Michael Gordon

Quote:
Sometime in the mid to late sixties, Doris Day got saddled with the “Oldest Living Virgin” label, something which seemed somewhat a propos considering her squeaky clean, almost asexual screen persona. Day was always the girl next door, even when she traversed in unusual territory like Julie or the 1956 Hitchcock remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much. With her slightly raspy voice and inherently sweet disposition, Day was the Eisenhower Era’s answer to Marilyn Monroe, another stunningly beautiful blonde that you wouldn’t be worried about bringing home to meet Mom. This generic labeling of Day often underestimates her real skill as an actress.Read More »

A hard-line judge is tempted toward mercy-killing by his wife’s terminal cancer.

Quote:
I find it interesting that An Act of Murder, The Third Man (Carol Reed), Obsession (Edward Dmytryk), The Set-Up (Robert Wise), Act of Violence (Fred Zinneman), House of Strangers (Joseph Mankiewicz) and Without Honor (Irving Pichel) were all in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 1949 – about one quarter of the competition were films that show up these days on classic film noir lists.Read More »

Synopsis:
When Joan Boothe accompanies husband-reporter David to Las Vegas, she begins gambling to pass the time while he is doing a story. Encouraged by the casino manager, she gets hooked on gambling, to the point where she “borrows” David’s expense money to pursue her addiction. This finally breaks up their marriage, but David continues trying to help her.Read More »