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To celebrate Judy Holliday's 95th birthday, which was on Tuesday, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the film for which she is best remembered, the one that gave her the Academy Award for Best Actress. This also happens to be one of my favourite films of all time. Directed by George Cukor, Born Yesterday (1950) begins when wealthy, but crooked, junk dealer Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford) and his brassy girlfriend, former showgirl Billie Dawn (Judy Holliday), arrive at a swanky hotel in Washington, D.C. Harry proceeds to instruct his attorney, Jim Devery (Howard St. John), to buy votes in the U.S. House of Representatives to get a bill passed that will save him millions of dollars in federal taxes. For Harry's protection, Jim puts his business holdings in Billie's name and asks her to sign all of his legal documents, which she does without questioning. Jim also warns Harry to marry Billie since, legally, wives cannot testify against their husbands in a court of law. ...

Today is the first day of summer, so I thought I would wish you all a very happy summer with a collection of photographs of classic Hollywood actors and actresses enjoying the sun and the good weather.   Birthday boy Errol Flynn just had a swim. Lana Turner is ready for a day at the pool. Here she is again by the pool at the Coral Casino in Santa Barbara in 1951. I'm not sure that cigarette is very good for you, Lana.   Ava Gardner enjoys the sun in a Spanish beach during a break in the filming of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951). I love her bikini.   Bette Davis celebrates the 4th of July by lighting a firework on the beach (early 1930s). Ginger Rogers at the beach in 1936. I love her shoes! Douglas Fairbanks Jr. enjoys a summer day at his Santa Monica beach house. Debbie Reynolds poses by the pool in her cute swimsuit. Carole Lombard and Gary Cooper are ready to sail (1930). Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Crawford at the beach (photo by N...

This week on «Film Friday» I am celebrating Jeanette MacDonald's 113th birthday, which happens to be tomorrow. While I have only seen three of her films so far, one of them — this one — also features two of my favourite actors of the classic Hollywood era, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, hence why I have decided to write about it today. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, San Francisco (1936) follows Blackie Norton (Clark Gable), the rough-and-tumble owner of the Paradise, a saloon in the notorious Barbary Coast in 1906. He hires down-on-her-luck singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald), who soon becomes a sensation at the Paradise. Angered by the consequences of a recent fire, a group of citizens urge Blackie to run for city supervisor and attempt to get a fire ordinance passed that would condemn many Barbary Coast, but would save lives. Encouraged by his childhood friend, Father Tim Mullin (Spencer Tracy), Blackie decides to run for office. He is opposed by crooked landlord Jack Burley (J...