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Clara Bow and Lawrence Gray in a promotional photo, circa 1925.  Marie Wilson in a promotional photo, circa 1948.      Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr at a New Year's Eve party in Hollywood in 1939.   Debbie Reynolds in a promotional portrait (1952).    Bette Davis in a promotional photo, circa 1935.    James Cagney and his wife, Billie, at a New Year's Eve party in New York City, in 1939.   Cyd Charisse in a promotional photo (1949).      Mae West in a promotional photo for Paramount Pictures (1936).

For my second Oscar-related «Film Friday» I'm bringing you one of the five Best Picture nominees at the 28th Academy Awards ceremony in March 1956. This also serves to honour Jack Lemmon's 92th birthday, which was on Wednesday. Directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, Mister Roberts (1955) is set aboard the USS Reluctant , where executive officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Douglas A. «Doug» Roberts (Henry Fonda) tries to shield the dispirited crew from the harsh and unpopular captain, Lieutenant Commander Morton (James Cagney). World War II is winding down and Roberts fears he will miss his chance to get into the fighting. He repeatedly asks to be assigned to another ship, but Morton, anxious to use Roberts to expedite his own promotion, refuses to sign any of his transfer requests. Roberts shares his quarters with Ensign Frank Thurlowe Pulver (Jack Lemmon), the laundry and morale officer. Pulver spends most of his time idling in his bunk and avoids the captain at all costs, so mu...

Directed by Roy Del Ruth, Taxi! (1932) begins when veteran cab driver Pop Riley (Guy Kibbee) is forced to abandon his prime soliciting location by a company trying to control the taxi business in New York. While defending himself, Pop shoots and kills one of the company's gang and is sentenced to prison, where he subsequently dies. Some of the independent drivers call a meeting and ask Pop's daughter Sue (Loretta Young) to speak. Hot-tempered Matt Nolan (James Cagney), another independent cabbie, is furious with Sue when, instead of urging the drivers to fight back, she tells them that violence will not be effective. Despite his anger, Matt starts dating Sue and eventually marries her. After their marriage, the couple goes out to a nightclub with their friends Skeets (George E. Stone) and Ruby (Leila Bennett), as well as Matt's younger brother Dan (Ray Cooke). While there, Matt and Sue are insulted by Buck Gerard (David Landau), the man responsible for the attacks on the...

Directed by Michael Curtiz, Captains of the Clouds (1942) follows a group of established bush pilots — Johnny Dutton (Dennis Morgan), «Tiny» Murphy (Alan Hale), «Blimp» Lebec (George Tobias) and «Scrounger» Harris (Reginald Gardiner) — who find that a new pilot, Brian MacLean (James Cagney), has been stealing their jobs. While getting out of his plane one day, Brian slips and injures his head. Realizing how serious the injury is, Johnny flies to nearest town under risky conditions to fetch a doctor for Brian. Grateful for Johnny's heroic actions, Brian helps him earn enough money to fund his own airline. Brian warns Johnny that if he marries his gold-digging girlfriend, Emily (Brenda Marshall), he will not have the money for long, but Johnny angrily strikes out at him. Determined to save Johnny from a life of misery, Brian decides to marry Emily himself. Learning that Emily has married Brian, Johnny runs off to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, while Brian, Tiny, Blimp and Scro...

Since today is James Cagney's 116th birthday, this week on "Film Friday" I want to tel l you about what was, according to the man himself, his favorite of all the films he made. Original release poster by Bill Gold Directed by Michael Curtiz, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) opens in the early days of World War II, when George M. Cohan (James Cagney) is called to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, after impersonating him in the Rodgers and Hart musical I'd Rather Be You . In response to Roosevelt's questions, Cohan begins narrating the story of his life, beginning with his birth on July 4, 1878 and then recalling his vaudeville days with his father Jerry (Walter Huston), mother Mary (Rosemary DeCamp) and sister Josie (Jeanne Cagney). Th e Four C ohans perform successfully across the country, but G eorge gets too cocky as he grows up and is blacklisted by theatr ical prod ucers for being troublesome. In the early 1900s, while the fam...