Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950)

A young woman (Dorothy McGuire) sets her sight on a doctor to marry. But when she marries the doctor (William Lundigan) of choice, she finds her romanticized view of being a doctor's wife unrealistic and marital problems surface. Based on the novel THE DOCTOR WEARS THREE FACES by Mary Bard and directed by Claude Binyon (HERE COME THE GIRLS). This comedy backfires because it miscalculates the appeal of its heroine. Dorothy McGuire is a lovely actress with dignity and charm but here she plays an immature wife whose fantasies about being a doctor's wife clashes with the reality of the situation and her resentment about his duties that occupy so much of his time which she feels should be devoted to her. All the sympathy goes to her doctor husband for putting up with such a selfish brat. With Gary Merrill, June Havoc, Jessie Royce Landis, Leif Erickson and Joyce MacKenzie.

Don Juan (1926)

The notorious lover Don Juan (John Barrymore) pursues his conquests with a rakish abandon. But when he glimpses the virginal Adriana (Mary Astor), he finds true love. But there's a problem. A confidant (Montagu Love) of the Borgia family also has eyes for her. Inspired by the 1821 epic poem by Lord Byron and directed by Alan Crosland (THE JAZZ SINGER). A romantic swashbuckler that I found heavy handed and overlong. As Don Juan, Barrymore shows why he was a silent movie idol with a strong screen presence and some panache in his performance. But combining the Don Juan legend with the machinations of the Borgia family makes for a bloated movie. The film was a huge hit though. The film is notable for being the first silent film with a synchronized musical score and sound effects. With Warner Oland, Estelle Taylor, Myrna Loy, Hedda Hopper and Josef Swickard.

Primrose Path (1940)

A teenage girl (Ginger Rogers) is the daughter of a mother (Marjorie Rambeau in an Oscar nominated performance) who supports her squalid family as a prostitute. The girl marries an upstanding young man (Joel McCrea) but keeps her mother's lifestyle a secret. Based on the novel FEBRUARY HILL by Victoria Lincoln (by way of a stage adaptation by Robert H. Buckner and Walter Hart) and directed by Gregory La Cava (STAGE DOOR). How this racy scenario escaped the wrath of the Hays code, I'll never know. I'm not familiar with the source material, either the book or the play, but apparently this film version is faithful to neither. Once again, the 29 year old Rogers is unconvincing as a teenager but after her character marries, she matures rapidly and Rogers is okay after that. The possibilities of the narrative are never satisfactorily executed and the ending is phony. The most interesting characters aren't the two leads but the prostitute mother (Rambeau) and her bitch of a mother (Queenie Vassar), who may have been responsible for pushing her daughter into prostitution. With Henry Travers, Miles Mander and Joan Carroll.

The Beast Of The City (1932)

A police captain (Walter Huston) is not above fighting violence with violence. His brutal methods cause him to be demoted for political reasons. Meanwhile, his brother (Wallace Ford), also a cop, is seduced by a mobster's mistress (Jean Harlow). Directed by Charles Brabin (THE MASK OF FU MANCHU). A most unusual movie to come from MGM, this was the kind of violent gangster flick that usually emanated from Warner Brothers. In fact, Louis B. Mayer relegated it to the second half of MGM's double features. There are no heroes in this movie. Huston's police captain is brutal in his methods and he's a bit of a racist, too. He refers to a character as "one of the greatest white men I've ever known" and refers to an Italian mobster as "greasy". The bloodbath finale at the end of the film sees all the major characters dead! As the film's gold digging femme fatale, Jean Harlow steals every scene she's in and began her reign as MGM's platinum blonde! With Jean Hersholt, J. Carrol Naish, Dorothy Peterson and Nate Pendleton.

The Brotherhood Of The Bell (1970)

A university professor (Glenn Ford) learns that an elite society he joined as an undergraduate is really a sinister organization that seizes wealth and power for its members through nefarious practices. After refusing an order from the Brotherhood, he finds himself increasingly isolated as he tries to expose the organization. Based on the novel by David Karp and directed by Paul Wendkos (THE MEPHISTO WALTZ). For the first hour, this is a very good conspiracy thriller. It creates an atmosphere of paranoia that grows in intensity until you become unsure if Ford's protagonist is a victim of a conspiracy or if he's mentally unhinged. Alas, it unravels in the movie's last 20 minutes or so. It doesn't entirely fall apart but it goes enough off the rails to make it do some damage. Previously filmed for television in 1958. With Rosemary Forsyth, Maurice Evans, Dean Jagger, Dabney Coleman, William Conrad, Eduard Franz and Robert Pine.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)

A man (Sam Rockwell) claiming to be from the future recruits an unlikely group of diner patrons to join him in a daring attempt to save mankind from the perils of social media brain rot and the impending AI apocalypse. Directed by Gore Verbinski (THE MEXICAN). If THE TERMINATOR and EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE had a baby, it might look like this! Gore Verbinski's first film in ten years is a humdinger of an inventive science fiction action comedy. Its high concept takes awhile to get off the ground (its first 20 minutes or so are shaky) but when it does, it soars. A cinematic rollercoaster ride that you would be foolish to pass up. With Juno Temple, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Pena, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry and Tom Taylor.

First Love (1970)

Set in 19th century Russia, a 16 year old boy (John Moulder Brown) falls in love with the enigmatic beauty (Dominique Sanda) who lives next door. He isn't the only one however as she has many suitors. Based on the novella by Ivan Turgenev and directed by actor Maximilian Schell (who plays the father in the film), who also wrote the screenplay. It's an attractive looking film thanks to the great Sven Nykvist (CRIES AND WHISPERS) but Schell's adaptation of Turgenev is turgid. Its sluggish pacing aside, director Schell doesn't provide us with any sense of youthful passion or the genuine ache of loving someone you can never have. As the boy, John Moulder Brown broods nicely but the ardor isn't there, it's barely puppy love. The film has one of the worst scores (attributed to Mark London) that I've ever heard! With Valentina Cortese, Marius Goring, Dandy Nichols and John Osborne (yes, the playwright).

The Affairs Of Annabel (1938)

Since in her next movie, she'll play a maid, a studio publicity man (Jack Oakie) arranges for a movie star (Lucille Ball) to go undercover as a maid in a real household to get publicity for the film. But everything backfires on the stunt. Directed by Benjamin Stoloff (THE LADY AND THE MOB). A fast paced, fast talking comedy that's undercut by rather stupid characters doing stupid things that are more irritating than funny. The film's main premise has Oakie's publicity man getting Ball's actress in hot water by continually putting her in crazy situations. Ball's Annabel is supposed to be savvy so why does she constantly agree to these crazy publicity stunts that don't work out? Why does Oakie continually do them when they don't work out? On the plus side, Ball proves early in her career that she was an ace comedienne long before TV's I LOVE LUCY. RKO had enough confidence in it that they already had a sequel in the works before this was even released. With Ruth Donnelly, Bradley Page, Elisabeth Risdon, Thurston Hall, Fritz Feld and Madame Sul Te Wan.

Lassie Come Home (1943)

Set in depression era England, a family is hit by hard times and are forced to sell their dog Lassie (Pal) much to the distress of their young son (Roddy McDowall). The dog goes with its new owner (Nigel Bruce) to Scotland but he escapes and begins the long trek back to England and the boy he adores. Based on the novel by Eric Knight and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (FORBIDDEN PLANET). One of the greatest animal movies ever made and if you don't tear up at the finale, well ..... something's lacking in you! You don't have to be an animal lover to enjoy this moving film and it's a perfect family film that doesn't hoke it up for the children and condescend to the adults. Lassie's adventures on the way home include two emotionally charged sequences: the brief respite with an elderly couple (Dame May Whitty, Ben Webster) and his interval with a traveling tinker (Edmund Gwenn) and his pooch. A huge hit that spawned six sequels in the 1940s alone. With Elizabeth Taylor (only 11 years old but already well on her way to becoming a legendary beauty), Donald Crisp, Elsa Lanchester and Alan Napier.

The Flintstones (1994)

Set in the Stone Age, Fred Flintstone (John Goodman) mistakenly becomes an executive at Slate & Company after his buddy Barney (Rick Moranis) switches their test scores. What Fred doesn't know is that his boss (Kyle MacLachlan) is setting him up to take the fall for an embezzlement scheme. Based on the 1960s animated televison series and directed by Brian Levant (JINGLE ALL THE WAY). This is fun for maybe the first 20 minutes as we see how the film makers are translating the TV cartoon show to the live action format but the novelty wears off very quickly and what we get is a visually impressive movie in search of a decent script. Still, audiences seemed to like it enough to make it a box office hit and a sequel followed six years later with a different cast. With Elizabeth Taylor (in her last theatrical feature film), Halle Berry, Rosie O'Donnell, Elizabeth Perkins, Jonathan Winters, Jay Leno, Laraine Newman and the B-52s.

浮草 (aka Floating Weeds) (1959)

A traveling troupe of actors arrive in a provincial town where the leader of the group (Nakamura Ganjiro) has an ex-mistress (Haruko Sugimura) who has raised their son (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), now grown, without the son ever knowing who is father is. Matters become complicated when his current mistress (Machiko Kyo) finds out and in a fit of spite urges another actress (Ayako Wakao) from the troupe to seduce the son. Directed by Yasujiro Ozu (TOKYO STORY). This is a color (Ozu's third) remake of Ozu's silent film STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS (1934). The narrative follows the original film extremely close but many consider it superior to the 1934 movie. While I think it's a marvelous film, I found it veered toward excessive sentimentality toward the film's final moments. But it's a wonderful looking film thanks to Kazuo Miyagawa's lovely cinematography utilizing Eastman color and the performances are excellent. With Hitomi Nozoe and Chisu Ryu.

Love That Brute (1950)

Set in 1928 Chicago, a big shot gangster (Paul Douglas) with a soft heart falls in love with a child care worker (Jean Peters), who doesn't realize he's a mobster. So he pretends to be a widower with two young children in an attempt to woo her. Directed by Alexander Hall (HERE COMES MR. JORDAN). This is a remake of TALL, DARK AND HANDSOME (1941). A lightweight but agreeable slice of entertainment that goes down easily even if its stale plot doesn't offer up anything fresh or original. There's a Runyonesque feel to the narrative especially in the supporting characters of cops, mobsters and molls. With Cesar Romero (who played the lead in the original 1941 movie), Keenan Wynn, Joan Davis, Jay C. Flippen, Arthur Treacher, Kenneth Tobey and Anthony George.