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A Royal Trip to Rome

Perhaps gaining some of its public appeal from the ill-fated romance of England's Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend, the story of the 1953 film Roman Holiday is one of those classic stories of a princess or president's daughter who runs away to find our her real identity, battling against her future as a famous woman in power. This is the first major studio film starring the beautiful Audrey Hepburn in a leading role and consequently became the film where she was made into a star.

The story follows that of Princess Anne (Hepburn) of some unnamed country out on her royal debut by touring all of Europe. Angry by the restrictions placed on her by her royal entourage, Anne runs away, forgetting she has taken a sleeping pill and ends up sleeping on a bench. Anne is rescued by American photographer Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) who is covering the Princess's visit to Rome recognizes her. She tells him she is Anya Smith, but he sees through her disguise. Playing along, Joe tells his editor (Hartley Power) that he has perhaps the story of the year on his hands. Joe and photographer friend Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) take Anne around Rome and give her the whirlwind experience of a life time. Anne and Joe fall in love with each other and Anne is given a choice. She can either stay with Joe and renounce her throne or she can grow up and take charge of her royal duties.

The film was made in black and white to reduce the cost and also so that the city of Rome would not outshine the cast. It was the first American film entirely filmed in Italy. Director Frank Capra was originally slated to produce the film and he wanted Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor in the lead roles. Jean Simmons and Suzanne Cloutier were both considered for the role of Princess Anne, but both were busy on other projects. It was Gregory Peck who told the studio to put Audrey Hepburn's name above the film in ad campaigns because she was going to be the break out star of the film.

The film is ranked #4 on the AFI list of greatest romance movies. For some reviews on the film, you can check out this entry on the Decent Films site. Movie Man's Guide provides this review of the film. The blog Rick's Flicks Picks has this to say about the movie and Brianrowe.net has this review.And here, for your enjoyment, is the film's original trailer:

The Lady of the Camellias

A tragic story of love, loss, and love again is the 1936 George Cuckor film Camille puts together a group of amazing actors to retell a classic novel. This film has gone on to be one of the most praised love stories, even making Time magazine's list of 100 Best Movies of All Time. If you want to watch this film, you can start here.

The original story is titled "The Lady of the Camellias", referring to the camellia flower the main character always carries. The name Camille was derived from the flower and is what the story is more commonly known as today. The novel was written by Alexandre Dumas, but not the Alexandre Dumas famous for writing The Three Musketeers or The Count of Monte Cristo. The author of Camille is that author's son with his mistress, Parisian dressmaker Marie-Laure-Catherine Labay. The younger Alexander was taken away from his mother at a very young age to live with his father. The story of Camille was partially based on the struggles of Dumas's own mother, but more based on the story of Marie du Plessis, perhaps the most famous French courtesan who ever lived.

The story follows Marguerite Gautier (Greta Garbo) who is born into a poor family but works her way up using her charms to become the Dame Camille. Encouraged by Prudence Duvernoy (Laura Hope Crews), who is the person Camille might become in her old age, Camille is to meet and then seduce the Baron de Varville (Henry Daniell), displacing rival courtesan Olympe (Lenore Ulric). Of course, Camille spies the wrong man and believes the baron is the handsome Armand Duval (Robert Taylor), who she instantly falls in love with her. Camille is kept by the Baron but still loves Armand, who thinks Camille only cares for material possessions. Eventually, Camille leaves the Baron to be with Armand, but Armand's father (Lionel Barrymore) points out to Camille that her reputation will ruin Armand's chance at getting a better life forever. Camille pretends not to love Armand, sending him away. Yet when her consumption begins to grow worse, Camille is convinced that Armand will come back to her.

It is easy how to see that the film Moulin Rouge basically completed ripped off the entire plot of this film, which in turn ripped of the book, but more clever analyses have been made. For more background information on the film itself, you can look at this page from filmsite.org. The Dusted Off blog does this interesting comparison of Camille to modern day Bollywood films.

For more reviews of this film, you can look here at the 1001 Films You Must See Before You Die blogspot. The Classic Film Guide has this review of the film more in the context of the time period. The Garbo Forever fan site has this review of the film as well. And here is one of the original trailers for the film:

Gone with the Wind: A Legacy

Perhaps one of the most ambitious films ever made, the four hour long 1939 film Gone with the Wind probably defines the term "American epic". Produced by the legendary David O. Selznick at Warner Brother's studio, the I am not going to detail the long plotline, or the amount of awards the film recieved, including its ten Oscar wins that were not to be outdone for twenty years. Everyone knows of the illustrious cast of Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Ann Rutherford, Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Fred Crane, George Reeves, and so many others. I want to talk about the legacy of the film and all of the fan worship that his risen up from it.

The original book Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was originally published in 1937 and won a Pulitzer Prize. Mitchell did not approve of or condone much of the making of the film, she did approve of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. Her book became one of the best selling books in history and was listed by time as one of the Best 100 Novels ever written. Recently, writer Alice Randall released a parody version of the book entitled The Wind Done Gone, which is the same story told from the perspective of a slave at Tara. For more information on the history of the book and film, you can look here at the official fan site and at this article, from the historyoffilm.com.

Both the film and the book have become an American icon, as evidenced by this article. An entire industry has been built around Gone with the Wind and Scarlett O'Hara. The Scarlett O'Hardy Museum in Jefferson, Texas offers a museum memorabilia, a Scarlett O'Hara bed and breakfast, and souvenir. The Scarlett Online fan site offers everything Scarlett from costume made clothes to dolls to look-a-likes. The University of Texas at Austin even has a Gone with the Wind exhibit online, providing history, biography, costuming, and more.

Atlanta and the state of Georgia have even developed an entire segment of their tourist industry devoted to the film, book, and characters. You can visit the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, where the story had its inception or the official Gone with the Wind exhibit in the history museum at Marietta, Georgia. In fact, Atlanta has even set up this official trip guide for those of you who would like to take a GWTW themed trip, including sites connected to the film like the real Twelve Oaks, Tara, the GWTW tour, battlefields from the movie and more.

Gone with the Wind has infultrated so much of our culture in parody, history, and society to become an American icon. From the lines to the costumes to the actors to the vacation plans, this is truly an immortal film.

Austen and Romance

Though not the most accurate version of Jane Austen 's classic tale, the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice is my second favorite after the 1995 BBC Miniseries. One of the reasons for this is because the 1940 version has an excellent cast of characters, in particular my favorite actress in the role of Elizabeth Bennet , Greer Garson. This version of the film, with a script primarily written by novelist Aldous Huxley , is more of a combination of Pride and Prejudice along with another Austen novel, Emma.

I won't bore you with the details of a story we all know so well, but I will point out Garson's excellent fellow cast mates in this film. Mr. Darcy is played by the illustrious actor Sir Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland is Mrs. Bennet, Edna May Oliver is Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Edmund Gwenn is Mr. Darcy, Maureen O'Sullivan is Jane Bennet and Ann Rutherford is Lydia. Though the film is not accurate, it is still a treat to see so many wonderful screen greats at their craft.

A lot of criticism arises over how the film does not follow along with the book and how the costumes do not match the period. The film was made in 1940, during the Great Depression when the US still was not recovering entirely because World War II was just beginning. The costumes were reused from epic Gone with the Wind, because MGM did not have the money to make new ones. They also did not have money to shoot some of the location scenes, which is why the Pemberly scene is missing. Keeping up with its Gone with the Wind leftovers, Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable were both considered for lead roles in this film.

The film has been remade several times since this inception and will probably continue to be redone. Still, I prefer the book version, if I have to choose. For those that are interested, here is a trailer for the film:

Loneliness, Love, and Italia

Tons of movies have been made about falling in love abroad. After all, nothing is more exciting than a new place, new experiences, and new people to enjoy them with. The 1955 David Lean film Summertime, sometimes retitled Summer Madness, is based on the play Time Time of the Cuckoo, written by Arthur Laurents. You can watch the film, segmented into parts, here on YouTube.

Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) is a happy-go-lucky middle-aged secretary from Akron who has finally gotten to go on the dream vacation of her life: a trip to Venice. Jane is an "independent type" and cruises Venice not with a lover but with a trusty movie camera to capture her experiences. . Despite the wonder and magic of Venice, Jane has no one to share her experiences with. However, Jane meets antique shop proprietor Renato de Rossi (Rossano Brazzi) in a cafe in the Piazza San Marco, a man who might change the course of her vacation and her life. The film truly captures what it is like to be a tourist in a foriegn country and is humorous but also romantic.

For some extra info on the film, you can look here at theauteurs.com or here, thanks to the Kate the Great fansite. Though it wasn't his most acclaimed film, David Lean said it was his favorite and it has gained some recognition through the Criterion Collection and some other sources. Filmsite.org ranked it one of the top films of 1955, which is a big honor considering other films that made the list include Rebel Without A Cause, The Seven Year Itch, Blackboard Jungle, East of Eden, and To Catch a Theif.

For some reviews of the film, you can get one from noripcord.com here. Another one comes from The Guardian in the UK. The BBC offers this review and this one comes from the Radio Times. For some images from the film, you can look here, thanks to Flickr. For a trailer of the film, just look below.

Comedy, Romance, Cross-Dressing, and Mafia in Miami

One of the my favorite romantic comedies about music, love, cross-dressing, and the mafia definitely has to be Billy Wilder's 1959 film Some Like It Hot. With the stellar cast of Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Marilyn Monroe, it is easy to see why this steamy film is on top of so many film lists and continues to delight and entertain nearly fifty years after it was made.

After being witness to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, saxophonist Joe (Curtis) and bass violin player Jerry (Lemmon) try to hide from the mob by disguising themselves as Josephine and Daphne and joining an all-girl band headed by vocalist and ukulele player Sugar Kane (Monroe) headed for a rich resort in Miami filled with millionaires. Joe falls in love with Sugar and pretends to be a rich millionaire (when he's not in drag as Josephine). Meanwhile "Daphne" is being chased around by real millionaire Osgood Fielding (Joe E. Brown), who's yacht Joe conveniently uses to keep up his charade with Sugar. When the mob comes for a convention in Miami to deal with the two missing witnesses from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, a whole new dimension of comedy ensues.

For a more detailed synopsis and review, you can click here, thanks to filmsite.org. Legendary costume designer Orry-Kelly designed the dresses worn not only by Monroe but also by Curtis and Lemmon when they were dressed up as their female alter-egos. The cast in this film is not the original cast Wilder and the studio intended at all. Danny Kaye and Bob Hope were considered for the roles that went to Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Mitizi Gaynor was wanted for Monroe's role of Sugar Kane and director Billy Wilder originally wanted Frank Sinatra as Jerry/Daphne. Of course, the roles being assigned as they were have made the film that much more memorable.

In fact, this film is #81 on IMDB's list of 250 Greatest Movies, made Time's list of 100 Greatest Movies, and AFI voted it #14 on its list of top movies and #1 on it's list of top comedies. Premiere Magazine also voted it as the #1 comedy on its list of 50 Greatest Comedies of All time and Entertainment Weekly voted it 9th on its list of Greatest Comedies of All Time. For more info and reviews on the film, you can check out this article at Frank's Movie Log. For a more in depth look at the filmography, you can check out this site, thanks to film.u-net.com. Screensavour.net has this site, which focuses on both the history and the humor of the film. Finally, a brief overview can be found here, thanks to 1001flicks blogspot. As a special treat, here is the original trailer for the film:

Singing, Dancing, and Talkies

Though it is usually categorized as a musical, the 1952 film Singin' in the Rain has all of the elements of a classic romantic comedy film. Co-directed by Stanley Donen and song and dance man Gene Kelly, the film is a great example of a Hollywood movie that parodies Hollywood as well as the politics of falling in love on a Hollywood set.

Don Lockwood (Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) are the on-screen romantic duo of Lockwood-Lamont, whereas off stage, they detest each other. When Hollywood suddenly goes from silents to talkies, studio head R. F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell) decides the next Lockwood-Lamont should be a talkie. Unfortunately, Lina talks like a sqwaking bird not a swooning starlet. Enter Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds), a young actress who is struggling to make it but can sing, dance, act, and is the head of the Don Lockwood fan club, unbeknownst to Don himself. Don and pal Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) conspire to have Lina's parts dubbed over by Kathy, but when Lina and friend Zelda Zanders (Rita Moreno) feel threatened by Kathy's presence, they attempt to ruin the whole scheme. Don has to prove his love for Kathy and Lina's sham in the midst of several colorful and catchy musical numbers.

The acclaim of this film is known far and wide. Singin' in the Rain is a definite must see for any film fan, buff, or viewer. Time voted it one of the 100-Must See Films of all time. It was on Entertainment Weekly's list of 10 Best Films and #8 on Empire Magazine's list of 500 Greatest Films of All Time. It made severeal AFI lists including #1 Musical, "Singin' in the Rain" as #3 song, #10 in the 100 Years...100 Movies List, and #16 in 100 Years... 100 Passions.

For a review and history of the film, you can look here at the mardecortesbaja blogspot. Roger Egbert's review of the film can be found here and a review from decentfilms.com can be found here. Noripcord.com has also done a review, as has leftfieldcinema.com.

For more information on the film, you can check out this page at filmsite.com or you can read this hypertextual reading of the film, thanks to Project Muse.

Frenchman, Swordsman, Poet and Lover

A classic tragic romance story that has been told over and over again in various forms, the 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac brings to life the character's of French author Edmond Rostand's novel of the same name. We all know Cyrano as the man caught in a famous love triangle, a lot of which results from his embarrasment over his even more famous nose. The film is public domain and those who would like to view it can do so here, thanks to Classic Cinema Online and Google.

The film stars José Ferrer as the hero, Cyrano, who is a famed swordsman and poet who is in love with the beautiful and much admired Roxane (Mala Powers ). Because of his long, odd shaped nose, Cyrano is too ashamed and self-concious to declare his love for Roxane out of fear of rejection. Roxane is in love with the handsome but pretty dense Christian de Neuvillette (William Prince), devastating Cyrano. When Christian comes to Cyrano, asking him to help win Roxane with his dramatic tongue, and Cyrano faciliates their romance, despite his love for Roxane. Meanwhile, Cyrano's enemy Comte De Guiche (Ralph Canton ) is also wooing Roxane. Cyrano provides room for Christian and Roxane to elope. When the Comte hears, he forces Christian to join the army in the war against the Spanish. Roxane goes to the camp and tells Christian it was his wonderful words he fell in love with and Christian is heartbroken, knowing the words were Cyrano and not his own. He does not get a chance to confess this to her and it is up to Cyrano to confess everything and tell Roxane of his love. But will he be too late?

Ferrer won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in this film, though the film itself was not universally liked by critics. The role of Cyrano de Bergerac became the defining role of Ferrer's career. It has been estimated that the plastic nose Ferrer wore for the role cost United Artists $1,500 at the time to make. While producing this film, Stanley Kramer was having trouble getting another pet project produced, a film known as High Noon. The writers tried to keep the film as close to the book as possible, which is hard in trimming an epic novel down to a nearly two hour long movie.

For some reviews of this film, you can check out this one done by Turner Classic Movies. You can read this review from bestcyrano.org or this one from the Gold Old Movie Reviews blogspot. Another review can be found here at the Exporer of the Unknown blogspot.

Valentino, Desert Romance, and The Sheik

Perhaps one of the best known silent film's and the film that started the idea of the male sex symbol way back in the 1920s, George Melford and William Marshall's 1921 film The Sheik might be one of the best romance films ever made. The film plays out like a harlequin romance novel with the dashing Rudolph Valentino as the male lead at the height of his film career. After this film was released, flappers had tons of Valentino posters hanging up in their rooms and caused a cultural craze for everything Arabian. If you want, you can watch the film yourself here.

Valentino plays Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan, a French educated Arab Sheik who has his every wish commanded, fights fierce in battle and even fiercer in love. Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayers) is a British expatriate, staying with her brother Sir Aubrey (Frank Butler) in the Algerian town of Biskra. The Sheik catches her trying to sneak into the all-Arabian casino and finds something attractive in her fire and spunk. He sings outside her window that night and when she goes off into the desert on a guided tour with Mustapha Ali (Charles Brinley), he captures her and brings her back to his camp to be his wife. Diana is sullen in the desert and does not instantly fall in love with the Sheik, as he had planned. After raping her, the Sheik feels guilty and gives everything to her that she asks for, except her freedom. The Sheik's old friend, French writer Raoul de Saint Hubert (Adolphe Menjou) tells him this is a foolish way to win Diana's heart and the Sheik agrees to let her go. Before this can happen, Diana is captured by the desert bandits let by the Sheik's enemy Omair (Walter Long) and it is up to the Sheik to save her.

A lot has been written dissecting this film within modern social, political, sexual, and racial contexts. For an article that discuses The Sheik and sexuality in films, you can read here.This article deals with the social mores that surrounded the making and aftermath of The Sheik's release. This article deals with racial profiling in movies such as in The Sheik and this article specifically deals with the treatment of Arabs in Hollywood cinema. All of these are good background readings for the film, if you want to see how it is currently intrepreted by several groups.

For reviews on the film, you can read this article from the Film Reel blogspot that gives some history of Valentino and the film. This review from the Media Center discusses the context of the film and interpretations of it, as do the articles in the paragraph above. Phoenix Cinema does a review of this film and its sequel Son of the Sheik, which was released in 1926 and also stared Valentino.

Alls Fair in Love and Magic

A great and often overlooked romantic classic is Richard Quine's 1958 film Bell Book, and Candle, a story about a witch who falls in love with a mortal. The film follows along that similar theme also shown in the television show Bewitched and in the 1942 movie I Married a Witch, starring Fredric Marc, Veronica Lake, and Susan Hayward. Bell Book and Candle is based on a play of the same name, written by John Van Druten. The film again teams up James Stewart and Kim Novak in the lead roles, as did Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo.

The film follows along with Gillian Holroyd (Novak), who is just your average witch-about-town living in Greenwich Village, New York with her cat, Pyewacket. Publisher Shep Henderson (Stewart) walks into her oddities shop one day to use the phone and Gil is smitten with him. Gil grows jealous when it turns out her old college rival Merle Kittridge (Janice Rule ) and casts a love spell on Shep to draw his attentions away from Merle. Unfortunately, Gil starts to fall in love with Shep as well and when a witch falls in love with a mortal, she looses her powers. Meanwhile, Shep's publishing agency has decided to accept a book being written by Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs ), who is writing about the supernatural with the help of Gil's warlock brother Nicky (Jack Lemmon ). At underground clubs, they meet several members of the supernatural community, including Aunt Queenie (Elsa Lancaster ). Gil eventually confesses her powers to Shep, who is disgusted with her, and Gil has fellow witch Bianca de Passe (Hermione Gingold ) break the spell Gil has cast over him. The film, of course, has a happy ending which I won't divulge here.

Stewart turned 50 on the set of this film and afterwards, ceased to play romantic leads focusing more on father figure roles. Both the film and the soundtrack that was released for it were moderate successes. The title is a reference to the phrase used during to the excommunication process against witches. The original Broadway stage production included Rex Harrison as Shepherd Henderson, Lilli Palmer as Gillian Holroyd, Jean Adair as Miss Queeny Holroyd, Larry Gates as Sidney Redlitch and Scott McKay as Nicky Holroyd. The name of Gil's cat Pyewacket comes from the records of witchfinder general" Matthew Hopkins, who listed is as one of the familiar spirits found in a small English town in 1644. The film was nominated for best Art Direction and Costume design for the 1959 Oscars, but did not win either.

Several reviews of this film are available for more background information. The Moon in the Gutter blogspot offers some insight into why the film has gone overlooked. Moviediva.com does a great article sighting reviews of the film and goes into detail about various interpretations and academic looks at the film and its subtext. The Spinning Image blog has a basic review of the film and one of the original reviews from the year it was released can be found here, thanks to The New York Times.

February Blogging: Classic Romance

Now, I've never been the biggest romance movie fan, but I do understand the contributions this genre of films has given to the art of filmaking. Don't tune the next month out if you aren't a big romance fan either, because I'm sure there will be at least one film in this bunch you can at least try to appreciate. If not, you really need to get in touch with your sensitive side.

In fact, romance movies often have the greatest costumes and some of the most memorable lines. Most musicals are some brand of romantic comedy, but don't be fooled by the comedic aspect. The majority of romance movies don't end well or with the characters getting together. I will try to do a good mix of romances that end happily and those that don't, though the one thing I can't promise you is finishing all of this up in the month of February, since it is only 28 days long.

A few of the movies I will be featuring this month will be on Turner Classic Movie's 31 Days of Oscar, as a testament to how well-made and wonderful they are. Some of these films are public domain or available online to watch as well. I have tried my best to pick some of the very best films of the genre, though the quality of films is always up for debate. If you are considering doing some sort of movie marathon of your own for February, Valentines Day, or if you prefer, Singles Awareness Day this year.

For a list of great romance movies, there are several places you can access, all of which seem to have a different opinion on the subject. IMDB's list of Top 50 Romances could be helpful and if you're in a bitter spirit, you can take on the Bottom 10 Romances at the bottom of the list. Internetducttape.com provides a list of unordered movies, seventy-six of them to be exact, that will get you in the loving mood. Romancestuck.com has this list of films. And for the big kahuna of lists, you can look to Associated Content, which has a list of over 200 movies, divided up into romance subcategories such as Classic Romance Movies, Guy Gets Girl movies, and Tearjerkers.

So, here's to a month of love and love for great films!

Mary Poppins Lives On

The 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins is not only a great movie for people of all ages, but a cinematic treasure with amazing effects for its time. The film won five academy awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews, Best Music and Best Special Effects. No Disney film has won that many awards before or since. It was the top grossing Disney film of the year as well as the top grossing Disney film for the next twenty years. As you can see, it was worth being the most expensive film Disney had produced at the time.

CNN has just produced this great article, an interview with Mary Poppins cast member and funny man Dick Van Dyke about working on the film and the longevity of the movie. It is revealed in the article that Van Dyke's TV show a personal favorite of new first lady, Michelle Obama as well as new information about what it was like working on the Mary Poppins set.

The film is a very condensed version of the book series written about Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers and it was made even shorter by the deletion of dozens of songs. Following in the literary traditions of her famous character, Julie Andrews wrote a book of her own, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles.

Its hard to believe its been forty-five years since the original release of Mary Poppins. The film which helped pioneer the fusion of real-life and animated scenes in a spectacular fashion has gone on to influence generations of films after it.