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In the mid- and late 1930s, screwball comedy was in vogue and practically every actress in Hollywood tried her hand at it. Barbara Stanwyck never considered herself a naturally funny person or a comedienne per se , but after delivering a heart-wrenching performance in King Vidor's Stella Dallas (1937), she decided she needed a «vacation» from emotional dramas. In her search for a role, she stumbled upon a «champagne comedy» called The Mad Miss Manton (1938), originally intended as a Katharine Hepburn vehicle. Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda as Melsa and Peter in The Mad Miss Manton .   Directed by Leigh Jason from a script by Philip G. Epstein, The Mad Miss Manton begins when vivacious Park Avenue socialite Melsa Manton finds a corpse while walking her dogs in the early hours of the morning. She calls the police, but they dismiss the incident — not only because Melsa is a notorious prankster, but also because the body disappears in the meantime. Sarcastic newspaper editor Pet...

Ginger Rogers sunbathing in 1936 (Side note: I LOVE her shoes!) Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart with their son, Steven (early 1950s) Ava Gardner in Phillip Island, Australia during the making of On the Beach (1959) Rita Hayworth and Robert Mitchum in Trinidad and Tobago during the filming of Fire Down Below (1957) Natalie Wood and Steve Rowland at the Thalians Beach Ball in Malibu (July 1956) Henry Fonda at the Atlantic Beach Club (1936) Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks at Catalina Beach in 1929 Diane Ellis and Carole Lombard at the beach in 1929 Rock Hudson at the pool (1950s) Audrey Hepburn in Monaco during the making of Monte Carlo Baby (1951) Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan in their pool (1940) Randolph Scott and Cary Grant poolside at their Santa Monica beach house (1935) I hope you are having an amazing summer! 

For my second Oscar-related «Film Friday» I'm bringing you one of the five Best Picture nominees at the 28th Academy Awards ceremony in March 1956. This also serves to honour Jack Lemmon's 92th birthday, which was on Wednesday. Directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, Mister Roberts (1955) is set aboard the USS Reluctant , where executive officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Douglas A. «Doug» Roberts (Henry Fonda) tries to shield the dispirited crew from the harsh and unpopular captain, Lieutenant Commander Morton (James Cagney). World War II is winding down and Roberts fears he will miss his chance to get into the fighting. He repeatedly asks to be assigned to another ship, but Morton, anxious to use Roberts to expedite his own promotion, refuses to sign any of his transfer requests. Roberts shares his quarters with Ensign Frank Thurlowe Pulver (Jack Lemmon), the laundry and morale officer. Pulver spends most of his time idling in his bunk and avoids the captain at all costs, so mu...

On September 2, 1945, Japan signed a formal surrender that effectively brought an end to World War II. In honour of the 71st anniversary of «V-J Day,» as the occasion became known, this week on «Film Friday» I bring you a picture that documents the events that marked the beginning of the end of six long years of devastating conflict.   Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton and Bernhard Wicki, The Longest Day (1962) opens in June 1944 in England, where the Allied troops are preparing to invade France through the coast of Normandy. Despite threats of poor weather that might ruin their changes, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Henry Grace) decides that the assault will take place in the early hours of June 6. On the other side of the Channel, the German High Command — expecting the invasion to happen at Pas-de-Calais, and assuming it will not happen anyway due to the current bad weather — is caught completely unaware. Because Adolf Hitler has taken a sleeping pill and left orders tha...