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This week on «Film Friday» I want to tell you a little bit about one of my favourite pictures of all time. It's a kooky little comedy, which I think is perfect to watch over the Easter weekend. This also happens to be my favourite Ronald Reagan picture. Directed by Irving Rapper, The Voice of the Turtle (1947) opens in December 1944, as Broadway producer Ken Bartlett (Kent Smith) is ending his affair with struggling young actress Sally Middleton (Eleanor Parker), who then vows never to fall in love again. Months later, her friend, Olive Lashbrooke (Eve Arden), arranges to meet Bill Page (Ronald Reagan), a sergeant on a weekend pass, at Sally's apartment. While she is waiting, she calls for her messages and learns that an old flame, Naval Commander Ned Burling (Wayne Morris), is in town for one weekend only. Choosing the commander over the sergeant, Olive breaks her date with Bill, who eventually invites Sally to dinner at the same French restaurant that she frequented with Ken...

In honor of Joan Crawford's (probable) 112th birthday, which was on Wednesday, this week on "Film Friday" I bring you what is perhaps the most iconic of her films, the one that gave her the only Academy Award of her career. Theatrical release poster Directed by Michael Curtiz, Mildred Pierce (1945) is the story of the eponymous housewife and mother (Joan Crawford), who devote s herself solely to her two daughters: snobbish Veda (Ann Blyth) and sweet-natured Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe) . Mildred's principal goal is to pr o vide for Veda, who craves for possessions her mother cannot aff ord and social sta tus above that of her family . After her husband Bert (Bruce Bennett) loses his job, they quar rel frequently and he eventually moves out to be with his mistress, Maggie Biederh off (Lee Patrick ). Faced with a stack of bills, Mildred takes a job as a waitress. When Veda ridicules her mother for what she does for a living , even though this work has paid for he...