, though he just shrugs it off as a teenage crush. After the father dies and Boyer marries a rich socialite, the girls are sent away to a boarding school in England. However, they runaway one night and end up staying with Boyer and his wife in their stuffy mansion. Fontaine's crush turns into love, threatening Boyer's marriage. The 25-year-old Fontaine plays a much younger character, early to mid teens, leading to some uncomfortable moments with Boyer. I'm not sure what to make of the ending, romantic or tragic, but it could have been stolen from the pages of a juvenile romance novel circa 1900.

Désirée (1954)

Academy Awards, USA 1955

Nominated Oscar	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color Lyle R. Wheeler Leland Fuller Walter M. Scott Paul S. Fox
	Best Costume Design, Color Charles Le Maire René Hubert

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Henry Koster
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Brando is a deadly serious Napoleon who falls in love with scatterbrained Jean Simmons. Their young relationship fails when he goes away to fight wars and marries Josephine for political reasons. Simmons ends up with another general, improbably becoming the queen of Sweden. However, she can't take the cold and argues with the servants, so goes back to France. Meanwhile, Napoleon, still in love with her, has become mad with his own power, but succumbs to her request to surrender his throne. Brando overdoes it and  Simmons has no credibility, wasting the film's sumptuous sets and widescreen cinematography.

Conquest (1937)

Academy Awards, USA 1938

Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Charles Boyer
	Best Art Direction Cedric Gibbons William A. Horning

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

Polish princess Greta Garbo is sent to the French Emperor Napoleon to beg for his help to free the country from the barbarian Russians. He instantly falls in love with her and uses all of his power to win her over. Although married, albeit to a much older man, she is hesitant, but gives in to his advances. Abandoned by her husband, she embarks on a life of following Napoleon around Europe but never completely gaining his commitment, even after she bears him a son. This historical romance is short on history and heavy on romance, but Charles Boyer manages to overcome that shortcoming and bring some life to a character mostly known for his stature and his hat.

Story of G.I. Joe (1945)

Academy Awards, USA 1946

Nominated Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Robert Mitchum
	Best Writing, Screenplay Leopold Atlas Guy Endore Philip Stevenson
	Best Music, Original Song Ann Ronell For the song "Linda"
	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Louis Applebaum Ann Ronell

United Artists
Directed by William. A. Wellman
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

War correspondent Burgess Meredith tags along with C Company during WWII. After a brief time in Tunisia, they walk through Italy, battling mud, Nazis and boredom. A great deal of time, and lives, are wasted at the base of a monastery on a hill. The men spend Christmas in their foxholes, where Meredith manages to scrub up some turkey. After the monastery is destroyed, the continue on towards Rome, watching the next batch of fresh recruits arrive while the dead, including many of their own, are carried in on the backs of donkeys. It tends to be episodic and has long stretches where nothing much happens, but apparently that is the reality of war. Many memorable characterizations by unheralded supporting actors, with Mitchum earning his first and only Oscar nomination.

Intruder in the Dust (1949)

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

When a white man in a racist southern town is shot in the back, the police arrest an innocent black man. No one believes his story except for a teenager he once invited to his house, whom he convinces to dig up the grave of the dead man and retrieve the bullet which will prove his innocence. Instead, they find an empty grave and more questions. The body eventually shows up and the police, now convinced of his innocence, lay a trap to capture the real murderer. The incisive William Faulkner story does not always translate well to the screen, but it is a devastating portrait of hate and ignorance.

Sabrina (1954)

Academy Awards, USA 1955

Won Oscar	Best Costume Design, Black-and-White Edith Head
Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Audrey Hepburn
	Best Director Billy Wilder
	Best Writing, Screenplay Billy Wilder Samuel A. Taylor Ernest Lehman
	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Charles Lang
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White Hal Pereira Walter H. Tyler Sam Comer Ray Moyer

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Billy Wilder
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDNet Movies)

Chauffeur's daughter Audrey Hepburn falls in love with the son of the house, playboy William Holden. He doesn't even know she exists until she returns from Paris in chic clothes. All of a sudden, every man wants her, including Holden's older brother Humphrey Bogart. Bogie romances Hepburn in order to get her to forget Holden so he can marry a rich heiress and complete a multimillion dollar merger. Of course they end up falling in love for real, ruining everyone's plans. Irresistible romantic fluff well-played by all.

Kings Row (1942)

Academy Awards, USA 1943

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Director Sam Wood
	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White James Wong Howe

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

Aspiring psychiatrist Robert Cummings discovers that his little midwestern home town of Kings Row has many dark secrets to hide. His lifelong sweetheart is locked away by her father, only to end up in a murder-suicide. His carefree best friend has his legs amputated unnecessarily by a sadistic doctor. Cummings tries to keep everyone sane and together, but unfortunately it doesn't work on the viewer of this unrealistic melodrama.

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

Academy Awards, USA 2004

Nominated Oscar	Best Cinematography Eduardo Serra
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Ben van Os (art director) Cecile Heideman (set decorator)
	Best Costume Design Dien van Straalen

Lions Gate Films
Directed by Peter Webber
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HDNet Movies)

In the 15th century, poor Dutch maiden Scarlett Johansson leaves home to become a maid in the troubled household of a painter. The master of the house spends all of his time in his attic studio, while his bitter wife has babies and argues with the servants. Johansson catches the eye of the painter's matron, who makes a secret deal for a portrait. When the wife discovers the deception she becomes furious. Visually sumptuous film unfolds like a painting itself, featuring incredible period detail and an artist's eye. However, the drama can't match the visuals: a trite story of a naive maid falling prey to her superiors.

Romance (1930)

Academy Awards, USA 1930

Nominated Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Greta Garbo
	Best Director Clarence Brown

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

Oddball romance between opera singer Greta Garbo and clergyman Lewis Stone is chronicled in this tedious early sound production. The two have nothing in common: she is flirtatious and in a relationship with a much older man while he is conservative and looking for a woman to grow old with. It should be no surprise that it doesn't work out, but they are both devastated anyway. Garbo's Italian with a Swedish accent is ludicrous, but she does, as usual, look absolutely angelic.

The Letter (1940)

Academy Awards, USA 1941

Nominated Oscar	Best Picture
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Bette Davis
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role James Stephenson
	Best Director William Wyler
	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Tony Gaudio
	Best Film Editing Warren Low
	Best Music, Original Score Max Steiner

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

Murderess Bette Davis manipulates everyone around her in order to be found not guilty at her trial. When an incriminating love letter shows up, she convinces her idealistic lawyer to break the law and succumb to blackmail. Later, she admits everything in front of her husband, devastating him. Unabashed melodrama entertains despite some questionable Hollywood depictions of life in southeast Asia. Davis is convincing in an unsympathetic role, but James Stephenson almost steals the movie as her conscience-stricken lawyer.

Wuthering Heights (1939)

Academy Awards, USA 1940

Won Oscar	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Gregg Toland
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture Samuel Goldwyn Productions
	Best Actor in a Leading Role Laurence Olivier
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Geraldine Fitzgerald
	Best Director William Wyler
	Best Writing, Screenplay Ben Hecht Charles MacArthur
	Best Art Direction James Basevi
	Best Music, Original Score Alfred Newman

United Artists
Directed by William Wyler
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Waif Heathcliff is adopted by a gentleman and brought to live on his country estate with his two young children. He clashes with the boy but has an active fantasy life with the girl. As they grow older, they become obsessed with each other. However, she gives in to the advances of a wealthy neighbor, leaving poor old Heathcliff alone to brood. Years pass, Heathcliff becomes wealthy and returns to torment Cathy. Overwrought melodrama, with a long, ridiculous death bed scene and supernatural happy ending. It is however well photographed by Gregg Toland on atmospheric locations.

The Harvey Girls (1946)

Academy Awards, USA 1947

Won Oscar	Best Music, Original Song Harry Warren (music) Johnny Mercer (lyrics) For the song "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe".
Nominated Oscar	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Lennie Hayton

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

Entertaining fluff about waitresses who work for a restaurant chain that caters to railroad passengers in the old west. The girls bring "civilization" to one wild town and clash with the girls of the local saloon hall, led by a young Angela Lansbury. The good girl contingent is led by Judy Garland. A highlight is a cat fight between the saloon hall girls and proper waitresses. Judy and Angela also have a personal rivalry for the owner of the saloon, you can guess which one wins. Judy reunites with her old scarecrow pal from The Wizard of Oz, Ray Bolger.

Silverado (1985)

Academy Awards, USA 1986

Nominated Oscar	Best Sound Donald O. Mitchell Rick Kline Kevin O'Connell David M. Ronne
	Best Music, Original Score Bruce Broughton

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

A cowboy on his way to California gets sidetracked in the dusty town of Silverado, which is overrun by a crooked sheriff and his gang. He cleans up the town with the help of some friends he picks up along the way. Kevin Kline, more subdued than usual, just wants his hat back from the gang that robbed him. Kevin Costner is his younger brother, mostly interested in swinging from high places. Perhaps the most intriguing story of the bunch involves Danny Glover and his family, but they are not the focus. Instead, this ends up being an attempt to re-brand the western genre for the eighties with non-stop Raiders of the Ark style stunts, an overbearing soundtrack and episodic story that just goes on and on and on.