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This week on «Film Friday» I bring you the first (and so far only) silent film I ever saw. It is highly implausible and overly melodramatic, but (surprisingly enough) I loved it. Directed by Clarence Brown, A Woman of Affairs (1928) tells the story of Diana Merrick (Greta Garbo), a young British aristocrat in love with Neville Holderness (John Gilbert), to whom she pledged herself when their were children. However, heir plans to marry are thwarted by Neville's father, Sir Morton (Hobart Bosworth), who disapproves of the Merrick family's lifestyle. Hoping to force his son to forget Diana, Sir Morton sends Neville on a business trip to Egypt. After waiting in vain for two years for Neville's return, Diana marries David Furness (John Mack Brown), who is also in love with her, and whom her alcoholic brother, Jeffry (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) worships. During their honeymoon in Paris, they receive a visit from police detectives, which ends with David committing suicide without e...

To celebrate Mickey Rooney's 95th birthday, this week on "Film Friday" I bring you one of his best-remembered films, wherein he gave one of the most endearing performances of his career. Incidentally, this is also the film that made Elizabeth Taylor a star.   Original release poster Directed by Clarence Brown, National Velvet (1944) tells the story of Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor), a 12-year-old girl living in a small 1920s English town with her parents (Donald Crisp and Anne Revere) and her three siblings, Edwina (Angela Lansbury), Malvolia (Juanita Quigley) and Donald (Jackie Jenkins). While walking home from school one day, Velvet meets a mysterious young drifter named Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney), who has come to town in search of the Brown family after finding Mrs. Brown name and address in one of his deceased father's notebooks. As Velvet is talking to Mi, she sees a rambunctious horse being chased by its owner, Mr. Ede (Reginald Owen), and immediately...