Back to Golden Days

In honour of Ernest Borgnine's 100th birthday, which was on Tuesday (January 24), this week on «Film Friday» I bring you the picture for which he is best known, which also happens to be the one that gave him the Academy Award for Best Actor.   Directed by Delbert Mann, Marty (1955) tells the story of Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine), a good-natured but socially awkward Italian-American butcher who lives in The Bronx with his mother, Teresa (Esther Minciotti). Unmarried at 34, Marty faces constant badgering from family and friends to settle down, as all his brothers and sisters are already married and have children. One night, he goes to the Stardom Ballroom and meets Clara Snyder (Betsy Blair), a plain-looking 29-year-old high school chemistry teacher from Brooklyn who has been abandoned by her blind date. Mutually attracted, they spend the evening together dancing and walking the busy streets, and then Marty takes Clara home by bus, promising to call her at 2:30 the next afte...

This week on «Film Friday» I have decided to honour both Carole Lombard and Cary Grant, whose 112th birthday was this Wednesday, by telling you a little bit about the most notable and well-known of the three pictures in which they appeared together.   Directed by John Cromwell, In Name Only (1939) tells the story of Alec Walker (Cary Grant), the victim of a loveless marriage to heartless social-climber Maida (Kay Francis). One day, he meets Julie Eden (Carole Lombard), a widowed commercial artist with a young daughter named Ellen (Peggy Ann Garner), and immediately falls in love with her. Julie is caring and uncomplicated, everything that Maida is not. Alec subsequently asks his wife for a divorce and she consents — but on the condition that she sail to Paris with his parents, Richard (Charles Coburn) and Grace (Nella Walker), and inform them of the break-up once they reach Europe. Alec foolishly agrees and follows Julie to New York, where they decide to marry.   LEFT: Ca...

On December 7, 1941, as World War II was raging on in Europe, the Imperial Japanese Navy led a surprise military strike against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Commencing at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time, the attack was carried out by 353 Japanese fighter planes, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launching from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships stationed at the base were damaged, with four sunk. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer. In addition, 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,430 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. The Japanese losses were significantly lighter: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, 64 servicemen killed and one sailor captured as a prisoner of war. The attack on Pearl Harbor came as a profound shock to the American people and led the United States to declare war on Japan on December 8. Three days later, both Nazi Ge...

This week on «Film Friday» I bring you a film that had its premiere exactly 74 years ago yesterday. This also happens to be one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock pictures.   Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Shadow of a Doubt (1943) begins when Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotten) arrives at the town of Santa Rosa, California, supposedly to visit his older sister, Emma Newton (Patricia Collinge). At the train station, he is met by his brother-in-law Joseph (Henry Travers), his young nephew Roger (Charles Bates) and his two nieces, Charlie (Teresa Wright) and Ann (Edna May Wonacott). Charlie is thrilled by the arrival of her uncle, as she was named after him and two seem to share a telepathic connection. The next day, two men, Jack Graham (Macdonald Carey) and Fred Saunders (Wallace Ford), appear at the house to survey the family. Uncle Charlie suddenly becomes agitated and refuses to be interviewed or photographed.   Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten and Patricia Collinge in Shadow of a Do...