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Directed by Michael Curtiz, Romance on the High Seas (1948) the the story of Elvira Kent (Janis Paige) and her husband Michael (Don DeFore), who suspect each other of cheating. For their wedding anniversary, Elvira books a cruise to Rio de Janeiro, but Michael suddenly cancels the trip for business reasons. Seeing an opportunity, Elvira pretends to go alone, but in fact sends Georgia Garrett (Doris Day), a singer she had met at the travel agency, in her place and under her name. By secretly staying behind, Elvira hopes to discover if Michael is indeed having an affair with his attractive new secretary, Miss Medwick (Leslie Brooks). Michael, however, is suspicious over his wife's willingness to take the trip alone, so he hires private detective Peter Virgil (Jack Carson) to see if she is sneaking around behind his back. (from left to right) Janis Paige, Don DeFore, Doris Day and Jack Carson on Romance on the High Seas . Peter joins the cruise and, as part of his job, becomes acqua...

In Portugal (where I'm from), Father's Day is celebrated on March 19. So, for this week's «Film Friday» I thought I'd bring you a film that features a father as its main character. Directed by Michael Curtiz, Life With Father (1947) follows stockbroker Clarence Day (William Powell), who strives to make his 1890s New York City household run as efficiently as his business. He and his wife Vinnie (Irene Dunne) have four sons. The eldest, Clarence, Jr. (Jimmy Lydon), is headed for Yale. John (Martin Milner), the next eldest, likes to invent things, while brother Whitney (Johnny Calkins) struggles to learn his catechism, and Harlan (Derek Scott), the youngest, is most interested in his dog. Knowing how much Clarence dislikes it when visitors stay in the house, Vinnie neglects to tell her husband that their cousin, Cora Cartwright (ZaSu Pitts), and her young companion, Mary Skinner (Elizabeth Taylor), will spend a week with them.   Irene Dunne, William Powell, Jimmy Lydon a...

In honour 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. Directed by Michael Curtiz, Mildred Pierce (1945) is the story of the eponymous housewife and mother (Joan Crawford), who devotes herself solely to her two daughters: snobbish Veda (Ann Blyth), and sweet-natured Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe). Mildred's main goal is to provide for Veda, who craves high social status and possessions her mother cannot afford. After her husband, Bert (Bruce Bennett), loses his job, they quarrel frequently and he eventually moves out to be with his mistress, Maggie Biederhoff (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 her expensive singing lessons, Mildred decides to open her own restaurant. With the he...

Directed by Michael Curtiz, Captains of the Clouds (1942) follows a group of established bush pilots — Johnny Dutton (Dennis Morgan), «Tiny» Murphy (Alan Hale), «Blimp» Lebec (George Tobias) and «Scrounger» Harris (Reginald Gardiner) — who find that a new pilot, Brian MacLean (James Cagney), has been stealing their jobs. While getting out of his plane one day, Brian slips and injures his head. Realizing how serious the injury is, Johnny flies to nearest town under risky conditions to fetch a doctor for Brian. Grateful for Johnny's heroic actions, Brian helps him earn enough money to fund his own airline. Brian warns Johnny that if he marries his gold-digging girlfriend, Emily (Brenda Marshall), he will not have the money for long, but Johnny angrily strikes out at him. Determined to save Johnny from a life of misery, Brian decides to marry Emily himself. Learning that Emily has married Brian, Johnny runs off to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, while Brian, Tiny, Blimp and Scro...