Pillow talk, starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall, was the first of three films these stars made together. The film also stars Thelma Ritter as an alcoholic house keeper called Alma. Thelma was nominated for Best Actress in a supporting role for Pillow Talk.
This charming easy to follow romantic comedy follows interior decorator Jan Morrow (Day) and womanising song-writer Brad Allen (Hudson), who share the same party line. Jan is becoming infuriated with Brad always tying up the phone with his phone calls to other women, including singing and playing his latest song for them. The two have never met but have constant bickering sessions over the phone.

“I don’t know what’s bothering you but don’t take your bedroom problems out on me!” Just one of the lines Brad throws at Jan.
Jan has a client named Jonathan Forbes (Randall) who is mad about Jan, however the feelings are not reciprocated. He even tries to win her over by buying her a new car, but to no avail.
“Jan why won’t you marry me?” Jonathan asks “We’ve never even kissed!” When he does kiss her it’s obvious that there are no sparks.
It just so happens Brad is friends with Jonathan, and Jonathan is financially helping Brad with his career. When Jonathan goes to see Brad he mentions being in love with a woman who doesn’t return his feelings. When he mentions the party line problem and says her name is Jan, Brad doesn’t let on that he is Jan’s problem.
One night, Jan finds herself in an awkward situation when she visits the home of a wealthy client, who offers for her son, Harvard boy Tony (Nick Adams) to drive Jan home instead of her getting a cab. Tony stops the car and constantly tries it on until Jan agrees to one drink in order to stop him.
Brad is at the same club and recognises who Jan is, but she doesn’t know who Brad is. He goes to help Jan when he sees how drunk Tony has become, and they put him into a taxi and send him home. Brad makes up a phoney identity, “Rex Stetson from Texas” complete with a phoney southern accent. After talking with Rex Jan gives him her number before he leaves.
“Isn’t that sweet so unpretentious and honest!” she thinks to herself.
“I’d say five or six date’s outta do it?” Brad thinks to himself.
Rex calls Jan during the night and asks her to dinner the following evening. Brad is having a laugh by interfering on the party line before switching back to being Rex!
Rex is the perfect gentleman toward Jan and Jan is falling for it. After continuing on their dates together, Jan breaks a date with Jonathan to meet Rex. Jan tells Jonathan all about Rex, and how she’s in love with him.
A suspicious and jealous Jonathan calls a Detective agency and wants them to investigate Rex. It’s not long before Jonathan is given a photograph and is horrified to see a picture of Brad. The detective receives a call from the person who is following Jan and Brad, and Jonathan is told where the two have just gone for their date that evening.
Finally Jan and Rex kiss but whilst Jan is in the powder room, Jonathan confronts Brad about his phoney identity.
“Need a light cowboy?” Jonathan asks.
Jonathan tells Brad to make his excuses to Jan and to pack his things and stay for a while at his summer house in Connecticut and work on his songs.
“Remember I’ll be watching you.” Jonathan warns Brad.
Rex does indeed tells Jan he’s going to Connecticut but he takes her along with him! It’s obvious his true identity won’t be a secret from Jan forever and later on when Jonathan tries to contact Jan at her building, he discovers she’s in Connecticut also.
Whilst at the summer house Jan finds a sheet of Brad’s music whilst he is outside collecting firewood. Sitting down to play the song at the piano herself, it doesn’t take her long to recognise the song, it’s the very same song she has heard Brad constantly playing down the party line to his women!
Brad walks in with the firewood and in a tense moment they turn to each other, and he knows that his identity has been revealed. At that moment Jonathan bursts into the summer house telling Jan what she now already knows. When Jonathan finally sees Brad back in the city he tells Brad how upset Jan was. Brad admits his guilt and Jonathan realises that Brad is actually in love with Jan. Brad needs a plan to win Jan back so he approaches the maid Alma.
Alma admits to Brad that she listens all the time down the party line as it brightens up her day.
“I’m one of your most devoted listeners!” She tells him.
They go for a drink and alcoholic Alma drinks Brad under the table.
“Hire her to decorate your place!” Alma suggests to a half-conscious Brad.
Jan’s boss doesn’t want Jan to design Brad’s apartment as she has been so hurt by him but Jan insists she’ll do it, she doesn’t want her boss to lose money.
Thinking this would be a massive hint, Brad tells Jan to make his home the kind of place she would feel comfortable in. Jan tells him he’ll have to vacate the apartment whilst she is working. Thinking that Jan is going to make the apartment a cosy little home for two, Brad calls all the women he’s been involved with to tell them goodbye as he has met someone he plans to marry.
Little does he know Jan is busy ordering the most vulgar items she can find in order to turn Brad’s home into a horrid mess. In fact she turns it into the ultimate pad fit for a playboy like Brad! The apartment is hideous and when Brad sees it he goes straight to Jan’s apartment, pulls her out of bed and carries her through the city streets back to his place.
“Mummy where’s that man taking that lady?” a little boy asks his mother.
“I’ll tell you when you’re older!” she replies.
Brad throws Jan on the bed and tells her that he has said goodbye to all his women and how he thought him and Jan would be married, none of this Jan suspected he would do for a single moment.
As Brad goes to storm out Jan flips a switch she had just installed in the apartment which locks Brad in. Looking at him with a loving smile, they need no other words and they kiss.
Pillow Talk won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Doris Day was also nominated for Best Actress.

Pillow Talk (50th Anniversary Edition) [DVD](1959) DVD
Charming romantic comedy stars Doris Day as a prim and proper interior designer who shares a phone party line with womanizing musician Rock Hudson. After a chance face-to-face meeting, Hudson becomes quite enamored with Day, disguising his voice and posing as a wealthy Texas businessman in order to win her affections. Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter, and Nick Adams co-star. 103 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Spanish; audio commentary; featurettes; theatrical trailer.

I cannot imagine any other actress than Doris Day playing the part of Calamity Jane in the 1953 Musical of the same name. Full of fun, humour, and great catchy songs including one of Doris Day’s best “Secret Love”, Calamity Jane is a childhood favorite of mine.
The Wild West Musical also stars Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickok, Philip Carey as Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin and Allyn Ann McLerie as Katie Brown.
From the opening sequence of the Deadwood Stage heading toward Deadwood, we see Calamity Jane dressed up as a cowboy, singing “The Deadwood Stage (Whip Crack Away!)” and we are introduced to the characters. Calamity Jane is quick with a gun, never afraid to speak her mind, and stand up to the men. Especially when the Theatre owner makes a mistake over the act the men have been expecting to perform for them, Miss Francis Fryer who turns out to be a Mr. Francis Fryer. Calamity gets the men to calm down, and promises them a famous actress named Adelaide Adams, to make up for it, which seems impossible for her to do.
We learn the kind of love / hate friendship Calamity and Wild Bill have through their very entertaining song together “I can do without you”.
Calamity heads off to Chicago on her promise to bring back Adelaide Adams, and is somewhat surprised at some of the sights she witnesses when she arrives, such as the way the women dress in the latest fashions.
“Scalps…! A massacre!” She exclaims at the wigs in the shop window, and what’s even funnier is how the women think she’s a man because of the clothes she is wearing.
Even Katie Brown believes Calamity Jane is a man when she first meets her, but Calamity thinks Katie is Adelaide Adams. Katie Brown is actually Adelaide Adams maid dressed in Adelaide’s clothing which Adelaide left behind in her dressing room after closing night in Chicago.
Katie is so desperate to be on the stage she pretends to be Adelaide and agrees to go back to Deadwood with Calamity to perform at the Golden Garter.
Katie is nervous at the thought of pretending to be Adelaide Adams, which is made worse when Francis Fryer who is still in Deadwood, recognises Katie as Adelaide’s maid. He doesn’t say anything to anyone but Katie is unable to perform as Adelaide Adams and admits the truth. Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin already has a crush on Katie and is not bothered that she is not Adelaide.
Calamity has to tell the angry men off for a second time and tells them to give Katie Brown a chance to perform in her own style which turns out to be more fun and full of energy than the original attempt. Katie is a hit with the men in Deadwood and decides to stay on a more permanent basis.
Katie moves into Calamity’s old dusty cabin and helps her fix it up, also helping Calamity take more care with her appearance, still Calamity Jane but a more feminine version.
Whilst Calamity is out, Bill and Danny arrive at the cabin to visit Katie whilst competing with each other for her affections. Calamity has feelings for Danny but Danny believes they are simply friends. Katie is drawn to Danny as well but doesn’t want to ruin things for Calamity, and tells Danny that Calamity is in love with him. Danny thinks this is ridiculous.
When the men mention a ball coming up and with both men wanting to take Katie, the loser of a straw draw has to take Calamity, which turns out to be Wild Bill. This Calamity knows nothing of. Calamity is an absolute vision at the ball and all the men think she looks absolutely stunning. The evening is going well until Calamity witnesses Katie and Danny kissing outside. Turning into old Calamity once again she shoots at Katie’s glass, startling her. Bill isn’t too happy either, knowing his hopes for a romance with Katie are now dashed.
When Katie next performs at The Golden Garter, she is stopped mid-song by Calamity’s presence. Calamity tells Katie to get out of town, to which Katie responds by asking for a gun. She asks Calamity to hold up her glass and she shoots. The glass is hit and everyone applauds, but it was shot secretly by Wild Bill who thought Calamity needed to be taught a lesson. Katie’s bullet ends up in a barrel!
Calamity storms out and Bill follows her and tries talking sense into her about the way she is acting over Danny and Katie’s romance, admitting he had feelings for Katie.
“I’ll get over it, you will too” Bill tells her.
Whilst Calamity and Bill are talking they realise their hidden feelings for one another and they kiss.
“Hey whatever happened to that Lieutenant?” Bill asks.
“I’ve never heard of him” Calamity happily replies.
Now truly in love and having forgotten about Danny, Calamity heads into town and wonders why no-one is talking to her. She realises Katie did listen to her warning and has left town. Telling everyone she didn’t mean what she said to Katie, Calamity jumps on a horse and catches up with the stage taking Katie back to Chicago, in order to bring her back to Deadwood and Danny. Katie and Calamity are friends once more and go back to Deadwood.
Our film ends with a double wedding, Calamity and Wild Bill, and Katie and Danny.
“Hey, what’s this for?” Bill asks, pulling a gun from Calamity’s wedding dress.
“That’s in case any more actresses roll in from Chica-gi’!” Calamity replies!
Calamity Jane is full of action, and guaranteed to get your feet tapping and singing a song from the film long after “The End”.
Calamity Jane won The Academy Award in 1953 for Best Song: Secret Love.

Calamity Jane [Blu-ray](1953)
Doris Day shines as the Old West’s sassy female sharpshooter in a rip-roarin’ musical comedy. Calamity travels to Chicago to bring a famed singer back to the frontier town of Deadwood but instead returns with the woman’s maid, who goes on to become a star and Calamity’s rival for the attentions of a handsome Cavalry officer. With Philip Carey, Allyn Ann McLerie, and Howard Keel as “Wild Bill” Hickok; songs include “Secret Love” and “It’s Harry I’m Planning to Marry.” 101 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English.

Having seen The Fearless Vampire Killers, Rosemary’s Baby, and The Tenant I was already impressed with the Direction of Roman Polanksi.
The film was inspired by real events, the character of Hollis Mulwray is based on William Mulholland and a tragic event which occurred during his career at the L.A. Department of Water and Power in the late 1920’s.
Chinatown, with a film noir feel to it stars Jack Nicholson as Private Investigator Mr Gittes, and Faye Dunaway as Evelyn Mulwray, wife of Hollis Mulwray.
Mr Gittes is drawn into a web of mystery after a simple request from a “Mrs Mulwray” into the activities of her husband reveal much more than Gittes expects. “Mrs Mulwray” turns out to be a phoney, and Gittes meets the real Mrs Mulwray (played by Faye Dunaway) after a report ends up in the newspaper of the photographs Gittes obtained from his investigation; pictures of Hollis with another woman. Gittes also obtained photos of Hollis having an argument with another man but these are not in the newspaper report. Mr Mulwray is also witnessed visiting many dry reservoirs, sometimes staying for hours on end.
Gittes discovers how Hollis Mulwray was opposed to the building of a new dam, and after Hollis’ body is found in a reservoir, Gittes further investigation leads him to believe his death has something more sinister connected to it.
Water is being diverted and dumped into the ocean, and during his investigation Gittes ends up being attacked by two men, the result being a very deep cut to his nose, made by one of the men (a cameo appearance by Roman Polanksi himself!)
Gittes tells Evelyn that someone’s been dumping thousands of tonnes of water from the city’s reservoirs during the middle of a drought and that her husband was killed when he discovered this.
Whilst waiting to speak to someone at the Water Department, Gittes discovers that a man named Noah Cross (John Huston) owned the entire water supply for the city of Los Angeles. Hollis and Noah were partners at The Department of Water and Power. Noah is also Evelyn’s father.
Originally filing a lawsuit against Gittes for the destructive photographs that were put in the paper (something Gittes didn’t do himself), Evelyn hires Gittes to find out who killed her husband. Gittes is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery for his own reasons, as whoever hired a fake “Mrs Mulwray” in order to ruin Hollis’ reputation also make a fool out of him by using him to get the information which ended up in the newspapers.
Further talks with Evelyn reveal that Hollis and Noah had a falling out over the building of a dam which, when it burst, resulted in hundreds of deaths. Gittes learns from Evelyn that Hollis never forgave Evelyn’s father for talking him into the building of the dam. This would explain his opposition to the new dam right before his death.
Gittes meets with Noah Cross, Evelyn’s father. Noah wants to know where the lady who Hollis was having an affair with is now, as he would like to help her. Gittes confronts Noah over the argument he had with Hollis, and confirms that he knows this as he has the photographs of the two of them. Noah is more interested in knowing where the girl had gotten to.
After being told by the Water Department that water was being diverted to help irrigate some orange groves in the North- West Valley, Gittes is cornered yet again after a trip to this area of orange groves. The farmers of the orange groves believe Gittes is from the Water Department. Gittes tells the men he is a Private Investigator and was told by the Water Department that water being diverted was coming to the farmers, and he wanted to know this for sure. The farmers tell Gittes that poison is being put down their wells and their water tanks are being blown up.
Farmers are being forced out of their land only for it to be bought by people for a minimal amount of money, what else is suspicious is how the name of the one of the people who bought the land is dead. Along with Evelyn, Gittes visits an old people’s home. The names of the people who are buying the land are the same names who live at the old people’s home, a home connected with Noah Cross, whose Fishing club takes care of the home on an unofficial basis.
Gittes romantic involvement with Evelyn entices him to follow her when she is called away suddenly after receiving an urgent phone call. After confronting Evelyn over what is going on it is revealed that the woman in the house he followed her to is not only Hollis’ mistress but Evelyn’s sister. Evelyn already knew about the affair and was more relieved about it as she was conducting extra-marital affairs herself.
The police wish to bring Gittes in for questioning after the lady who originally claimed to be Mrs Mulwray ends up dead in her home, and Gittes discovers her body after going to meet her there. The police want to question Evelyn about the murder of Hollis and tell Gittes to bring her in or he’ll be brought in too. The coroner’s report found salt water in Hollis’ lungs yet Hollis drowned in fresh water. The police tell Gittes that they believe he saw who killed Hollis and want him to bring in the other pictures of his investigation.
Gittes arrives at the Mulwray Mansion to find Evelyn isn’t there and the house is being packed up as she is going away. He finds a pair of glasses in the salt water pond at the Mulwray mansion, who do they belong to?
Things take a grim turn later on in the film when Gittes doesn’t believe Evelyn is telling the truth about her sister and finally the truth comes out. The young girl is not only Evelyn’s sister but her daughter, the father is Noah Cross. Gittes makes arrangements for the two women to be driven to Mexico.
Evelyn tells Gittes that the glasses found in the pond don’t belong to Hollis. Gittes arranges for Noah to meet him and realises that the glasses belong to him. It was Noah who killed Hollis, and his plan to take the land that he has driven the farmers out of in order to build the new dam will make him very very rich. Gittes is forced to take Noah to where Evelyn and her daughter currently are. The glasses he has have been taken away by one of Noah’s accomplices.
Things take a nasty turn in Chinatown when Noah tries to get to his daughter/ granddaughter and Gittes is arrested for going over the time given to produce what they wanted. Evelyn tires to get away with her daughter but is shot at by the police and dies instantly. Noah takes his screaming daughter/granddaughter away from the horrid scene. Gittes, with no proof now that Noah was responsible for the death of Hollis, and confronted with the death of Evelyn, is told just to go home.
No justice is done here, there is no happy ending for our main character, but this is what I actually liked about the film, you couldn’t predict the outcome.
Full of action, suspense and a dash of humour too, Chinatown won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1974 and won four Golden Globe Awards.

Chinatown [Blu-ray](1974)
Roman Polanski’s marvelous blend of ’40s film noir mystery and ’70s sexual tensions stars Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes, the L.A. gumshoe involved in a case of shady business dealings and corrupt politics who sticks his nose where it doesn’t belong one time too many. Faye Dunaway, John Huston, John Hillerman co-star. 130 min. Widescreen; Soundtracks: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Dolby TrueHD mono, French Dolby Digital mono, Portuguese Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English (SDH), French, Portuguese, Spanish; audio commentary; featurettes; theatrical trailer.

My Darling Clementine, Directed by John Ford, is loosely based around Wild West legends the Earp Brothers; (Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan and James) the Clanton Gang, and Doc Holliday, and follows events which led to the gun fight at the O.K Corral. Our main characters are Henry Fonda starring as Wyatt Earp, Victor Mature as Doc Holliday, and Linda Darnell as Chihuahua.
Countless movies made been made about the history of these Wild West legends. My Darling Clementine is a great example of a classic western movie. The few words and awkward silences when two cowboys meet and are trying to figure out one another’s intentions; the town’s saloon and the silence creating a tense atmosphere right before a shoot-out all add to the excitement of the film.
Wyatt Earp and his three brothers Virgil (Tim Holt) Morgan (Ward Bond), and young James (Don Garner), are travelling with their cattle when they come across Old Man Clanton who asks if Wyatt would sell the cattle to which Wyatt says no. Old Man Clanton (Walter Brennan) seems to be friendly towards Wyatt but has other ideas.
After three of the Earp brothers arrive back at camp where they left young James looking after the cattle, they find James dead. Earlier that night in the town of Tombstone, Wyatt saved the town from a drunken Indian who was shooting through windows including the barber shop where Wyatt was going to have a shave. Wyatt initially turns down the offer of the Marshall’s job but James’ death changes all this and Wyatt decides to take on the job until he finds out who murdered their brother and stole the cattle. Virgil and Morgan become Wyatt’s deputies.
Wyatt becomes acquainted with the moody looking Doc Holliday. Things look shaky between the two and the establishment over who is really in charge of Tombstone makes things tense between the two. We do discover that Doc Holliday has a liking for Shakespeare, despite his tough guy reputation.
Doc Holliday’s girlfriend Chihuahua takes an instant disliking to Wyatt after he ignores her when she tries to get his attention during a poker game. Chihuahua has no problem with speaking her mind.
Doc is outraged when a well-dressed, politely spoken lady from his past, Clementine Carter (Cathy Downs) arrives in town looking for him. Doc wants nothing more to do with Clementine and tells her to get out of town. Clementine’s character is much more of a lady compared with the outspoken Chihuahua. But it is Chihuahua Doc is with now.
There is concern surrounding Doc as he has a terrible cough which is only getting worse. Clementine is concerned over this too as she knows he is ill. (The real Doc Holliday died of Tuberculosis.) One night after the barman Mac expresses concern over the amount Doc is drinking, Doc tells Chihuahua to leave him alone, hurting her feelings deeply. The Doc pulls out his gun in a drunken rage, causing Wyatt to knock him out cold.
Chihuahua lets Clementine know of her feelings when she visits Clem’s room;
“I’m Chihuahua, I’m Doc Holliday’s girl. Just wanted to make sure you were packing!”
Clem responds to this by quietly closing the door. She has her pride. Wyatt has taken a liking to Clementine and takes her to the celebration of the first church in Tombstone. Doc is angered when he finds Wyatt and Clem eating Sunday lunch after church and Clem hasn’t left.
Doc decides to leave town in a hurry, leaving a disappointed and upset Chihuahua behind. Wyatt notices the silver crucifix Chihuahua is wearing when she is confronting Clem about Doc’s disappearance. The cross belonged to his murdered brother James. Chihuahua tells Wyatt it was given to her by Doc. But when Wyatt follows Doc out into the desert to confront him, Doc tells Wyatt it wasn’t him. This causes Doc to return and confront Chihuahua over who actually gave her the cross. Just as Chihuahua admits it was Billy Clanton, she is shot by Billy through the window. Despite Doc’s efforts to operate on Chihuahua, she passes away.
Verge’s dead body is dumped in Tombstone by Old Man Clanton after Billy dies.
Old Man Clanton tells Wyatt he will be waiting for him at the O.K Corral. Doc Holliday joins the Wyatt brothers.
The scenes at the O.K Corral were beautifully shot, the silent, tense atmosphere, the build up to the shoot-out, the shots of the Painted Desert in the distance; it really is classic western movie brilliance.
The shoot-out leaves all the Clanton gang dead apart from Old Man Clanton who would have escaped with his life had he not tried to pull his gun on Wyatt as he rode away. Wyatt shoots Old Man Clanton dead, which leaves him and his brother Morgan. Doc Holliday is also shot after being caught off guard when he has another one of his coughing spells, but manages to get a shot in against the Clanton gang before he dies.
Now the mystery of who killed James has been solved, it’s finally time for Wyatt and his brother to move on. Wyatt tells Clementine goodbye and promises to visit her in Tombstone, where she will be working at the school.
My Darling Clementine, although not historically accurate, is a great classic film for fans of the western. The movie has sparked my curiosity as to the real life accounts of these men who, as time has proved, will never be forgotten.

My Darling Clementine (Special Edition) [DVD](1946) DVD
John Ford’s masterful western stars Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp, who arrives in the lawless Arizona town of Tombstone on a cattle drive with his brothers. A deadly encounter with the ruthless Clanton family leads Wyatt to become the town marshal and culminates in a fateful confrontation at the O.K. Corral. Walter Brennan, Linda Darnell, Cathy Downs, and Victor Mature as “Doc” Holliday also star. Pre-release version; 103 min./Theatrical version; 97 min. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital stereo, Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, French, Spanish; audio commentary; photo gallery; theatrical trailer. Also includes the bonus feature “Frontier Marshal” (1939). Two-disc set.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is one of those films I’d happily recommend to friends and family and sit through time and time again whilst others watch it for the first time.  Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who directed so many other great films, The Barefoot Contessa and Suddenly, Last Summer to name only two, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is a film to be watched by family of all ages.

Set in England, Gene Tierney stars as Mrs. Lucy Muir, a widow who has been without her husband  Edward for a year, and the time has come for her to leave the house she lives in with her In-laws’; Edward’s Mother and Sister. Despite their disapproval of her leaving which really leans toward the bitter and jealous, Lucy remains polite yet assertive whilst explaining to them her choice.

Lucy takes her daughter Anna (played by the very young Natalie Wood) and the housekeeper Martha (Edna Best). The trio move to Whitecliff by the sea and Lucy chooses to rent Gull Cottage, despite warnings from the estate agent that the house is haunted. Lucy thinks the idea of a haunted house is fascinating and goes with her gut instinct to move in.

Lucy confronts the ghost whilst attempting to make her hot water bottle one night in the kitchen, after the stove refuses to light, lamps go out and the window blows open letting in a stormy night;

“I know you’re here…I say I know you’re here. What’s wrong are you afraid? Speak up! Is that all you’re good for? To frighten women? Well I’m not afraid, whoever heard of a cowardly Ghost?”

Upon hearing this we hear a man’s voice telling Lucy to light the candle. Then we see him, he steps out of the shadows, our ghost Captain Daniel Gregg played by Rex Harrison. Tall and dressed smartly in black clothing. He is a sea captain, who was rumoured to have committed suicide in the house years before. But as we learn, he didn’t, it was an accident, and Lucy’s conversation with Mr Gregg is a very humorous one as she tries to get used to the fact she is talking to a ghost, a ghost who wants her to leave. But as she did with her in-laws’, Lucy remains assertive in her decision that she will not leave. Captain Gregg admires her courage and lets her stay.

One of Captain Gregg’s requests in allowing Lucy to stay is that she places his portrait in her bedroom, which Lucy covers up with a blanket whilst getting dressed for bed, as she cannot stand it staring at her.

“M’Dear, never let anyone tell you to be ashamed of your figure!”She hears as she tries to go to sleep!

Lucy starts to pick up on Captain Gregg’s bad language, the use of the word “blasted” being the most common word, and when her in-law’s arrive unexpectedly to try and convince her to come back to London with them she asks them to be good enough to “shove off!”This is hilariously followed by Captain Gregg’s man-handling the two frightened women out of the house!

The reason Lucy was asked to come back to London was because the gold mine Edward had shares in was no longer paying dividends. Now what is she supposed to do for money? Captain Gregg suggests Lucy write a book, “Blood and Swash” about Gregg’s life at sea. Gregg tells Lucy she may call him Daniel and he is to call her Lucia, as Daniel thinks it the name of a Queen.

It’s wonderful to see how the two build this very special friendship, but after the book is written, Daniel tells Lucy she should go out in the world and see people.  At the publishers in London Lucy meets a man named Miles Fairley, and I don’t like him from the start. I think he’s very forward, and his attempts to be smooth come across as plain slimy, why does Lucy let him into her life?

I believe the portrayal of Miles Fairley (George Sanders) is in fact supposed to be this way. Daniel doesn’t like him and warns Lucy about him. Maybe Daniel has a view from the other side, of things Lucy cannot see? But Martha the housekeeper cannot stand him either. I wish Lucy had simply continued keeping company with Daniel. As well as looking out for Lucy’s best interests, Daniel is obviously jealous. Daniel and Lucy have fallen for each other it seems, but Lucy chooses life, and whilst asleep, Daniel talks to her, telling her that she dreamt him up, and the book she wrote which is due for publication, was something she created in her mind from looking around the house at Daniel’s old belongings. It’s sad to see Daniel go.

“What we’ve missed, what we’ve both missed. Goodbye m’darling.” He tells her as she sleeps on.

It seems that the warnings Lucy had about Mr Fairley were right. I had a bad feeling about him myself. When Lucy goes to Fairley’s house after obtaining his address from the publishers, Lucy comes face to face with Fairley’s wife, who explains to Lucy that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Poor Lucy is heartbroken I wish Daniel would return to see her.

The years pass by and Lucy’s daughter Anna now grown up, comes to visit with her new beau, and mentions Captain Gregg to her mother and tries to convince her that he was real, she used to see him too. But Lucy brushes it off. Lucy never remarries, and she remains at Gull Cottage for the remainder of her life, looking at life with a glass half full outlook, until she passes away one night in her chair, an old lady, and finally…Captain Daniel Gregg comes to see her.

“And now you’ll never be tired again” he says to Lucy as she stands up and looks back lovingly at him, a young woman once again, and the two walk out the front door of Gull Cottage, finally reunited.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is such a charming, emotional film. Rex Harrison is absolutely superb and it’s now one of my favorite Gene Tierney films.  I’ve yet to view the TV Series starring Hope Lange which aired in the late 1960’s, but given I loved the film so much I’m sure I’ll give it a shot sometime in future.

Meanwhile, Talya gives birth to Krozac’s son. When, with infant, she goes to San Francisco to visit her husband, a local reporter named Paul North (James Stewart!) plays a trick on her to get a picture of her baby with a pistol in his blanket. She’s infuriated and, despite Curly, his lawyer (Frank Conroy as Sid Gorman), and her maid Gloria’s (Louise Beavers) attempts to keep her ignorant of Krozac’s crimes, Talya goes to the newspaper’s editor (Sidney Blackmer) to protest. Billy Benedict appears briefly and uncredited as an office boy. He educates her about her husband’s past crimes. Obviously she’s distressed and hurt, something North recognizes; Paul quits on the spot and later becomes Talya’s second husband. They raise Krozac’s child as their own, Paul Jr. (Douglas Scott), while Krozac does his time.

Ten years later, when Krozac finally gets out, he’s a changed man, one that’s fully unprepared to deal with the ‘new’ Curly, who’d been bidding his time waiting for his former boss to get out so that he and his new gang can get their hands on Krozac’s hidden loot. All Krozac wants is to find Talya and their kid, which Curly and his cronies (Ben Welden is among those who appear uncredited) find to ‘force’ the gangster to reveal the location of his stash. When they get what they want, they release Krozac and Paul Jr. and the story becomes similar, if reversed, to Freddie Bartholomew’s coming of age in Mahin’s first Oscar nominated story (Captains Courageous) that same year. In other words, Krozac experiences a maturation of sorts (the boy as his “mentor”) such that he ultimately sacrifices himself for the youth (or at least, his anonymity) in the end. Alan Baxter’s Acey Kile, whose three brothers had been murdered by Krozac 10 years earlier, provides the gangster with his opportunity for redemption.

Purchase this DVD now at

Wagon Train (1940)

Academy Award nominated best assistant director Edward Killy led this transition from RKO B Western veteran George O’Brien to Tim Holt in the leading role. Written by Bernard McConville with a screenplay by Morton Grant it’s also the only one I can remember in which crooner Ray Whitley is shot and killed. Whitley who wrote his own songs and played Holt’s amiable singing sidekick in several such Westerns plays wagon driver Ned to Holt’s Zack Sibley in this one; Emmett Lynn plays Whopper the other recurring character in this earliest B Western series starring Holt. Martha O’Driscoll plays Holt’s soon-to-be love interest Helen Lee while Cliff Clark plays the power hungry leader of the “bad guys”.

In the old west covered wagon trains were the way in which supplies such as food and other goods made their way from Missouri (and the east) to the western outposts of the early settlers on the North American continent. Threatened by the elements the terrain Indians and road agents (i.e. bandits) Zack Sibley (Holt) leads one such wagon train stopping only to mourn his father who’d been killed by a man named Anderson some years earlier. Zack is unaware that the owner of the largest number of stores west of the Mississippi Matt Gardner (Clark) intends to kill off all the other wagon train operators in order to control the price of goods. Zack isn’t aware that he’s one of the last remaining competitors and is also ignorant of the fact that his wagonmaster O’Follard (Wade Crosby) has been bribed by Gardner and his son Coe (Malcolm McTaggart) to lead the train into a trap. But O’Follard has second thoughts when the convoy takes on the responsibility of transporting a baby cared for by the homely Amanthy (Ellen Lowe) Whopper’s lady friend.

Things happen fast (and predictably) in these sub-hour B Westerns. Not so coincidently Helen who’s having second thoughts about her fiancé Coe (especially after she meets Zack) is traveling by stagecoach accompanied by Gardner’s representative Mr. Wilkes (Carl Stockdale) at the same time and by the same route as the wagon train. Ethan Laidlaw Monte Montague and Bruce Dane plays Gardner henchmen; Glenn Strange plays the coach driver.

Purchase this DVD now at

Song of the Saddle (1936)

Features the “Singing Cowboy” initially as the “The Singing Kid”. Dick Foran started this role right after playing Boze Hertzlinger in The Petrified Forest with Leslie Howard Bette Davis Genevieve Tobin and Humphrey Bogart!

The story starts off with a land rush scene like Cimarron (1931). Like The Oklahoma Kid (1939) some malfeasance occurs regarding the land claiming process with Phineas Hook played by familiar character actor Charles Middleton being responsible. Five years later Hook is running a prominent (if crooked) business in town when a wagon train comes to town. One of the covered wagons is owned by Frank Wilson Sr. whose son Frank Wilson Jr. is seen singing to Jen Coburn (Bonita Granville These Three and Nancy Drew). Hook dubs him “The Singing Kid” then buys Wilson Sr.’s entire wagon of goods only to send his men pretending to be Indians to rob him on the trail later. “The Singing Kid” witnesses the incident in which his father is killed and escapes vowing to return one day to avenge the death.

Years later “The Singing Kid” returns to disrupt Hook’s business exacting financial revenge and more. There are of course several sequences which feature Foran singing. Additionally he discovers that Jen Coburn’s family settled there and predictable results follow. “The Singing Kid” with assistance from a gang loyal to him acts in such a way that he does not end up having to serve any time even though many untimely deaths result on account of his actions.

Also in the cast Roy Rogers (a singing cowboy with a famous horse of his own) appears uncredited.

Hollywood Cowboy (1937)

aka Wings Over Wyoming (1937)

George O’Brien stars as B movie cowboy Jeffrey Carson in this B Western that was directed and co-written (with Dan Jarrett) by Ewing Scott. While shooting a movie in Wyoming Carson gets involved in a range war ostensibly between wealthy ranchers and their cattle wranglers before he later discovers that the conflict has been exacerbated by some gangsters (led by Charles Middleton) that had been run out of their city by the ‘new administration’.

After his movie wraps Carson runs into a writer friend he calls Shakespeare (played by Joe Caits) who’s on the run from a Hollywood scandal and the two begin a hunting trip to lay low for a while. But after Carson rescues pretty Joyce Butler (Cecilia Parker) from some of Kramer’s (Middleton) thugs he and his friend end up working for her tough mom Violet (Maude Eburne) who has so far resisted paying the 1% graft to Kramer’s Cattlemen Protection Agency. Naturally Carson is attracted to Joyce as she is to him especially per the contrast between the handsome actor and the less than manly rancher Courtney (Frank Milan) that had been courting her.

Of course Kramer and his thugs are no match for Carson who employs a Hollywood stunt pilot (Lester Dorr) to force down the gangster’s plane and pilot (Walter De Palma) who’d been terrorizing the other ranchers by driving off their herds and bombing water troughs and even a dam.