2020 Movie Stats

This year I watched 293 new-to-me movies and 43 movies that were rewatches for a total of 336.

New to me: 293 (241 pre-1970, 52 post-1970)

Rewatches: 43 (33 pre-1970, 10 post-1970)

Total: 336 (274 pre-1970, 62 post-1970)

Where I watched them:

TCM: 243 (22 rewatches)

Library (DVD & Apps): 11 (0 rewatches)

Personal DVD: 23 (16 rewatches)

YouTube & OK: 15 (1 rewatch)

Paid Streaming Services: 23 (2 rewatches) 

TV & Free Streaming Services: 18 (2 rewatches)

Theater: 0

          Other: 1

Here are my top ten movie discoveries:

4/17 Baby Boom (1987)
6/18 Blue Hawaii (1961)

7/11 Airplane! (1980)

7/26 Three Days of the Condor (1975)
8/5 Embraceable You (1948)
8/10 Foul Play (1978)
8/29 King Creole (1958)
10/17 The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

11/19 G.I. Blues (1960)

11/30 Dogfight (1991)

Classics I finally watched:

          The Gold Rush (1925) - Charlie Chaplin

          The Divorcee (1930) - Norma Shearer

          Dracula (1931) - Bela Lugosi

          King Kong (1933) - Fay Wray

          Dodsworth (1936) - Walter Huston

Dark Victory (1939) - Bette Davis

          Sergeant York (1941) - Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan 

          Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles

          The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) - Joseph Cotten, Tim Holt

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) - James Cagney

On the Waterfront (1954) - Marlon Brando

Magnificent Obsession (1954) - Jane Wyman & Rock Hudson

The Red Badge of Courage (1951) - Audie Murphy 

          Jailhouse Rock (1957) - Elvis Presley

          The Blob (1958) - Steve McQueen 

          Spartacus (1960) - Kirk Douglas

          Sergeant Rutledge (1960) - Woody Strode, Jeffrey Hunter

The Great Escape (1963) - Steve McQueen, James Garner

Viva Las Vegas (1964) - Elvis Presley & Ann-Margaret

          The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) - Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway 

          The Poseidon Adventure (1972) - Gene Hackman

          Annie Hall (1977) - Diane Keaton

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Drew Barrymore

Number of movies per decade:

1910s: 1 (0 rewatches)
1920s: 10 (0 rewatches)
1930s: 61 (2 rewatches)
1940s: 79 (15 rewatches)
1950s: 81 (7 rewatches)
1960s: 42 (9 rewatches)
1970s: 17 (1 rewatch)
1980s: 18 (1 rewatch)
1990s: 8 (2 rewatches)
2000s: 6 (4 rewatches)
2010s: 11 (2 rewatches)

2020s: 2 (0 rewatches)

Number of movies per month:

January: 31 (2 rewatches)
February: 37 (6 rewatches)
March: 22 (1 rewatch)
April: 21 (2 rewatches)
May: 30 (7 rewatches)
June: 24 (2 rewatches)
July: 32 (1 rewatch)
August: 25 (2 rewatches) stop
September: 31 (3 rewatches)
October: 27 (3 rewatches)
November: 28 (7 rewatches)
December: 28 (7 rewatches)


Most Watched (Leading) Movie Stars:

Robert Taylor - 20 films

Elvis Presley - 13 films

Mel Gibson - 13 films

Barbara Stanwyck - 12 films

Walter Pidgeon - 11 films

Gary Cooper - 10 films

Patricia Neal - 9 films

Robert Stack - 9 films

Greer Garson - 8 films
Robert Ryan - 8 films

Karl Malden - 8 films

Norma Shearer, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, George Sanders, Joan Crawford, Marsha Hunt, John Wayne, Marx Brothers (together & separate), River Phoenix - 6 films

Tony Curtis, James Garner, Eve Arden, Goldie Hawn - 5 films

Stars I discovered/grew to love/admire: Elvis Presley, Robert Taylor, Mel Gibson, Robert Stack, River Phoenix

*To see last years stats click here.

Did you keep track of the movies you watched in 2020? Was there a star or movie you discovered that you can't live without now? Let me know in the comments!

Movies I Watched in December

Dangerous Mission (1954)

This month I had the typical Christmas rewatches and then randomly ended up watching quite a few “new” movies: nearly half of this list are post-1970 films! I even watched a movie on “opening weekend” (WW84). Oh, btw... HBO Max doesn’t offer a free trial anymore :/ Luckily there’s enough exclusive content on there that the $16  will be worth it.

I never got around to writing about the free classic movies on the Peacock streaming service. They had over 100 but as of Jan. 1, 2021 they have exactly two movies made before 1970 (not counting James Bond): a Columbo Movie and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol... So basically the only thing left for me to watch on there is Murder, She Wrote.

* indicates a rewatch

1. The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) - Max Baer & Myrna Loy, Walter Huston
2. Sabotage (1936) - Sylvia Sydney 
3. Desire (1936) - Gary Cooper & Marlene Dietrich
4. A Yank at Oxford (1938) - Robert Taylor & Maureen O’Sullivan, Vivian Leigh
5. Flight Command (1940) - Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey, Walter Pidgeon, Paul Kelly, Red Skelton, Nat Pendleton, Marsha Hunt
6. To the Shores of Tripoli (1942) - John Payne & Maureen O’Hara, Randolph Scott, Pat O’Brien
7. *Christmas in Connecticut (1945) - Barbara Stanwyck & Dennis Morgan, 
8. Deep Valley (1947) - Ida Lupino & Dane Clark, Wayne Morris, Fay Bainter, Henry Hull
9. Fighter Squadron (1948) - Edmund O’Brien, Robert Stack, Rock Hudson
10. The Damned Don’t Cry (1950) - Joan Crawford 
11. My Man and I (1952) - Ricardo Montalban & Shelley Winters, Claire Trevor, Wendell Corey, Jack Elam
12. Dangerous Mission (1954) - Victor Mature & Piper Laurie, Vincent Price, William Bendix, Bette St. John
13. *White Christmas (1954) - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes 
14. Bombers B-52 (1957) - Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Karl Malden, Natalie Wood, Marsha Hunt
15. *We’re No Angels (1957) - Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, Peter Ustinov, Joan Bennett, Leo G. Carroll, Basil Rathbone
16. The Cat O’Nine Tails (1971) - Karl Malden 
17. *Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) - Alan Young
18. Explorers (1985) - Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson 
19. The Mosquito Coast (1986) - Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Martha Plimpton
20. *Home Alone (1990) - Macaulay Culkin
21. The Thing Called Love (1993) - River Phoenix, Samantha Mathis, Dermot Mulroney, Sandra Bullock 
22. I Spy (2002) - Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson
23. *Elf (2003) - Will Ferrell & Zooey Deschanel, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner
24. *The Lake House (2006) - Keanu Reeves & Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer
25. Destination Wedding (2018) - Winona Ryder & Keanu Reeves 
26. Gemini Man (2019) - Will Smith
27. Last Christmas (2019) - Emilia Clarke & Henry Golding, Emma Thompson
28. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - Gal Gadot & Chris Pine, Kristin Wiig 

Marsha Hunt’s Sweet Adversity (2015)
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020)

Least Favorite Film: Explorers was very dated. Fighter Squadron needed a stronger leading man. 

Favorite Movie: Destination Wedding was hilarious!! I also really liked Desire.

Movies I Watched in November

William Powell in Too Many Kisses (1925)

This month I started watching The Donna Reed Show (free with ads on IMDb TV - watched half of season 1 with my aunt last year) and season 4 of The Crown. 

1. Too Many Kisses (1925) - Richard Dix, William Powell, Harpo Marx
2. A Successful Calamity (1932) - George Arliss & Mary Astor
3. Penthouse (1933) - Warner Baxter & Myrna Loy, Mae Clarke
4. The Vampire Bat (1933) - Melvyn Douglas & Fay Ray, Lionel Atwill 
5. *The Smiling Ghost (1941) - Wayne Morris, Brenda Marshall, Alexis Smith, Willie Best, Alan Hale
6. *Whistling in the Dark (1941) - Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford, Virginia Grey, Rags Ragland, Eve Arden
7. Whistling in Dixie (1942) - Red Skelton & Ann Rutherford, Diana Lewis
8. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) - Joseph Cotten, Tim Holt, Anne Baxter, Agnes Moorehead 
9. *Ball of Fire (1942) - Gary Cooper & Barbara Stanwyck, Dana Andrews, S.Z. Sakall, Henry Travers
10. Whistling in Brooklyn (1943) - Red Skelton & Ann Rutherford, Rags Ragland, William Frawley
11. The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) - Irene Dunne & Alan Marshall, Gladys Cooper, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Roddy McDowell, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lawford, Van Johnson
12. Mr. Skeffington (1944) - Bette Davis & Claude Rains
13. Two O’Clock Courage (1945) - Tom Conway & Ann Rutherford 
14. *It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) - James Stewart & Donna Reed, Henry Travers, Thomas Mitchell,  Gloria Graham, Beulah Bondi, Ward Bond
15. Deception (1946) - Bette Davis & Paul Henreid, Claude Rains 
16. Dead Reckoning (1947) - Humphrey Bogart & Lizabeth Scott
17. *Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara & John Payne, Natalie Wood
18. *Red River (1948) - John Wayne, Montgomery Clift & Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, John Ireland, Harry Carey, Harry Carey Jr.
19. The Woman on Pier 13 (1950) - Robert Ryan & Lorraine Day, John Agar
20. Harriet Craig (1950) - Joan Crawford & Wendell Corey
21. *Mara Maru (1952) - Errol Flynn & Ruth Roman, Raymond Burr 
22. Top Secret Affair (1957) - Kirk Douglas & Susan Hayward, Jim Backus  
23. Good Day for a Hanging (1959) - Fred MacMurray, Robert Vaughn, Joan Blackman
24. The Great Impostor (1960) - Tony Curtis, Karl Malden, Gary Merrill, Edmund O’Brien, Joan Blackman 
25. G. I. Blues (1960) - Elvis Presley & Juliet Prowse
26. The Candidate (1972) - Robert Redford, Peter Boyle, Melvyn Douglas 
27. Running on Empty (1988) - River Phoenix & Martha Plimpton
28. Dogfight (1991) - River Phoenix & Lili Taylor

Robert Ryan in The Woman on Pier 13 (1950)

Least Favorite Film: For some reason I didn't really like The Candidate. Nothing wrong with it, just worn out hearing about politics I guess. 

Favorite Movie: It's been a few years since I watched Red River and I felt like I got more out of it this time. I also read the book by Borden Chase. I loved G. I. Blues, especially this song...

Song starts at 1:20

Movies I Watched in October

This month I watched Citizen Kane for the first time! It was different from what I expected. The story line didn't seem that unique to me but the cinematography and editing was interesting! I also watched the classic Dracula. Last October I watched half of The Story of Mankind (1957) but was bored so I didn’t finish it. TCM aired it again this month and, like I mentioned in last years post, I am a completest and therefore watched the second half. It was better. The Marx Brothers were funny.

The part they gave Anna May Wong in Impact was insulting to her talent and embarrassing to watch. 

I read the novel Rebecca and rewatched the 1940 film. You can read my thoughts on them here (including the new Netflix adaptation).

1. Our Modern Maidens (1929) - Joan Crawford & Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Anita Page, Rod LaRoque
2. One Heavenly Night (1931) - John Boles & Evelyn Laye, Leon Errol
3. The Erl King (1931-French) 
4. Dracula (1931) - Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler 
5. The Solitaire Man (1933) - Herbert Marshall & Elizabeth Allen, May Robson, Mary Boland, Lionel Atwill
6. Murder on the Blackboard  (1934) - Edna May Oliver, James Gleason
7. The Mark of the Vampire (1935) - Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allen, Lionel Atwill, Jean Hersholt, Bela Lugosi
8. Stolen Holiday (1937) - Kay Francis, Claude Raines, Ian Hunter
9. Breakfast for Two (1937) - Herbert Marshall & Barbara Stanwyck, Eric Blore, Glenda Farrell, Donald Meek
10. *Rebecca (1940) - Laurence Olivier & Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson, George Sanders, Reginald Denny, Florence Bates
11. Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, 
12. Mr. & Mrs. North (1942) - Gracie Allen & William Post Jr., Virginia Grey, Tom Conway, Felix Bressart, Keye Luke, Jerome Cowan 
13. Impact (1949) - Brian Donlevy & Ella Raines, Charles Coburn, Anna May Wong
14. Across the Wide Missouri (1951) - Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban, John Hodiak, Adolph Menjeu, J. Carroll Naish, Jack Holt
15. Flesh and Fury (1952) - Tony Curtis, Jan Sterling, Kim Hunter
16. Bright Road (1953) - Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte 
17. The Runaway Bus (1954) - Margaret Rutherford, Petula Clark
18. The Story of Mankind (1957) - Ronald Colman, Vincent Price, Marx Brothers
19. Jailhouse Rock (1957) - Elvis Presley & Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Dean Jones
20. The Blob (1958) - Steve McQueen 
21. The Journey (1959)  - Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Jason Robards Jr., Ronny Howard
22. *Psycho (1960) - Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam 
23. Alice of Wonderland in Paris (1966) - Carl Reiner (voice) 
24. Double Trouble (1967) - Elvis Presley 
25. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) - Steve McQueen & Faye Dunaway 
26. The Lonely Guy (1984) - Steve Martin
27. *Letters to Juliet (2010) - Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan

Least Favorite Film: Double Trouble was terrible!

Favorite Movie: Loved The Thomas Crown Affair!!! Breakfast for Two was really cute and The Runaway Bus was unexpectedly funny. Tony Curtis was adorable in Flesh and Fury (the film would have been more effective if the sound had been handled differently). 

Rebecca - First Time Reading of Book and the Two Films (1940 & 2020)

The Novel and 1940 Film

Last week realized that the new Netflix adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca was about to drop so I finally pulled out my copy of the original novel to read first. Now, my introduction to the story was with Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 classic starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine as Mr. and Mrs. De Winter and Judith Anderson as the creepy Mrs. Danvers. It's such an amazing movie, as I'm sure many of you will agree. The book was equally amazing. Only a few chapters in I was already dreading getting to the end. It is exquisitely written, with descriptions that would have made it come alive even if I had not already had seen the visual masterpiece that came about with the Hitchcock/Selznick adaptation.

Florence Bates IS Mrs. Van Hopper

One of the things that immediately struck me was how faithful the movie was to the novel. We have David O. Selznick to thank for that. Another was that Florence Bates WAS Mrs. Van Hopper. She is probably the most perfectly cast character in the 1940 film. Yes, even over Mrs. Danvers, as brilliantly portrayed by Judith Anderson. As I read, I never fully imagined Olivier and Fontaine in the roles. Most of the characters are described slightly different in the novel than the stellar actors that portrayed them in the film. The cast is ridiculously talented. I mean, George Sanders, Reginald Denny, Gladys Cooper, C. Aubrey Smith... I could go on. The most notable character differences were with the Favell character, played in the film by Sanders, and the old servant Frith. Frith seemed a tad more sinister in the novel. In the film he definitely seems more kindly. Jack Favell is described vastly different from the suave George Sanders. Here is the introduction to his character:

He was a big, hefty fellow, good-looking in a rather flashy, sunburnt way. He had the hot, blue eyes usually associated with heavy drinking and loose living. His hair was reddish like his skin. In a few years he would run to fat, his neck bulging over the back of his collar. His mouth gave him away, it was two soft, too pink. I could smell his breath from where I stood. He began to smile. The sort of smile he would give to every woman. 

One has trouble seeing Rebecca even associating with him! 

I wish I had a gif of this moment. Sanders even jumps through the window gracefully!

The character of Frank Crawley, played by Reginald Denny, seems less sophisticated and rather socially awkward in the novel but always a gentleman and very tactful. It's hard to imagine Denny being awkward. He plays Crawley quiet and dependable.

The other big change from the novel seems to be Manderley itself. Throughout the book it mentions its "perfect symmetry. In the film, while Manderley is extremely impressive (it was a large model built on a table) it is rather rambling, with nothing being repeated in its outward design. The interior however is very symmetrical, with its central staircase in the great hall with rooms and passages leading to the east and west wings. 

I revisited the film after reading the book and was surprised that the novel was almost entirely there (only chapter 15 where Mrs. De Winter meets Maxim's grandmother was left out ). Sometimes a different character said a certain line or the action took place in a different room, but it was virtually all there exactly as it was in the book. However, after reading the slow-pace novel with its many descriptions of Manderley and the grounds and Mrs. De Winter's thoughts, the film seemed to rush a little, with sometimes several chapters condensed into fifteen minutes. And the film is over two hours long!

Warning! If you have not read the novel or watched the 

1940 film yet you may want to skip the next two paragraphs.

Spoilers!

There are two major departures from the novel in the film, one of them a direct result of the Hays Code. In the novel, Maxim actually kills Rebecca - he shoots her after she tells him she is going to have a child, which is of course a lie. In the film, Rebecca's death becomes and accident, as a character cannot go unpunished in a film if he commits a crime according to the Hays Code. 

The second difference is the fate of Mrs. Danvers. Who can forget that terrifying scene when she sets Manderley on fire and stands there in Rebecca's room surrounded by flames with that creepy smile on her face? In the book she still sets fire to the De Winter ancestral home, but she doesn't stay and die. One knows this immediately upon reading the novel as Mrs. De Winter wonders where she is in the first chapter. 

End of Spoilers

The 2020 Film

I almost didn't want to watch this version, despite my initial excitement when I first learned of it (I like both Armie Hammer and Lily James), as the novel was SO GOOD! But I decided to watch it anyway and... stopped after 30 minutes. It was underwhelming, crude, and in general not very well made. The early interior shots of Manderley looked like they were trying to go for a horror movie look but minus the horror? I don't know. They DID get the symmetry of the exterior correct.

Menabilly, Du Mauriers home that she based Manderley on.

Manderley 2020

I thought Mrs. Danvers would be the character I would be most critical of, but her portrayal by Kristin Scott Thomas seems fine. I HATED Mrs. Van Hopper. 

I didn't get this far of course, but the creative choice of changing the dress pitured below from white to red is baffling to me. The irony of Rebecca wearing the white dress is that, while she may have fooled everyone around her but her husband, she was definitely not innocent and sweet and virginal like the white gown suggests, whereas it IS perfect for the second Mrs. De Winter (Fontaine). Changing it to a more seductive red dress takes that underlying meaning away and the viewer is easily able to imagine Rebecca flaunting herself in it. 

I may still finish this film one day. If it had been an original story I probably would have watched it and liked it, loved it even. If you look at the films I watch every month you've most likely noticed I rarely watch anything from this century, and if I do it's usually a rewatch (or it stars a current crush). As movies rely more and more on sex, crude humor, and excessive violence to entertain their audience, I find myself staying away from them more and more. There are many times when I see a movie trailer that looks really good but then I discover it has nudity or lots of violence so I decide not to watch it. And if I DO end up watching it I'm quick to use the skip/fast-forward button. 

Rebecca

Who do you imagine Rebecca to be when you watch the film or read the novel? Who would you cast as Rebecca if a prequel had been made? I have always subconsciously imagined a combination of  Gale Sondergaard and Gail Patrick and, suddenly realized recently, Wallis Simpson! A friend of mine imagines Vivian Leigh in the role (she tested for the lead role of the second Mrs. De Winter but was all wrong for the part). I could also easily see Joan Crawford playing Rebecca if Hollywood had made a prequal in the early 40s. Many of her characters in the 30s were likable yet, as we see in The Woman (1939) she could also play the "There's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society... outside of a kennel" type.

In which adaptation is her presence most strongly felt? Which version is your favorite (there is also a 1997 TV movie which I have not seen). Did you watch the 2020 version?

I previously wrote about the 1940 film here for a blogathon in 2015. I hope you'll give it a look as well. 

Six Year Anniversary!

It has been six years since I began this blog. Last year I shared a list with my favorite film from each year starting with 1928. I had to skip a few years because I either hadn’t seen any from that year or the ones I had seen I didn’t really care for. This year I’m able to fill in a few of those “blanks:”

1929 - 

1930 - Wide Open - Edward Everett Horton 

1970 - 

1971 - 

1972 - A Warm December - Sidney Poitier 

1973 - Paper Moon - Ryan & Tatum O’Neal

1974 - 

1975 - Three Days of the Condor - Robert Redford & Faye Dunaway

CHANGE 1978 from Hooper to - Foul Play - Goldie Hawn & Chevy Chase 

1981 - Gallipoli - Mel Gibson (likely to change)

1984 - Protocol - Goldie Hawn (likely to change)

1991 - 

2013 - 

2020 - this would have probably been the new James Bond...

Movies I Watched in September

The League of Gentlemen (1961)

This month I watched some movies that have been on my “to watch” list for a long time: The Gold Rush, Foreign Correspondent, Sun Valley Serenade (Sonja Henie was cute!), and Sergeant York. I also started binging Sister, Sister on Netflix. Who else misses the 90s?

1. The Gold Rush (1925) - Charlie Chaplin 
2. The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1929) - Norma Shearer & Basil Rathbone, Hedda Hopper
3. Flying Down to Rio (1933) - Dolores Del Rio & Gene Raymond, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers 
4. Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939) - Walter Pidgeon, Donald Meek
5. Sky Murder (1940) - Walter Pidgeon, Donald Meek
6. Foreign Correspondent (1940) - Joel McCrea & Laraine Fay, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Edmund Gwenn 
7. Sergeant York (1941) - Gary Cooper & Joan Leslie, Walter Brennan, George Tobias, Ward Bond
8. Sun Valley Serenade (1941) - Sonja Henie & John Payne, Milton Berle, Glenn Miller
9. *Now, Voyager (1942) - Bette Davis & Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville
10. We Were Dancing (1942) - Norma Shearer & Melvyn Douglas, Gail Patrick, Lee Bowman, Marjorie Main, Reginald Owen, Alan Mowbray
11. Her Cardboard Lover (1942) - Norma Shearer & Robert Taylor, George Sanders, Frank McHugh
12. The Crystal Ball (1943) - Ray Milland & Paulette Goddard, Gladys George
13. Pan-Americana (1945) - Philip Terry & Audrey Long, Eve Arden, Robert Benchley
14. Of Human Bondage (1946) - Paul Henreid & Eleanor Parker, Alexis Smith, Edmund Gwenn, Janis Paige
15. A Dangerous Profession (1949) - George Raft & Ella Raines, Pat O’Brien, Jim Backus, Bill Williams
16. The Secret Fury (1950) - Claudette Colbert & Robert Ryan
17. Devil’s Doorway (1950) - Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond, Marshall Thompson, Edward Buchanan, Spring Byington 
18. Westward the Women (1951) - Robert Taylor
19. Latin Lovers (1953) - Lana Turner & Ricardo Montalban, John Lund, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, Beulah Bondi, Rita Moreno
20. Carmen Jones (1954) - Dorothy Dandridge & Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll
21. Nightfall (1956) - Aldo Ray & Anne Bancroft, Brian Keith
22. The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) - Marilyn Monroe & Laurence Olivier 
23. Cry Terror! (1958) - James Mason & Inger Stevens, Rod Steiger, Angie Dickinson, Neville Brand
24. Party Girl (1958) - Robert Taylor & Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland
25. The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959) - Gary Cooper, Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, Michael Redgrave 
26. The League of Gentlemen (1961) - Jack Hawkins, Robert Livesly
27. Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) - Elvis Presley, Laurel Goodwin, Stella Stevens
28. *Come Fly with Me (1963) - Dolores Hart & Karlheinz Bohm, Karl Malden & Lois Nettleton, Hugh O’Brian & Pamela Tiffin 
29. *Man’s Favorite Sport (1964) - Rock Hudson & Paula Prentiss 
30. Charro! (1969) - Elvis Presley 
31. Skyjacked (1972) - Charlton Heston, Yvette Mimieux, James Brolin, Mike Henry, Walter Pidgeon, Nicholas Hammond, Jeanne Crain

Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970)
This is Elvis (1981)

Anne Bancroft & Aldo Ray in Nightfall (1956).

Least Favorite Film: Flying Down to Rio needed a stronger leading man. I don't really get the charm of Gene Raymond but apparently he had appeal in the early 30s. Also the finale was ridiculous. Charro! could have been better. Pan-Americana would have been better with Robert Cummings in the lead.

Favorite Movie: Her Cardboard Lover was hilarious. Also greatly enjoyed The Wreck of the Mary Deare. The first half was especially exciting. I highly recommend Westward the Women. Nightfall was really good. What are some of your favorite snowy noirs?

John Payne in a cozy sweater in Sun Valley Serenade (1941)