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![]() Frank Sinatra won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical as the womanizing nightclub singer in Pal Joey. Sandwiched between the glamorous Rita Hayworth and the luscious Kim Novak, he’s at his lounge-lizard best in this mid-century paean to pre-liberation sexual politics. It’s a wh…
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The Lady is a Tramp - Sinatra simmers
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![]() “Do you realize I haven’t kissed you in over an hour?” says Charlton Heston to Janet Leigh at the end of Touch of Evil’s famous opening scene, three and a half minutes of directorial perfection. One long tracking shot, it features close-ups leading to long shadows, followed by long shots of cho…
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Touch of Genius: the legendary opening
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![]() The eyes have it! Well, the eyes and the lies have it. The eyes belong to golden superstars Paul Newman & Elizabeth Taylor — his intense blue orbs opposite her intoxicating violet ones, no FX involved with either. The lies, well, the lies drive the story, with the fancy word “mendacity” bandied a…
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Liz Taylor gets sexy with Paul Newman
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![]() Terrific Western: Howard Hawks behind the camera, John Wayne in front. Also the movie in which Dean Martin proved he could act, even if he was playing his typecast role of drunkard. |
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![]() Some Like It Hot kicked off the Sixties with a bang. Released in ‘59, it was nominated for six Oscars at the 1960 Academy Awards, winning only for Orry-Kelly’s dresses for Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and most especially Marilyn Monroe. Speaking of Monroe, she won the 1960 Golden Globe for Best A…
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Curtis does Grant, Monroe does Monroe
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![]() More than just the chariot race, Ben-Hur virtually defines big screen epic. At three and a half hours, it’s a lot of movie, full of bravura performances, grand visuals, and tasteful religious symbolism. One of only three movies to win 11 Oscars,1 it deserves the acclaim that accompanies the…
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Ben-Hur: This, in widescreen Technico...
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![]() Liz Taylor’s sultry star power makes BUtterfield 8 an enduring curiosity, now more legendary than ever in the wake of her death. A sophisticated story about sexual motives makes it a quality film. La Liz plays a sometime model who cavorts with wealthy married men until falling for one in pa…
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Iconic Liz: Just ask Camille Paglia
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![]() Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the apotheosis of Kennedy-era Mad Men America. Was it ever on the show? Don’t recall. Coulda, shoulda. Blake Edwards opens his movie of Truman Capote’s novella on an empty Fifth Avenue, with Audrey Hepburn in a little black dress emerging at the only Tiffany’s in…
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Audrey in The Little Black Dress
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![]() The best Bond? Hardly, notwithstanding its haughty reputation and terrific title. Connery’s in rare form, granted. However the Bond girls are … who are they again? Former beauty queen Daniela Bianchi and a pair of Gypsies. Hardly Ursula Andress, Halle Berry or Jane Seymour. The übervi…
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Connery & Miss World Runner-Up
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![]() What we have here is movie magic sans modern FX. Instead Charade conjures its allure from a couple of nonpareil moviestars delivering sparkling dialog in an idealized Paris while a seductive theme song plays in the background. Such an intoxicating mix makes it easy to fall in love with Cary Gr…
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Moviestar Magic Incarnate
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