Reviews

Think about it. Yogi Bear is a free spirit who chafes at the rules and regulations of his limited world, and yet enjoys the comforts it offers. His swiping of picnic baskets is less to satisfy hunger than to thumb his nose at the "establishment", personified by Ranger Smith. His appearance on TV in the early 60's was fortuitous, as it coincided with the start of the Beatles' career and the beginning of the hippie movement. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Yogi wearing love beads and carrying a "Make Love, Not War" sign. LOL Trouble with Hanna-Barbera, though, is once they had a good thing going, they didn't know when to stop. After the success of Yogi, they churned out numerous, inferior copies: "Wally Gator", "Magilla Gorilla", "The Hair Bear Bunch", etc. Originality was not their forte.

KATE & ALLIE is one of the truly intellegent and mature sitcoms--an oxymoron?--on TV. As a New Yorker in love with my adopted city, I particularly appreciate the somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere of the program, especially in that cramped Greenwich Village apartment. Every week, the show would begin with a prolog with the characters actually filmed in the city. But most of all, I'm impressed with how Susan Saint James had matured as an actress. Her earlier TV characterizations as Peggy in THE NAME OF THE GAME and Sally in McMILLAN AND WIFE were of one-dimensional bimbos, but her portrayal of Kate McArdle is a well-rounded depiction, with shadings and nuances. She made Kate a real human being, one that could be seen any day in the subway or supermarket.

Late in her life, Irene Dunne gave an interview in which she said that

she hated the character of Vinnie Day the most of any that she had

played; claimed that the character was "unbelievably rattle-brained".

It's true that virtually all the characters come off as cartoonish, with

the exception of the four sons, who are refreshingly natural. I like the movie primarily for the beautiful art direction and costume

design, accurately reflecting upper-class New York society. This is a

theme that has interested me for many years. In this aspect, LIFE WITH

FATHER has not dated, although it has in its acting and dir

So it takes liberties with facts. So it's jingoistic. Big deal! I adore it for its depiction of turn-of-the-(20th}century New York, especially its theater, which has fascinated me for years. And it has the breath-taking performance of Jimmy Cagney in the title role; he's absolutely elecrifying in the musical numbers. If some scenes are mawkish, well, I think that can be forgiven.

This movie, above all others, make me so proud to be an American.

There has been so much hoopla over Marilyn Monroe in this film

(personally, I detest the deification of actors, singers, etc.), that it

is too easy to overlook the performances of two supporting actresses:

Evelyn Keyes (Helen Sherman) and Marguerite Chapman (Miss Morris, the

secretary). Both are such masters of deadpan humor, that they virtually

steal the picture from Monroe. Billy Wilder himself disliked the film; the censorship of the time

prevented Richard Sherman and the girl upstairs from having an affair,

as Wilder believed they would. If the movie were remade today, I'm sure

there would be graphic nudity and sex which would definately NOT enhance

t

In recent years as I watched the innumerable photo-ops of the late Princess Diana waving dully and smiling stupidly as she accepted nosegays from schoolchildren, I couldn't help but think of Audrey Hepburn in an identical role in ROMAN HOLIDAY. What a natural! She played the part of a princess with such unforced grace and charm that it seemed she was born for the role. And how easily she changed from a regal monarch to a fun-loving girl cavorting about Rome with her new friend, Joe, perfectly played by Gregory Peck. No American director has been able to film love scenes as convincingly as William Wyler (see FUNNY GIRL and WUTHERING HEIGHTS, e. g.), and here, the developing love between Peck and Hepburn is flawless. If the ending is bittersweet, at least both characters matured from the experience. Maybe Princess Di should have cut loose and run around free for a while, but with this information age, she probably would have been instantly recognized and tailed by papparizzi with far less finesse than Peck and Hepburn.

I fell in love with WINGS the first time I saw it, and not just for the

impressive aerial footage. I found that the bond of camaraderie between

Jack Powell (Charles "Buddy" Rogers) and David Armstrong (Richard Arlen)

to be genuinely sincere, even transcending their feelings for the women

in their lives. David's death in Jack's arms blows me away every time I

see it. Also, I feel that Clara Bow was miscast. Her grotesque hairdo and makeup

definately do not suggest the girl-next-door. At the end of the movie,

the dialogue shows that both Jack and Mary had matured from their

experiences in war, but there was nothing in either Bow's appearance or

performance to indic

I am vociferally anti-smoking, but that final scene where Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes at once, then gives one to Bette Davis as the Max Steiner score soars on the soundtrack never fails to bring tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat. I understand that viewers of that time were similarly affected; the gesture became a fad between lovers for some time