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In honor of Deborah Kerr's 95th birthday, which is today, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you what is perhaps one of her best remembered pictures. This is one of my personal favourites of hers, and also the film that made me a Robert Mitchum fan.   Directed by John Huston, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) begins when United States Marine Corporal Allison (Robert Mitchum) finds himself stranded on a deserted South Pacific island in 1944. He finds an abandoned settlement and a chapel with one occupant, Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr), an Irish Catholic novice nun who has not yet taken her final vows. She herself has only landed there a few days before with Father Philips, who has since died. Despite their extreme differences in backgrounds and outlooks, their are respectful of each other's vocation and soon form a close bond. For a while, Allison and Sister Angela have the bountiful island completely to themselves, but then a detachment of Japanese troops arrives to set up a w...

DEBORAH KERR (September 30, 1921 — October 16, 2007) I adore not being me. I'm not very good at being me. That's why I adore acting so much.  

GREER GARSON (September 29, 1904 — April 6, 1996) Starting out to make money is the greatest mistake in life. Do what you feel you have a flair for doing, and if you are good enough at it, the money will come.

Ava Gardner and Mickey Rooney on their wedding day. A bit of trivia for you: Mickey Rooney was 21 when he married 19-year-old Ava Gardner, who at the time was still an obscure starlet, on January 10, 1942. The marriage did not last, however, and the two divorced the following year. Apparently, Mickey could not remain faithful to Ava.

In honor of Mickey Rooney's 96th birthday, which happens to be today, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you what remains one of his most famous pictures. This is also the film that made him the first teenager to be nominated for an Academy Award.   Directed by Busby Berkley, Babes in Arms (1939) begins in 1921 with the birth of Mickey Moran (Mickey Rooney), the son of popular vaudeville entertainers Joe and Florrie Moran (Charles Winninger and Grace Hayes). Years later, when vaudeville is eclipsed by the movie industry, Joe and Florrie, along with their former colleagues, decide to resurrect their careers by financing a travelling show of their own. Their children want to be a part of it, but their parents refuse to let them go. Undaunted, Mickey resolves to write a show to be presented by himself and the kids, which include his sister Molly (Betty Jaynes), his sweetheart Patsy Barton (Judy Garland) and their friend Don Brice (Douglas MacPhail), in his hometown of Seaport, Long...

MICKEY ROONEY (September 23, 1920 — April 6, 2014) You always pass failure on your way to success.

GRETA GARBO (September 18, 1905 — April 15, 1990) Life would be so wonderful if we only knew what to do with it.

This week on «Film Friday,» I am honoring Lauren Bacall's 92th birthday, which happens to be today, by telling you a little bit about the first films of hers that I saw. This not only marked her screen debut, but also remains her most iconic picture.   Directed by Howard Hawks, To Have and Have Not (1944) opens in the summer of 1940 in the Caribbean island of Martinique, a French colony which is now controlled by pro-German Vichy France. World-weary boat captain Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) and his drunken friend Eddie (Walter Brennan) earn their living by taking wealthy tourists on fishing cruises. One day, Harry is approached by Gérard (Marcel Dario), a hotel owner and member of the French Resistance, commonly known as «Frenchy» to English speakers. He offers to pay Harry to smuggle important Resistance members Hélene (Dolores Moran) and Paul De Bursac (Walter Surovy) into Martinique, but he refuses to become involved in Frenchy's political activities.   Humphrey Bogar...