The V.I.P.s (1963)

Set in the V.I.P. section of a terminal at Heathrow, characters and their stories interconnect as each try to reach a highly significant destination. Grounded by fog for an indeterminable amount of time, the central characters Frances Andros (Elizabeth Taylor) and international playboy Marc Champselle (Louis Jourdan) worry over the note that Frances has left her husband, millionaire Paul Andros (Richard Burton). After thirteen years of marriage, Frances is leaving Paul because he no longer seems to need her. She is eloping with Marc who is much needier for her affection and truly loves her for her and not her money, which she will also be leaving behind.


Film producer Max Buda (Orson Welles) must leave London by midnight in order to avoid paying hefty taxes from the profit of his film work. Taking his newest protégée Gloria Gritti (Elsa Martinelli) with him, he will need to make serious sacrifices to his art and his personal life to avoid paying out.

Les Mangrum (Rod Taylor), an Australian businessman has just taken a huge risk by writing a bad check to cover for the stock he bought in order for his company not to be bought out. Hoping to get to his board meeting in New York and get the money to cover the bad check before it goes through, Mangum is lost when his plane is grounded and his backers in New York refuse to wire the needed funds. His secretary, Miss Mead (Maggie Smith), is the soul of efficiency and discretion. Secretly in love with Mangrum, she does what it takes to save Mangrum's company.

Lastly, there is The Duchess of Brighton (Margaret Rutherford), who is on her way to Florida to take a job which will pay her enough money to save her ancestral home which she is loathe to leave. Unfamiliar with planes, she is on a mixture of uppers and downers given to her by friends to help her get through the travel.



This is the third film I have seen with the Taylor-Burton pairing and by far pales in comparison to the other two. Lacking the powerful dialogue and action I saw in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Taming of the Shrew, I had the sense they were simply going through the motions. It’s rumored that Taylor asked for this role specifically because she did not want Sophia Loren (who director Anthony Asquith wanted) near Burton. However, it’s just as likely that the box office draw of Taylor and Burton directly after the Cleopatra debacle both on and off the screen convince Asquith to pair them up.

However, that does not mean the movie is not interesting, it’s definitley worth a watch to see the comedy relief provided by Welles and Rutherford. Personally, I could watch Rutherford all day, she has a very unique way of speaking and acting that I find highly amusing.



Tonight on TCM! Ann Dvorak!
Scarface (1932) A murderous thug shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life. Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley.

S & G: Irony

Stars! They're just like us! Game edition.

They play the always popular Backgammon!

They gamble!
They try to get rid of their bone pile!

Blue 42! Hut!
Back to Backgammon!


Shuffleboard!!


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Funny Girl (1968)
Comedienne Fanny Brice fights to prove that she can be the greatest star and find romance even though she isn't pretty. Cast: Barbra Streisand, Omar Sharif, Kay Medford, Anne Francis Dir: William Wyler

Camera Shot!

Robert Montgomery and George Hurrell.

Ruth Chatterton most likely on the set of Frisco Jenny.


Burton and Taylor on the set of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Director Clarence Brown on the set of Anna Karenina with Garbo and March.

On the set of Gone With the Wind.

Herbert Brenon and Alla Nazimova.

Orson Welles

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Strange Cargo (1940) Devil's Island escapees are changed forever by a prisoner who thinks he's Jesus.Cast: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Ian Hunter, Peter Lorre Dir: Frank Borzage

Marriage Among the Stars...

Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell

Fredric March and Florence Aldridge

Update: This wonderful couple should be considered the Gold Standard as well. They were married and worked together for 48 years!

Brian Aherne and Joan Fontaine

Gary Merrill and Bette Davis

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor

Whoops! John Gilbert is a two-fer having married both Virginia Bruce and Ina Claire!

Ricky Ricardo and Lucille Ball

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Summer Under the Stars: Glenn Ford

Antony and Cleopatra through the years...

1917: Theda Bara and Thurston Hall (pictured here with Fritz Lieber)


1934: Claudette Colbert and Henry Wilcoxon

1963: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

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King Vidor!

Period Pieces...

My Favorite Actors

William Powell
Obviously due to The Thin Man collection. I also enjoyed him in Fashions of 1934, Libeled Lady, Double Harness, My Man, Godfrey, Life with Father, and Mister Roberts. Having only seen his comedic side, I am unsure if I want to see him play any of his seedier, meaner characters that were a part of his repertoire before The Thin Man. I say this having grown up enjoying Cary Grant as a funny man and then recently seeing him in movies like Suspicion and None But the Lonely Heart. Really good movies, especially Suspicion, but not the Cary Grant I am used to. Betch had range!

John Wayne

John Wayne was a staple in my household growing up. My father, any time John Wayne was or is on TV, will tell me how his father reacted to this scene or that. Most recently was a few days ago when I visited and he was watching North to Alaska. Another movie that is the epitome of how I like my John Wayne. I have seen him in war films like Sands of Iwo Jima, The Green Berets and enjoyed In Harm's Way. I have seen him in Westerns like The Sons of Katie Elder, Eldorado, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. But I prefer John Wayne when he's funny- which is to say, I like it when John Wayne has had enough and goes about fixing the situation...his way. All time favorite film, The Quiet Man. The flashbacks of Sean Thornton's former life and the way he is provoked into breaking the promise he made to himself never to fight again is both poignant and hilarious and culminates into what I think is one of the best fight scenes on film. John Wayne teams up again with Maureen O'Hara in McClintock! my second favorite film of his. He's also delightful in Donovan's Reef.

Claude Rains
I enjoy him best when he co-stars with Bette Davis. My favorite Claude Rains film is Deception. Watching his character, Alexander Hollenius, unravel when his protege cum lover (Christine)continues to lie about her former relationship to a cellist (Karel) whom she thought was killed in the war is fantastic. And then in the end, he is all that is calm and resolute as he tells Christine how he plans to ruin Karel's career. My other favorites are Mr. Skeffington- he plays such a piteous character, and Now, Voyager.

Lionel Barrymore
Most people of my generation were probably introduced to Mr. Potter of It's a Wonderful Life before seeing any of Lionel Barrymore's other work. As far as I can recall, I was and I actually have not seen any of Barrymore's earlier work, beyond Grand Hotel from 1932. I enjoyed him best in You Can't Take It with You. Grandpa Martin Vanderhof is the best grandpa in the world! Possessed of simple wisdom, unrelenting sympathy for the downtrodden and a bit eccentric to boot, this is essentially how I view and enjoy Lionel Barrymore. Other films I enjoyed were Camille and Dinner at Eight.

George Sanders
I was introduced to George's dulcet tones early on via my favorite Disney film The Jungle Book. But it wasn't until this past year that I actually saw George Sanders on film. The movie was All About Eve- I don't think I need to be yet another person to gush about how wonderful this film is. Suffice it to say it is one of the best films out there. George Sanders character Addison DeWitt is a conundrum, you don't know whether to feel sorry for him as he is slightly misrepresented by his association with Eve or glad that in giving his comeuppance to Eve, he gets a little of his own. Either way, George Sanders does unsavory well.
The way he delivers his plans in All About Eve or his advice to Dorian in The Picture of Dorian Grey or menacingly teases the second Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca, in a nonchalant demeanor, gazing not at his quarry but rather taking interest in something going on outside the scene is hallmark Sanders.

Gary Cooper
Two movies: Sergeant York and The Pride of the Yankees. I simply love Gary Cooper's quiet demeanor whether he's earning a medal for bravery or dying young. He shows more passion in The Fountainhead and Meet John Doe, but I prefer simple and slightly funny. That and he was just gorgeous like Cary Grant and Clark Gable.

Clark Gable
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn...about Gone with the Wind. Although Clark Gable is a man's man and delightful settled in his southern debauchery, that movie is too long for technicolor. My favorite movie of Clark Gable's is It Happened One Night. Full of threats, adventure, narrow escapes, and blanket-partitioned hotel rooms known as the "walls of Jericho", there's no better way to fall in love. I love it when Clark Gable is playfully mischevious.

George Brent
Although another great onscreen partner to Bette Davis, my favorite film of his co-stars Myrna Loy in The Rains Came. There isn't anything, in my mind, that is particularly outstanding about George Brent. He doesn't have the humor of William Powell or the sex appeal of Cary Grant but there is something solid about his character. Most of the films I have seen him in, he is the man every woman can rely on. Other good films are In This Our Life, The Great Lie, and Dark Victory.

Cary Grant
I cannot put him down without taking a moment to just drool over how gorgeous and debonair Cary Grant is. Despite the fact that even messy he would look better than me on my best day, despite the fact that the older he got, the oranger he got. Even orange, he was hot. It's hard to say which movie is ultimately my favorite and since there are so many, I won't go into too much detail. My first experience with Cary Grant was Topper. I thought he was charmingly funny in a rascally way and prefer my Cary Grant like that. My top three favorites would have to be Bringing Up Baby (dealing with the wrong leopard- hilarious!), My Favorite Wife (trying not to draw attention to himself after he barges in on what he thinks is his wife having an affair- priceless!), and Arsenic and Old Lace (realizing what exactly his aunts have been up to- signature Grant).
I recently watched Suspicion and it's my second favorite Hitchcock film to Vertigo. I think I was on the edge of my seat throughout most the film because I had never seen that side of Cary Grant before. He was not a gentleman, he was not courageous or witty, or even funny. He was downright scary. Even when the film was over, I wasn't so sure about Johnnie.




Lee Marvin
Paint Your Wagon. Enough said. Ok, maybe not. I mean, there is The Dirty Dozen and Donovan's Reef.

Richard Burton
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I didn't think they could pull it off. They soooo pulled it off. Also enjoyed him in Becket and The Night of the Iguana. Oh, and he's très gorgeous, no?



Tonight on TCM!

7:30 PM
Morris Engel The Indendent (2007)
This documentary explores the life and career of independent filmmaker Morris Engel. Dir: Mary Engel. Followed by movies from director Morris Engel.