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Carole Lombard is undoubtedly one the greatest comediennes in cinema history. Born Jane Alice Peters to a wealthy Indiana family on October 6, 1908, Lombard began her acting career at the age of 12, when director Allan Dwan cast her as Monta Blue's sister in A Perfect Crime (1921). Although the film was not widely distributed and paid only $50, the experience spurred Lombard's mother to enroll her in drama school. In 1924, just as she turned 16, she was screentested by Fox Film Corporation, which led to a co-starring role opposite Edmund Lowe in Marriage in Transit (1925). Both movies are now considered lost.   Unlike many other actors, Lombard made an easy transition to sound, signing a five-year contract with Paramount Pictures in 1930. Four years later, she was loaned out to Columbia to work on Twentieth Century (1934), a film that not only made her a major star, but also became the prototype of screwball comedies.   LEFT: Carole Lombard and Monta Blue in A Perfect Crim...

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 film 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 Bogart, La...

Directed by Howard Hawks, Bringing Up Baby (1938) follows the tribulations of David Huxley (Cary Grant), a mild-mannered paleontologist who has been trying to assemble the skeleton of a Brontosaurus for the past four years, but is missing one bone in order to complete it: the intercostal clavicle. Adding to his stress is his forthcoming marriage to the dour Alice Swallow (Virginia Walker) and the need to impress Elizabeth Random (May Robson), who is considering a million-dollar donation to his museum. The day before his wedding, David meets a free-spirited society girl named Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) by chance at a golf course. Unbeknownst to him at first, she is Mrs. Random's niece. Susan's brother, Mark, has sent her a tame leopard from Brazil named Baby (Nissa) to give to their aunt. Believing David is a zoologist, she invites him to her country home in Connecticut to help bring up Baby, which includes singing "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" ...

This week on «Film Friday,» I bring you a film that had its unofficial premiere exactly 74 years and 2 days ago. This also happens to be one of the greatest comedies of all time. Theatrical release poster Directed by Howard Ha wks, Ball of Fire (1941) tells the story of Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper), a young linguistics professor who is overseeing the writing of an encyclopedia of all human knowledge, which he and his seven older colleagues have been working on for years. Realizing that his section on modern American slang is outdated and requires further research, Bertram invites several people from different backgrounds to take part in a slang seminar, including a sexy nightclub performer named «Sugarpuss» O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). Unbeknownst to Bertram, Sugarpuss is on the run from the police, who wanted to question her about her her gangster boyfriend, Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews). Looking  for a place to hide, Sugarpuss takes refuge in the house where the professors li...