Its that time: Christmas in Connecticut or France ?

Some seasonal viewing: a '40s Hollywood christmas tale, or a recent French look at another dysfunctional family during the holiday season ?

CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT: Released the last year of WWII in 1945 (I was born that December), the film is full of subtle patriotic gestures and holiday nostalgia but never sinks to sentimentality. Stanwyck is sexy and sassy as always and is a lot of fun here. She is a cooking columnist who's built up this whole image of living on a small Connecticut farm with husband and baby cooking all these marvelous delicacies. Trouble is she's unmarried, childless, writes her column from her apartment in New York and doesn't know how to boil water. But her writing is a hit with the public. Trouble comes when she's hijacked into cooking a home Christmas dinner for a war hero sailor played by Dennis Morgan who gets to sing a couple of songs as well. Her publisher Sidney Greenstreet likes the idea so well that he invites himself to the dinner. So with borrowed farm, baby, and Reginald Gardiner who'd like to make it real with Stanwyck she tries to brazen it through. S.Z. Sakall adds a great deal of Hungarian malaprop & double-entendre humor in support as Babs' true source of culinary talent & Una O'Connor is hilarious as Gardiner's obnoxious Irish housekeeper. A nice treat then.


A CHRISTMAS TALE: Fancy another French family dysfunction drama? Rather like Assayas's SUMMER HOURS (reviewed at French label), only this one is two and half hours long in the company of some unsumpathetic people as the Vuillard family gathers: parents Junon and Abel, a daughter Elizabeth and her son Paul, Henri and a girlfriend, Ivan, his wife Sylvia and their young sons, and cousin Simon. Six years before, Elizabeth paid Henri's debts and demanded he never see her again or visit their parents' home. Paul, at 16, has mental problems and faces a clinical exam. Junon learns she needs a bone marrow transplant if she's to live beyond a few months: thus the détente bringing all together. Two family members have compatible marrow, but the spats, fights, cruel words, drunken toasts, and somewhat civilized bad behavior threaten all; plus Junon may simply refuse treatment.

It turns out to be an overly long and incredibly talky dysfunctional family drama, by Arnaud Desplechin, led by a chilly Catherine Deneuve as the dying matriarch (such a contrast to her sunny role in the delicious POTICHE (yes, also reviewed recently at French label). She's dying of a rare kind of cancer, and the spectre of that eventuality plus the proximity of brothers and sisters who haven't seen each other for a while and have scores to settle puts everyone in a reflective mood. It rather strikes home if you too have brothers and sisters who do not see or have much contact with each other .... Melvil Poupaud (so effective in Ozon's TIME TO LEAVE - yes, its at the french label) scores as the youngest son.



We also of course have the perennial IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE with Jimmy Stewart running through Bedford Falls in the snow as he gets his life back, and THE MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (the Maureen O'Hara-Natalie Wood one) and '54's WHITE CHRISTMAS though how many times can one watch that? and of course theres always those recent christmas perennials like ELF and BAD SANTA and GREMLINS. I was pleased to catch up with favourites Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury in the glutinously sentimental tv film A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE GIFT OF LOVE from 1982, and dear Loretta in CHRISTMAS EVE one of her final roles in '85, as the rich old lady with not long to live re-uniting her family, assisted by ailing Trevor Howard. If that does not get you crying for christmas nothing will ! Perfect viewing anytime though, and particularly at this time of year, is the 1952 film of the play THE HOLLY AND THE IVY, a perfectly British treat with Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton and Celia Johnson all sublime (and yes see Richardson, Leighton or Johnson labels for review); and let's not forget the lovely if rarely seen HOLIDAY AFFAIR from 1949 with Janet Leigh having to choose between Robert Mitchum or Wendall Corey! It should be a holiday staple too.

"The Throb of Manhattan"

ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER, 1955, may well be my very favourite musical (after A STAR IS BORN and THE BANDWAGON of course) - it and those sophisticated musicals from 1957 [LES GIRLS, FUNNY FACE, SILK STOCKINGS, THE PYJAMA GAME, bits of PAL JOEY] are my perennial favourites, ever since I saw them as a child at Sunday afternoon matinees - BRIGADOON was another but it it not quite in that league, but I prefer them to the over-hyped SINGING IN THE RAIN or AN AMERICAN IN PARIS both of which show Kelly at his most grating (of course, as per Musicals label, I also love ON THE TOWN, MY SISTER EILEEN, KISS ME KATE, SWINGTIME, GYPSY, LES DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT among others...)

Good to see that ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER is being revived by the London National Film Theatre in their season on MGM musicals - it cries out to be seen on widescreen, using as it does, multiple images when our 3 wartime buddies reflect on their lives now. It seems to have been a troubled shoot, co-directors Kelly and Stanley Donen fell out, Kelly and Charisse don't have any number together, she has one marvellous dance number "Baby You Knock Me Out" at the gym (where, as Pauline Kael put it, "Cyd Charisse is benumbed until she unhinges those legs") wearing that terrific Helen Rose ensemble, and Gene has the very inventive roller-skate number and of course when the 3 guys dance with the dustbin lids, so it is all very innovative, just as original musicals were dying, it was mainly films of Broadway shows after this.

It is the perfect mid-century story of 3 wartime buddies meeting up 10 years later in 1955 and realising that they don't like each other much now, and indeed Kelly and Dailey don't much like themselves either. Gene is mixing with hoods and managing a dumb boxer, while Dan Dailey has risen to "Executive Vice-President" level in advertising and is sick of the advertising game as he lets rip in his terrific solo number "Advertising-wise". Cyd Charisse is the television researcher who stumbles across the 3 wartime buddies and realises their reunion is ideal for her television show "Midnight with Madeline" for "The Throb of Manhattan" spot where saccharine stories are featured. This is the early days of live television and the movie is a splendid satire on those artificial tv hostesses like Madeline and her diva tantrums. Dolores Gray is stupendous here, and has one of the best numbers ever "Thanks a lot but no thanks" which is a delirious treat with that ritzy gown and that killer line:"I've got a man who's Clifton Webb and Marlon Brando combined"!. Then hood Jay C Flippen and his goons invade the studio where the live broadcast is being made, as they are after Gene who has thrown the fight once he realised his boxer has been bribed to lose it. Cyd gets the hoods to confess on live air, Madeline has a hit show, the 3 buddies realise they are still friends after all. It's a perfect conclusion as Cyd joins Gene and the the guys back at the bar where they vowed to meet up 10 years previously.



Choreographer Michael Kidd is ideal as the family man, Dailey has one of his best roles (apart from his father in THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS), Cyd and Gene sparkle as they spar with each other, and Dolores steals the show. What's not to love? It is a dark, sometimes bitter take on ON THE TOWN a decade later as the 3 buddies meet again - by 1955 though Sinatra had gone on to solo projects and was "difficult" and Jules Munchin was not a name enough. Produced of course by Arthur Freed, with songs by Andre Previn, script by Comden and Green; perfect entertainment then, but see the widescreen version, not panned and scanned! The DVD includes a fascinating 'Making-Of' chronicling the fallout between Kelly and Donen, and several out-takes including a terrific inventive (that word again) deleted number between Kelly and Charisse "Love is Nothing But a Racket" which has been unseen for far too long, and Michael Kidd's solo spot with some kids, but Gene did not want that included, after his number with kids in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS! Essential stuff then.

I met Gene at a recording of an interview of his for the BBC in 1975 - Donen of course went on to direct several of my enduing favourites: those Audrey Hepburn films like TWO FOR THE ROAD and CHARADE, Kendall in ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, Peck and Sophia ideal in ARABESQUE, and the marvellous BEDAZZLED with Pete and Dud and Eleanor Bron in 1967. We won't mention STAIRCASE or LUCKY LADY!

Potiche

POTICHE. The perfect treat for recuperating from an operation! I knew this would be ideal for sharing with visiting friends. Francois Ozon’s candy-coloured soufflé is a delicious comedy set in provincial France in 1977 – the clothes, hairstyles, fabrics etc are all spot on. We begin with Suzanne Pujol (Catherine Deneuve) out jogging in her track suit, cooing to the wildlife and jotting down her poems. Her sexist pig of a husband treats her like a trophy wife and is having trouble at the umbrella factory began by Suzanne’s father. The workers are striking for better pay and conditions while the husband Frabrice Lucini does everything wrong and treats his mistress Nadege (Karin Viard) shabbily too. The upshot is the workers kidnap him and Suzanne takes his place at the factory when he is too ill to continue.



She of course soon sorts everything out with the workers, production is up but it is too good to last. The major Babin (Gerard Depardieu) has helped her and it turns out they have a history going back to when they were young. They become close again as they battle not only the scheming husband but also her daughter who plots against her over control of the factory. Suzanne turns out to be quite formidable as she then runs to become a MP – Deneuve is wonderful here as the woman who realises she has turned a blind eye to her husband’s infidelity and oafish treatment of her for too long.

It is all amusingly worked out, the disco scene is pure 1977 and a nice send-up of the SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER era. Amusing too is the way the son Laurent (Jeremie Rennier) progressively gets gayer as he starts designing at the factory. Whatever one feels about Deneuve and Depardieu they are to all extent and purposes the faces of French Cinema now and they deliver a lot of fun here. Ozon scores a popular hit in his varied movie-making career (its as deliciously camp as 8 FEMMES) and it is good to see Deneuve – with all the associations of her past movies (there are fleeting moments here that suggest UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG and THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT) – enjoying a fun movie here. Extensive extras on the dvd include an extended making-of (it was a lot of fun on the set), wardrobe tests etc.

Coming soon: a veritable feast of Deneuve - reviews of Demy's PEAU D'ANE (DONKEY SKIN), INDOCHINE, 2 by Techine MY FAVOURITE SEASON and HOTEL AMERICA, A CHRISTMAS TALE, and maybe PLACE VENDOME and THIEVES!

Showpeople (12): Girls' night out (2)

An intriguing shot of Julie Christie, Ursula Andress and Catherine Deneuve meeting up probably at some film festival or premiere sometime in the mid-60s .... all in their white gloves! Catherine may be wearing couture (Chanel? St Laurent?) but that outfit and handbag looks positively mumsy next to Julie! When incidentally did women stop wearing white gloves? ... possibly to the late 60s presumably. The photo is from that fabulous site STIRRED, STRAIGHT UP, WITH A TWIST. www.stirredstraightup.blogspot.com

They had Names back then ....

A must have every spring is the latest VANITY FAIR Hollywood issue with their array of stars on the gatefold sleeve, shot by Annie Leibovitz. This one above is from 6 or 7 years ago with that terrific lineup including Sophia, Vanessa, Meryl, Catherine, Penelope, Nicole, Cate, Kate etc.

The latest one is below, but how many can you recognise ? - apart from Ryan, Jake, Anne or James - oh, and Robert Duvall! ????

The magical movies of Jacques Demy

French director Jacques Demy [1931-1990] who had some very popular successes during the 60s but, while remaining popular in France, somehow seemed to slip off the radar here in the UK (and maybe elsewhere) as several of his later films never surfaced here at all, while the likes of Truffaut, Malle, Chabrol etc continued to be lionised. (One could say the same for another French director Claude Lelouch). The early films include 2 New Wave classics in glittering monochrome, 2 candy-coloured musicals, 2 fairy tales and a counterculture late 60s classic with great roles for the likes of Aimee, Moreau, Deneuve, Dorleac, Seyrig etc. and of course those sailors in white ...

His first movie in 1961 is the beauty that is LOLA, Jacques Demy’s valentine to the movies with Anouk Aimee at her most vibrant and animated in perhaps the most likeable film of the French new wave. Demy’s magical story shows that one person's happy ending is often another's missed possibility of happiness. Raoul Coutard's lovingly shot black and white widescreen photography of the French atlantic port of Nantes is a plus, as Lola sings and dances and waits for her lover to return, in what was a key movie for both Demy and Aimee.



BAY OF ANGELS – this 1963 drama is a perfect companion piece to his LOLA - making two of the most enjoyable, accessible New Wave classics. Here the images of Jean Rabier, Michel Legrand's music, Jeanne Moreau at her most magnetic with silver blonde hair and a Cardin wardrobe (all in black and white), all wrapped up in 79 minutes in the story of compulsive gamblers in Nice and Monte Carlo whom it seems Demy observes for a time. The film ends with them continuing their gambling - will they stay together? we don't know.... Moreau is at her peak here as the woman for whom gambling is everything having lost her husband, child, jewellery etc. Claude Mann is the rather dull bank clerk who gets the gambling urge (Paul Guers as his gambling friend Caron would be more interesting and attractive in this role) and he and Moreau are soon a team as he brings her luck but he is falling in love... There is the astonishing scene where Moreau reveals what gambling means to her and how money means nothing, as they win, lose, win again ... Moreau didn't care for the "French Bette Davis" tag but it rather applies here. I love the look of this one and the previous LOLA: that widescreen black and white and the lovely theme by Legrand. A French classic indeed.


Then in 1964 his biggest commercial success and still often revived today, the candy-coloured musical THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, which is entirely sung by the cast, music by Michel Legrand, and it is just sheer perfection. The young Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo as the lovers separated by the war, and that marvellous bittersweet climax at the garage in the snow. The colour and backgrounds are now even better than ever on dvd.

There followed his second musical in 1967, THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT which was bliss to see again recently, to see it in colour and widescreen is magical. It is another all singing musical with great colour and sets – the whole town of Rochefort seems to be dancing at one stage. The sisters Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac star, with hoofers an older Gene Kelly, George Chakiris and a blonde Jacques Perrin as a lovelorn sailor. It all works perfectly now and I urge anyone who has not seen it to seek it out on dvd, as it is not as well known as the more famous Cherbourg film, it is in fact a perfect 60s film, which I have written about here several times already.

I saw his 1969 film THE MODEL SHOP on release but it had vanished until now and was not appreciated at the time. This made in America film is a love letter to Los Angeles and the lost souls driving the freeways. Anouk Aimee is again Lola here adrift in Los Angeles working as a glamour model to be photographed in a rather seedy studio (it would of course be a sex shop now) and who gets involved with drifter Gary Lockwood waiting to be shipped off to Vietnam. Its a perfect late 60s L A film

The fascinating thing about this film is that Demy and his wife director Agnes Varda had wanted the young Harrison Ford for this role but he was not considered important enough, whereas the rather dull Lockwood had just come off shooting Kubrick’s 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY.



Next up are two fairy tales, unseen here maybe but big hits in Europe at the time. PEAU D’ANE (DONKEY SKIN) is a perfect 1970 visualisation of the Perrault fairy tale, with Deneuve as the princess who dresses in the donkey skin to escape her father who wants to marry her. Jean Marais is the King, Jacques Perrin the prince and Delphine Seyrig shines as a rather eccentric fairy godmother. It’s a great pleasure to see now.

1972’s THE PIED PIPER is finally on dvd and scenes from it are available in the film THE WORLD OF JACQUES DEMY, a film made by his wife, director Agnes Varda. Pop singer of the time Donovan is the piper and it has a good cast of English regulars including Donald Pleasance and Diana Dors, and it has a nice medieval feel set in Hamelin where rats and plague reign.

His following films do not appear to have been screened in the UK at all and include 1973’s THE SLIGHTLY PREGNANT MAN with Mastroianni and Deneuve (where it is he who is pregnant…), 1979’s LADY OSCAR, UN CHAMBRE EN VILLE (A Room In Town) in 1982 [Dominique Sanda naked under a fur coat!] or 3 PLACES FOR THE 26TH starring Yves Montand in one of his last roles as an older singer/entertainer returning to his home town for a concert.

Agnes Varda, Demy’s wife, is of course a well-regarded director in her own right with films like CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 (reviewed separately here) and LE BONHEUR. I am very pleased to have her 90 minute film THE WORLD OF JACQUES DEMY included in the 2 disk version of UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG and what a delight it is, covering all these films which star the cream of French cinema who all appear here discussing their work with Demy and how much they appreciated him, as well as contributions from Varda and their son. It is now fascinating to see their footage of the very young Harrison Ford in the late 60s, he is also interviewed here as the star he later became.

Varda also made a film herself JACQUET DE NANTES about the childhood of Jacques in Nantes in France, including reference to and scenes from his films, which is also available in the box sets on her films. Her documentary on the making of LES DEMOISELLES and its 25th anniversary reunion is included in it's BFI dvd release.

In all, Jacques Demy would appear to be as well regarded and loved as Francois Truffaut or Louis Malle and for anyone with the least interest in international or European cinema his films are not only wonderfully entertaining in themselves but also key works of the last 40 years.

"Too Darn Hot" - '50s/'60s musicals

I love this 1967 paperback on musicals by Douglas McVay.
‘50s and ‘60s musicals – where to start! First, the ones I don’t much care for: SINGING IN THE RAIN is of course perfectly entertaining [and Jean Hagen's Lina Lamont is an immortal], I have seen it lots of times, but I wouldn’t for a minute regard it as the best musical ever. That has to be Minnelli’s THE BANDWAGON, sheer perfection if only for Jack Buchanan’s Broadway producer/director/star and the brilliantly staged numbers and Minnelli's color schemes, followed by Sidney’s KISS ME KATE, splendidly realised for the camera, particularly Ann Miller’s “Too Darn Hot” … one of the best numbers on film ever. Add in her numbers with Tommy Rall, and Rall, Fosse and Van hoofing, as well as Keel and Grayson! Then of course there is Cukor’s drama with music A STAR IS BORN, one of the first films I saw in 1954 when 8 and those widescreen compositions floored me, the beach house windows with the reflections of the sea as Norman Maine goes for a swim, the slap at the awards ceremony, the breakdown in the dressing room. One was also enchanted by Ann Blyth's singing barmaid in the routine THE STUDENT PRINCE.

I never liked AN AMERICAN IN PARIS – pure schmaltz, apart from Nina Foch – and I positively loathed SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS [though I bought the dvd for the Tommy Rall interview, he is still terrific now…] – as Pauline Kael said about the Von Trapps: “surely there was one little Von Trapp who didn’t want to sing his or her heart out, or who got sick before performing?”, that’s how I feel about the 7 Brides and Brothers; and although WEST SIDE STORY was among the first soundtrack albums I bought, the movie never meant much to me. [The soundtrack to SOUTH PACIFIC and Broadway cast album of MY FAIR LADY were also early purchases]. Of the big shows on film SOUTH PACIFIC is mainly ok, despite some weak casting; we liked THE KING AND I, CAROUSEL and OLKAHOMA didn’t do it for me at all, and FLOWER DRUM SONG has it moments, good to see it again a while ago, not being a Fox film it does not get as re-packaged as often as the other O&H shows.

I love Astaire in the ‘50s: THE BANDWAGON, SILK STOCKINGS and FUNNY FACE (not DADDY LONG LEGS, despite Thelma Ritter and Fred Clark – its gruesome). The Kelly I rate in the 50s is ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER and even BRIGADOON isn’t too bad… LES GIRLS too for the girls and Cukor and that studio Paris. There are bits of other musicals: Doris Day on top form in THE PYJAMA GAME which also has Carol Haney and Fosse’s “Steam Heat”, and then there is Sinatra and PAL JOEY. ANYTHING GOES is pure tedium now, but at least preserves Zizi Jeanmaire. Mitzi, Bing and Donald O’Connor do their best.

The early 60s was perhaps the last flowering of show musicals: GYPSY [and “You Gotta Get A Gimmick”, just one of it’s great numbers], JUMBO, THE MUSIC MAN. Much as I like MY FAIR LADY its an embalmed version of a show [and practically the last gasp of the old hollywood] and I skilfully avoided THE SOUND OF MUSIC for decades, but then gave in on New Year’s Day 1996 and it fitted the moment perfectly. Much more exciting for a teenage me then were Dick Lester’s two: A HARD DAY’S NIGHT and HELP! which I returned to frequently – the Beatles in color on the big screen! Then Demy’s two, UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG and DEMOISELLES DE ROCHEFORT, Vitti bursting into song in MODESTY BLAISE, Bardot & Moreau in VIVA MARIA and then the arrival of Barbra! I saw the stage show of FUNNY GIRL in London from the front row in ’66 when I was 20, we had already loved Streisand’s albums then – the movie was and is perfection despite losing numbers like "The Music That Makes Me Dance", I even liked a lot of HELLO DOLLY and ON A CLEAR DAY and again, back in that pre-video age, we had the soundtrack albums. Another soundtrack album I liked was Judy's I COULD GO ON SINGING, with those 4 great numbers, Judy and Bogarde are great together, despite, as he wrote about, the tensions of its making.

Now at least with dvds, A STAR IS BORN is better than ever, and those 3 marvellous alternate takes of “The Man That Got Away” with great scope compositions, all just as good as the one in the movie, and all that footage of the premieres with all the stars of the day [Doris, Debbie, Peggy Lee, Crawford, the Bogarts, the Curtises, the Wildings etc and Raymond Burr “just back from Korea” with a cute young marine in tow], all lining up to praise Judy and having such high hopes for the film.

THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS. 20th Century Fox musicals tend to get overlooked by all the great MGM, Warner and Columbia efforts, but I particularly like this one, following on from Marilyn and Jane Russell in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and Merman’s success in CALL ME MADAM. This is just a excuse to use some Irving Berlin songs, done up in gaudy Fox color, but it moves along nicely as it follows the O’Donohue song and dance act: Merman and Dan Dailey again, Mitzi again, Donald O’Connor and priest Johnny Ray! Then Marilyn enters – her 3 numbers, as choreographed by Jack Cole, are sizzlers: “Heat Wave”, “After You Get What You Want You Don’t Want It” and “Lazy” where Mitzi and O’Connor dance up a storm. Marilyn is at her peak here in ’54 and shows she is a great vocal artist too – and there is that blue dress she wears at the end!... and a special mention for Jane Russell's "Ain't There Anyone Here For Love?" [another Jack Cole extravaganza] with the olympic team in Hawks's GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES !

ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER – still marvellous today is this Kelly-Donen collaboration from ’55 a further riff on the 3 army pals – maybe those 3 from ON THE TOWN? – reuniting and realising they have nothing in common. There is a lot of satire on the vacuity of television shows as we follow rehearsals of “The Throb of Manhattan” with its star Madeline – Dolores Gray at her archest. Gene gets involved with Cyd Charisse [who, to quote Kael again, “is benumbed until she unhinges those legs”] who decides to use the reunion for the saccharine tv show. Dan Dailey is terrific here as the self-loathing ad man, and Michael Kidd is the third guy. It all winds up nicely at the ghastly tv show, with gangster Jay C Flippen, where Gray has one of those moments: that number “Thanks A Lot But No Thanks”. Bliss, pure bliss …

MY SISTER EILEEN, another long-unseen 1955 charmer by Richard Quine, has sisters blonde Janet Leigh (Eileen) and Betty Garrett [so wonderful in ON THE TOWN] as the Sherwood sisters from Ohio moving to Greenwich Village and renting that basement room from Kurt Kasznar. Young publisher Jack Lemmon falls for Betty who is trying to become a writer, while Janet has to fend off Tommy Rall and shy Bob Fosse. Rall and Fosse dance up a storm and its all very pleasant, culminating in that conga line of dancing sailors. Lovely to see again.

LES GIRLS – probably MGM’s last musical of note, this Cukor from 1957 is a key movie for me, I loved it as a kid and still do now. Its one of Kay Kendall’s last movies and she is perfect here as Lady Wren being sued in court over her memoirs by rival showgirl Taina Elg. There is a lovely cut back to the studio Paris and that apartment of theirs, as we meet Mitzi Gaynor, the third girl in the act run by Gene Kelly, nicely self-depreciating here. Kay has a wonderful drunk scene and its all endlessly entertaining as we see each version of the story, with Orry-Kelly’s costumes a standout, even if the Cole Porter score is below par. [I got to meet Kelly in '75 when he was doing a Parkinson talkshow, and he signed that biography on him, which later fetched a good price!].

FUNNY FACE. Fred, Audrey and Paris. Donen’s very 1957 musical is perfectly of its time and still a charmer now, with numbers like “How Long Has This Been Going On?” and “S’Wonderful”…. as Audrey yells “Shoot the picture” at the fashion shoot , and then there is Kay Thompson and “Think Pink”! SILK STOCKINGS is also Fred in Paris in this remake of NINOTCHKA with Cyd just right in Garbo’s role, and again some great Cole Porter songs. Janis Paige is superb support, and Fred does the “The Ritz Rock’n’Roll”.

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE - The one Julie Andrews film I absolutely loved, everything about it is perfect for me. Julie as Millie, Bea Lillie as Mrs Meers, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Channing, and James Fox and John Gavin. Its a delicious pastiche of the 1920s flappers, white slavers, and the dangers of Chinatown. Previn and Elmer Bernstein handle the music and George Roy Hill directs. We have seen it regularly over the years as several friends also like it a lot, with its endlessly quotable lines.

THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT. A big treat last year was finally seeing this 1967 Jacques Demy musical on the large screen, there is also an excellent 2 disk issue by the British Film Institute, which includes documentary on its making and 25th year reunion by Agnes Varda. The 60s costumes are marvellous now, the whole town of Rochefort seems to be dancing, the documentary shows what a huge undertaking it was to make this. Once sisters Catherine Denueve and Francoise Dorleac (who died in a car accident shortly afterwards, which does cast a pall over it) ditch the mortician makeup look they look much more natural as they sing and dance. Then we have Danielle Darrieux as their still attractive mother, Jacques Perrin as the blonde lovelorn sailor, an older Gene Kelly, George Chakiris and Grover Dale as the main dancers and Michel Piccoli. I want to see it again right now.