It's More Than Just Labor Day

 Today marks the 79th anniversary of V-J Day, the day Imperial Japan surrendered, bringing an end to WWII.  In the photo below Lt. Commander Montgomery is shown backstage at the "V-J Day Command Performance" on Armed Forces Radio talking to Claudette Colbert.  

 

Bob looks incredibly tired.  Four years of wartime military service will do that to one.  I just want to hug him and thank him for his service.  

Nifty Photos Come In All Sizes

Back on February 27th, I used the photo below of Bob and his adorable pal.  I purchased four more Ross trade cards from the same vendor, all for the outrageous price of $.99 each!  Anyway, keeping in mind these are all 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" ... nifty photos. 

A Big Smile from Ray to Brighten Your Day

               Ray Milland and Claudette Colbert in Skylark (1941)

Christmas Movies That Aren't Christmas Movies

From guest blogger Debbie:

Tis the season for Christmas films.  We all have our long list of favorite Christmas movies.  “It’s A Wonderful Life”, “White Christmas”, “Holiday Inn”, “ A Christmas Story”, “ A Christmas Carol” more than likely top every classic movie lover’s list.  But what about all those films that aren’t really about Christmas, but that Christmas plays a part in the story.  Here is a short list of some of my favorites…..

“The Thin Man”  1934   - William Powell & Myrna Loy

Nick and Nora’s Christmas party with Nora in that fabulous “candy cane” dress.  Christmas day with Nick shooting balloons off their tree.  Such fun!

“Lady In The Lake” 1947   -  Robert Montgomery and Audrey Trotter

The opening credits alone make you think you’re going to be watching a holiday film, not a murder mystery.

“ Since You Went Away” 1944 – Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotton, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple & Monty Woolley

 This wonderful wartime drama ends with Christmas and the hope that it brings.

 “Desk Set” 1957  -  Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn

Office intrigue and fun surrounding the installation of a computer in a broadcasting reference department.  The film concludes at Christmastime.

“The Apartment” 1960 -  Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine & Fred MacMurray

This wonderful  film also ends at Christmas and New Years.

 So........if you run out of the usual films to watch this time of year, check out these.  Each one is a treasure.

Hey! I've Finally Seen Skylark!

                                        Skylark (1941)

I finally got a copy of Skylark --- thank you, Carrie.  It IS a good movie, darn good actually.  But, then, how could it not be.  You take a good director (Mark Sanrich), three talented stars at their peak (Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland and Brian Aherne), the usual stalwart supporting cast (Binnie Barnes, Walter Abel and Mona Barrie in particular), an excellent, witty script, and SURPRISE, it works! 

Claudette is excellent, as always, and she pairs well with Ray ... two of my favorite people.  And one can definitely see why Claudette is tempted by Brian Aherne, even with Ray Milland as her husband.  [If you ever get a chance to read Aherne's biography of his friend George Sanders, A Dreadful Man, do so.  A great read, and impressive to me because Aherne was 77 years young at the time.]

The rating on IMDB is only 6.3.  I do not understand that at all ... well, it is in black and white, and it was made 72 years ago, and Claudette who?  Maltin's ***1/2 rating is much more on track.  For me, a movie is good if I enjoy it and feel better having watched it ... keeping things simple, life comes with enough complications.