For those of you who haven't seen THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS, I recommend it highly. The print TCM showed in June was absolutely gorgeous. After you've watched it, go back and take a second look at the early scene in the taxicab, as the changing lights and shadows counterpoint the dialogue. Beautiful lo...

This is a great exercise for making us think about the classic era. I've deliberately limited the list to English-language films. To me the modern era begins in 1967, though a films in the older style were made for the next few years. THE GODFATHER belongs to the newer era, so by removing it from th...

I expected ALL FALL DOWN to be reasonably good, with a talented cast directed by John Frankenheimer, but it was far more than that. For the film to succeed, two roles had to be perfectly cast. Everyone in the story is overwhelmed by the beauty and charisma of the older son. Because he's played by th...

MissGoddess, did you notice that your list of Bogart's top 10 performances doesn't include his performances for Hawks in THE BIG SLEEP and TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT? I agree. As much as I like both films, I think other directors pushed Bogart more and got deeper emotions out of him. Nicholas Ray certainl...

MissGoddess, I love your description of the special quality Jennifer Jones has. This sounds like it should be a drawback, but it usually isn't.

The misogyny of THE CONVERSATION comes not from the Hackman character's treatment of women, but from the director's treatment of women in the film, which is completely consistent with Coppola's treatment of women in APOCALYPSE NOW. There's nothing good or appealing about the women in either film. I'...

Thanks, Moira. I'd never thought about how some stars look better in black & white, some in color. Someone on the TCM boards pointed out how wonderful Deborah Kerr's red hair looked in THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP. About THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET: If you're essentially filming a play...

Does anyone else share my dislike for THE CONVERSATION, shown today as part of the TCM salute to Gene Hackman? Hackman delivers his usual good performance, and indeed all the acting is fine. However, the script rips off Antonioni's BLOW-UP, and THE CONVERSATION is remarkably misogynistic. At best th...

Moira, thanks for starting this discussion of the intriguing Jennifer Jones. As people have always noted, she can be mannered. She lacks the secure technical base of a Meryl Streep. For instance, in THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT she has a not very well-executed scene where she refuses to look at ...