GOD'S GIFT TO WOMEN (1931)

 

This Warner Brothers trifle, directed by Michael Curtiz, has the unlikely premise that a marginally attractive, totally uncharismatic gentleman with the equally unlikely name of Toto Duryea (Frank Fay) is the reigning playboy of Paris whom all the women find completely irresistible. However, this paragon of masculine perfection finds he has met his match when he falls in love with an American girl, played by Laura La Plante, who doesn't return his interest. To make his dilemma even worse, Mr. Duryea's' doctor has warned him that if he doesn't give up chasing women, his heart is likely to give out. 

There are very few laughs in this pre-code photoplay that centers on the lives of the idle, and not terribly interesting, rich. This is my one and only experience of actor Frank Fay, so it may not be fair to judge the man's capabilities on this one picture. The only thing I know about him is that he was once married to Barbara Stanwyck.

 

The main reason to give notice to this film is the presence of Louise Brooks in a supporting role as one of the women in Duryea's stable of admirers. The beautiful Miss Brooks had recently returned from Europe after starring in two now-classic German silent films for director G. W. Pabst: PANDORA'S BOX and DIARY OF A LOST GIRL, both in 1929. She also had completed her first sound film: PRIX DE BEAUTE (1930) for director Rene Clair in France. She was hoping to return to Hollywood to find renewed respect and opportunity. However, she was only able to find minor roles in minor films. She is luminous in her brief scenes, and it makes me sad to wonder what might have been if she had been given the important films she deserved. Also in the cast is the marvelous Joan Blondell, always brings quality and heart to any film she appears in, minor or otherwise.

And now, let's celebrate Louise Brooks!

Brooksie takes center stage.

Louise Brooks - God's Gift to Women: Original Trailer (1931)

PHANTOM THREAD (2017)

 

The most fastidious, unlikable man who ever lived meets and marries a woman who turns out to be even sicker than he is. And they live happily ever after.

Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Reynolds Woodcock, a successful, wealthy dress designer in England during the 1950s. He is assisted by his sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville), with whom he has a close relationship. Neither of them has ever married, But Reynolds has been involved with a series of women who share his life and work until he grows tired of them. While on holiday, he meets a young waitress, Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps). She enters into Reynolds' orbit much like his previous women, but she eventually finds life within his strict routine too difficult. And she finds a very innovative way of dealing with it.

The film was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson who previously directed Day-Lewis in THERE WILL BE BLOOD. These two collaborations between director and star couldn't be more different from each other.

The operative phrase to describe PHANTOM THREAD is low key. Slow moving, with a somewhat somniferous effect, there isn't all that much story to speak of. Rather, this is a perfectly realized character study of three extremely strange people and how their lives intersect during the course of the film. I must admit I found myself beginning to nod off in certain places. But things definitely start happening in the last one-third of the movie and I became totally fascinated. Excellent, controlled performances by all three of the stars. Gorgeous locations and art design. Lush musical score by Jonny Greenwood. Absolutely worth seeing.

MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA (1947)

 

Talk about dysfunctional families.

MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA tells the story of the last days of the wealthy and powerful Mannon family of New England in the days following the Civil War. Between patriarch Ezra Manning (Raymond Massey), his wife, Christine (Katina Paxinou), their daughter, Lavinia (Rosalind Russell) and their son, Orin (Michael Redgrave), there are more than enough dark secrets, concealed crimes and truly perverse family relationships to make even Tennessee Williams blush and look away.

The screenplay was adapted from Eugene O'Neil's play, which in turn was based on the Greek legend of Oresteia by Aeschylus. The director was Dudley Nichols. Although this intense and somewhat overwrought film was not a popular or financial success, it did win Oscar nominations for Rosalind Russell for Best Actress and Michael Redgrave for Best Actor. Russell won a Golden Globe and Redgrave won a National Board of Review award. 

Here is a small sample of the dialogue as spoken by Orin Manning late in the film:

"I hate the daylight. It's like an accusing eye. We've renounced the day in which normal people live. Or rather it's renounced us. I find artificial light more appropriate for my work. Man's light, not God's. Man's feeble striving to understand himself, to exist for himself in the darkness. A symbol of his life: a lamp burning out in a room of waiting shadows."

Also starring Leo Genn, Henry Hull, Kirk Douglas and Nancy Coleman.

A SUMMER PLACE (1959)

 

I love to revisit this movie that played in theaters when I was only eight years old. Not that I ever would have been allowed to go and see it! Well, hang on a second and I'll correct myself; my parents took us to the drive-ins quite often and my sister and I watched a few movies that featured, shall we say, slightly risqué content. ANATOMY OF A MURDER, also released in 1959, comes to mind. Not to mention THE BRAMBLE BUSH (1960), a hot mess of adultery and corruption starring Richard Burton. Maybe my folks were more liberal minded than I always thought. Or maybe they just didn't investigate film plots as diligently as they might have.

Eventually, A SUMMER PLACE would play on television enough times in my young life for me to practically memorize the dialogue. And, of course, the beautiful theme song from the film, composed by Max Steiner and recorded by Percy Faith, would play on our transistor radios all through 1960 and beyond, becoming the dreamy background music for our own adolescent, and pre-adolescent romances. I look at this film now with a sense of nostalgia, because 1959 was indeed another world. Social and sexual mores have changed completely. But this was still within my living experience, unlike the films of the 1930s and 1940s. It's a totally different kind of nostalgia to reflect on my own young world and a world I never lived in. The simple fact that this once-shocking movie could play, uncut, on TV in the 1960s is evidence of how rapidly social mores were changing in my young life. And yet, even when I see this movie now, I remember how and why it was considered to be shocking. Young people seeing this for the first time in the present age would probably find it hilarious. But I could be wrong.

The story involves two generations of illicit lovers. Ken Jorgensen (Richard Eagan) and his wife, Helen (Constance Ford), are bringing their teenaged daughter, Molly (Sandra Dee), for a summer vacation at a resort on Pine Island off the coast of Maine. The resort belongs to Bart Hunter (Arthur Kennedy) and his wife, Sylvia (Dorothy McGuire), the parents of young Johnny (Troy Donahue). The resort had once been Bart's family estate, but he has allowed it to fall into ruin while losing the family fortune. He and Sylvia now have to rent rooms in order to survive. Ken and Sylvia had been young lovers many years ago on the island, but Sylvia chose to marry the wealthy Bart instead of the working-class Ken. Lonely and broken hearted, Ken, who eventually became successful and wealthy, married Helen on the rebound. Both married couples are unhappy and frustrated.

Once reunited, Ken and Sylvia can't help renewing their love affair. At the same time, Molly and Johnny are immediately smitten with each other. Molly's mother, a cold, shrewish woman who disdains any kind of human sexual feeling, warns Molly to keep away from Johnny, while Ken tries to be understanding and not make his daughter be afraid of her sexuality. After a time, the affair between Ken and Sylvia is exposed and the two couples are divorced. Ken and Sylvia are married, while the two teenagers are attending private schools miles apart and are forbidden by Helen to see each other. The two teens nevertheless continue to communicate and meet in secret. Both are sickened by what has transpired with their parents.

Johnny and Molly become lovers and find themselves expecting a child. Unable to find anyone to marry them, they go to Pine Island, hoping Bart, now in the final throes of alcoholism, will help them. When he refuses, they go to Ken and Sylvia, who welcome them. Sylvia tells Johnny: "We live in a glass house. We're not about to throw any stones." After getting married, the two teenagers return to Pine Island for their honeymoon.

While social mores, certainly those involving unexpected pregnancies, are much different today, I think the sincerity of the story and especially the heartfelt performances by the talented cast of actors will be able to affect modern audiences. The film was directed by Delmer Daves and was based on Sloan Wilson's best-selling novel of 1958. Harry Stradling provided the sumptuous color cinematography.

Richard Eagan, an actor with a forceful, masculine presence, and Dorothy McGuire, possessing a calm, reserved demeanor, make an intriguing match as the star-crossed adult lovers. I do find it slightly hard to believe that these two people, who have torn apart two families by their passionate affair, seem to fall so easily into a comfortable middle-aged marriage, complete with twin beds, discussing the runaway libidos of their children with great trepidation. Still, the actors have strong chemistry between them. And they certainly find a romantic house to live in. The producers used a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright, located in Carmel-by-the-Sea in California as the couple's home. The movie slows down long enough for Sylvia to give Molly, and the rest of us, a guided tour.

Top dramatic acting honors go to Arthur Kennedy as the self-pitying, alcoholic Bart, a man tortured by his own failures as a husband and by his wife's betrayal, and also to the marvelous Constance Ford who plays Helen. Ford was an expert at playing hard, cold, vindictive women, even though she was a very beautiful and desirable women herself. She easily steals any scene she happens to be in, including when she slaps Molly and knocks her right into a Christmas tree. 

The real attractions for moviegoers at the time were the fresh young stars Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue, both visions of almost impossible blonde beauty. Donahue, born in 1936, was a little too old to be playing a teenager, and had already been serving an extensive apprenticeship as an actor in films and television, finally making a major impression in a brief scene in IMITATION OF LIFE (1959). He would be one of the most popular stars in Hollywood for the next few years, but his career would start to falter in the late 1960s as his acting limitations became evident. The years that followed would prove increasingly difficult, both personally and professionally. But Donahue fought his way back and became quite the busy actor in the 1980s and 1990s. He passed away in 2001 at the age of 65.

Sandra Dee, born as Alexandra Zuck, had been a successful child model before she broke into films in UNTIL THEY SAIL (1957). Her progress was rapid, and in 1959 she appeared in no less than five major films, two of which, GIDGET and IMITATION OF LIFE are also considered to be classics. There is a dispute regarding her birth year. Officially, she was born in 1942. But according to her son, Dodd Darin, whose father was singer/actor Bobby Darin, Dee was actually born in 1944. This would make her fourteen or fifteen years old in these films of 1959, and only sixteen when she eloped with Bobby Darin in 1960. Whatever the truth is, Dee was a gifted and sensitive actress. Like Donahue, she was a major star for the next several years. Truthfully, I believe her career peaked in 1959. By the late 1960s, she, too, began to struggle. Unfortunately, her life proved even more troubled than Donahue's. She worked only sporadically in the 1970s and eventually went into seclusion, suffering from bulimia and alcoholism. She attempted a resurgence of her career in the early 1990s but was unable to make much progress. She passed away in 2005 from kidney disease. After all these years, and in spite of her difficult life, Sandra Dee remains a beguiling image of innocent beauty, an enduring symbol of that other world that I still remember and can always return to when I visit A SUMMER PLACE.

A Summer Place 1959 Official Trailer Sandra Dee, Richard Egan Movie HD

A Summer Place (1959, theme)

YOUR MONEY OR YOUR WIFE (1960)

 Life can sometimes be difficult for those of us who are "completist" collectors. We are called upon to endure an excruciating series of bad films and TV shows in order to get our grubby claws on the various forms of physical media featuring our favorite stars and directors. The weird thing about this lifestyle is that the thrill of finding some obscure item or other, oftentimes after years of searching, is as important and rewarding as the item itself. When a collector is driven to complete the filmography of a beloved actor/actress/director, all that matters is having something on the shelf, in its proper order, naturally.

In the case of my admittedly pathological obsession with Barbara Steele, I may never reach my goal of owning all of her film and TV appearances. It's not because her body of work is so extensive, because, God bless her, it really isn't. The problem is that most of her films were low budget projects made in several European countries. Some of them are so obscure, they don't seem to exist anywhere, certainly not in any form of commercial home video release in the United States. 

Still, the search continues. I mean, we all need a hobby, right? 

I was able to find a good bootleg copy of this brainless, seriously unfunny comedy that was released by the Rank Organization in 1960. This was Barbara's fourth and final film for the studio before they sold her contract to 20th Century-Fox in Hollywood. The cover of the DVD-R is purposely deceptive in using a still photo of the actress from Fellini's 8 1/2 on the cover, as the goal is to attract her fans. As it says on the back cover: "Here's a movie for Barbara Steele fans. Her role is not large, but it's important to the plot--and she looks gorgeous!"

The stars of YOUR MONEY OR YOUR WIFE are Veteran English actors Donald Sinden and Peggy Cummins. Miss Cummins is remembered for her iconic role in the classic Noir, GUN CRAZY (1950) and also to horror fans for NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1958). Sinden and Cummins play a middle class married couple with the unlikely names of Pelham and Gay Butterworth. Gay's wealthy aunt has died without a will, which means that Gay will very likely inherit a lot of money. However, her husband unfortunately finds the will hidden away in an old desk. The will complicates matters beyond all comprehension, and no inheritance will be forthcoming unless the couple gets divorced. Not wanting to give up their domestic bliss, the couple tries renting out rooms in the rather large house in order to make money and pay off their considerable debts. This brings a succession of quirky characters into the film. Chaos ensues, complete with an endless string of physical comedy bits and personality clashes, none of them generating much laughter. Steele gets to play a seductive young model named Juliet Frost, who catches the eye and interest of Pelham Butterworth. 

As the plot develops, the couple indeed end up getting divorced after Gay finds Pelham in a compromising position with the flirtatious Juliet. This means she gets the inheritance, and SURPRISE, the estranged couple find their way back to each other's arms as the film ends. Any viewer who is still awake at this point will certainly share in the joyous conclusion.

It's hard to believe anyone at Rank thought this movie would make audiences laugh. It's a real disappointment, especially considering the talented players involved. Sinden, Cummins, and all the various supporting players give their best efforts, but they're all let down by a dull script and unimaginative direction.

As for La Steele, she is indeed gorgeous and shows lots of "femme fatale" potential that, sadly, was not explored very often in her subsequent film career. Her next film assignment, after reporting to Fox in Hollywood, would be a loan-out to an Italian director named Mario Bava for a little horror flick called LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO, later to be known as BLACK SUNDAY. That would send her on a trajectory into the Gothic horror movement, a movement that she would come to symbolize. But in this little English comedy, she demonstrates her ability to be sexy and contemporary, possessing a confident style and stunning beauty that could have enlivened many other cinematic genres. She is without a doubt the best thing, indeed the only thing, that makes this silly comedy worth watching and owning. Yes, the search was worth it!!

SPRING 2025 FILM CLASS: THE FILMS OF WILLIAM WYLER

 

William Wyler

My most recent non-credit film class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Illinois here in Champaign-Urbana was yet another enjoyable deep dive into classic cinema. Our instructor, film scholar and critic Chuck Koplinski, offered us eight films directed by the legendary William Wyler. Mr. Wyler is reasonably familiar to me, and I've already seen, and indeed own copies of, five of the movies Chuck selected. But that didn't take away the sheer pleasure of watching the movies again with a classroom filled with like-minded folks and engaging in discussions. As usual, our instructor provided us with fascinating information about each film during his introductions and in his remarks following the screenings. Here are the films we watched.

DODSWORTH (1936)  This is one of the films I hadn't seen. It stars Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor and David Niven. It's a drama about the dissolution of a marriage. Samuel Dodsworth (Huston) retires from a successful business and finds that he and his wife (Chatterton) no longer want the same things in life. While he is content to enjoy a down-to-earth retirement, his wife wants more excitement and a more sophisticated social life. She is also unwilling to act her age. The conflicts in their personalities become evident while they're on a trip to Europe and eventually they divorce and go in opposite directions. This is an engaging drama with a brilliant cast of actors. I'd only seen Miss Chatterton in one other film, and I was very impressed by her screen presence. Mary Astor is equally impressive as the woman Samuel finds himself falling for as his marriage deteriorates. 

WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)  Another film from what many consider to be THE greatest year for the movies. Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Flora Robson and Donald Crisp. Based on the novel by Emily Bronte. I'd seen this movie before, the most recent time being late in 2024. It's never been a favorite of mine, although I can appreciate the acting talents of everyone in the cast. It always baffled me that so many people consider this to be a great romantic story. To me, it's a dark story about obsession and revenge. I've never read the novel, but from what I learned in the class discussion, the film only covers about half of the book. I liked the film more with this viewing and will definitely rewatch it at some point.

THE WESTERNER (1940)  Starring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Doris Davenport, Fred Stone and Paul Hurst. Smaller roles are filled by Forrest Tucker, Chill Wills and Dana Andrews. This is a film I hadn't seen before, and it was an enjoyable watch. Cooper plays drifter Cole Harden who is falsely accused of stealing a horse and is brought before dishonest Judge Roy Bean (Brennan). Most of the film's dynamics involve the complicated relationship between Cole and the judge, and Cooper and Brennan are both perfect for their roles. Cooper underplays his character, as he generally does, and Brennan won his third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)  Chuck, our instructor, confessed that he's not much of a Bette Davis fan, but he likes her in this movie. I, on the other hand, am a confirmed Bette Davis FREAK, but have always found this particular movie difficult to like. That's probably because Miss Davis plays what can only be described as the most totally despicable role of her career. Based on a play written by Lillian Hellman, the story takes place in the Old South. Davis plays Regina Hubbard Giddens, an ambitious, ruthless woman who is joining forces with her brothers, Ben (Charles Dingle) and Oscar (Carl Benton Reid) to invest in bringing a cotton mill to their town. By taking advantage of cheap labor, they expect to become wealthy. They need money from Regina's husband, Horace (Herbert Marshall), but he is reluctant to go along with the plan, which makes his unhappy marriage to Regina even worse than before. As the three siblings focus on getting rich above every other human consideration, they even plot against each other, causing misery for the whole family. This is not a pleasant film to sit through, although the entire cast is brilliant. Also featuring Teresa Wright, Patricia Collinge, Richard Carlson, Jesse Grayson and Dan Duryea. Regina had been played successfully on Broadway by Talullah Bankhead. Bette Davis and William Wyler disagreed on how the character should be played and there was a lot of tension between them. This was their third and final film together.

THE HEIRESS (1949)  Starring Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson and Miriam Hopkins, this film was based on a play adapted from the 1880 novel Washington Square by Henry James. Miss de Havilland plays the title character, Catherine Sloper, an unsophisticated, socially awkward woman who is dominated by her unloving father, played by Richardson. Her Aunt (Hopkins) tries to encourage Catherine to be more outgoing and try to find a suitable husband. Catherine finds herself being pursued by the handsome young Morris Townsend (Clift) and falls deeply in love with him. But her father doesn't believe Townsend loves Catherine for herself, but for her money. Tragedy ensues. This is another heavy drama that is somewhat difficult to watch, even though the acting is incredible. Miss de Havilland won her second Oscar for Best Actress.

DETECTIVE STORY (1951)  An intense drama with a stellar cast: Kirk Douglas, Eleanor Parker, William Bendix, Cathy O'Donnell, George Macready, Lee Grant, Joseph Wiseman, Gladys George, Horace McMahon, Frank Faylen and Gerald Mohr. The story focuses on one day in a New York City police precinct. Kirk Douglas plays Detective Jim McLeod, an angry, violent, complicated man. In the course of this single day, as he is attempting to bring a criminal to justice, he is forced to confront a terrible secret about his wife's past which connects her to the criminal. Douglas gives a raw, unflinching performance, perfectly matched by Eleanor Parker as his wife. This is one of Wyler's greatest achievements. 

CARRIE (1952)  If THE HEIRESS and THE LITTLE FOXES hadn't been enough to put the entire class into a state of depression, then CARRIE pushed us all over the edge. This is another movie I'd never seen. Based on the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser, the film stars Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, Miriam Hopkins and Eddie Albert. Jones plays Carrie Meeber, a girl from a poor family who goes to Chicago to work in a sweatshop while living with her sister. From these humble beginnings, and through a series of bad choices, Carrie somehow survives a doomed relationship with a married man and goes on to become a famous stage actress. The plot may sound somewhat romantic, but, in truth, it's about a man (Olivier) whose life is destroyed by his obsession with Carrie. The ending is quite downbeat, and the film was not a hit with audiences. Wyler wasn't pleased with the casting of Jennifer Jones and the making of the film was not a positive experience for anyone involved. But I always liked Jones, and I like her performance here. Olivier is brilliant and so is Miriam Hopkins as his cold, hateful wife. 

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (1961)  This incredible, groundbreaking film came about because Wyler wanted to do a remake, of sorts, of his earlier film THESE THREE (1936). It had been based on Lillian Hellman's notorious play THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, which involved allegations concerning a Lesbian relationship between two schoolteachers. The production code standards of the time wouldn't allow any discussion or depiction of homosexuality, so the story was changed to involve two women who were involved with the same man. The women were played by Merle Oberon and Miriam Hopkins, and the man was played by Joel McCrea. Young Bonita Granville gave a standout performance as a vicious student whose lies about the three adults set the drama in motion. With the relaxation of censorship that was developing in the modern era, Wyler decided to adapt Hellman's play as it was written. Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine were cast as the schoolteachers and James Garner as Hepburn's fiancé. Karen (Hepburn) and Martha (MacLaine), close friends since college, have achieved their dream of opening a private girl's school in a picturesque rural location. When a troubled, lying student, Mary Tilford (Karen Balkin), accuses the two women of being lovers, the school closes and their reputations are ruined. As the two women try to figure out where their lives are going to take them, Martha confesses that she does have romantic feelings for Karen. The story ends in tragedy as Martha takes her own life. The depiction of the gay character may seem regressive to present day audiences, but it was quite progressive for the time. Martha is indeed a tragic character, but also completely sympathetic. And there is no rejection of her coming from Karen, even though the romantic feelings are not returned. In an interesting casting choice, Miriam Hopkins returns, this time as Martha's aunt, a pretentious actress who also teaches at the school. Veteran actress Fay Bainter, in her final film, is a standout as the grandmother of the vicious Mary. The only negative aspect in the movie is the poor performance by Karen Balkin, who almost seems to be playing the role as a parody. This is a real shame, as the character is central to the dramatic development of the story. But here's a good word for another child actress in the film, the marvelous Veronica Cartwright, who brings a lot of intensity in a supporting role.

Another film class completed. And what have I learned? Probably not nearly enough, but I plan to keep at it. Chuck announced that his Fall class will be The Films of Barbara Stanwyck. If the fates allow, I'll be there in my usual spot. Stay tuned...

 

Notes From the Movie Room April 27, 2025

 

🎬 There have been only three times in my life when I can remember feeling a cold chill up my spine when finishing the last page of a novel, and all were in recent years. The first time was when I read the 1962 novel FAIL SAFE, written by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. The second time was FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON, the 1966 novel by Daniel Keyes.

The third time, just a few days ago, was when I reached the last page of DOUBLE INDEMNITY, the 1943 crime novel by James M. Cain, which was originally published as an eight-part serial in Liberty Magazine in 1936. I've seen the classic 1944 film adaptation many times, and it's one of those movies that can be watched and enjoyed over and over, even though the story holds no more surprises. And I was aware that the screenplay by novelist Raymond Chandler had been altered considerably for the movie. But I had no idea what was awaiting me in the last chapter of the book. No spoilers will be forthcoming. Please buy the novel and read it for yourself.

Several years ago, I picked up a used copy of a James M. Cain three-novel compilation featuring THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1934), DOUBLE INDEMNITY and MILDRED PIERCE (1941), all of which were made into successful Films Noir. I had already read MILDRED PIERCE, which also differed quite a bit from the 1944 film. It was much more sordid than the slickly made Warner Brothers production, which was primarily a star vehicle for the legendary Joan Crawford. In my experience, books are usually superior to the film adaptations, although there are exceptions. When I started reading DOUBLE INDEMNITY, the main characters were all being portrayed inside my head by Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson and Jean Heather. The narrator had MacMurray's distinctive voice. But as I got involved in the twists and turns of the story, especially in its last stages, the cinematic images began to fade, and I was no longer preoccupied with the movie version. Was the book better than the movie? I have to say yes. But that takes nothing away from the movie. The novel's ending could certainly have been adapted into a powerful movie sequence. But considering the prevailing standards and audience expectations of 1944, I doubt if it would have worked. Still, it's fascinating to wonder what might have been. Next up: I plan to dive back into the dark world of James M. Cain with THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. Let's see how far I have to get into the book before Lana Turner and John Garfield are no longer smoldering inside of my head.

I've never seen the 1968 film CHARLY, the adaptation of FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON, but I would like to. I did pick up the Criterion Collection release of the 1964 adaptation of FAIL SAFE, directed by Sidney Lumet. I didn't expect the icy chill I experienced at the end of the novel. But I was wrong. It came back, intensified beyond belief. Truly one of the most terrifying cinematic experiences of my life. Highly recommended.