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This week on «Film Friday,» I'm celebrating Peter Lawford's 93th birthday, which was on Wednesday, by telling you a little bit about one of my favourite films of his. Directed by Charles Walters, Good News (1947) open in 1927 as the pretentious Pat McLellan (Patricia Marshall) arrives at Tait College to begin her studies. Her arrival causes quite a stir on campus and she wins the immediate adoration of all the male students, including Tommy Marlowe (Peter Lawford), the captain of the school's football team. Instantly smitten, Tommy tries to win her heart, but Pat deliberately resists his advances, pursuing instead Peter Van Dyne III (Robert Strickland) simply because he comes from a wealthy family. Undeterred, Tommy resolves to learn French to be able to converse with Pat in her preferred language. In order to achieve his goal, he enlists the help of fellow student and part-time school librarian Connie Lane (June Allyson), who despises Pat and is secretly in love with Tom...

In 1940, up-and-coming Broadway star Gene Kelly was offered the lead role in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's new musical Pal Joey , based on the eponymous novel by John O'Hara about an ambitious and manipulative small-time nightclub performer. Opening at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Christmas Day of that year, the show brought Gene his best reviews up to that date. For instance, John Martin of The New York Times wrote of him: «A tap-dancer who can characterize his routines and turn them into an integral element of an imaginative theatrical whole would seem to be pretty close, indeed, to unique.» One of Gene's performances in Pal Joey was attended by established Hollywood star Judy Garland , who asked to meet him after the show. Gene agreed and then accompanied Judy and her entourage, which included her mother Ethel and several press agents, to dinner at the newly-opened Copacabana nightclub, at 10 East 60th Street. They sang and danced until 3 a.m., after which Gene ...

Although I have already celebrated Grace Kelly's 86th birthday with an  article written for The Wonderful Grace Kelly Blogathon , I wanted to write about another one of her films today. So, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you what I believe was either the first or second Grace Kelly film I have seen, which also happens to be one of my personal favorites. Original release poster Directed  by Charles Walters, High Society (1956) revolves around the wedding plans of ice-cold socialite Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly), who is marrying her stiff suitor George Kittredge (John Lund) at her family's estate in Newport, Rhode Island. Tracy's ex-husband, millionaire songwriter C. K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby), is helding a jazz festival that same day, using his neighboring home as a rehearsal hall for special guest Louis Armstrong. When Tracy hears Dexter play the song he wrote especially for her, she goes to his home and accuses him of setting up the festival to disrup...