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Directed by Vincente Minnelli, Some Came Running (1958) tells the story of Dave Hirsh (Frank Sinatra), a cynical World War II Army veteran and failed novelist, who arrives by bus at his hometown of Parkman, Indiana. He is accompanied by Ginny Moorehead (Shirley MacLaine), a dim-witted but good-natured woman of loose morals from Chicago, who has fallen in love with him during the journey. To Ginny's disappointment, Dave gives her 50 dollars to return to Chicago and then checks into a hotel. Although he has been away from Parkman for 16 years, Dave is soon recognized by the locals, who report his return to his older brother Frank (Arthur Kennedy), a successful jewellery store owner, with whom he did not stay in touch. Frank Sinatra with Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin and Martha Hyer in Some Came Running .   Still resentful over childhood misunderstandings, Dave refuses to move into the Hirsh home, but reluctantly agrees to have dinner with his brother, his sister-in-law Agnes (Leora ...

Since Christmas is almost here, this week on «Film Friday» I thought I would bring you a Christmas movie. Well, it is set during the Christmas season, anyway. Directed by Garson Kanin, Bachelor Mother (1939) tells the story of Polly Parish (Ginger Rogers), an ingenious salesgirl who gets fired from her seasonal Christmas job at Merlin's department store. On her way home, she sees a woman secretly leaving an infant on the steps of an orphanage. Fearing the cold will harm the baby, Polly picks it up and is mistaken as its mother by an attendant who opens the door. After protesting that she is not the mother, Polly leaves the orphanage, but the authorities track her down at her work. Feeling sorry for her, David Merlin (David Niven), the playboy heir to the store, arranges for her to get her job back. When Polly still refuses to keep the baby, David threatens to fire her and she reluctantly accepts motherhood.   Ginger Rogers and David Niven as Polly Parish and David Merlin in Bachelo...

Because of the Kirk Douglas blogathon, I was not able to write my «Film Friday» article on time. So, this week's «Film Friday» comes on a Sunday instead. I am honoring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s 107th birthday, which was also on Friday, by telling you about one of the first films I ever saw with him. Directed by George Stevens, Gunga Din (1939) begins in an encampment of Her Majesty's Lancers in Colonial India, where the commanding officer, Colonel Weed (Montagu Love), learns that the telegraph wires to one of their outposts have been cut. To investigate the matter, he dispatches a detachment of 25 troops, led by his three most dependable sergeants: the calculating Archibald Cutter (Cary Grant), ever dreaming of discovering a hidden treasure; the grizzled veteran «Mac» MacChesney (Victor McLaglen); and the gentlemanly Thomas «Tommy» Ballantine (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), whose sole focus is his imminent discharge and marriage to his fiancé, Emaline «Emmy» Stebbins (Joan Fontain...

Directed by Richard Fleischer, The Vikings (1958) begins when the fearsome Norse Viking warrior Ragnar Lodbrok (Ernest Borgnine) invades the English territory of Northumbria, killing its king and raping Queen Enid (Maxine Audley). Because the king died childless, his ambitious cousin Aella (Frank Thring) takes the throne. Two months later, Enid confides in Father Godwin (Alexander Knox) that she is pregnant with Ragnar's child. Certain that Aella would murder anyone threatening his claim to the throne, Father Godwin arranges to send the infant aboard a ship bound for Rome, where he will be raised by monks. During the journey, however, the vessel is seized by Vikings and the boy, Eric, is taken prisoner to grow up in slavery.   Ernest Borgnine, Janet Leigh and Kirk Douglas in The Vikings . Twenty years pass and Eric (Tony Curtis), unaware of his true parentage, hates his half-brother Einar (Kirk Douglas), Ragnar's legitimate son and heir. One day, they fight in a duel, during w...

On December 7, 1941, as World War II was raging on in Europe, the Imperial Japanese Navy led a surprise military strike against the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Commencing at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time, the attack was carried out by 353 Japanese fighter planes, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launching from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships stationed at the base were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona, which exploded beyond repair after being hit by four armour-piercing bombs, were later raised and six were returned to service for the remainder of the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer. In addition, 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, 2,430 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. The attack on Pearl Harbor came as a profound shock to the American people and led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to declare war on Japan on December 8. Three day...