Back to Golden Days

The 1960s were a decade of social and political unrest. The civil rights movement opposed blacks and whites in a war against unfair treatment of races. The LGBT community demanded a right to be different, while female activists stroke down barriers to women's personal freedom and professional careers. Young people rebelled against the establishment and denounced the Vietnam War, which they criticized as «immoral.» John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Che Guevara were assassinated, Chairman Mao starved 30 million people to death, Neil Armstrong became the first man on the Moon, the Berlin Wall divided Germany in two, The Beatles started the «British Invasion,» and Woodstock became the biggest music festival in the world. (from left to right) The construction of the Berlin Wall begins (August 13, 1961); The Beatles arrive in New York (February 7, 1964); Neil Armstrong walks on the Moon (July 20, 1969); the Woodstock music festival takes place (August 15-18, 1969).   The «Swinging ...

For this week's "Film Friday" I have decided to tell you a little bit about one of my favorite films of all time, classic or otherwise. Because sometimes, "there is a moment — a long moment — when everything is risked with the proper stranger." Theatrical release poster Directed by Robert Mulligan, Love with the Proper Stranger (1963) tells the story of Angie Rossini (Natalie Wood), an Italian-American salesgirl at Macy's department store who finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with a struggling j azz musician named Rocky Papasano (Steve McQueen). She informs him that she is pregnant and asks him to recommend a doctor, whereupon he consults h i s current girlfriend, stripper Barbie (Edie Adams), but she jea lously refuses to help him . Unaware of her pregnancy, Angie's mother (Penny Stanton) and older brothers, D om i nick (Herschel Bernardi ) and Julio (Harvey Lembeck) , want her to marry Anthony Colombo (Tom Bosley), a shy coo...