Coco (2017)

Academy Awards, USA 2018

Winner Oscar	Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) Kristen Anderson-Lopez Robert Lopez For song "Remember Me"
	Best Animated Feature Film Lee Unkrich Darla K. Anderson

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Directed by Lee Unkrich
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Disney)

In Mexico, young Miguel aspires to become a musician against the wishes of his family, who ban all music. It turns out that Miguel's idol, Mexico's most famous singer, left his family generations ago. Miguel decides to enter a talent show on the Day of the Dead, just as his idol had done, in search of fame and fortune. However, he needs a guitar and steals one from his idol's grave. This sets in motion his visit to the land of the dead, where he must atone for his theft by getting the blessing of a relative. He soon finds one but they add the condition that he must give up music. Instead he goes searching for his famous grandfather to get a blessing. Along the way he gets help from another down and out musician and a friendly dog. True identities are eventually revealed in a series of plot twists and Miguel safely gets home. Colorful, if overly contrived, Pixar, based on Mexican traditions that are somehow turned into universal laws, not unlike Monsters, Inc. In the end, I wasn't convinced, or particularly moved. I did like the dog, though. 

April Love (1957)

Academy Awards, USA 1958

Nominee Oscar

Best Music, Original Song Sammy Fain (music) Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) For the song "April Love"

Twentieth Century-Fox  Film
Directed by Henry Levin
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

City boy Pat Boone is sent to live with relatives on a Kentucky horse ranch as part of his probation for stealing a car. He is warmly welcomed by his aunt but shunned by his older uncle. The farmstead has fallen into disrepair after many years of neglect following the death of their son in Korea. Boone, a gearhead, fixes up a delapidated car and races it around the old horse track, spooking the only remaining horse on the farm. He saves the horse from nearby woods, impressing his uncle who thinks he can train Boone to be a horse racer. Meanwhile, Boone befriends next door neighbor Shirley Jones and her sister. Jones is tomboy and falls for Boone, but he falls for her more sophisticated sister who drives a sports car. In the end, though, he finds out that life is more than sports cars. Mundane musical with a fair share of sexual double entendres belieng the squeak clean image of Boone and Jones. Beautiful widescreen photography by Wilfrid Cline and lush soundtrack featuring the hit title song. 

The Front (1976)

Academy Awards, USA 1977

Nominee Oscar

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Walter Bernstein

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Martin Ritt
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

Cashier Woody Allen agrees to pose as a writer to help his blacklisted friends get work. It goes so well that he also fronts for other writers. On the set of his most successful TV show, he begins a relationship with script writer Andrea Marcovicci who thinks he is really the writer. Meanwhile, his friend and actor Zero Mostel is pressured by investigators to find out more about Allen's private life, suspecting him of being a communist. It all comes crashing down when he is called to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, before which Allen gives one of his most memorable one-liners. 

All the Money in the World (2017)

Academy Awards, USA 2018

Nominee Oscar

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Christopher Plummer At age 88, Christopher Plummer became the oldest Academy Award nominee for acting.

Sony Pictures Releasing
Directed by Ridley Scott
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Sony)

The teenage grandson of John Paul Getty, the richest man in the world, is kidnapped in Italy and held for ransom. His mother, recently divorced from Getty's son and cut off from their wealth, is tasked with coming up with the money. She goes to the elder Getty but he refuses. He does let her use his personal negotiator and ex-CIA agent Mark Wahlberg. Their efforts prove futile, however, and eventually the kidnappers sell their captor to a local crime ring. His new captors prove to be much less patient and more brutal, vowing to send the young Getty to his mother piece by piece until the ransom is paid, starting with his ear. She has to go back to the elder Getty to get the money, and they make a difficult deal. Delivering the ransom goes all wrong in the exciting conclusion. Ridley Scott, a very good director, makes somewhat of a return to form here after a series of questionable ventures into sci-fi and spectacle. It's well paced, impeccably filmed, with several outstanding performances, including Christopher Plummer as a last-minute replacement for Kevin Spacey who filmed all of his scenes in eight days.

Casanova Brown (1944)

Academy Awards, USA 1945

Nominee Oscar	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Perry Ferguson Julia Heron
	Best Sound, Recording Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)
	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Arthur Lange

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Sam Wood
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, ClassicFlix)

Gary Cooper is the "Casanova" of the title, bouncing around between several women. There is the one in the small town in which he arrives by train to start the film. Then there is another one back in the big city that we learn about in a flashback. Another one pops up unexpectedly later on. He marries, or intends to marry, all three of them at one point. A baby finally forces him to make the right choice, but not until after he kidnaps it! Ludicrous story with Cooper in one of his sappiest roles. 

The Member of the Wedding (1952)

Academy Awards, USA 1953

Nominee Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role Julie Harris

Columbia Pictures
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

Twelve-year-old Frankie (Julie Harris) is in anguish about her world. Her brother is getting married and the neighborhood girls won't let them into their club. She wails against it all to her empathetic nanny and housekeeper Ethel Waters in their run-down kitchen. She ends up running away from home but finds only creeps in pool halls and beer joints in her southern town. Back home, she reluctantly prepares for her brothers wedding. Julie Harris' performance leave no room for compromise, you either love it or hate it. Unfortunately I fell into the latter camp. It is impossible to believe that this nearly 30-year old actress is 12. Her performance resembles more of 3 year old with an incredible vocabulary on an extended temper tantrum. Ethel Waters, on the other hand, gives a sublime, loving performance in almost direct opposition to the style of Harris. Perhaps that was the intention, to play off the opposites. It also suffers from the usual stage-to-screen inadequacies, and often feels cramped and claustrophobic.

That Man from Rio (1964)

Academy Awards, USA 1965

Nominee Oscar

Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen Jean-Paul Rappeneau Ariane Mnouchkine Daniel Boulanger Philippe de Broca

United Artists
Directed by Philippe de Broca
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Cohen Media Group)

Jean-Paul Belmondo becomes an unlikely hero after his fiance is kidnapped while on leave in Paris. She has knowledge of the location of a statue in the Amazon needed to find a buried treasure. Belmondo follows them to Rio and eventually rescues her. They go after the statue themselves, but she is kidnapped again and more chases by car, boat and plane ensue. Fast paced film is more Indiana Jones than James Bond, and very, very dated. 

The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

Academy Awards, USA 1946

Nominee Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Gregory Peck
	Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Arthur C. Miller
	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White James Basevi William S. Darling Thomas Little Frank E. Hughes
	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Alfred Newman

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by John M. Stahl
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

Gregory Peck plays a Catholic missionary in China struggling to build a church and convert the locals. He saves the son of a rich man who donates a large plot of land, and finally gets help building a church. The arrival of nuns doesn't help in his conversion efforts, and he clashes with the head nun. A local rebellion changes all of that when he is called into action. The church is destroyed and with no money he is recalled to England by his friend a Bishop. Familiar plot and politically incorrect treatment of the Chinese make this a tough sell to modern audiences, but Peck is pleasing as always. 

Hawaii (1966)

Academy Awards, USA 1967

Nominee Oscar	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Jocelyne LaGarde
	Best Cinematography, Color Russell Harlan
	Best Costume Design, Color Dorothy Jeakins
	Best Sound Gordon Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)
	Best Effects, Special Visual Effects Linwood G. Dunn
	Best Music, Original Song Elmer Bernstein (music) Mack David (lyrics) For the song "My Wishing Doll"
	Best Music, Original Music Score Elmer Bernstein

United Artists
Directed by George Roy Hill
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

Max von Sydow plays a Calvinist missionary sent to Hawaii to "save" the natives. He takes along new wife Julie Andrews. They are horrified by the lifestyles they find, and the natives are just as confused by their Christian beliefs. They befriend a local ruler who agrees to convert to Christianity if they teach her to read. However, she is reluctant to give up her husband, who also happens to be her brother. Meanwhile, Andrews must deal with whaler Richard Harris who shows up on the island with his sex starved crew. He also happens to be her ex-fiance! She becomes conflicted by her husband's hardline stance towards the locals. Sickness spreads among the natives and many die. Andrews wears herself out taking care of them and her own children, and she too dies, leaving Sydow alone to face the consequence. Long, exhausting film, often descending into melodrama, and embarrassingly politically incorrect by today's standards. Sydow, however, is excellent as always. 

Music of the Heart (1999)

Academy Awards, USA 2000

Nominee Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Meryl Streep
	Best Music, Original Song Diane Warren For the song "Music Of My Heart".

Miramax Films
Directed by Wes Craven
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Anchor Bay/Starz)

Recently divorced violinist Meryl Streep accepts a substitute teacher job at an inner city NYC school. Her rowdy students, all with various problems at home, reluctantly attend her classes. She gradually wins them over with her firm, but fair, teaching methods. When funding is pulled and her class is threatened to be cancelled, she organizes a fund raising event to save it. Emotionally manipulative and entirely contrived, but it somehow managed to win me over. Several real life famous violinists appear in the finale as themselves. 

Grand Canyon (1991)

Academy Awards, USA 1992

Nominee Oscar

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Lawrence Kasdan Meg Kasdan

Twentieth Century Fox
Directed by Lawrence Kasdan
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Anchor Bay/Starz)

Lawyer Kevin Kline breaks down in a bad LA neighborhood after a Lakers game. Luckily tow truck driver Danny Glover arrives just in time to save him from thugs with a gun who show up and harass him. Thankful to be alive, Kline tries to start up a friendship with Glover, and after an awkward start manage to develop one. Meanwhile, back at home Kline's wife Mary McDonnell finds an abandoned baby while jogging and decides to adopt it against Kline's better judgement. Steve Martin plays Kline's Hollywood producer friend whose own life-changing brush with death temporarily gives him a conscience. Somewhat of a 1990s precursor to the later, and better, Crash (2004), exploring similar themes of race and chance in LA. 

The Tempest (2010)

Academy Awards, USA 2011

Nominee Oscar

Best Achievement in Costume Design Sandy Powell

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Directed by Julie Taymor
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Touchstone)

Helen Mirren is an exiled sorceress living on a desolate island with her teenage daughter Felicity Jones. Mirren whips a storm to shipwreck the people who exiled her, including the king, with a plan to get her daughter in power. Russell Brand is a jester who overacts and fails to provide comic relief. Ben Whishaw plays a multi-gendered spirit who Mirren has at her command. Taymor changes the Shakespeare original to inject more modern sensibilities, particularly concerning gender, but to mixed results. The visuals are alternatingly striking and amateurish, with Ariel's supernatural depiction particularly poor. Still, it is hard to deny the talented Taymor's ability to conjur up vivid imagery, just be sure to turn on the subtitles, even if you speak English. 

My Gal Sal (1942)

Academy Awards, USA 1943

Winner Oscar	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color Richard Day Joseph C. Wright Thomas Little
Nominee Oscar	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Alfred Newman

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Irving Cummings
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

Period musical set in the 1890s with country boy Victor Mature's sappy songs leading to fame and fortune in New York City. He gets lots of help from singer Rita Hayworth, and their rocky romance is the other main plot contrivance. Fairly decent atmosphere as these things go, and of course it all looks splendid in Technicolor. 

Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

Academy Awards, USA 1948

Nominee Oscar

Best Actor in a Supporting Role Thomas Gomez

Universal Pictures
Directed by Robert Montgomery
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Criterion Collection)

Robert Montgomery directs himself as a gangster who travels to a small town in New Mexico to get revenge for the murder of his best friend. It's fiesta time, so he has trouble finding a room. He is approached by a local girl who becomes infatuated with him and helps him out the rest of the movie. Unable to find the gangster, he hangs out with his secretary/girlfriend hoping to find out his whereabouts. He gets in a fight at the local dive bar, but makes another friend in carousel operator Thomas Gomez. Meanwhile, an FBI agent is also after the gangster and tries to persuade him to stay within the law. Montgomery ignores him, and the gangster's girlfriend's suggestion for a shakedown for even more money. He finally sets up an exchange with the gangster, but it all goes wrong and he ends up stabbed and dying by the side of the road. His new friends help get him to safety. In the final confrontation with the gangster all of the various plot threads are resovled. Confusing, if atmospheric,  hybrid of noir, crime and western elements. Montgomery is quite good. 

Iron Man (2008)

Academy Awards, USA 2009

Nominee Oscar	Best Achievement in Sound Editing Frank E. Eulner Christopher Boyes
	Best Achievement in Visual Effects John Nelson Ben Snow Daniel Sudick Shane Mahan

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Jon Favreau
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Paramount)

Wealthy defense contractor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is kidnapped in Afghanistan while demonstrating his company's latest missiles. He escapes by secretly building a suit outfitted with weapons and able to fly. Back home, he declares his company will no longer produce weapons for war. He clashes with his manager Jeff Bridges, who hires Afghan rebels to assassinate him and build their own superhero suit. This leads to the inevitable Big Action Climax betwee Stark and Bridges in their respective suits. A romantic subplot involves Stark and his naive, pretty assistant Gwyneth Paltrow. Predictable, cliched and incredibly popular film that kicked off the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" which is still going strong today.

Howards End (1992)

Academy Awards, USA 1993

Winner Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Emma Thompson
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was not present at the awards ceremony. Co-presenters Anne Bancroft and Dustin... More Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was not present at the awards ceremony. Co-presenters Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman accepted the award on her behalf.
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Luciana Arrighi Ian Whittaker
Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Ismail Merchant
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Vanessa Redgrave
	Best Director James Ivory
	Best Cinematography Tony Pierce-Roberts
	Best Costume Design Jenny Beavan John Bright
	Best Music, Original Score Richard Robbins

Sony Pictures Classics
Directed by James Ivory
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Cohen Media Group)

A brief summer romance between a woman visiting a wealthy family and their son produces a hasty marriage proposal. It soon ends, but a friendship between the two matriarchs is rekindled when the wealthy family rents an apartment across the street in the city. The wealthier woman wills the summer estate to the other on her deathbed. Her husband refuses to recognise it, but falls in love with and eventually remarries the other woman. Meanwhile, a poor man and his wife with whom she and her daughter had taken up a friendship intrudes on their lives. Engrossing interplay between the various social classes of early 20th century Britain is strikingly photographed by Tony Pierce-Roberts. However, it occasionally devolves into melodrama, with Helena Bonham Carter's character particularly unlikeable and a distraction.

Hollow Man (2000)

Academy Awards, USA 2001

Nominee Oscar

Best Effects, Visual Effects Scott E. Anderson Craig Hayes Scott Stokdyk Stan Parks

Sony Pictures Releasing
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Sony)

Kevin Bacon is an arrogant scientist who runs a laboratory testing an invisibility serum on animals. He decides to inject himself but returning to visibility turns out to be problematic. His fellow scientists, including ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Shue, try to keep him confined to the lab, but he manages to escape. The first thing he does is rape a neighbor in a rather unpleasant scene. Back in the lab, he descends into madness, locking everyone inside and killing them in grisly ways. Eventually only he and Shue are left and their final epic battle in an elevator shaft is something only Hollywood could come up with. Disappointing trash from Verhoeven. 

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Academy Awards, USA 2008

Nominee Oscar

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Amy Ryan

Miramax
Directed by Ben Affleck
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Lionsgate)

Inexperienced private investigator Casey Affleck and his partner/girlfriend Michelle Monaghan are hired to find a kidnapped girl in Boston. His familiarity with the neighborhood and some of its seedy residents puts him ahead of the police, and clues soon lead to a Haitian drug dealer named "Cheese". The police arrange an exchange for the girl at a remote rock quarry, but it goes wrong and the girl is assumed to have been killed. A few months later, another boy goes missing and Affleck leads the police to the house where he is being held. Affleck ends up killing the abductor in cold blood. The police offer solace instead of arresting him, but their story doesn't quite add up. Affleck suspects they may have been involved in the original kidnapping of the girl and sets in motion a plan to find her. Engrossing story populated by sleazy characters and set in some very depressing urban locales in and around Boston. Auspicious directorial debut by Ben Affleck, who also scripted. 

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Academy Awards, USA 1941

Winner Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role James Stewart
	Best Writing, Screenplay Donald Ogden Stewart
Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Joseph L. Mankiewicz
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Katharine Hepburn
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Ruth Hussey
	Best Director George Cukor

MGM
Directed by George Cukor
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Criterion Collection)

Jimmy Stewart and Ruth Hussey go undercover for a gossip magazine at the upcoming wedding of socialite Katharine Hepburn. Things get complicated when her ex-husband Cary Grant shows up hoping to spoil the wedding. Despite his initial misgivings, Stewart begins to fall in love with Hepburn. They get drunk the night before the wedding and the next morning Hepburn cannot remember what, if anything, happened between them. Torn between Stewart, Grant and her fiance, she finally sorts it all out just in time. Adapted from the play by Philip Barry which also starred Hepburn, it never really escapes its stage origins. Stewart looks uncomfortable in his role, and Hepburn's character is not particularly likeable. In the end, doesn't really live up to its reputation as one of the greatest romantic comedies from classic Hollywood. 

U-571 (2000)

Academy Awards, USA 2001

Winner Oscar	Best Sound Editing Jon Johnson
Nominee Oscar	Best Sound Steve Maslow Gregg Landaker Rick Kline Ivan Sharrock

Universal Pictures

Directed by Jonathan Mostow

My rating: 3 stars out of 4

IMDb Wikipedia

(Blu-ray, Universal)

Americans take advantage of a disabled German submarine by disguising their own submarine as a German resupply vessel. While a small party is storming it, their own is destroyed, leaving them stranded with the captured German crew on the disabled sub. They are approached by a German destroyer but manage to destroy its radio before their identity is revealed. The ensuing stand off between the sub and destroyer makes up the bulk of the running time, and it is quite intense at times. Forget historical accuracy and immerse yourself in this exceptionally enteraining film. Matthew McConaughey is surprisingly good as the young officer who takes command of the sub. I almost forgot it was Jon Bon Jovi as his lieutenant!

You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

Academy Awards, USA 1943

Nominee Oscar	Best Sound, Recording John P. Livadary (Columbia SSD)
	Best Music, Original Song Jerome Kern (music) Johnny Mercer (lyrics) For the song "Dearly Beloved".
	Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Leigh Harline

Columbia Pictures
Directed by William A. Seiter
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Columbia TriStar)

Fred Astaire is a down and out gambler in Buenos Aires looking for a job as a dancer. He gets help from old pal Xavier Cugat who sets him up with the owner of the nightclub where his band is playing. Astaire is initially brushed up by the owner's cold daughter Rita Hayworth. Her father, intent on getting her married, sends her anonymous love letters, which she mistakenly believes were written by Astaire. Their romance blossoms until the truth comes out. The lovestruck Astaire finds a way to win her back. The usual impressive dancing notwithstanding, it collapses under the weight of the contrived romance. Hayworth seems to be in a daze. 

You Can Count on Me (2000)

Academy Awards, USA 2001

Nominee Oscar	Best Actress in a Leading Role Laura Linney
	Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Kenneth Lonergan

Paramount Classics
Directed by Kenneth Lonergan
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Paramount)

Single mother Laura Linney welcomes home her estranged brother Mark Ruffalo after being away for some time. The world-weary Ruffalo slowly bonds with her young, fatherless son. Meanwhile, her romantic relationships, both with a marriage-proposing boyfriend, and a new one with her boss at work, become more complicated. Quiet, character-driven story that draws you into the lives of people you really care about. Linney and Ruffalo are excellent, and even the director gives a good turn as Linney's pastor.

The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)

Academy Awards, USA 1940

Nominee Oscar

Best Music, Original Score Lud Gluskin Lucien Moraweck

United Artists
Directed by James Whale
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Hen's Tooth Video)

The king of France has twin sons, and fearing a future civil war sends one of them away to live anonymously with his friend d'Artagnan. Years later the other twin has become an unpopular ruler, despised for his taxes and random executions. His trusted adviser is aware of the other twin and uses the information for his own benefit. When the twin's identity is finally revealed his shackled, fitted with an iron mask and imprisoned. He is rescued by d'Artagnan and the other musketeers, who also capture the king and imprison him instead, also wearing the mask. It takes a while to get going, and is not nearly as good as Whales' other films, but still entertaining.

Topper Returns (1941)

Academy Awards, USA 1942

Nominee Oscar	Best Sound, Recording Elmer Raguse (Hal Roach SSD)
	Best Effects, Special Effects Roy Seawright (photographic) Elmer Raguse (sound)

United Artists
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, VCI Entertainment)

In a change of pace, the third film of the series is a mystery that emphasizes atmosphere over comedy. Roland Young is paired with Joan Blondell, recently murdered and seeking his help to find her killer. As usual, his wife Billie Burke suspects him of playing around with the younger girls. It's actually the best of the series, though still not particularly original. 

Heart Like a Wheel (1983)

Academy Awards, USA 1984

Nominee Oscar

Best Costume Design William Ware Theiss

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Anchor Bay)

Biopic of the first female professional drag racing driver Shirley Muldowney. She overcomes the sexist attitudes of both the 1950s and especially the male dominated racing culture to become a respected champion. The drag racing scenes are good, but tends to get bogged down in her romantic relationships with her husband and fellow driver Beau Bridges. 

A Man Called Peter (1955)

Academy Awards, USA 1956

Nominee Oscar

Best Cinematography, Color Harold Lipstein

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Henry Koster
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Twilight Time)

Richard Todd leaves his home in Scotland for America to become a pastor. After putting himself through divinity school he is assigned to a rural congregation in Georgia. His sermons eventually draw large crowds, including enamored coed Jean Peters. After getting married, he is reassigned to run-down church in Washington, DC. Once again his sermons attract crowds, including a quietly influential senator. Tragedy strikes when his wife is bedridden with tuberculosis and Todd himself is stricken with a heart attack. Potentially interesting bio of real life preacher Peter Marshall is dragged down by the predictable melodrama.

Topper Takes a Trip (1938)

Academy Awards, USA 1940

Nominee Oscar

Best Effects, Special Effects Roy Seawright (photographic)

United Artists
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, VCI Entertainment)

The follow-up to Topper, minus Cary Grant, is more of the same. Ghost Constance Bennett tries to save the marriage of perennially confused Cosmo Topper, Roland Young and his batty wife Billie Burke. The whole entourage travels to the French Riviera where they originally honeymooned. Young gets the most laughs, with his physical comedy on display under the invisible influence of Bennett. The special effects are primitive at best and fail to convince.