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Today is Vincent Price's 105th birthday. I have only seen four of his pictures, but since one of them is widely regarded as one of finest films noir of all time (and features one of my favourite actors, Dana Andrews), I thought I would tell you a little bit about it for this week's «Film Friday.» Directed by Otto Preminger, Laura (1944) opens in New York with the discovery of the facially disfigured body of the beautiful and highly successful advertising executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), murdered by a shotgun blast to the face, inside the doorway of her apartment. Police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) interviews each of the suspects: Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), an imperious society columnist and Laura's possessive mentor; Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), Laura's weak-willed playboy fiancé; and Ann Treadwell (Judith Anderson), Laura's socialite aunt, who is in love with Shelby. Mark also questions Laura's loyal housekeeper, Bessie Clary (Dorothy ...

This week's «Film Friday« is a very special one: not only is it the first day of the year and the first «Film Friday» of the year, but it is also Dana Andrews' birthday. So, to celebrate all of this, I am bringing you what is arguably the most important film of Andrews' career, which also serves as a way to wish you a happy new year. May this be the best year of our lives. Directed by William Wyler, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) follows three World War II veterans — Army Sergeant Al Stephenson (Fredric March), decorated Army Air Force Captain Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), and sailor Homer Parish (Harold Russell) — as they try to readjust to civilian life after meeting and bonding while flying to their midwestern hometown of Boone City. Al is a bank loan officer with a comfortable home and a loving family: wife Milly (Myrna Loy), and teenage children Peggy (Teresa Wright) and Rob (Michael Hall). Fred is a former soda jerk from the wrong side of the tracks who married hi...

This week on «Film Friday,» I bring you a film that had its unofficial premiere exactly 74 years and 2 days ago. This also happens to be one of the greatest comedies of all time. Theatrical release poster Directed by Howard Ha wks, Ball of Fire (1941) tells the story of Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper), a young linguistics professor who is overseeing the writing of an encyclopedia of all human knowledge, which he and his seven older colleagues have been working on for years. Realizing that his section on modern American slang is outdated and requires further research, Bertram invites several people from different backgrounds to take part in a slang seminar, including a sexy nightclub performer named «Sugarpuss» O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). Unbeknownst to Bertram, Sugarpuss is on the run from the police, who wanted to question her about her her gangster boyfriend, Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews). Looking  for a place to hide, Sugarpuss takes refuge in the house where the professors li...