Strangers When We Meet (5 stars)

In less than a month, I have another addition to my 5-star film discoveries of the year, and shock of shocks, it is another Kirk Douglas film.  (Detective Story, reviewed HERE, just landed on that list about three weeks ago.)  The latest 5-star film discovery is Strangers When We Meet, a 1960 romantic drama starring Mr. Douglas, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs, Barbara Rush, and Walter Matthau.  Featuring a beautiful George Duning score, this very passionate film was one Net Flix recommended because of my interest in similar films. Wow, I am so glad for that recommendation, because I had never heard of this film prior to then.

While delivering his son to the bus stop one morning, architect Larry Coe (Kirk Douglas) takes notice of Margaret Gault (Kim Novak), a newcomer to the neighborhood, also dropping her son at the bus stop.  After running into her again at the local market, Larry is definitely attracted to the beautiful woman, and he sets out to make her acquaintance by inviting her to accompany him to a a fancy new home he is building.  At first reluctant, Margaret (who Larry has decided to call Maggie) eventually agrees, and the two form a friendship, as she helps him take measurements at the property.

On the homefront, Maggie and her mother have an icy relationship, the result of her mother's infidelity during her marriage to Maggie's father.  Though her mother says that what happened to her could happen to anyone and that she hopes Maggie will really fall in love someday, Maggie insists that she is in love with her husband.  Husband Ken (John Bryant), however, has no romantic interest in his wife.  Even when Maggie goes to him seductively, Ken is more interested in washing and changing than in being intimate with his wife.

Feeling unloved and undesirable, Maggie ultimately ends up seeing Larry again.  Telling Ken she's going out with friends, she meets Larry at an out-of-the-way restaurant, where he soon tells her that he wants to make love to her.  Guilty and frightened, Maggie attempts to stop things before they start, but because she wants Larry as much as he wants her, she surrenders to him, and they embark on a passionate affair, eventually falling deeply in love with one another.

Although the lovers meet at the house Larry is building, it turns out that their relationship has begun to be suspected.  Not only does a mutual friend have suspicions, but Larry's wife is about to get wise too.  How it all plays out is the balance of the film.



This is a very interesting, passionate, well-acted film.  Kirk Douglas is completely super in this role.  I know very little of him, having seen (I think) only one of his films (Detective Story, in which I thought he was sensational), but I have to admit that I am very impressed with his acting abilities. Kim Novak does a terrific job as well.  Her performance here is even better than her performance in Middle of the Night (reviewed HERE).  I could so feel her longing to be faithful to her marriage vows, yet wanting so much to be loved and desired.  She was a wife in torment, and she played the part beautifully.  The icing on the cake was the incredibly gorgeous musical score.

Out on DVD, Strangers When We Meet should be fairly easy to track down.  Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, or romantic drama fans ought to love this.

Happy viewing!

Happy Birthday, Eleanor Parker!!

Happy 90th birthday to the talented and beautiful Miss Eleanor Parker.  (June 26, 1922)  Miss Parker is one of the few stars from the "golden era" who is still alive, so I most definitely want to celebrate her.

This lovely, gentle-voiced lady resides near the very top of my favorite actress list---at #4!  I completely love her and am definitely on a quest to see as much of her filmography as I can.  She was a terrific actress, receiving a Best Actress Academy Award nomination three times.  (I go on record as saying that I think she ought to have won in 1950, for her performance in Caged. Though I adore Judy Holliday [who did win], Bette Davis [who was also nominated], and Sunset Boulevard [for which Gloria Swanson was nominated], I definitely feel that Miss Parker's performance was the most brilliant of them all and ought to have garnered her the Oscar.)

It was my search for Robert Taylor films which brought Eleanor to my attention.  The two of them made three movies together (Above and Beyond, Valley of the Kings, and Many Rivers to Cross), and when I watched Above and Beyond for the first time, I was surprised to see a name I recognized from The Sound of Music.  I had no idea that the Eleanor Parker of Sound of Music had been part of Hollywood's "golden era" or even that she had made other films.  (Of course, since I wasn't a classic movie enthusiast through decades of my Sound of Music years, my ignorance of Miss Parker is understandable.)  At any rate, I loved her in Above and Beyond, so in addition to tracking down the other two films she had made with the handsome Mr. Taylor, I sought out several of her other works---and the more I saw of her, the more impressed I became.  She very quickly rose to near the very top of my favorite actress list.

My absolute favorite of Eleanor Parker's films is The Sound of Music, in which she had the role of the woman I disliked---that competitor for Georg's affections, the Baroness Schrader.  This wonderful movie, which has been a part of my life since I was a mere child, is very beloved to me and remains firmly on my "25 favorite movies of all-time list."

Rounding out my list of five favorite Eleanor Parker films are:

2.  Caged  (with Agnes Moorehead)

3.  The Man with the Golden Arm  (with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak---reviewed HERE)

4.  Detective Story  (a very recent discovery, with Kirk Douglas---reviewed HERE)

5.  Pride of the Marines  (with John Garfield---reviewed HERE)

So, Miss Eleanor Parker, happy 90th birthday to you!!  I hope your birthday finds you in good health and surrounded by family and friends.  You will always be one of my very favorite actresses.  Thank you for bringing so much enjoyment to my life through so many wonderful movies!!

The Gun Runners (4 stars)

The third film adaption of Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not is 1958's The Gun Runners, starring Audie Murphy and Eddie Albert, with Patricia Owens and Gita Hall taking on supporting roles.  This film, which I watched in honor of Mr. Murphy's June 20th birthday, is my second favorite adaption of the Hemingway story.  As discussed HERE, John Garfield's The Breaking Point is my absolute favorite version (and the most faithful to Mr. Hemingway's work).  The Gun Runners, though, is easily my second favorite (and very close to being a "love it," 5-star film), leaving the Bogey/Bacall adaption as the one I like the least (and a 2-star film for me).

Living in Key West, where he runs a charter fishing service with his boat The Lucy M, is former Navy man, Sam Martin (Audie Murphy), a good guy who doesn't have it in him to do wrong.  Though finances are a constant struggle, he and his wife Lucy (Patricia Owens) are happy and very much in love.

After failing to be paid close to $1,000 for a job, Sam hits a local casino, where his financial burden comes to the awareness of craps player Hannigan (Eddie Albert), who hires Sam to take him fishing.  Accompanying Hannigan on the excursion is Eva (Gita Hall), and though she puts a bit of a move on him, Sam has no intention of cheating on his wife.  (The lines he uses to decline her advances are the exact same ones John Garfield uses to turn down Patricia Neal in The Breaking Point.)

Using the fishing excursion only as a ploy, Hannigan's real destination is Havana, where he has arranged a meeting with a band of Cuban revolutionaries.  After an eventful night--in which Hannigan shoots a man---Sam returns to Key West, completely determined to avoid any future contact with his lawbreaking passenger.

However, when the mortgage on The Lucy M is bought by Hannigan, Sam has no choice but to do the man's bidding.  Behind on his payments, Sam finds his boat in foreclosure, and the only way he will be able to get her back is to deliver Hannigan---and the guns he is supplying the revolutionaries---to Cuba...something he absolutely does not want to do.

Will this man, who doesn't have it in him to go bad, go bad after all?  How it all plays out is the balance of the film.



As stated in my review for The Breaking Point, I don't care for the Bogey/Bacall version of To Have and Have Not at all, so for that reason, I very nearly didn't even give the other two adaptions a try.  Wow, would I have been missing out!  The Breaking Point usurped Dust Be My Destiny's status as my favorite John Garfield film, and The Gun Runners has become my favorite Audie Murphy film.  I completely adore Audie in this film.  Besides loving his character, I am in love with his look.  In his early 30's here, his face has matured from his earlier Westerns, and he is looking incredibly handsome here.  The storyline is interesting and exciting, and the playful, romantic interaction between Murphy and his wife is very sweet.  (The same playful interaction occurred between John Garfield and wife Phyllis Thaxter in The Breaking Point, and I quite enjoyed it there as well.)

The Gun Runners is out on DVD, plus it is available in its entirety on YouTube and through instant viewing on Net Flix .  If you are a fan of Audie Murphy, you will definitely want to see this.  Also, if you've read the Hemingway novel, you might want to catch this and see how it compares.

Happy viewing!!


NOTE:  Repeated viewings of this film have taken it from 4-star to 5-star status for me, and I have updated and expanded this review on June 12, 2013 (HERE).

Happy Birthday, Judy Holliday!!

Happy 91st birthday to one of my top 10 favorite actresses---the lovely and talented Judy Holliday (June 21, 1921-June 7, 1965).

Born Judith Ann Tuvim, this delightful lady first found success on the stage.  Her first major role was in Born Yesterday, a role which she would reprise in film in 1950 and which would garner her a Best Actress Academy Award.  In addition to an Academy Award, Miss Holliday also won a Tony Award for her work in Bells Are Ringing.

My first experience with Judy was in Born Yesterday---a film which I obtained solely because of my love for William Holden.  I had never even heard of Judy before that.  To my surprise, I not only enjoyed her...I loved her.  What's more, her character in Born Yesterday---Billie Dawn---became one of my three all-time favorite female film characters.  Judy's portrayal of Billie (which The Academy deemed Oscar worthy) was completely delightful.  (Actually, "delightful" is THE adjective which comes to mind when describing the lovely Judy.)

Sadly, Miss Holliday succumbed to cancer at a very young age...just two weeks before her 44th birthday.  She left behind a son...and a handful of wonderful films.

My all-time favorite Judy Holliday film is that first one I ever watched---Born Yesterday (reviewed HERE).  I can't get enough of Billie Dawn and her amazing transformation from a dumb blonde, ex-chorus girl to an intelligent, "don't try to pull the wool over my eyes" woman of culture.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that William Holden was there to assist Billie in her transformation.  In addition to William Holden, Broderick Crawford also stars in this film.

Rounding out my list of five favorite Judy Holliday films are:

2.  Bells Are Ringing  (with Dean Martin---reviewed HERE)

3.  It Should Happen to You  (with Jack Lemmon and Peter Lawford)

4.  Full of Life (with Richard Conte)

5.  The Solid Gold Cadillac (with Paul Douglas)

So, Miss Judy Holliday, I am remembering you on your 91st birthday.  I'm sad that you departed this world at such a young age, but I love that you left us with your completely delightful presence through your wonderful films.

(For more information about Judy, visit the Judy Holliday Resource Center HERE.)

Happy Birthday, Audie Murphy!!

Happy 87th birthday to Mr. Audie Murphy---a man worthy of honor, respect, and thanks.   (June 20, 1925*-May 28, 1971)

While Mr. Murphy is not one of my absolute favorite actors, as a man and as an American, Audie IS one of my favorites; therefore, it is important to me to remember and honor him on his birthday.

A few years ago, when my son was in high school and doing an in-depth study of World War II, he discovered Audie Murphy...the man who received over two dozen military medals, including the Congressional Medal of Honor, making him the most decorated soldier of the second world war.  Intrigued and wanting to learn more about the young man, my son read Murphy's war memoirs, To Hell and Back.  Not long afterwards, we discovered the 1955 movie of the same name, starring  none other than Audie himself.

Even those who are not fans of Murphy's Westerns ought to see To Hell and Back. Whether you think he was a good actor or not, there's no denying the fact that he was one very courageous young man, who willingly and wholeheartedly served his country. To my shame, I must admit that I never heard the name Audie Murphy until well into adulthood. When I was going to school, they didn't talk much about these kinds of heroic men...so I never heard of this very brave, highly decorated soldier until my son brought him to my attention a few years ago.  That is sad and shameful...and it definitely ought not to be.  In a day and age when we need men of courage and honor as role models, Audie Murphy ought to be a name mentioned in every American history classroom!

Despite the fact that Westerns are not among my favorite genre, I do like Murphy as an actor.  No, he's not an absolute fave, but he definitely makes my top-20 list.  I've watched several of Audie's films, and I really like him in every single one.  There is a kind of softspokenness and gentlemanliness about him, even when he's playing a scoundrel.

It was a plane crash which took Mr. Murphy's life.  While on a business trip, on May 28, 1971, the private plane in which Murphy was traveling crashed into a mountain in Virginia. Interestingly, that happened to be Memorial Day Weekend.   His final resting place, quite fittingly, is in Arlington National Cemetery.  See his gravestone HERE.

So, Mr. Audie Murphy, I am remembering you on your 87th birthday. (HERE is my longer, more in-depth 88th birthday tribute) Thank you for all the entertaining films you made, but more importantly, thank you for your courageous service to our country and to the cause of freedom!  We are forever in debt to men like you!  (Though Mr. Murphy's bravery on the battlefield earned him numerous medals and brought him home as a hero and the most highly-decorated soldier of the war, the horrors he had witnessed in combat had scarred him for life; he would battle the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for the remainder of his too-short life. You can read my post about his battle with PTSD HERE.)

* Both IMDB and the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Website (HERE), list 1925 as Audie's year of birth; other sites (and even his gravestone) list it as 1924.  The discrepancy is due to the fact that Mr. Murphy filed a falsified birth certificate at the Hunt County, Texas Courthouse, in order to join the military before he was of legal age.