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Directed by William Wyler, The Heiress (1949) tells the story of Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland), the plain and socially awkward daughter of a prominent physician, Dr. Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson), who makes no secret of his disappointment in her. Catherine is resigned to her ordinary existence until she meets a charming young man named Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift). She is immediately smitten, but her father suspects Morris is a fortune hunter and threatens to disinherit her if she marries him. Undeterred, she makes plans to elope with Morris, though not before telling him about her father's decision. On the night they are to elope, Catherine waits all night for Morris to come and take her away, but he never arrives. A few days later, a heartbroken Catherine has a bitter argument with her father, who reveals that he is dying. She tells Dr. Sloper that she still loves Morris and challenges him to change his testament if he is afraid of how she will spend his mone...

This week on "Film Friday" I bring you a film that had its premiere exactly 64 years ago. Apparently, Charlie Chaplin described it as "the greatest movie ever made about America." Original release poster Directed by George Stevens, A Place in the Sun (1951) tells the story of George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), an uneducated but ambitious young man who hitchhikes from Chicago to meet up with his wealthy uncle Charles Eastman (Herbert Heyes), the owner of a bathing suit factory. Despite George's family relation to the Eastmans, they regard him as something of an outsider, but his uncle nevertheless gives him a position as an assembly line worker at the factory. While dating between co-workers is strictly forbidden, George soon begins a relationship with Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters), a poor and inexperienced girl who never learned how to swim. Over time, George proves himself in the company and gets promoted to supervisor in the department where he b...

To celebrate Judy Garland's 93th birthday, which was on Wednesday, this week on "Film Friday" I bring you one of my favorite films of hers. Oddly enough, it is not a musical. Original release poster Directed by Stanley Kramer, Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) centers on a military tribunal convened in Nuremberg, Germany , in which four German judges and prosecut ors stand accused of crimes against humanity for their involvement in the at rocities committed under the Na zi r egime. During the long weeks of the trial, American judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) tries to determine whether the German people really understood what Nazi leader Ad olf Hitler stood for . In doing so, he talks with a number of Germans who have different pers pective on the wa r, including the aristocratic Frau Bertholt (Marlene Dietrich), the widow of German general who was executed by the Allies after the earlier trials . The prosecuting attorney, Colonel Tad Lawson (Richard Widmark...