Class of '54: Woman's World

We are looking at some favourites from one of my favourite years: 1954 - when I was 8 and discovered movies (starting with JOHNNY GUITAR and A STAR IS BORN), as per the 1954 label here.

Today its back to Jean Negulesco's comedy-drama WOMAN''S WORLD which finally is available in a good print, so I can chuck my ropey copy.  We have covered this here before, but its one movie that bears repeated views. As I said back in 2011: 

For me this 1954 Fox movie is the '50s in aspic. Its a fabulously entertaining variation on the '3 girls sharing an apartment and looking for love' genre that Fox and director Jean Negulesco did so well (HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, 3 COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, THE PLEASURE SEEKERS) - here the 3 girls are married and visiting New York - cue great views of '50s Manhattan - as Clifton Webb, the head of a motor company, has to choose a new general manager so the top 3 candidates and their wives are being vetted too to see if they are suitable material for company events.

The 3 couples are out-of-towners Cornel Wilde and ditzy (or is she?) June Allyson, sophisticates on the point of divorcing Lauren Bacall and Fred McMurray, and ambitious Van Heflin and Arlene Dahl who will go to any lengths to get her man the position. The gals get to wear to some marvellous frocks, Allyson and Bacall play their usual personas so the unknown quantity here is Dahl who steals the film - particuarly when she enters poured into that green clinging sheath with a divine little fur-trimmed bolero which she knowingly removes as she puts the make on Clifton and lets him see how grateful she will be if Van is the man. June spills coffee on her cocktail dress so she can get to be alone with Clifton's all-wise sister Margalo Gilmore (who is advising him), while Bacall gets the measure of Dahl: "have a cookie, cookie"! Those early Fifties automobiles look good too as Clifton gets the measure of his three candidates at the factory .... 

Finally, once the manager is announced (right man, wrong wife - but that is soon rectified) they can all eat dinner! Clifton is in his element here and even seems to be (can it be possible in '54) a coded gay as he is not married and seems devoted to his general managers. Whatever, its an absolute treat to see anytime, a nice contrast to that other '54 star-studded executive drama EXECUTIVE SUITE. Arlene Dahl is the only cast member still here in her late 80s. 

Its one of a dozen or so '50s movies I simply adore - not classics like EAST OF EDEN, SUNSET BOULEVARD, ALL ABOUT EVE or A STAR IS BORN (though of course I love them too), but simple splashy, star-studded entertainments where fabulous gals wear fabulous clothes and live the high life, or the most delirious costume epics [more on them at Glamour label]. 
As well as WOMAN'S WORLD, bring on THE OPPOSITE SEX, DESIGNING WOMAN, LES GIRLS, THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE, HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, JUPITER'S DARLING, ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, QUENTIN DURWARD, MOONFLEET, THE PRODIGAL, THE EGYPTIAN ... i enjoyed all those as a kid, and still do now.

Next 1954 revival: THE SILVER CHALICE.

Rhapsodising about 1954, again

RHAPSODY, 1954. The opening titles tell us it’s the South of France. Wealthy Louis Calhern is arranging namecards for his lunch party, but then his daughter Louise (Elizabeth Taylor) enters and instead of being his hostess she is off to Zurich, driving in her open sports car, with her cases of all those Helen Rose outfits, a different one for each scene. Louise we soon see is a spoiled rich girl, used to getting her way and indulged by her indulgent father ….  She has her eyes of fiery Paul Bronte, master of the violin, but only if he studies hard enough to please teacher Michael Chekhov. Louise settles in to Celia Lovsky’s charming apartment and starts to get bored as Paul (Vittorio Gassman in one of his first American films) puts his music first and her second. She is left on the sidelines in her furs, white gloves and diamonds at the café as the other students, including predatory Barbara Bates, crowd around him. But diversion is at hand, as she gets to know the upstairs tenant, John Ericson, who becomes hopelessly devoted to her, putting his music at risk. 
He at least plays the piano – cue endless close-ups of them playing as Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff swamp the soundtrack, and of course there is the obligatory montage of capital cities and concert posters as Bronte tours and becomes famous, while Louise marries John, who is now drinking heavily. Bronte comes back into her life as she decides to leave her husband while trying to convince him he can become a great player without her. 
We finally leave her (this thing seems to go on for hours) at the concert hall as Ericson can indeed play without her, as Bronte arrives to collect her. Which man does she choose?  This is a prime farrago, which I remember seeing as a kid, one of four Taylor did in 1954, overall I much prefer THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS but Liz is certainly at her early zenith as the camera lovingly lingers on her rapt expressions as her men play, and play and play …. High Class Trash, it has that MGM lush quality, directed by Charles Vidor (an old hand at this kind of thing – he began, but died, during the 1960 SONG WITHOUT END). 

There's no business like show-biz as Marlon's Napoleon 
drops in on Marilyn

1954 - my first year at the movies, aged 8. What a year that was, as I have mentioned before here - see label, 1954-1, JOHNNY GUITAR and A STAR IS BORN were the first films I saw, taken to by my parents, in small-town Ireland .... it was that great year for routine westerns, costumers and mini-epics, and several musicals. The big hitters of the year were of course ON THE WATERFRONT, Ava as THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA, Audrey as SABRINA, Grace as THE COUNTRY GIRL, REAR WINDOW, DIAL M FOR MURDER, while other popular hits included CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, THEM!, EXECUTIVE SUITE, WOMAN’S WORLD, THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN, CAINE MUTINY, THE GLENN MILLER STORY as James Stewart and June Allyson continued to be so very popular. Meanwhile, Kazan was shooting EAST OF EDEN .... the first of James Dean's three major releases for 1955 and 1956. 

The big foreign movies were THE SEVEN SAMURAI and LA STRADA, and Visconti's SENSO, and I just recently discovered Mizogushi's LATE CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

I was soon lapping up other westerns (often with my father) like: THE COMMAND, DRUM BEAT, SITTING BULL, CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA, RIVER OF NO RETURN, BROKEN LANCE.

while other musicals we loved were: THE STUDENT PRINCE, CARMEN JONES, 7 BRIDES FOR 7 BROTHERS (well, I never liked that one much), THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (where Marilyn was at her most peaches and cream, the blonde to Elizabeth Taylor's exotic darkness), WHITE CHRISTMAS, BRIGADOON, YOUNG AT HEART, ROSE MARIE.

The epics and peplums included THE EGYPTIAN and DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS (see below), THE SILVER CHALICE (Paul Newman's odd debut with young Natalie Wood, right, as a blonde who grows up to be Virginia Mayo, and Jack Palance mesmerising as Simon the Magician who thinks he can fly..below.),  
KING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS, SIGN OF THE PAGAN,  BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH, PRINCE VALIANT - cardboard castle time indeed, while Italy gave us ULYSSES, ATILLA and TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA, these two with that young Sophia Loren. I simply loved her WOMAN OF THE RIVER, but did not catch up with the delightful TOO BAD SHE'S BAD, her first with Marcello, until much later. De Sica's GOLD OF NAPLES with her and Silvana Mangano was a popular choice too, and still marvellous now. 

Other programmers we liked were Charlton Heston in THE NAKED JUNGLE (terrific with Eleanor Parker) and SECRET OF THE INCAS, plus TAZA SON OF COCHISE, VALLEY OF THE KINGS, and Rock's CAPTAIN LIGHTFOOT. 

Grace Kelly was very busy that year, not only those Hitchcock's but the dull COUNTRY GIRL and the programmer GREEN FIRE where she looked very tailored down on her South American plantation. La Taylor fitted in not only RHAPSODY and LAST TIME I SAW PARIS but also BEAU BRUMMELL and replaced Vivien Leigh in ELEPHANT WALK - once GIANT made her a superstar next year in 1955 she slowed down to barely one a year... her husband Michael Wilding was also toiling in Hollywood then, to less effect in TORCH SONG, THE GLASS SLIPPER, THE EGYPTIAN, THE SCARLET COAT .....  Shelley Winters was very busy, with 6 titles that year, while Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr, Susan Hayward etc were all churning them out. Brando had not only ON THE WATERFRONT but as Napoleon in the Fox costumer DESIREE, James Mason was not only Norman Maine in A STAR IS BORN but also the bad guy in PRINCE VALIANT and Nemo in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA.

The English studios were busy too:  with the hilarious BELLES OF ST TRINIANS and DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE (Dirk and Kay! - right with Kenneth More), dramas like THE WEAK AND THE WICKED, HELL BELOW ZERO, THE GOOD DIE YOUNG, and Glynis Johns and Dora Bryan as mermaids in the delicious MAD ABOUT MEN.

1954 discoveries of mine in recent years include MAMBO - a lurid melodrama where marrieds Shelley Winters and Vittorio Gassman are both keen on Silvana Mangano who dances up a storm; Rene Clement's KNAVE OF HEARTS (or MR RIPOIS) with Gerard Philipe on the loose in London, wooing lovely young Joan Greenwood among others - right; and Linda Darnell is the marvellous romantic melodrama THIS IS MY LOVE (see Linda label). 1954 we love you. Next major years: 1959/1960, 1962.

'60s trash classic: The Pleasure Seekers

No, not THE PLEASURE GIRLS - thats a 1965 British  drama of (3 or is it 4?) dippy girls sharing an apartment in Kensington, London and dipping their toes into the Swinging City, along with the gay guy downstairs - see 1965 label for more on that! This is THE PLEASURE SEEKERS: Three American lovelies room together in Madrid and all manage to get themselves into seemingly unhappy relationships with fellows, and is basically a re-boot of THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN by the same same director - Jean Negulesco - of his 1954 classic set in Rome. Now its Madrid and slightly more risque (well, as you could be for 1964 - though it was 1965 when it played in London, the last time I saw it, when 19, so its a pleasant memory - its now another great Spanish dvd with a good Scope transfer and bright, vivid colours that jump out at you).

TAKE THREE GIRLS - that was the later BBC series circa late 60s, early 70s about another 3 girls  - and show their amorous adventures in a glamorous city. It was the 20th Century Fox formula from as far back as LADIES IN LOVE in 1936 (Loretta Young label), and popular in the fifties with those girls in Rome, those women in WOMAN'S WORLD, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, and of course HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE - all by Negulesco. Universal gave us FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN in 1957, another delirious treat now. Then there was Mark Robson's over-the-top VALLEY OF THE DOLLS! (Trash label). MGM tried the formula too with their 3 air hostesses in COME FLY WITH ME in 1963 (which had the odd sight of Sister Dolores Hart teaming up with PEEPING TOM Carl Boehm!). One of those girls was delightful Pamela Tiffin - whom we enjoyed ever since Billy Wilder's ONE TWO THREE, and here she is again in Madrid, along with sensible Carol Lynley and stupendous Ann-Margret. Its a travelogue of Madrid too then as we whiz around art galleries and check out some art, like those Velasquez and El Greco items at the Prado. Other pleasures are those outfits: Carol's pink suit with the red pvc handbag, or Ann in that yellow skirt, shoes and bag combo ...

Negulesco throws in an old timer or two as well - Gene Tierney, that 40s beauty (LAURA, LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN etc) and reliable Brian Keith. The three American honeys prowl for lovers in Madrid, getting entangled with Tony Franciosa (a bit too mature for this nonsense after his 50s roles) and hunky Gardner McKay,   Like THE BEST OF EVERYTHING the girls have to learn some lessons, but what with all the glamour and hunkiness on show here this is certainly a gay interest title as well as a Trash Classic, up there with those Lana and Susan epics. Ditzy Pamela Tiffin has a cult following too, as does Carol Lynley (once the poor man's Sandra Dee). The early '60s vibe is deliciously caught too, with all that bossa nova, tinkly lounge music, all-girl apartments, as Ann-Margret in her prime stirs up a storm, singing and flamenco dancing, particularly in that slinky pink dress with that mane of hair - up there with her THE SWINGER and KITTEN WITH A WHIP! More on Ann at label ... and those Negulesco classics too at Negulesco label!  Its a shock to realise this Guilty Pleasure is 50 years old!

Be sure to click on to '3/4 girls' label to bring up kitsch classics like FOUR GIRLS IN TOWN, THE PLEASURE GIRLS, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, WOMAN'S WORLD, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING etc.

More '60s: Sophia and Max, and Greg and Joan, again

An interesting photo I got sent today .... Sophia Loren and Maximilian Schell in 1961 - it looks like it was taken at Sardi's restaurant, with those sketches on the wall. Both had won best actor and best actress Oscars that year, when Hollywood was celebrating international cinema. Previously Anna Magnani had won in 1955 and Simone Signoret in 1959, but by the early '60s the international movie was certainly on the rise. Canny producer Carlo Ponti soon had both stars in his next De Sica film, the little-seen now and rather ponderous 1962 drama THE CONDEMNED OF ALTONA, its certainly a fascinating re-view now though, as per Schell, Loren labels. 

The following year Max and Sophia were in Hollywood (she had not attended the 1961 ceremony as she was sure she would not win) to present to the next winners, so Sophia presented Gregory Peck with his, and Maximilian presented the Best Actress, but not to winner Anne Bancroft, but to Joan Crawford who had graciously accepted for her. This meant that Joan looking glamorous was photographed with the winners holding an oscar too - 
while nominated Bette Davis who had lost, was left fuming backstage. Joan looks great here and Max looks like her hot date for the night ... we like this photo, which we have posted here before. Peck returned the favour, presenting Sophia with her second, the lifetime achievement one, in 1993 - as per Peck label.

Here's another new one: Sophia with director and artist Jean Negulesco at an exhibition of his drawings in Greece in 1956 - they had just finished BOY ON A DOLPHIN where the director had done several sketches of her - as per Negulesco label.

'50s glamour ..... a summer re-visit

Greg is going to get some ravioli!

Kay Kendall again leads the pack on those '50s glamour gals - in LES GIRLS and THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE, plus Greg Peck & Dolores Gray in the hilarious restaruant scene in DESIGNING WOMAN - more Minnelli glamour - and those delirious ladies in THE OPPOSITE SEX, that MGM 1956 remake of 1939's THE WOMEN with added glamour, colour and music; 
plus Arlene Dahl vamping Clifton Webb in Negulesco's WOMAN'S WORLD and Joan terrorising the typing pool in THE BEST OF EVERYTHING. More on these and their stars at labels .... Of course glamour was also being supplied by the likes of Audrey and Grace, Elizabeth and Marilyn, Kim and Janet, Lee, Sophia, Brigitte, Ava and Susan, Jean and Deborah and others .... Jean Negulesco (see label) did his bit in promoting '50s glamour with all those movies like HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, WOMAN'S WORLD and others ...

Hollywood blonde - Lana and Madame X

Let's have a Lana Turner day: I have just, finally, watched MADAME X - and she is terrific in it. You too will be sobbing by the end as we are manipulated by Ross Hunter. Lana really emotes here. 

I remember Pauline Kael being hilariously mean about it in one of her books, referring to it as a cast of waxworks, particularly 1930's star Constance Bennett (BED OF ROSES, LADIES IN LOVE - 30s label) as John Forsyth's mother. Constance (15 years older than Lana) had a facelift for the role and died before it was released! 

I also liked Lana in THE RAINS OF RACHIPUR, 1955, another seen for the first time this week where she is ideal as the faithless wife finding romance with Richard Burton as an Indian, in a nice selection of turbans and a good tan.
Old hand Jean Negulesco orchestrates this nicely (rather too much of the Fred McMurray subplot though) as the earthquake and rains arrive in the midst of Lana/Edwina's realisation that she is finally in love with the noble Indian doctor - but he has been meant for higher things by the Maharani; Lana/Edwina gets a good pay-off final scene with the Maharani before leaving to resume her playgirl life, but somehow ennobled by her pure love for the doctor.
Husband Michael Rennie (he married her money, she married his title) calls her "greedy, selfish, decadent, and corrupt", and her unsatisfied Edwina is probably the most determined femme fatale she has essayed on the screen. .

Lana also romanced 2 James Bonds: young Roger Moore in DIANE in 1955 - and Sean Connery in ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE, another terrific WWII sudser from 1958 - shot in black and white and in England (Sid James is her taxi driver) as Lana turns up in picturesque Cornwall to see where her dead lover Connery lived, with his trusting wife Glynis Johns and little boy - Martin Stephens (later with Deborah Kerr in COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS and THE INNOCENTS).  I have not seen DIANE since at a Sunday matinee as a kid, but remember it vividly - I loved those MGM costumers then, Lana here in Diane De Poitiers, mistress of the King of France. Then she was German in that odd THE SEA CHASE, a perfect mid-50s war drama with John Wayne, also German - I can remember my father taking me to that; and I certainly love THE PRODIGAL (below), that other mid-50s MGM biblical with Lana as the pagan high priestess Samara with that daring - for the time - outfit, before she topples into the flames when the mob storm the temple ....
For a '40s star Lana certainly had a good run in the '50s, what with Minnelli's THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL lifting her out of B-films.

Then of course there was that sensational court case when her lover, gangster Johnny Stompanato was stabbled, and Lana was bigger than ever in PEYTON PLACE and in Sirk's classic  IMITATION OF LIFE where she emotes all over the place as actress Lora Meredith. I have already done my reviews on favourites PORTRAIT IN BLACK in 1960, and 1966's delirious LOVE HAS MANY FACES (Lana, Trash labels). There is still 1961's BY LOVE POSSESSED to watch, along with another '58 drama, THE LADY TAKES A FLYER with she is teamed with Jeff Chandler.  She also did the obligatory inconsequential comedies in the early 60s with Bob Hope and Dean Martin. Lana ended up in tv series like FALCON CREST and THE SURVIVORS, there was also a dreadful one THE BIG CUBE ... Lana: 1921-1995.

Back though to MADAME X:  A woman married to a wealthy socialite, is compromised by the accidental death of a man who had been romantically pursuing her, and is forced by her mother-in-law to assume a new identity to save the reputation of her husband and infant son. She wanders the world, trying to forget her heartbreak with the aid of alcohol and unsavory men, eventually returning to the city of her downfall, where she murders a blackmailer who threatens to expose her past. Amazingly, she is represented at her murder trial by her now adult son, who is a public defender. Hoping to continue to protect her son, she refuses to give her real name and is known to the court as the defendant, "Madame X." 

This hoary old melodrama (to think this was 1966, the year of BLOW-UP and the new Hollywood emerging and the height of European arthouse) had been done several times before, and again Ross Hunter decks Lana out in Jean Louis outfits with furs and jewels. Before too long though her Holly is on the downward spiral after being railroaded out of the family by pure evil Constance Bennett ... young Keir Dullea is the son she had to abandon, now defending his mother on a murder charge - he of course does not know that, but Holly soon realises as does the new aged Constance and son Forsyth, in court to see his son's first defence case. She had shot seedy Burgess Meredith who was going to profit by revealing her real identity, in order to protect her son, who of course is now defending her. This builds to a deliciously satisfying climax as Madame X takes the stand and one reaches for the tissues, ably directed by David Lowell Rich. Sorry Pauline, but I simply loved every delicious moment of it.

Summer re-runs: a lesser Bette !

I had never seen it but it was always considered one of the lesser Bettes after ALL ABOUT EVE, but TCM here dug up PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER, 1952 which proved quite compulsive. A talky (very) drama with that lovely early '50s 20th Century Fox black and white look - before they went over to CinemaScope and De Luxe Color - written by Nunully Johnson and directed by that favourite of mine Jean Negulesco, it turns out to be another of those "doomed flight" scenarios popular that decade (JET STORM, JET ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, BACK FROM ETERNITY (Anita Ekberg label), SOS PACIFIC (Trash label) and of course THE CROWDED SKY - review at Troy Donahue label).

Our lead here is Garry Merrill, still looking good after ALL ABOUT EVE, who gets chatting to some others on a cross-country flight: showgirl Shelley Winters who looks great here, and her name is Binky Gay! on her first (and last) flight, moody Michael Rennie drinking and nursing his own secret, and that very annoying salesman Keenan Wynn - which increases one's resolve never to converse with strangers when flying. It is no secret that the plane crashes in bad weather and Gary is the only survivor of "the gang of four" - so he tracks down the families and loved ones of the other three ... and we find out all about them. There is exensive footage on the plane (and flying was certainly more roomy in those days) and all those flashbacks. Rennie had caused a fatal crash from reckless driving and blamed his passenger, alienating his wife (Beatrice Straight) who had to cover for him and their son does not know but blames the mother .... Binky (Shelley) was at loggerheads with her old actress mother-in-law but was setting her up as Bloody Mary in SOUTH PACIFIC with Oscar & Hammerstein! - take that Evelyn Varden!  

Bette appears in the final scene (just like she did as Catherine the Great in JOHN PAUL JONES in 1959) as the now crippled wife of Wynn whom she had left to run off with a playboy but he abandons her when she bangs her head while diving and is going to be left paralysed, but the annoying Keenan comes back to look after her.   So, nice little stories all tied together nicely with those plush Fox values and a cast and director who know how to deliver material like this. Pity there was not more for Bette to do, another missed opportunity after EVE then. She would have been getting into her mid-'40s here but, like those other early '30s stars, was already considered "old" or middle-aged ....

Rainy day flicks

Its been raining here all week, after a warm March, its now a very wet and windy April - ideal weather for afternoons watching favourite old movies .... and quite a good bunch are on this week, ones I can settle down in front of any time, (despite having the dvds!)

I regard Fritz Lang’s MOONFLEET [and Richard Thorpe’s QUENTIN DURWARD [reviewed at Kay Kendall label] as the high points of mid-50s MGM costume dramas. MOONFLEET in '55 is a marvellous re-telling of the childrens’ classic suitably changed for the cinema with great Scope compositions. Lang shot it in California but it just looks perfectly right. Stewart Granger is another dashing hero, Jon Whiteley is the little boy in search of his inheritance [he co-starred with Dirk Bogarde in THE SPANISH GARDENER (Bogarde label) the next year], George Sanders is the perfect scoundrel and Joan Greenwood only has two (but very memorable) scenes as the mocking villainess. It captures the 18th century saga of smuggling and country churchyards just right . It’s a treat I can watch anytime…. I like the book too but Lang's version is a suitably changed for the cinema version.

THE VIKINGS is a movie kids enjoyed hugely back then in 1958, and we still do now 50 years later. Its just a perfectly made period romp by Richard Fleischer, photographed by Jack Cardiff in Norway, great supporting cast, score by Nascimbene and narrated by Orson Welles. Douglas and Curtis are the warring half-brothers and Janet Leigh the Welsh princess they fight over. Janet is at her loveliest here – I have always liked the scene when Tony rips her bodice so she can row the boat as they escape, Eileen Way is great as Kitala the witch who saves Curtis from those crabs! Borgnine chews the scenery as Ragnar while Frank Thring essays another study in villainy as Ayella with the wolf pit. It all certainly brings the dark ages to life! - great castle seige too. and that final fight between Kirk and Tony as the waves crash against the rocks below -  and it remains a television staple. James Donald, Maxine Audley and Alexander Knox are all sterling support. Its always a laugh now when Kirk manhandles Janet's maid who is "silly moo" Dandy Nichols!

THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK - another television staple but this is a better than average telemovie, with a sterling cast playing out the Dumas warhorse, as directed by Mike Newell in 1977 and lensed by the great Freddie Young in those real French locations. It is the oft-told tale of Louis XIV of France and his attempts to keep his identical twin brother Philippe imprisoned away from sight and knowledge of the public, and Philippe's rescue by the aging Musketeers, led by D'Artagnan (Louis Jourdan, a dab hand at this kind of thing). Richard Chamberlain is both the man in the mask and Louis XIV. A glowering Patrick McGoohan is our prime villain Fouquet and Jenny Agutter is lovely as usual. For me the movie is made by Ralph Richardson in his element as Colbert, also with Ian Holm, and the marvellous Vivien Merchant as Maria Theresa - who soon spots the duplicate King but realises she is better off with him than the real king who ignores her, also Brenda Bruce as Anne of Austria. Great derring-do then played out by a splendid cast.

Other perfect rainy afternoon movies would be sitting back again with ALL ABOUT EVE or A LETTER TO 3 WIVES or Wyler's THE HEIRESS, or indeed THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT or some '50s epics like LAND OF THE PHAROAHS or THE PRODIGAL, Sophia's BOY ON A DOLPHIN or LEGEND OF THE LOST, Janet Leigh's musical MY SISTER EILEEN with Bob Fosse, Joan Crawford's JOHNNY GUITAR or of course Kay Kendall in Cukor's LES GIRLS or Minnelli's THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE, which I am seeing again on the big screen at the London British Film Institute's National Film Theatre in a few weeks with my IMDB pal Timshelboy, so more on that then ...

Saturday is rainy too, and HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE is scheduled, but much as I like hanging out with Pola, Loco and Schatze, I think I will go with another Negulesco I have written about quite a bit here: WOMAN'S WORLD, that great 1954 Fox charmer with Clifton Webb leading that cast ... and fighting off the attentions of go-getting Arlene Dahl! - poured into that slinky green number with the little fur-trimmed bolero she very knowingly removes ...