Movies for Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Today, March 1, we celebrate the birthday of actor David Niven (1910) and National Pig Day. We also note the anniversary of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping in 1932.




Separate Tables (1958) is a romance in the Grand Hotel
vein. David Niven won an Academy Award for Best Actor;
he also won Golden Globe as actor in a drama.
Wendy Hiller (born August 15,  1912, just in case you want
to save this movie for her birthday) won an Academy Award
for Supporting Actress.

Separate Tables











We celebrate National Pig Day (March 1) with Babe (1995), the name of the star pig.  The movie won an Oscar for visual effects.  It was followed by Babe:  Pig in the City (1998).



Babe

March 1, 1932, saw one of the most famous and tragic kidnappings ever.  The child of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped by Bruno Hauptmann.  The child was lost.  The events are recounted in an above average television movie, The Crime of the Century (1996).


Crime of the Century

Movies for Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Today is the birthday of actor Zero Mostel (February 28, 1915), gangster Bugsy Siegel (1906) and Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (1898), a World War II hero.  Today's movies celebrate each of them.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) starred Zero Mostel and is a comedic musical set in ancient Rome.  It was a Broadway play first.  It won Oscars for Best Music, Scoring of Music and Adaptation or Treatment.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum












The Scarlet and the Black is a 1983 TV Movie which tells the story
of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, a Roman Catholic priest who saved
thousands of Jews in Rome in the World War II era.  It won an Emmy
for Film Sound Mixing.


The Scarlet and the Black









Bugsy (1991) is the story of Bugsy Siegel, a Las Vegas gangster.  It won Oscars for Art Direction, Set Decoration and Costume Design.

Bugsy

Movies for Monday February 27, 2017

Today, February 27, is the birthday of novelist John Steinbeck (born in 1902) and of actresses Joanne Woodward (1930) and Elizabeth Taylor (1932).

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) is an Academy Award winning adaptation of Steinbeck's famous novel.  It is the story of a depression and dust bowl era family migrating west.  It is listed on the National Film Registry and won Oscars for supporting actress (Jane Darwell) and director (John Ford).

The Grapes of Wrath







The Three Faces of Eve (1957) is the story of a woman with
multiple personalities and her psychiatrist.  Joanne Woodward
won an Oscar and Golden Globe as Best Actress.


The Three Faces of Eve













Elizabeth Taylor won an Oscar in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).  The movie, which is listed on the National Film Registry, is about two couples at odds.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Movies for February 26, 2017

Today, February 26 is Oscar Sunday.

A good movie to watch would be "Sullivan's Travels" (1942).

It's a great movie about a movie director, a landmark Hollywood satire full of slapstick and sorrow.

Listed on the National Film Registry.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034240/





Another more recent movie to watch would be "The Artist" (2011).

It's an Academy Award winning film about Hollywood
from 1927 to 1932 as talkies replaced silent films.

It won Oscars for Best Picture, Actor (Jean Dujardin),
Director, Costume Design and Original Score.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/












It's also Victor Hugo's birthday, born February 26, 1802.


A good day to watch a movie made from one of his most famous novels, "Les Miserables" (2012).

Set in 19th century France, the film tells the tale of ex-convict Jean Valjean, and his road to reform.

This adaptation won multiple Academy Awards, including for Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway), sound mixing, makeup and hairstyling, and was nominated for Best Motion Picture.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/