Java's Journey

Need a list of classic movies for the winter? Say no more. Here it is.

1. An Affair to Remember (1957)

Grab your hankies. Pivotal scenes occur near the Christmas tree in this tale of two lovers who misunderstand each other and part, perhaps forever. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr star in this heartbreaking movie. Also see the highly-acclaimed original Love Affair (1939) with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne.

2. Bachelor Mother (1939)

A retail store fires Polly (Ginger Rogers) just before Christmas. She is rehired when her employer mistakenly believes she has abandoned a baby during unemployment. Hilarity ensues when she must keep an orphaned baby to retain her job. Also see the musical version, Bundle of Joy with Debbie Reynolds.

3. Christmas Holiday (1944)
A dark and cynical, yet hopeful, tale of a young lady (Deanna Durbin) who doesn't really know the man she married. Her story is told in flashbacks during Christmastime. Gene Kelly stars as the husband in this taut drama.

4. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

A housekeeping columnist (Barbara Stanwyck) actually knows nothing about the subject and has lied throughout most of her career. When her employer asks to visit during Christmas, she must cobble together a house in the country, a husband, a baby and a Christmas dinner all in short order.

5. Cinderfella (1960)
Jerry Lewis released this gender-bending tale of Cinderella during the winter because he believed feel-good, family entertainment works better in December. There is no snow or winter scene, but you don't miss them. It's a magical movie.

6. Desk Set (1957)

A group of reference librarians could lose their jobs to the new mechanical brain - a computer. There's a pivotal scene during Christmas that cannot be missed. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy star.

7. Giant (1956)

This is a huge family epic that spans decades. It also includes a warm Christmas scene set in the early 1940s with sons going away for the war. It's a touching drama that stars Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.

8. The Happiest Millionaire (1967)

A family comedy which includes pet alligators freezing in the Philadelphia winter, a coming-of-age story for a young lady and empty-nesters accepting reality. Fred MacMurray and Greer Garson star.

9. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
One of the most famous films ever. George Bailey's (James Stewart) frustrating life makes him suicidal. A special someone shows George what life would have been like were he never born.

10. Lady on a Train (1945)

A lady (Deanna Durbin) witnesses a murder just before Christmas and must solve it. Think Nancy Drew, but older and with song. Ms. Durbin sings "Silent Night," and will have you in tears.

11. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
Bob Hope stars as a gangster who builds a home for indigent ladies as a front for a gambling house during Christmastime. This is the film for which the song "Silver Bells" was written.

12. Lost Angel (1943)
A small orphan (Margaret O'Brien) exploited for her genius and brought up in a sterile institute, runs away. Will her friend and reporter Mike (James Craig) give her a home for Christmas and beyond? Marsha Hunt also stars.

13. The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)

Dinner guest Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) has broken his foot at a friend of a friend's house. He'll stay for the winter until his foot heals, causing havoc in the house with exorbitant telephone bills and a string of guests and animals. This comedy also stars Bette Davis and Ann Sheridan.

14. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

It's the movie which first introduced the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Judy Garland leads the cast in a tale of a family who would rather not move from St. Louis, particularly not during the holidays.

15. Midnight Lace (1960)

Someone is out to murder Mrs. Preston (Doris Day) but she doesn't know why. Stylish winter coats abound in this thriller. Also stars Rex Harrison.

16. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)

In this winter comedy, a neighbor (Eddie Bracken) promises to marry a woman (Betty Hutton) who ends up pregnant by someone else.

17. Neptune's Daughter (1949)

This is the movie which introduced the popular standard "Baby, It's Cold Outside," despite it being set in California during a warm season. A business woman (Esther Williams) mistakenly believes that she must keep her sister (Betty Garrett) from the machinations of a playboy (Ricardo Montalban). Fun film.

18. Reckless Moment (1949)

A mother (Joan Bennett) must juggle a blackmailer (James Mason), a corpse, her rebellious daughter and the rest of the family all during Christmastime.

19. The Secret Garden (1949)

A young girl's social development follows the seasons from winter to spring in this adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett tale. Margaret O'Brien leads the cast.

20. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Two shop employees become sworn enemies, little knowing that they are also secret pen pals. Will love blossom under the mistletoe? James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan star. See also the musical remake, In the Good Old Summertime (1949) with Judy Garland and Van Johnson.

21. Star! (1968)

This film explores the life of stage great Gertrude Lawrence and includes several winter scenes. Lots of beautiful cold weather frocks are on display. Julie Andrews stars.

22. Up in Central Park (1948)

Deanna Durbin stars in this Broadway play adapted for film about an new U.S. citizen who gets swept up in the corruption of New York's politics during the turn of the century. Great snow scenes. A Currier and Ives picture comes to life. Vincent Price also stars.

23. We're No Angels (1955)

Escaped convicts help a family rid themselves of an arrogant cousin/employer during Christmastime. Humphrey Bogart leads the cast.

24. We're Not Married (1952)

A justice of the peace illegally marries couples during the holidays before his commission has been officially recognized. Now several couples were never married and must reevaluate whether they want to remain wedded. Ginger Rogers stars.

25. White Christmas (1954)

Two former army pals put on a reunion for a forgotten general during the winter. Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney star in this rousing, colorful musical.

Further Recommendations

5 Classic Radio Shows for December

Not yet ready for winter? Read these lists of movies:

Director of Citizen Kane, actor, producer, raconteur Orson Welles is known for his innovations for stage (Julius Caesar), radio ("War of the Worlds") and film.

However, he detested the film world because it was dog-eat dog...

"We live in a snake pit here [in Hollywood]. . . I hate it but I just don't allow myself to face the fact that I hold it in contempt because it keeps on turning out to be the only place to go."

...and because it is expensive.

"I've wasted the greater part of my life looking for money, and trying to get along . . . trying to make my work from this terribly expensive paint box which is . . . a movie. And I've spent too much energy on things that have nothing to do with a movie. It's about 2% movie making and 98% hustling. It's no way to spend a life."

He he hated the expense of filmmaking, but eventually there was nowhere else to go. Wouldn't it have been great if Orson Welles were around for the proliferation of the internet? Having died in 1985, Welles lived to see the internet, but not the inexpensive version.

Today, the internet is in most houses in the U.S. and on most cell phones. It's inexpensive and there are no committee meetings usurping editorial or creative control, telling you what you can or cannot say.

What wonders could his innovative mind have created if he had carte blanche on Youtube or Blip.TV or Vimeo?

Online media doesn't yet have the respect of traditional media, but, with his expertise, Welles would have tamed the Wild West of internet films.

Would Orson Welles have been an internet star?

Young Java became a classic movie fan by watching Hit the Deck (1955) because

This movie is fun and energetic like other classic musicals, perfect for a kid to enjoy
It's slightly different from the other classic musicals that Java had seen at the time, since the characters have much to lose.
The gowns are gorgeous.
It's the movie she was watching when she first noticed patterns in different films.

Hit the Deck is an Energetic Movie

Hit the Deck is a musical, making it fun and entertaining for Young Java. Musicals were not just movies, they were dance classes and gymnastic tutorials. Russ Tamblyn's tumbles in this film maintain a child's interest in a story otherwise filled with "grown-up problems."

Anything with Ann Miller in it deserves closer attention. She always seems to have fun. When Ginger (Miller), the night club performer growls that she's the lady from the bayou and she knows her way around, a kid doesn't exactly know what she's talking about, but the chorus boys seem excited.

The unsinkable Debbie Reynolds is practically synonymous with high energy; she was just out of childhood herself in the early 1950s, so a kid can't help but love her films. In Hit the Deck, she keeps up with Tamblyn in a thrilling theme park attraction which consists of treadmills, slides and people poking you with pitchforks.

Just like other classic musicals, Hit the Deck is great fun to watch and emulate. Still, what turned Java into a classic movie fan is what makes this musical different from others.

Hit the Deck is Slightly More Dramatic Than Other Naval Musicals that Java Had Seen

The family would screen earlier MGM naval musicals, like On the Town and Anchors Aweigh, before they bought Hit the Deck. The former are fun films about sailors tumbling off a ship, frolicking around in a city for a day or so, meeting someone new, then returning to the ship.

Hit the Deck is a slightly more dramatic military musical, a difference which captured Young Java's attention. We see the sailors on the job, which lends an air of reality to this fantasy. Also, the leads are dealing with pre-existing relationships of all kinds - romantic and platonic- not one night stands.

This means, during the film's crisis, they stand to lose, not a random woman's affections as in the other films, but everything they have worked for and every important relationship they have cultivated.

For the first time, Java saw a sober musical. It is more than just a picnic in the park with no real consequences. The kid took notice and she wanted to know more.

Hit the Deck Shows Military Personnel at Work, Bringing Reality to the Fantasy

Most of Java's relatives don't talk about their experiences in any war, making uniforms, the people in them and their work mysterious.

Hit the Deck helped to enter that world a little bit. In the film,three men -Chief Boatswain's Mate William F. Clark (Tony Martin), Rico Ferrari (Vic Damone) and Daniel Smith (Tamblyn)- battle extreme climates, from the soggiest swamps to the iciest floes.

This was the first time that Java had seen a naval musical with actual grime and the characters expressing a bit of resentment about certain aspects of their duties. In fact, this is the first time she'd seen a naval musical presenting ANY aspect of their duties since they are forever on shore leave in movies. Life is usually all sunshine and rainbows in these films. Not in Hit the Deck.

The Gowns are Gorgeous

Musicals showcase the best dresses for movement and elegance. Sometimes, especially in the late 1940s and 1950s, that meant the ladies would wear layers and layers of underskirt. Young Java was obsessed with crinolines and the like, so this musical was just heaven!

Hit the Deck's Connection with Other Movies Became an Obsession

Java liked the people and noticed patterns of casting. She noticed that Russ Tamblyn and Jane Powell play brother and sister in this film and brother-and sister-in-law in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

She began to wonder which movie came first and whether they spent their entire careers playing each others relative. She then began to search for Jane Powell in Tamblyn's films and vice versa.

Knowing facts about a film became a game, a fun game she's played ever since.

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This post was written for the Classic Movie Blog Association's Film Passion 101 Blogathon. Read the other entries by clicking here.

When a TV show pays homage to classic films, you cannot help but love it. There were a great many shows in the 1980s which take a page or two from the studio era of movies. "Moonlighting"does so from time to time. It's high point in classic movie tributes is the notable episode from Season 2,"The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice."

Writers Debra Frank and Carl Sautter came up with a dual storyline to be shot in black and white. Modern day detectives Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) and David Addison (Bruce Willis) hear a story from the 1940s about a woman and her boyfriend who blame each other for the death of her husband.

Maddie and David each dream about the unsolved mystery in black and white. Maddie dreams the woman is innocent; David dreams the woman is to blame.

The director (Peter Werner) and producer/creator (Glenn Gordon Caron) came up with two different visual styles for the dreams. According to them, Maddie's is told in a "slick, MGM" style centered on the female, like Mildred Pierce.

Addison's dream is told like a Warner Brothers movie -"Raymond Chandler style" that is "grittier" and boasts a dangerous femme fatale.

There is also a voice over for David's version with words like, "She smelled of violets and rainy nights. What I didn't realize is she also smelled of trouble."

The costumes follow the respective differences in tone as well. The woman is dressed modestly in button down blouses for Maddie's dream - totally Joan Crawford. She's tarted up with Veronica Lake peekaboos and plunging necklines for David's gritty dream.

I highly recommend this episode of "Moonlighting." If you can, listen to the commentary track as well; it's informative. Watch for a special introduction from Orson Welles in his last appearance on camera before his death a week later.

The recent Classic Movie Blog Association blogathon explores what first got you interested in classic movies. It was a smashing success. I learned so much about each of my fellow CMBA members. (Read their entries here: http://clamba.blogspot.com/2013/12/extra-extra-read-all-about-it-its-cmba.html )

As I trolled my old journals looking for a particular movie that set me off on classic movies, I came across lots of other forgotten movie musings.

State names in movie musicals were exciting for me as a kid.

I wanted to compile a list of state songs taken exclusively from musicals. This list would make its way to every governor and ask for consideration to change each state song to something from the MGM, RKO, Fox or Universal Studios catalogs just for me. (Because I'm selfish like that.)

There is usually an accompanying dance to these songs in the movies, so my fidgety classmates and I could jump around while singing the state song. Bonus!

"I Owe Iowa" from State Fair (1945) might not be the best representation of the state, but -boy!- is it fun to sing. Fred Astaire tap dancing in blood-red boots and singing "Down in Texas" in Daddy Long Legs (1955) might be a total stereotype of the Lone Star state, but don't you want to get up and dance with him?

Then I hit pay dirt.

I saw Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949) in which Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly sing about all the places they've been to on vacation. Great! One-stop shopping. I could rack up a handful of state name mentions in one movie.

They sing, "I kissed a gal down in Mississippi.... She called me 'Lucky 7,' said my kisses were from heaven, then I learned she was eleven and I had to go."

That seemed inappropriate to sing in front of the principal and Mrs. Grandy at school assembly. I abandoned the project shortly after this.

So, thanks to the Board of CMBA for making me dredge up the past. Life has been fun.

U.S. Senator Oliver Loganberry (Victor Moore) investigates criminal activity in the Louisiana Purchasing Company. Company president and state legislator Jim Taylor ( Bob Hope) distracts the senator from his mission with a lovely woman, Marina (Vera Zorina).

They plan to place him into a compromising position to blackmail Loganberry. The bulk of Louisiana Purchase (1941) is waylaying the senator who doesn't seem to understand that his investigation is being deliberately impeded.

Moore is known for playing these dopey types of characters. Here he reprises his role from the Broadway play of the same name.

Since the story involves probing an actual state and taking satirical potshots at real life Louisiana governor Huey Long, the film spends about 5 minutes at the beginning assuring everyone (including those litigious among us) that this is a fictional story.

The legal disclaimer is in a song sung by a bevy of beauties in colorful head dresses from behind hurricane shutters. This and other songs were written by Irving Berlin for the play.

There are lots of funny characters like a nervous embezzler who says "They say the liquor at Leavenworth ain't fit for man nor beast" and "We don't want a fair trial; they'll hang us."

The extravagant sets, the obvious expense, are just breath-taking in this comedy. From the languid drapes framing the 12-foot tall (or higher) doorways to the columns in a courtyard.

There is even a Mardi Gras parade scene filled with extras and huge floats.

The only drawback is that it's all noticeably on a sound stage. Still, the fun and festivities shine through.
Filmed in Technicolor, the rich hues and tones of the sets and costumes are a feast for the eyes.

With all this at their disposal, the filmmakers felt compelled to have a fashion show, which interrupts the plot for a few minutes. However, Hope interrupts the fashion show with quips.

The models are dressed in pastels, which seems a waste of Technicolor. One would have preferred more saturated colors. However, they give "come hither" looks into the camera, which suggests they are present in this film for reasons other than the clothing.

The stars of the show, however, don the exciting clothes.

Marina arrives in a blue coat and matching beret which, with red lip rouge, draws your attention to her eyes.

Raymond Walburn as Col. Davis wears an outfit that mimics his eye color - light grey.

Bob Hope is rather spiffy in his pin-striped suits, gold cuff links and fashionable shoulder pads.

Madame Yvonne Bordelaise (Irene Bordoni), the proprietor of a restaurant, looks fetching in a coral and chartreuse knot-waisted dress. She has a bit of fringe in front and chunky jewelry which complement her outsized personality.

You'll get a laugh or two from Bob Hope's reliable one-liners. These were sorely needed since the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just a few weeks before the release of this film.

Louisiana Purchase is a fun film about political corruption, but is also a quest to wow you with Paramount Pictures' big budgets.

Everything you need for a sword-and-sandal epic of the mid-20th century -

Big budget.
Location shooting with lots of dirt and fighting.
At least one star from the UK
Warriors or slaves in short tunics.
Historical accounts fictionalized.
A stirring musical score.

Alexander the Great (1956) has it all.

Macedonian king, Alexander (Richard Burton), must unite and lead the Greeks against the Persian Empire. Meanwhile, he has problems at home with his mother Olympias (Danielle Darrieux), who...

You know what? It doesn't matter.

In movies like this, it doesn't matter who does what to whom or how historically accurate it is. It is a fantasy, basically, with famous names. They are not going for accuracy, but for pulse-racing, adrenaline-pumping action. The down times are there for exposition, for people to read lines with Shakespearean gravity and to tell you what's at stake before another fight or battle begins.

Burton has a mix of sophistication and earthiness that always works for roles of high-born, ancient characters. When playing modern men, he seems confined, ready to burst out of his suit. He's free in a tunic.

The intensity, the volatile nature of Burton makes him a dangerous man. You quake in your sandals when he snarls at someone. He's not bluffing.

Watch this film for the tension, the fights, the spectacle. Read a book for the history.

One frame, one moment in a movie can speaks volumes.

Today, Java's Journey studies a frame from The Clock (1945), a WWII drama about a soldier on leave and the woman he meets, starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker, directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Spoiler warning: This article reveals important plot points.

A Bit of the Story
A milkman, Al Henry (James Gleason), invites a soldier and his date for breakfast.

The soldier is named Joe (Walker). He's on leave and contemplates marriage to his date Alice (Garland), whom he has known for less than 24 hours.

The Frame
This frame pulls together many of Joe's hopes and dreams into one moment.

Throughout the film up to this point, Joe has expressed the desire for his own home, a wife and simply to survive the war to get back to these goals. At the Henry house, he sees his dreams fulfilled in another couple.

The group is paired off by gender. Alice helps Mrs. Henry (Lucile Gleason) to prepare breakfast. The two men are in the background, but the focus is on Joe; he's in the middle of the frame.

Joe doesn't say anything here, but by pairing off the genders, the movie encourages us to concentrate on Joe's desire to be an older married man like Mr. Henry, with Alice as his version of Mrs. Henry, and to live in his own home in peace.

Should he marry a woman he's only just met? Does he have the "right" to ask any woman to marry him and share his responsibilities? Should he seize the moment since anything can happen in the future?

These themes are central to the story and are encapsulated in an instant.

When he is deployed tomorrow, he may never return, truncating any plans of growing old. Because the movie ends with the soldier leaving town, the story leaves the audience with many of the same questions Joe has- will he achieve all of his goals? We will never know.

Still, Joe has had a taste of the life he wants, if only for a moment.

"We came here to rob them, and that's what we're going to do...as soon as we wash the dishes."

That quote is the essence of the 1955 Christmas movie We're No Angels. It's the late 19th century and three fugitives -Joseph (Humphrey Bogart), Jules (Peter Ustinov) and Albert (Aldo Ray)-from Devils Island Prison need resources to forge passports, change clothes and leave the island. The Ducotel General Store is their mark.

But first, a little party.

Mr. and Mrs. Ducotel (Leo G. Carroll and Joan Bennett) are so kind, the criminals continually find excuses not to kill and rob them. ("After all, it might spoil their Christmas," says Albert.) Instead, they plan a Christmas dinner for the family by stealing a turkey and flowers from the governor's garden. It's a time of giving, but in a twisted way.

The turkey just followed them against their will.

They also help the daughter Isabelle (Gloria Talbott) overcome her timidity. Why? Joseph explains, "She reminds Julie of his youth, me of the home and family I never had, and Albert... Albert is a swine." The dialogue will keep you smiling throughout.

Albert actually helps a woman this time.

Based on a play by Albert Husson (Is the author making comments about himself with one of these characters? Hmmm...), and directed by Michael Curtiz, We're No Angels boasts Technicolor, brightly-lit surroundings and familiar actors to keep the film from becoming overly-morbid.

The humor is also in little changes of costume. The fugitives arrive in baggy cottons with little underneath, and by the Christmas sequence, they have dressed for dinner. They are still in the same ill-fitting clothes, but Joseph the embezzler has paired his prison wear with a festive dark green shirt (or is it the color of money?). Jules, the posh safe cracker, chooses to wear a starched collar and tie, shirtless. Albert, the womanizer and murderer, goes with a pink shirt and sportive white scarf tied in a simple knot at the neck.

Which is hilarious.

You've got three anti-heros, but there is also a straight villain. Basil Rathbone as Cousin Andre - the store's owner- stops by to go over the store's failing accounts. The inmates do not like this interloper and seek to help the Ducotels in the best way they know.

And Cousin Andre seems to sense the danger. He mentions his pistol and welds his cane about like a sword.

Though the film is about fugitives begrudgingly allowing people to live, in real life, Bogart was generous. This was a tough time, career-wise, for his friend and co-star, Joan Bennett. Her husband had shot her agent a few years earlier and served time. This scandal lost her many film jobs; she became a social outcast.

But she was never a pariah to her true pals.

When Paramount Pictures began casting for this film, the legendary star of Casablanca thought of Ms. Bennett. "Bogie,who also lived on the same street that I did," the actress would later say, "insisted that I be in We're No Angels or he wouldn't do it. That is a good friend." A good friend, indeed.

Though it is a family-friendly holiday film, because of the dark humor it doesn't fall into the common trap of others of its genre - it never becomes too sappy and cloying. We're No Angels is a refreshing change of pace for the season and a lot of laughs.

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This entry is for the Christmas Movie Blogathon hosted by Family Friendly Reviews. Read the other entries by clicking here.

Two women become fairly territorial over Jeffery Moss, the Broadway playwright (Dean Martin).

In this corner of Bells Are Ringing(1960) is Ella Peterson (Judy Holliday), switchboard operator at Susanswerphone- a personalized telephone answering service. Ella gives and takes messages for Jeff.

In this corner Olga (Valerie Allen), socialite without a last name and a penchant for horse races. Olga gives and takes kisses from Jeff.

Alright, ladies! Shake hands and come out swinging!

Kindness/ Empathy

Olga

Olga is in the New York jet set and is accustomed to having her way. She shouts at the woman answering Jeff's phone. She pops into a man's apartment uninvited. She stands firm even when the host gently insists she leave. Instead she says,"You're not getting rid of me that easy."

Not only is Olga rude, she's aware of it.

Ella

Ella cares for her subscribers. They become her friends - from the opera star to the little boy who won't eat his spinach. When Jeff is in a rough spot at work, he seeks advice from a woman he's never seen, the lady at his answering service - Ella. (He knows her only as "Mom," signaling the nurturing connection he feels with her.)

Ella is always available to help someone.

Kindness/Empathy Points Go To......... Ella

Confidence

Olga

Though Olga's perspective on life is far more limited in scope than Ella's, she thoroughly understands her own exclusive world. The socialite knows exactly who she is and where she fits in life, especially in Jeff's life. They are each others' play thing and she's willing to play the game as long as she's having fun and all parties concerned look good.

She's selfish and shallow, but confident.

Unlike Ella, Olga is never really desperate for Jeff. However, it's a confusing blow to her ego that his attention can be diverted to some mysterious woman who's not from their circle, with a strange name and a strange red dress. Her rules don't account for this situation.

Still, Olga will be fine with or without Jeff. She puts a period on their relationship with a little shrug and a simple resignation, "I don't get it." Oh well. Whatever. More fish in the sea, etc.

Ella

Ella hides.

When Ella is not pretending to be a fictional character and helping people either on the switchboard or in person, she "clams up like an oyster," says her cousin Sue. She's uncomfortable being herself; she even says, "I'm nothing!"

Ella makes up a fake name when she's with Jeff. She's either "Mom" on the phone or "Melisande" in person. Neither he nor his friends know her real name, nor that the two people are the same woman.

Ella is ashamed of her real self and of her dress when she finally goes out on a date with Jeff, even though he assures her "you're beautiful." Ella doesn't believe he could like her and makes snide, unbecoming cracks about the equine-loving other woman. ("She even looks a little like a horse.")

If Ella knew Olga's world, she'd understand that Olga and Jeff were never close, and that Ella has a clear path to Jeff's heart. In fact, Jeff has told her as much, but Ella is too busy pitying herself to let that life-changing information sink in.

Confidence Points Go To......... Olga

Industriousness/Selflessness

Olga

While Jeff writes the first play without his writing partner (a frightening prospect), he explains to Olga that he must get to work. She scoffs, "You can work some other time." Then she insists that Jeff take her to the race track.

Jeff has gone sober after a bout of depression where he overindulged, but Olga will have none of that and hands him a drink. At no point does she ask him what he wants. Life is all about Olga's leisure time.

Ella

The switchboard operator gives more than messages - Ella gives her listening ear. She gives suggestions to people and chews the fat with the lonely. She gets up to place wake up calls at odd hours of the day.When a subscriber cannot get a message by phone, she tracks down his address and delivers the important message in person.

In Jeff's case, she makes sure he gets the message and also helps him out of his despondency. Her industriousness and selflessness is an inspiration to Jeff. He writes his next successful play and compares Ella with someone who saves a person from drowning.

Industriousness/Selflessness Points Go To......... Ella

Though Ella wins by a wide margin, this duel is terribly unfair to the other woman; Olga is one step above a one-dimensional character. Still, Olga's lack of depth is purposeful; it helps the audience realize that the person Ella battles the most is herself.

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This entry is for the Dueling Divas Blogathon hosted by Backlots. Read other entries here: http://backlots.net/2013/11/19/announcing-backlots-third-annual-dueling-divas-blogathon/

3 models charm their way into a high end apartment in New York City to rub elbows with and marry wealthy men in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).

The ladies' mercenary plans are hilariously frustrated time and again. Will they end up marrying for love or money or both and quit modeling? Or will they just call the whole thing off and keep earning their own cash?

In any case, they will be perfectly dressed.

This is a movie about models, so these ladies -Schatze (Lauren Bacall), Loco (Betty Grable) and Paula (Marilyn Monroe) - have access to the latest styles on the runway and off. The movie even incorporates a fashion show into the narrative to give one of the prospective husbands an excuse to see the three ladies at work. (And to give the audience an excuse to go "Ooooo!" and "Ahhh!")

Costume designer Travilla uses the clothes to showcase each woman's personality.

Schatze is Practical and Savvy.

The leader of this marriage caper, Schatze runs a tight ship. No guys that you meet among the cold cuts, she demands, only men at Stork or 21 Club. Schatze can be rather snooty, but she has it all figured out.

As such, she's the first one you find wearing a suit. Securing the ritzy apartment in a grey suit with slight peplum on the jacket, Schatze is regal and all business.

Unfortunately, Schatze always puts on an act. In her attempts to be mature when dating an older man, her outfits turn out frumpy sometimes.

Case in point, this green chiffon, mink-lined gown. Schatze's slim figure can carry the excess fabric but, somehow, this dress begs for a full-figured matron to do it justice. It simply looks dowdy on Schatze.

Schatze's style is more becoming when she's not expecting to see anyone, not trying to impress. Her choices for relaxing at home fit her much better than anything else.

A simple oxford blue shirt and slim black slacks with flats showcase her trim limbs and make her appear less strident and approachable.

(It's around this time in the film that Schatze starts to date a guy whose company she -Gasp!- actually enjoys.)

Paula is Adventuresome and Flirty.

Paula has the least amount of screen time of the three. Her character isn't fleshed out as much as the other two, so you don't really know her. Thus, this role becomes only about her form-hugging outfits, which is kind of sad. You really want to know what's on her mind.

You do get a sense of her specific goals when she dreams. She's the only one who dreams of flying outside of the country and having an adventure. There are hints that she achieves that excitement at the end, but we don't know.

This role is simply the most famous blonde bombshell of the day wearing clothes...and does she ever!

This one-strap satin, halter aubergine number is one of the more frequently-used gowns to make the rounds on a image or doll of Marylin Monroe these days. (The white dress from The Seven-Year Itch remains the most famous, of course.)

Figure-flattering dresses with a bit of flair at the skirt for ease of movement, keep this saucy woman fully-covered and ready for a quick jaunt to Atlantic City (or wherever else life takes her), all while appearing unbelievably gorgeous.

Demure and sensuous. How does she do it?

Even her terry cloth bathrobe is tailored specifically for Paula, emphasizing her enviably-trim waist. When a guest pops in for a second, Paula's bathrobe keeps her well-dressed and perfectly appropriate for receiving visitors.

(That terry cloth gown looks better than anything I wear on a given day. Will tailors sew one of these? It's incredibly tough to find a ready-made bathrobe that doesn't look like something the cat dragged in.)

Loco is a Bubbly and Comforting presence.

You enjoy Loco the most because she welcomes everyone into her sphere.

She's very much grounded in reality (unlike Paula) but she's not cynical (unlike Schatze). Loco just goes with the flow and is never stressed. What a barrel of fun!

Her sunny disposition shows in her clothes.

Loco arrives in a stunning cobalt blue gown with yards of underskirts that produce a wide a-line skirt. It's as if this extrovert's dress reaches out to touch everyone she meets.

Later at dinner, Loco resembles a Barbie doll. Very cute. However, the dress washes her out.

Come on, movie! Loco can handle more color!

That's better. She's a knockout, but it's her smile that captures you.

Loco is friendly. She charms her way to a ski lodge in Maine, ostensibly to meet someone... anyone.

During this sequence, we see Loco in sportswear. You cannot imagine either of the other two in ski clothes having a snowball fight. This is all Loco and no one else. Love this character.

Near the end, Loco wears a demure indigo, pencil-skirt dress. Here the wardrobe reflects Loco's increased maturity.

She's a little older, a little wiser. We hope she hasn't given up her child-like enthusiasm for living to the fullest.

How to Marry a Millionaire is a great movie for a few chuckles and elegant mid-20th century fashion which reflects each characters' personality.

Don't have time to sit through the hilarious three hour "comedy to end all comedies" called It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)? Then take a gander at a shorter, yet strikingly similar story - "Lucy Hunts Uranium" an episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour originally aired on January 3, 1958 for CBS.

Ricky and Lucy Ricardo (Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball) are in Las Vegas for Ricky's musical show.

With their neighbors Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley and Vivian Vance) and guest star Fred MacMurray as himself, the quintet stumbles upon uranium in the Nevada desert. There's a rush to the claim's office for cash.

In the feature-length, all-star movie Mad World (Originally titled "So Many Thieves," then "Something a Little Less Serious"), a dying gangster tells passers-by where he hid stolen money. The group of strangers (including Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney and Jonathan Winters) must decide what to do next.

In each story there is

The preliminary discussion of percentage shares of the potential cash.

A car chase through the desert

A convertible getting stuck.

1947 Ford Super De Luxe Convertible Club Coupe [79A]

A meetup at a gas station.

No one ends up in the vehicle in which he/she started.

And general slapstick malarkey

"I Love Lucy" veteran writers Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Martin, Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf penned the "Uranium" script.

Writer William Rose and his wife/co-writer Tania Price Rose wrote the Mad World script. Rose, known for writing screenplays in both the U.S. and the U.K., originally set the script in Scotland. The Mad World comedy chase might have been inspired by a story for which he is credited in Genevieve (1953), a plot which involves two people racing against each other.

Both scripts take human motivations -like greed- and dial it up to wacky proportions. They are each an hilarious tribute to comedy on film.

File:Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Trailer16.jpg

Further Resources

More information at Terry-Thomas World
Urban Cinefile's Mad World page
Phil Silver's Mad World Page
You can watch "Lucy Hunts Uranium"
"Lucy Hunts Uranium" is available for purchase on VHS.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Worldis available for purchase on DVD.

Between major stardom at MGM Studios during the 1940s and swinging with the Rat Pack in the 1960s, actor Peter Lawford (1923-1984) struggled professionally.

Listed with the likes of box office gold Van Johnson during and after WWII, Lawford could throb the hearts of many bobbysoxers as well as thrill their parents. However, the actor would later say that he squandered those years at MGM. The star of Good News (1947) and Little Women (1949) felt his career was over at the age of 29 - with no big studio contract and no movie deals.

Says the actor in an interview with Bob Thomas,

"The studio had done a lot for me, and after ten years of security, it's rugged to go it alone. I could have stayed on, but at a cut. Months before my contract was up, I had a meeting with Nick Schenck... who said I could stay at the studio at less money. That was happening to most of the actors whose contracts were ending. I decided not to stay."

Being an independent performer is a frightening prospect after the stability of a steady salary. But Lawford was sure it was the best thing to do for creative control of his career.

"...I was afraid of getting stuck as a B-picture actor. I had been doing a lot of B's (sic) and there was no indication that I would be getting bigger pictures.... [If I signed an MGM contract] again, I would be 36 when I got out. If I were still a B-picture actor then, I'd be washed up. "

Lawford took a risk in not signing another contract with MGM, a risk that didn't immediately pay off. In the studio system, you are handed projects. At the studio, as Lawford says in That's Entertainment (1974), "We did what we were told to do." However, on his own, things weren't coming his way, projects did not simply fall into his lap. The actor was terribly discouraged.

In 1953, when friend Tony Martin asked him to introduce one of Martin's acts, Lawford believed the audience would be indifferent, but they were not. "I suddenly discovered that the last ten years weren't lost at all," he said.

This was a turning point.

With renewed determination, Lawford would find a haven in many projects, including television. Throughout the 1950s, the performer would appear in several shows, including starring in "Dear Phoebe" and "The Thin Man."

The young people who adored him in the previous decade were now established adults, watching one of their favorite stars at home.

Lawford also enjoyed financing television, including famously securing funding in 1958 for the pilot of what would become the Emmy Award -winning program "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Lawford's new career was on the rise.

Was it worth the risk to give up the life he'd known earlier? How did Lawford's 36th year -the year in which he was afraid he'd be washed up if he stayed at MGM - turn out?

Pretty well. That year -1959- would be a very important one for the actor. It would start a new era for him. It was in that year that old MGM pal, Frank Sinatra, invited Lawford to join the Rat Pack - a group of influential performers who would headline in Las Vegas, pal around, make movies and invest in politics and entertainment.

A year later the Rat Pack -Sinatra, Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and Joey Bishop- would release the first film featuring all of them together - Ocean's 11. This film would become a classic which would be remade in 2001 with a new crop of Hollywood big shots.

It is for Sinatra's Rat Pack era that Lawford is lionized today.

Lawford in his 20s could not have foreseen that the risk of keeping creative control of his career would pay off.

How could the terrified matinee idol -who made the mistake of not utilizing his stardom when he had it, who doubted his career could survive into his 30s- have known that he would be far more famous generation after generation for his middle-aged years than his extraordinarily popular younger years?

There are lessons here of perseverance, calculated risk-taking, trying against all odds, understanding that you don't have all the answers, and not sitting in the doldrums for too long.

100 years ago, Thomas Edison - another risk-taking go-getter- said at the age of 67 when his factory burned down, "There’s value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew."

Peter Lawford's legacy is better off because he understood this concept.

Sometimes one frame of a movie totally arrests your attention. Today, Java's Journey examines an inanimate object's brief appearance in a film and how it symbolizes the personalities of the characters.

The Story
In Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), two sisters of a certain age have become insane and cheerfully murder men who inquire about renting a room from them. They consider it their service to humanity to kill old men who are "all alone in the world." So they spike a gentleman's wine with an arsenic cocktail and bury him in the basement.

The Frame
Here, one of the sisters - Martha Brewster (Jean Adair)- gingerly places the hat of their latest arsenic victim into a cupboard. These are the hats their dead visitors last wore as they came into the house. The movie begins after Abby Brewster (Josephine Hull) has poisoned their 12th "charity case." ("That makes an even dozen," she proudly says.)

Otherwise innocuous rows of hats stand as frightening reminders of Martha's and Abby's delusion. These hats are a clever substitute for the corpses that the characters talk about but the audience never sees.

A bowler, a pageboy, several fedoras, a straw hat - there's quite a variety- hinting at the personalities that the ladies have snuffed out. The sisters are consciousness, even brushing off the hat before placing it on the shelf. It's almost like a trophy case or butterfly collection.

As she puts away the hat, note the look of pleasure on Martha's face (noticeable even from the side), the heirloom ring on her left hand (reiterating her commitment to family and her genuine pity for those who haven't a family), the apron, the tchotchkes and bowls on the table underneath the cupboard.

These remind you of how utterly nice, homey, familiar, even saccharine sweet, the ladies appear to everyone. It gives you a chill that you might know someone just like this.

A nondescript cupboard holds a lot of violent secrets, not unlike the Brewster sisters themselves.

Dear Classic Movie Fans,

You won't believe the gem of a film I found today. It's Dear Brigitte (1965) with James Stewart as humanities professor Robert Leaf, who feels unwanted and dated. With the space race and the threat of nuclear war, mathematics and sciences are the stars on campus. Feeling shoved aside, Leaf constantly threatens to resign.

Though there are challenges at Leaf's work, this film is mostly about his problems at home. Leaf's teenaged daughter Pandora (Cindy Carol) is more interested in money than formal education, Leaf's wife Vina (Glynis Johns) is concerned about the strained family budget, and their eight-year son Erasmus (Billy Mumy) is not proficient in anything. During family music time, for instance, their son is the only one who is off key.

One day they discover Erasmus is a prodigy in mathematics. Once this gets out, everyone wants to exploit his genius. His sister bribes him to help with math homework, her boyfriend Kenneth (Fabian) pays him to help with college homework, the scientists at the university test him against their mechanical brain - a computer, and the boy even becomes involved in racetrack bets to raise money for a university scholarship.

Since the film so ardently sets up Leaf's opposition to math and science, you'd think the movie would play up the tension that is now in his own home, caused by his only beloved son. There is a short scene where the idea of his son becoming a -gasp!- mathematician is discussed with horror, but it's just one scene.

You'd expect the rest of the movie would see Leaf ranting "they might take my job, but they won't take my son," or some other nonsense. However, no further hubbub is made about the father's dislike for the other disciplines. It's confusing that there is little follow through for this heavily set-up joke.

The film also fails to take advantage of the parallels between father and son - each one's wishes in life are ignored. Which brings us to another point.

Throughout all of this no one asks what interests the boy, except a psychiatrist (Jack Kruschen) who discovers Erasmus' fascination with French movie star Brigitte Bardot. The child, in his isolation, writes his heart out to this international icon every day, hence the title of this film.

The novel from which Dear Brigitte is adapted has a more suitable title - Erasmus with Freckles. This is his story, after all. But, just as in the plot itself, the character is moved aside to accommodate something more interesting. Movie audiences would flock to see a film with the French star's name in the title.

This is not the only pop culture reference in the film. Ed Wynn, our narrator and fourth wall-breaking guide mentions the Academy Award-winning film Tom Jones(1963). He is also the one who pontificates (as so many comedies of this era do) on the on-going battle of the sexes. This film is happily nestled in its time. It's not meant to be a classic.

All the winking at the camera could have become tiresome, except you have Stewart and Johns doing what they do best - persuading the audience that their characters are rational people, even when they do the craziest things. Their performance is our foundation, so that when even more zany characters show up, the Leafs are reassuringly reasonable by comparison.

Also charming the socks off you, and the main reason to stay with this film, is Mumy's performance as Erasmus. At this point, Mumy had spent about half of his young life in movies and television. This is a professional and it shows (but not in a cloying way). This is one of the most natural young child actors of the era I've seen in a while.

For me, child actors can get by on being... well, children, and fascinate me endlessly just on that basis. But what you have here is a well-sculpted performance of a young man wanting to please his family and also longing for something else. Mumy's work here is pitch perfect.

Dear Brigitte is a charming family film that leaves a few ends loose, but is ultimately a great way to spend ninety minutes. You should check it out.

Sincerely,

Java

P.S. Cindy Carol, who plays James Stewart's daughter here, also plays the title character in Gidget Goes to Rome. The first Gidget was Sandra Dee who also plays James Stewart's daughter in Take Her, She's Mine. Is there something in the Gidget contract that says you must play the offspring of Stewart? Now I have to look up the filmography for Deborah Walley (Gidget Goes Hawaiian)...

Brewster's Millions meets My Fair Lady.

Based on a short story by Mark Twain, A Million Pound Note (1954) (aka Man with a Million) follows an American, Henry Adams (Gregory Peck), who is washed ashore in England without a penny. He runs into two gentlemen (Wilfrid Hyde-White and Ronald Squire) who will give him a job if he will keep a £1,000,000 banknote intact for a month.

Reminiscent of the plot in My Fair Lady (in which Hyde-White also appears), the catalyst of the action in Million is a bet between two men who enjoy toying with social experiments.

The film's title in Denmark is translated "Mr. Adams in Paradise," however, as it is with stories of this kind, the suddenly wealthy person has fun only initially. After that, problems begin. In the case of Mr. Adams, now that charities and stock brokers hang on his every word, the strain of weighty responsibilities leaves him sleepless and tormented, quite the opposite of utopia.

There's even a lady (Jane Griffiths) who might be disappointed if she discovers the truth about her new beau and his millions.

A Million Pound Note doesn't always hit the right comic notes, but it makes up for it with social commentary (as only Peck can do it) about the disparate treatment of the same poor man once he's perceived worthy of everyone's time.

Further Resources

Read the short story "The £1,000,000 Bank-Note" by Mark Twain

It's a buddy film, a fish-out-of-water story, a romance, a comedy and (with two songs from the Ben Hecht play on which it is based) something of a musical. Living It Up (1954) is further based on the 1937 Carole Lombard film, Nothing Sacred, which precedes the play. It is Jerry Lewis' and Dean Martin's eleventh feature film in five years (not counting cameos and shorts).

Perhaps it is this fast-paced, assembly line release of Martin-Lewis features that soured the New York Times reviewer on this film.There is a set persona for each man -the crooner and the comic- which facilitates churning out as many films as they did in such a short period of time. The New York Times complains that these characters are "old" and the team needs a change.

However, those of us far removed from the frenzy, who enjoy a Martin-Lewis vehicle when we please at the push of a button or the click of a mouse, never tire of them. In fact, the familiar tics and jokes make this film no less charming; they simply create a warm feeling of meeting old friends again.

In Living It Up, Lewis plays a small-town man mistakenly believed to be infected with deadly radiation poisoning. An opportunistic New York reporter, played by Janet Leigh, transports this supposedly dying man with his woman-hungry, singing doctor (Martin) to New York City to live it up while he can, while she lands the final interview of this human interest story to boost newspaper sales.

Fun scenes include Lewis trying desperately to make himself actually ill to keep the travel plans, and an empathetic waiter who ignores doctor's orders and brings Lewis vodka in a water carafe.

Martin croons his heart out to Leigh in the ballad "How Do You Speak to an Angel?," with Lewis reprising it to a picture of her, setting up tension between the two men over the same woman.

They sing "Every Street's a Boulevard" together, which is a nice little button to the film, but you wouldn't miss any song in this film if it weren't already there.

Living It Up is a funny, little film of a famous comedy team that is well worth your time.

Further Resources
Original New York Times Review of Living It Up

Today was chilly; time for layers.

As I gazed at part of the day's outfit - a red turtleneck and black thermals- I could hear an electric guitar wailing and a tall, dark-haired man in a grey suit crooning, "take a real deep breath and repeat after me -'I love-a my baby.'"

Suddenly, I was a lithe movie star on the set of a 1960s musical, shaking what my mamma gave me. I swung my fiery mane to the beat. That music had me groovin', man!

I slapped my thighs and growled at the camera, when my bare foot hit the cold floor. Yikes! Reality came back.

Well, it was a fun little fantasy. Next time I'll wear heels.

Many newer filmmakers are classic movie fans. At times their love of what has come before will show up in their films. Such is the case for James Mangold's Knight and Day (2010), an action film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

This film has been compared to two different Cary Grant thrillers - Hitchcock's North by Northwest and Charade. Though the similarities with those two films are vaguely noticeable, the patterns from another classic movie are unmistakable. Knight and Day is chock full of references to the perennial classic The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Both films are about a female who is taken against her will on adventures far away from home.

KANSAS

Our protagonist in Oz, Dorothy (Judy Garland), lives in Kansas and dreams of an adventure somewhere else. Most of the film is about being away from her home state.

Knight and Day begins the movie with June (Cameron Diaz), a vintage car restorer, in a Kansas airport. She has found car parts in this state. She's on the plane going home when her life changes forever. From then on, she's taken everywhere - uncharted islands, Spain, Austria, you name it.

BLUE GINGHAM

Dorothy's signature dress (the one that sold for nearly half a million dollars at auction fairly recently ) is in blue gingham and so is June's blouse when we first meet her. She spends a good 30 minutes of the film in that blouse.

Blue gingham in Kansas. How much more iconic can you get?

WHIRLING AROUND IN THE AIR

A tornado carries Dorothy's house from Kansas to the fantasy world of Oz, where her adventure begins.

In Knight and Day, a strange guy that June meets in the airport, Roy (Tom Cruise), has hijacked the plane which twists and turns as they rapidly descend. Her adventure begins.

DEAD BODIES

Dorothy's house lands on and kills a villain.

By the time the plane lands in Knight and Day, there are corpses of several assassins in it. Roy has killed everyone except June.

SCARECROW IN THE CORNFIELD

One of Dorothy's friends in the land of Oz is a talking scarecrow in a cornfield.

To avoid the authorities, Roy needs to land the plane anywhere but at an airport. He chooses a cornfield. During the skidding, we get a gratuitous shot of a scarecrow flying into the plane's window.

TIN MAN/ KNIGHT IN SUIT OF ARMOR

Dorothy's second friend in Oz is a man made of tin.

The MacGuffin, the item that drives the plot in Knight and Day, is a perpetual battery which is housed inside a miniature replica of a knight in a suit of armor.

[I know what you're thinking. Is Dorothy's third friend, the cowardly lion, referenced in Knight and Day? He isn't. There are hairy men, but not one of them is a coward.]

WIZ/WHIZ KID

The bulk of the plot centers around Dorothy and her new friends going to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz who can grant their every wish.

In Knight and Day, June and her new FBI/assassin "friends" are after a whiz kid who has made a potentially world-changing item - a perpetual battery.

THE LAIR

In both films, once the leads initially reach the wizard's/whiz kid's lair, they do not see the actual guy behind it all face-to-face. Instead, there are instructions to send them on another wild goose chase.

YELLOW

Dorothy must follow the yellow brick road to get to the Wiz and return home.

June wears a yellow bridesmaid's dress as she is taken from her sister and other people that symbolize home.

FLYING MONKEYS/ ANONYMOUS SUSPENDED ASSASSINS

Both films make a point to send a group of anonymous henchman, darkly-clad and suspended in mid-air, to capture the lead characters. Oz sends flying monkeys; Knight sends trained assassins who rappel down into a New York warehouse.

DRUGGED OUT

The villain of Oz creates a poppy field in Dorothy's path to make her sleepy and zonk out before reaching her destination.

It's a running gag that the hero (or antihero) of Knight, Roy, continually drugs June so that's she'll stop panicking and zonk out. He can deal with assassins and abduct June a lot easier when she isn't screaming.

WAKING UP

Both lead females awaken at home in bed wondering if their adventure was just a dream.

--------------------
Knight and Day is not a full-on remake of Oz, but there are plenty of references to the latter film. Don't you just love discovering the work of other quirky, obsessive classic movie fans?

Further Resources

Date Night (2010) vs. North by Northwest (1959) and The Out-of-Towners (1970).

Question: What could be better than Bette Davis? Answer: More Bette Davis. Our star plays her own twin in the film Dead Ringer (1964).

In movies about identical twins, there is usually deliberate mistaken identity and deception. The twins can collaborate and switch lives (The Prince and the Pauper, The Parent Trap) or, for a more sinister twist, one of the pair will have no say in the arrangement (The Prisoner of Zenda). Dead Ringer is the latter type.

The film distinguishes the ladies with personality and dress. Edie wears unflattering, frumpy clothes with flaccid underpinnings and bags under her eyes. She's a dour, down-trodden person with massive financial troubles.

Her sister, Margaret DeLorca, wears trendy fashions with a girdle, appearing 20 pounds slimmer than Edie. She married into wealth. Margaret's speech patterns sound more clipped and energetic than Edie's, the latter dragging out each syllable as if she's too tired to pick them up.

They meet at Mr. DeLorca's funeral for the first time in years. They both were attracted to the same man. Edie often stares into the distance and speaks warmly of her sister's late husband.

Though Margaret seems to have her life in order, there's something unnerving about her. She is forever smiling in her mourning frocks.

The sisters clearly have a tense relationship, and you're asked to route for the underdog. Dead Ringer is shrewd in making Margaret a cold, indifferent person and Edie a passionate, down-and-out individual, for reasons that will become clearer as we discuss this movie.

Karl Malden is on hand as Sergeant Jim Hobbson, a police officer and Edie's boyfriend. Anyone that Malden likes in a movie the audience will like. He has that mysterious seal of approval that audiences adopt for themselves.

This seal of approval will come in handy, because we're going to spend a lot of time with Edie. It's also there to mitigate the repugnance of what's about to happen.

Edie lures Margaret to Edie's broken-down bar and kills her. They even show the actions leading up to and just after murder with a cutaway to musicians in the bar below during the ultimate act. This is a rather gruesome scene even without blood everywhere.

The motive? Vengeance for "stealing" Edie's beau -Mr. DeLorca- decades ago. His recent death (along with discovering Margaret never loved her late husband) has triggered all the bitterness again. Plus, Edie's in a poor financial spot and believes any life is better than her own.

Edie assumes Margaret's position as lady of the DeLorca estate.The rest of the film is suspense. As Edie navigates a her new world, she cannot rest. Who will discover the secret?

Jim who seeks to comfort Mrs. DeLorca in her (and his) hour of grief over Edie's presumed suicide?
The maid (Monika Henreid) who is continually confused by Mrs. DeLorca's new instructions?
Mr. DeLorca's Great Dane who suddenly likes Margaret?
The family lawyer (George MacReady) who needs her signature on important papers?
Tony (Peter Lawford), Margaret's paramour?
Dede (Jean Hagen), Margaret's best friend?

As Edie sticks around she learns more of her sister's secrets, secrets that are utterly untenable.

There are few, if any, heroes in Dead Ringer. Bette Davis is delightfully dangerous in both roles. You'll be disgusted, you'll be terrified, but you'll not look away.

Further Notes

Bette Davis also plays twins in A Stolen Life (1946).

Peter Lawford would later play the part of a twin who assumes his murdered brother's life in the dramady One More Time (1970) co-starring Sammy Davis, Jr. and directed by Jerry Lewis.

You'll notice Perry Blackwell briefly at the beginning of the film at the organ in Edie's bar. Ms. Blackwell is known for her comic scene in Pillow Talk. A pianist and singer, the performer has made Dead Ringer her last film to date.

25 Christmas Movies/Winter Movies

Orson Welles, Internet Star?

CMBA Film Passion 101 Blogathon: Hit the Deck (1955)

Classic Movie Tribute from TV Show "Moonlighting"

A Student Project Gone Wrong

Louisiana Purchase (1941) - Bob Hope in a Political Comedy

Alexander the Great (1956) - Richard Burton Stars

Framing a Movie: The Clock (1945)

Christmas Movie Blogathon: We're No Angels (1955)

Dueling Divas: Ella vs. Olga in Bells Are Ringing (1960)

How to Marry a Milllioniare (1953) - Grable, Bacall, Monroe in a Fashion Show RomCom

"Lucy Hunts Uranium"& It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Peter Lawford's Lesson in Perseverance and Risk-Taking

Framing a Movie: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Dear Brigitte (1965) - James Stewart and Billy Mumy in a Family Comedy

A Million Pound Note (1954) with Gregory Peck

Living It Up (1954) - A Martin-Lewis Comedy

When A Movie Interrupts Your Life

Wizard of Oz Homage in Knight and Day (2010)

Dead Ringer (1964) - Bette Davis Plays Twins