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In movieland, the month of February is almost entirely dedicated to the Academy Awards, the industry's oldest and most prestigious awards ceremony. In anticipation to the 89th Oscars on February 26, every «Film Friday» this month will be about a Best Picture winner or nominee. This particular one also serves to honour Ronald Reagan's 116th birthday, which is next Monday. According to most critics, this is the best of his films. Directed by Sam Wood, Kings Row (1942) tells the story of five young people living in the small Midwestern town of Kings Row in the late 19th century. They are: Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings), a medical student who lives with his grandmother; Cassandra Tower (Betty Field), the misunderstood daughter of Dr. Alexander Tower (Claude Rains); Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan), a wealthy and fun-loving orphan; Louise Gordon (Nancy Coleman), the daughter of the sadistic town physician, Dr. Henry Gordon (Charles Coburn); and Randy Monaghan (Ann Sheridan), a tombo...

In honour of Ginger Rogers' 105th birthday, which is tomorrow, this week on «Film Friday» I thought I would bring you one of my favourite films of hers. This is also the picture that gave her the only Academy Award for Best Actress of her career. Directed by Sam Wood, Kitty Foyle (1940) opens with Kitty Foyle (Ginger Rogers), a cosmetic saleswoman in a New York boutique owned by Delphine Detaille (Odette Myrtil), trying to decide whether she should marry Dr. Mark Eisen (James Craig) and be respectable, or sail away with the already-married Wyn Strafford (Dennis Morgan), whom she has loved for many years and has just re-entered her life. As she wrestles with her conscience, Kitty thinks back to her youth in Philadelphia, where she lived with her Irish father, Tom (Ernest Cossart). Teenage Kitty is obsessed with the city's elite «Main Liners» and dreams of marrying a rich man, despite her father's warnings against getting carried away with her fantasies.   Ginger Rogers, Ja...

Directed by Sam Wood, The Stratton Story (1949) begins in the early 1930s when Barney Wile (Frank Morgan), a retired catcher who is now a baseball scout, spots young Texas farmer Monty Stratton (James Stewart) pitching for $3 a game with a team called the Wagner Wildcats. Impressed by Monty's raw skill, Barney trains the boy throughout the winter and then takes him to California for a try-out with the Chicago White Sox. Manager Jimmy Dykes (as himself) is convinced to take Monty on, with Barney retained as pitching coach. Meanwhile, Monty marries a sophisticated young woman named Ethel Milberger (June Allyson), whom he met on a blind date arranged by teammate Eddie Dibson (Bill Williams).   James Stewart, Frank Morgan and June Allyson in The Stratton Story . After sitting on the bench for most of his first season with the Chicago White Sox, Monty is finally asked to pitch against the New York Yankees and manages to score a win for his team. When the season ends, he brings Ethel, w...