The Big Street (1942)

Film: The Big Street (1942)

Stars: Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Barton MacLane, Eugene Pallette, Agnes Moorehead

Director: Irving Reis

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2022 Saturdays with the Stars series, we highlight a different Classical Hollywood star who made their name in the early days of television.  This month, our focus is on Lucille Ball click here to learn more about Ms. Ball (and why I picked her), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

Initially when I planned this month's look at Lucille Ball, I had a film later in her career for our third week.  Ball spent most of the 1940's under contract not to RKO, where she made most of her most famous films, but instead to MGM.  But, both because it is a key plot point in the recent biopic Being the Ricardos (which looks increasingly likely to win Nicole Kidman a second Oscar), and because it was Ball's favorite film performance, we're going to continue our look at Ball with The Big Street today, a movie that could've taken an entirely different direction for Lucy if it had been a hit, but instead was one of the final movies she made for RKO.

(Spoilers Ahead) The Big Street is the story of Pinks (Fonda), a waiter who is madly in love with a spoiled singer named Gloria (Ball).  Gloria is a beautiful crime boss's girlfriend, and treats everyone (especially Pinks) like garbage.  When Gloria is pushed down the stairs by her mob boss boyfriend, she become paralyzed, and needs constant help (and money), which Pinks provides even though she still continues to treat him poorly.  After she eventually is scorned by a former lover of hers, she & Pinks stop speaking until it turns out she's clearly dying.  Gloria confesses to Pinks that she wants to just be her old self again, if only for a night, and through a series of blackmail, theft, & pulling every string he can, Pinks does just that, getting her a night of dancing & singing & fawning in a club before she dies in his arms.

I enjoyed this movie, though your mileage may vary as it's less a good movie and more a great melodrama...but I'm a sucker for a four-hankie, "doomed romance" style melodrama, and so I was onboard.  It helps that Lucille Ball is at the top of her game, totally owning every angle in the complicated role of "your highness," playing Gloria as totally unlikable, but charismatic to a degree that you get why people want to be on her good side.  I was less enthralled with Henry Fonda, who is playing Pinks as a mousy cartoon character, but Ball...there's a reason she thought this would open up new doors for her at the time.

But it didn't.  The Big Street was a big opportunity for Ball, and she only got the role because Carole Lombard wasn't available (and because write Damon Runyon overrode RKO's wishes to put Barbara Stanwyck or Jean Arthur into the part).  Ball got rave reviews for the film, but it wasn't a hit, and RKO, after having spent years trying to find the right formula that would work for Ball on the big-screen, let her contract go after which she signed with MGM.  We're going to, as a result of spending time with The Big Street largely gloss over the MGM portion of Ball's career, but it's probably okay as she made very few films for the studio worth mentioning, and indeed, it looked like Ball's career as a film headliner was almost over before a radio show called My Favorite Husband would change Ball's life (and the medium of television) forever.  We'll talk about that, and one of the films that resulted from it, next week.

The Swan (1956)

Film: The Swan (1956)

Stars: Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan, Agnes Moorehead, Jessie Royce Landis

Director: Charles Vidor

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2021 Saturdays with the Stars series, we highlight a different one Alfred Hitchcock's Leading Ladies.  This month, our focus is on Grace Kelly-click here to learn more about Ms. Kelly (and why I picked her), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

In April of 1955, Grace Kelly headed to Cannes as part of the US delegation for that year's festivities.  While she was there, there was an arranged meeting with Prince Rainier of nearby Monaco, which led to a courtship, which led to one of the most spectacular moments in movie history when Grace Kelly, movie star extraordinaire, became a literal Hollywood princess.  As we'll discuss below, this is where Grace Kelly's acting career ended-just weeks after winning an Oscar, the highest honor for an actress, she was basically on her way out of the industry, as Kelly would never work again as an actress in films after going royal.  She had two movies in the can before she left Hollywood which came out after she was a princess.  One was High Society, which I've seen (and which pales in comparison to the original Philadelphia Story).  The other was one I hadn't, and so I saw The Swan for this project, and as luck would have it (for both me and for MGM's publicity department) the film stars Kelly...playing a princess.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film follows Princess Alexandra (Kelly) who is a relatively low-ranking royal living her years out with her mother Princess Beatrix (Landis), after the announcement that Crown Prince Albert (Guinness) will be visiting.  Beatrix is insistent that this is the opportunity they've been waiting for to get back their stature, marrying the Crown Prince & making Alexandra a queen.  The only problem is that Alexandra is a bit of a bore, and Albert is far more interested in music & other nerdy endeavors to give Alexandra much heed.  Beatrix comes up with a plan to have her sons' handsome tutor Nicholas (Jourdan) try to woo Alexandra in hopes of making Albert jealous, but the plan backfires spectacular when it turns out that Nicholas is already in love with Alexandra...and quickly she is in love with him.  When the Queen (Moorehead) comes to town, everything comes to a head as the love triangle must find one side to stand on.

According to what I've read, the producers of The Swan (based on a play by Molnar) considered changing the traditional ending of the film, which ends with Alexandra & Nicholas apart because she cannot marry a commoner.  However, after Princess Margaret declined to marry Peter Townsend, they decided the ending should stand, and so the movie ends with Alexandra likely to marry either no one or (more probably) Albert, knowing that neither will be particularly happy together but they've fulfilled their duty to their country.  It might be this reason why I like it.  The Swan is not a particularly good movie (even if the sets are really fun & the supporting cast is decent), but I enjoyed it.  It's the kind of turn-off-your-brain romantic drama that you can sometimes get sucked into on a rainy afternoon, and that was the mood I was in for the picture.

Kelly is a dud in the movie, pretty blasé (though it is fun to see her acting with a leading man who is actually her age after she wooed men 10+ years older than her the rest of the month) and more ornamental.  Watching Kelly this month (and I've now seen virtually every film she ever made), I'm struck by how Hitchcock is the only director who ever really got her as a performer.  She is so much better-suited for his work, and she fits in some ways with actresses like Lizabeth Scott or January Jones, who were really good at one specific thing, but otherwise fell flat.

Her life would look like a storybook, but wouldn't exactly be one.  Reports of the marriage run from it being a good one with some problems to one that felt isolating for Kelly.  She would give Rainer an heir (and two spares), continuing on the line of the Monaco royal family, but she had to give up acting, despite attempts to get back in roles in Marnie and The Turning Point.  Kelly's life was cut short in 1982 when she suffered a stroke while driving with her daughter Stephanie-Stephanie was fine, but Kelly died due to injuries to her brain and chest at the age of just 52.  Next month we're going to take a look at an actress who was one Kelly's contemporaries, one who like Kelly would work with Alfred Hitchcock early on in her career, but while Kelly's film career was defined by Hitchcock, this actress would make him a rather dismissible chapter in an otherwise other-worldly career.

OVP: The Blue Veil (1951)

Film: The Blue Veil (1951)

Stars: Jane Wyman, Charles Laughton, Joan Blondell, Richard Karlson, Agnes Moorehead, Audrey Totter, Natalie Wood, Vivian Vance, Dan O'Herlihy

Director: Curtis Bernhardt

Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Actress-Jane Wyman, Supporting Actress-Joan Blondell)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars

The Oscar Viewing Project, which drives maybe 70-80% of the reviews we do each week, is a project doomed-to-fail.  I've talked about this many times, but there are a number of lost films that were nominated for Oscars, and a few more that are next-to-impossible to see anywhere even if they aren't technically "lost."  But then there are other films that are just next-to-impossible to catch despite clearly having cache, and while I'm still brimming with films that I need to see that are readily available on streaming platforms (or even on my counter from DVD Netflix) to watch, I'm aware of these movies & make a point of seeing them as soon as they are made available to me.  By chance, a connection on Twitter turned me on to The Blue Veil recently, one of the most elusive films nominated for a major Academy Award out there.  Never released on commercial home video & never put on TCM for some reason, The Blue Veil has remained an enigma to me.  It was nominated for two major acting Oscars, and the cast list-just look at it!  Jane Wyman, Charles Laughton, Natalie Wood-these are big name stars, the kinds that usually (and especially in conjunction with Oscar) demand at least a DVD release of the movie, if not regular screening on TCM.  Thankfully, I caught the movie now, and while it wasn't good (we'll get into it), it's finally off of my "how am I ever going to see this?!?" list.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie focuses on LouLou (Wyman), a young war widow whose baby dies in infancy while she's still in the hospital after birth, and as a result she must take a job as a nursemaid to a widowed industrialist (played by Laughton).  She grows to love the job, but not Laughton's Frederick, so after he proposes to another woman (played by Vance-and how weird is it seeing Vivian Vance without Lucille Ball?) she's heartbroken to give up the child, but moves on to another job.  The film continues to explore these relationships that she has, at one point nearly getting married, but ultimately never finding love again or having her own children.  Toward the end of the film, she falls particularly hard for a young boy named Tony, whose parents abandon him & she raises him as her own for a number of years.  When they return, she attempts to kidnap the boy (seeing him as hers now), but ultimately must give back the child to the couple.  The final scenes hearken to a Mr. Holland's Opus type of situation, where LouLou, now broke & unable to have children to look after anymore, sees all of her former wards grown up, starts a relationship again with an adult Tony, and is asked to be the nanny to the children of one of her former kids, thus finally feeling like she has a real family.

The movie is saccharine to the point of being insufferable.  It's not clear at any point why LouLou, at the beginning young & attractive, doesn't seem capable of finding a man, or really a declarative sentence.  Wyman is not an actress I've ever truly enjoyed in a film (seriously-I don't think Oscar has ever crushed so hard on a performer with so little charisma), and here she's particularly bad as LouLou, never understanding what is driving this mousy, boring, saintlike woman's dreams or desires.  Wyman is downright bad in some scenes, and while you might cry in her big speech trying to win back Tony (surely where she won her nomination), it's just because it's being manipulative, not because it's any good.  Thankfully Wyman lost the Oscar, but she won the Golden Globe so it's not inconceivable she might have taken the Best Actress trophy.  And she won that Golden Globe for this one-dimensional piece-of-work over Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire, potentially the greatest performance in film history.  Let that sink for a second.

The film won two nominations, so I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Joan Blondell here.  Blondell is cited over a slew of brief parts (Moorehead & Laughton have similarly-sized roles) as a working single mother (she's an actress) who doesn't have time to raise her daughter (played by Wood).  Blondell is not actively bad like Wyman is-she has spark in her performance, and it's easy to see in a sea of vanilla why she stood out.  That said, there's nothing to this role other than sheer charisma...we don't see a lot of what's driving Blondell's character, or if she actually wants to be an important part of her daughter's life.  There's room for interesting commentary here-her Annie's views of what a mother should be are different than LouLou's, and in a different era this would've been worth asking whether our sympathies & support should reside with her rather than Saint Wyman.  Alas, The Blue Veil is not a complicated enough movie to consider such questions.  Considering its historical nature in the careers of some of its high-profile stars, though, it should definitely be more available for home screening than it currently is.

OVP: Mrs. Parkington (1944)

Film: Mrs. Parkington (1944)

Stars: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper

Director: Tay Garnett

Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Actress-Greer Garson, Supporting Actress-Agnes Moorehead)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 1/5 stars

We conclude our week devoted to Best Supporting Actress with one of the category's most beloved figures.  Few actors have made a bigger name for themselves in this category than Agnes Moorehead, who throughout the years received four Academy Award nominations (and four losses, never getting a trophy despite some close calls, particularly 1964's Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte).  Moorehead is best-known for her work today on TV's Bewitched, but she was a presence in movies for decades, a key part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre (she played Charles Foster Kane's mother), and was the first woman to host the Academy Awards.  Today we go to possibly her least known nomination (and for me, the final one I hadn't seen), with her starring opposite one of Classic Hollywood's most beloved pairs, Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon, in Mrs. Parkington.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is told in large part through flashback, with Susie Parkington (Garson, both young & old) a wealth society dame, remembering her relationship with Major Parkington (Pidgeon), all while her relatives are visiting her, assuming she's near death's door & will soon be bequeathing their inheritance upon her.  As we see, Susie didn't have an easy life, starting her time in a boarding house and then meeting Major Parkington, a cutthroat businessman who cares little for the lives of his employees until his carelessness leads to Susie's mother's death, and he takes her under his wing, with the help of Baroness Aspasia Conti (Moorehead), his former lover who still has feelings for him.  The two have a troubled-but-happy marriage, oftentimes with Parkington's blunt demeanor & carelessness getting in the way of their happiness (even resulting in Susie having a miscarriage), but it's one that is built on love (eventually) and not money, and when Susie sees that money has corrupted her heirs, she tells them that she will disinherit them, giving the money to those her grandson-in-law has ripped off through a criminal enterprise, and will return to the modest beginnings she once had before she met Major Parkington.

Mrs. Parkington is, as you can tell from that star rating, kind of a catastrophe.  It's so boring, and I actually genuinely like Greer Garson (I know that this is a reaction a lot of people associate with the actress, who played similar roles across her heyday), but this movie is dense, and Pidgeon is at his charmless worst here.  The movie is preachy, frequently only valuing "the morals of the masses" and assuming that money is a completely corrupting force (it's preaching to the choir for the audience, but it's a little bit of an eyebrow raise to modern audiences watching these wealthy actors try to cater for profits in such a way).  It's also predictable, and most of the performances are wooden.

This is true for Garson (though worse for the non-nominated Pidgeon).  She doesn't bring much at all to Mrs. Parkington, and surely was a default nomination for one of the Academy's favorite actresses; her Susie is bland & without personality.  This isn't the case for Moorehead, the saving grace of the film.  Her Baroness steals every scene she's in, and while she's also tasked with a burdensome chore of a role (we know from the opening that these two women will be friends, but also that they're desperately in love with the same man but by sheer will of star billing Garson is going to get him), it's the one reason to see this film.  She's been better (her magnum opus two years earlier in The Magnificent Ambersons remains her career capper), but what a welcome relief in this unbearable movie.

Jane Eyre (1944)

Film: Jane Eyre (1944)
Stars: Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Margaret O'Brien, Peggy Ann Garner, John Sutton, Sara Allgood, Agnes Moorehead, Elizabeth Taylor
Director: Robert Stevenson
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine, had she made it just a few years longer would have turned 100 years old last week, and while I was too busy prepping for NaNoWriMo to do something on the actual day, I felt it was worth acknowledging her as an actress after such a centennial.  Fontaine, in my eyes, has always paled in respect to her sister, Joan being an actress who had a brief moment of major stardom (where she scooped up a trio of Oscar nominations), and then spent the rest of her career being perhaps more infamous for a feud than anything else.  But Fontaine was a fine actress, and as it was about to leave FilmStruck I decided to catch Jane Eyre for the first time, watching Fontaine's "plain" young governess fall madly in love with the complicated, tortured Edward Rochester, played most appropriately by Orson Welles.

(Spoilers Ahead...though seriously, you haven't read Jane Eyre?) It should be stated right up-front that Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorite books.  I've read it a couple of times, and it's nearly impossible to put down.  Charlotte Bronte paints a tough, feminist icon in the form of her titular heroine, and it's really one of those stories like Great Expectations or Pride & Prejudice that is almost impossible to screw up, it's so compelling.  Still, though, I'd seen other versions that were remarkable (particularly the 2011 version with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender), and was curious to see what one with such an expansive cast would achieve.

All-in-all, I didn't leave disappointed.  I won't recap the plot that much (it's such a famous story), but the movie takes great care in the earlier chapters to portray Jane as a young woman in a way that I don't think I've seen before onscreen.  Peggy Ann Garner, as the young Jane, is marvelous in this role.  She would the following year win an Honorary Oscar for her brilliant work in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but here she's nearly its equal, headstrong and defiant while very real.  It's rare to see someone steal scenes from Elizabeth Taylor (who plays her doomed childhood friend Helen), but Garner is truly excellent-it's a pity she never got to contend for a competitive Oscar in her career, as she more than earned a nomination.

The romance between Fontaine and Welles is very good.  I'd say that Fontaine sometimes under-emotes, but there's something lost in her eyes and her mannerisms, the way that she clings to relevance through Adele (O'Brien), and how she manages to be both defiant and wear the weight of the world on her shoulders that I found quite captivating.  Welles as Rochester may be typecasting, but he's such a good actor it's hard to argue with such a decision.  His Rochester has occasional charm, but is brooded in his undying passion for Jane and the secrets he quite literally keeps in the attic.  The movie doesn't shy away from the novel's gothic exterior, and while so much of its genius comes from Charlotte Bronte (the script adds little that isn't there on the page), that's a minor quibble for such a grand translation.  Honestly-this may well be my favorite interpretation of the book, and considering how often this has made it to the big-screen, that's saying something.

Those were my thoughts-how about yours?  What version of Bronte's masterpiece do you think is the best big-screen adaptation?  What do you think is the best work of Joan Fontaine's career?  And why don't more film historians talk about the excellent childhood performances of Peggy Ann Garner?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

OVP: Johnny Belinda (1948)

Film: Johnny Belinda (1948)
Stars: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, Agnes Moorehead, Stephen McNally, Jan Sterling
Director: Jean Negulesco
Oscar History: 12 nominations/1 win (Best Picture, Director, Actor-Lew Ayres, Actress-Jane Wyman*, Supporting Actor-Charles Bickford, Supporting Actress-Agnes Moorehead, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, Original Score, Film Editing, Sound)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

It has sat for years (alongside Becket) as the most Oscar-nominated film I'd never seen, and this morning, while deciding what to do with my life (a conversation I have daily with myself these days-I've been a bit adrift for months now), I decided that perhaps tackling a film perched on my DVR that for some reason I'd never gotten around to was a wonderful suggestion, so after years of wondering what exactly the title even meant, I figure it was time to investigate Johnny Belinda and the dozen Oscar nominations that come with it.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is perched in that period of the 1940's when Oscar seemed to only like issue films, and as a history lesson to modern AMPAS (which also occasionally gravitates into that direction), issue films are my least favorite types of movies because they rarely age well.  The best kinds of issue films are ones that are either extremely honest (Do the Right Thing) or don't have the issue at the centerpiece of the movie and rely on something more traditional to sell the picture (Brokeback Mountain).  Johnny Belinda at least starts off in the latter's direction, since the film wants to desperately push a love story.  The movie is about a woman named Belinda (Wyman), who is a deaf-mute frequently referred to by the villagers and even her own father (Bickford) and Aunt Aggie (Moorehead) as "Dummy."  A kindly doctor in the village named Robert (Ayres) befriends her and begins to teach her sign language, which she picks up ridiculously quickly.  The film follows as she is assaulted by a local drunk, whose girlfriend and eventual wife Stella (Sterling) is smitten with Dr. Robert.  The film goes on with Belinda getting pregnant, her father is killed by her rapist, and eventually the town tries to take away her baby in hopes of giving it a "respectable" home.  A trial after Belinda kills her rapist (who is trying to steal her child) ends quickly with everyone realizing the truth.

The film has to be considered somewhat groundbreaking if only because it's the first major motion picture to deal with the subject of rape.  The film doesn't shy away from the subject (it's very clear that it doesn't condone the action and doesn't pretend that the baby was of an immaculate conception), though the word is never actually uttered.  The film grapples with the concept of shaming Belinda (everyone in town just assumes she is loose, and blames the doctor for sleeping with her and getting her impregnated), but like all issue films the entire situation surrounding the subject ages badly, with most of the cast drawn in relatively two-dimensional lines and the treatment of Belinda as bright, but also at the same time simple, would eventually be countered in films like The Miracle Worker 14 years later.  Still, the film is heavier than you'd expect, and while the villains are all very broadly drawn, the heroes get some levels of grey, particularly Belinda's father, who is both spiteful to her for causing him so much hardship and also enamored with her, particularly as she continues to learn how to communicate with her.

The movie's twelve Oscar nominations aren't shocking, though I'd argue none of them are exactly outstanding.  The cinematography is lovely, trying to paint a Nova Scotia vastness even if it was entirely filmed in California, and the editing is strong, particularly in a fight scene (though you can clearly see that it's a dummy and not Charles Bickford falling down that cliff).  The acting is not great, to be honest.  I think Bickford, broadly drawn but felt quite sturdy in the role, is probably my favorite.  He's an actor that I always forget what he looks like (he never really had that distinctive role or movie that made him stand out in a major way other than he got relatively high-billing in most of his pictures), but he makes an impression and is missed once he's gone in the movie.  Moorehead is always wonderful to behold, but this is a role that she could do in her sleep; honestly, she overplays too much of her hand and it's a small miracle that Orson Welles managed such brilliant work from her in her two most iconic dramatic roles, since she always relies heavily on her strength-of-persona and rarely on any sort of internal mechanics happening for her onscreen character.

As for the two main actors, I am usually pretty "ehh" about both of them in general, and that didn't change with this picture.  The movie is not bad, by any stretch of the imagination (I liked the structure, it was well-timed, and it never drags), but the two leads could not be more bland if you try.  It's like watching a slice of Wonder Bread fall in love with another slice of Wonder Bread.  There's something to be said for the physicality of learning how to sign and be deaf, but a one-trick is not going to help Wyman make her character anything more than what the script acts, and frequently she goes for less-she makes her Belinda something to pity rather than someone worth fighting for, and Lew Ayres' as her smitten but personality-free paramour is hardly any more interesting.  The love story feels hopelessly underwritten, and part of me wanted a Heathcliff/Catherine style moment for the two of them just to live up to that soaring Max Steiner score (there's a cliff right there, after all), just to get swept into some sort of movie star glamour.  As it is, it's a finely told story that may feel a bit dated but isn't in the same league as something like Gentleman's Agreement in that regard, and surely would have made a much stronger play.

Those are my thoughts on this classic film-as it's long been celebrated, I'm hoping you have some thoughts-won't you share?  How many of the twelve nominations did the film actually deserve (I'm guessing about 4-5, though I'm not super well-versed in 1948 quite yet), and should it have received more wins?  What are your thoughts on Wyman and Ayres in general, and do you think I'll ever find a film that causes me to feel the love?  Click below to start a dialogue!

Oscar's Late-Blooming Actresses

Next week I'll be giving you an article about the overall Best Actress race and my thoughts on how crazy-awesome it looks this year (so many possibilities!), but before I get there I want to focus on one woman in particular who might be able to make a significant impression on the race: Sandra Bullock.  Bullock has a major film coming out that she's getting strong reviews for in Our Brand is Crisis, and at this point it's hard to imagine that she spent most of the Aughts wandering through the wilderness before finally making a major comeback and scoring an Oscar for The Blind Side.

Bullock was 45-years-old when she received her first nomination, which is actually pretty old for an acting nominee, particularly a female nominee.  Most women tend to be nominated in their twenties (I have read the average age for a Best Actress nominee is around 29), and especially those women who are going to be nominated multiple times will have started early.  As a result of this, I was wondering if Bullock gets her third nomination this year (she was also cited for Gravity for those keeping track at home), will she make the list of the Top 10 3+-nominees in terms of age at their first nomination?  Let's take a look at the top ten, shall we?

10. Anne Revere

Age at First Nomination (we'll be going age at the Oscar ceremony): 40
First Nominated Film: Best Supporting Actress in The Song of Bernadette (1943), followed by supporting citations in National Velvet (1945) and Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Did She Win?: Yes, Revere pulled off the win for playing Elizabeth Taylor's mother in National Velvet, besting two women who are still alive to hold grudges, actually (Dame Angela Lansbury, the youngest person ever to be nominated for two Academy Awards and Ann Blyth, Joan Crawford's demon spawn in Mildred Pierce).
What Took So Long?: Revere was most noted for her work on the stage (she would eventually win a Tony Award for Toys in the Attic), and was more just a contract player who gained steadily in stature in the years that followed Song of Bernadette until she was forced to resign from the Screen Actors Guild because she refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Also Worth Noting: Revere played opposite Taylor six years after her Oscar win as Montgomery Clift's mother in A Place in the Sun.  Despite the film being a huge hit with Oscar and the Academy's penchant for both women, neither would be nominated for the film.

9. Agnes Moorehead

Age at First Nomination : 42
First Nominated Film: Best Supporting Actress in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), followed by Mrs. Parkington (1944), Johnny Belinda (1948), and Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte, all in supporting.
Did She Win?: No, Moorehead never made it.  Based on some readings I have done she was probably closest either for The Magnificent Ambersons (where she may have fallen prey to the Orson Welles-hate that was still reverberating from the year before) or for 1964's Hush...Hush, where she was the sentimental favorite but Oscar was very international that year, going with all non-Americans for the first time ever that year rather than the Massachusetts-born Moorehead.
What Took So Long?: Moorehead really struggled early in her career, frequently going without work and even food.  She eventually found success in radio, working with Orson Welles and his Mercury Players.  This resulted in her getting the two most iconic roles in her film career: as Charles Foster Kane's mother in Citizen Kane and her marvelous work as Fanny in The Magnificent Ambersons.
Also Worth Noting: She didn't do particularly well at the Emmys either, never winning for Bewitched, her best-known role overall to modern audiences, though she did pick up an Emmy for her role on The Wild Wild West of all things.

8. Kathy Bates

Age at First Nomination: 42
First Nominated Film: She was first noted for her iconic breakthrough as Annie Wilkes in 1990's Misery, followed by supporting citations for Primary Colors (1998) and About Schmidt (2002)
Did She Win?: She won in a bit of a surprise on her first outing for Misery, a very atypical role for a Best Actress contender, though it's hard to tell if Joanne Woodward or Julia Roberts was her bigger competition.  Eight years later she'd nearly pull off an upset over Judi Dench when she was the only American in a field of Brits (which frequently results in a win for the Yank).
What Took So Long?: Bates was initially one of those character actors who never really popped.  Though she appeared in films for prestigious directors (Milos Forman and Robert Altman), she had more success on the stage, winning a Tony nomination for 'night Mother and eventually transferring to television in a series of soap roles.
Also Worth Noting: In one of those great "what could have been" sorts of moments, Anjelica Huston was originally offered the role of Annie Wilkes, and wanted to do the movie but was committed to making the film The Grifters.  Huston would go on to lose the Oscar for her Grifters performance to Kathy Bates.

7. Fay Bainter

Age at First Nomination: 45 (for those interested, Bullock was slightly older when she landed her first nomination by a few months and so would knock out Bainter if she were nominated again)
First Nominated Film: Bainter became the first actor nominated in two different acting categories in the same year, being cited for lead actress in White Banners and supporting in Jezebel in 1938.  She would go on to get a very late-in-her-career supporting nod for The Children's Hour in 1961.
Did She Win?: She did-Bainter set a longtime pattern of actors who were nominated for two different categories in the same year winning the supporting trophy, a trend that would last for fifty years until Sigourney Weaver broke it in 1988 (to this day she's the only actor to have been nominated twice in one year to have never won an Oscar, thanks to Julianne Moore's recent victory).
What Took So Long?: Like several women on this list, Bainter got her start and much of her success on the stage, appearing in a number of major New York productions before MGM finally convinced her to give film a try, and she became wildly successful pretty quickly.
Also Worth Noting: Back in the day, supporting actors would occasionally present the category they won the previous year, rather than the alternating genders we see today.  As a result, Bainter was the first person ever to present an Oscar to an African-American when she handed the statue to Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind.

6. Thelma Ritter

Age at First Nomination: 48
First Nominated Film: Like most of her costars, Ritter scored a nomination for the classic 1950 film All About Eve, and followed that up with five supporting bids for The Mating Season (1951), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Pickup on South Street (1953), Pillow Talk (1959), and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962).
Did She Win?: Ritter is the most-nominated woman without a competitive Academy Award trophy to show for it, tied with Deborah Kerr and Glenn Close (though it's worth noting Kerr eventually got an honorary Oscar).  Despite the plethora of options, it's hard to tell if Ritter was actually ever close or just the female equivalent of Arthur Kennedy.
What Took So Long?: Ritter, though she was classically-trained, never really popped, working largely in radio and stock theater until she managed to have small parts three Best Picture nominees (Miracle on 34th Street, A Letter to Three Wives, and All About Eve), which brought her to the attention of casting directors.
Also Worth Noting: She was nearly able to make a fifth nomination in a row in 1954 for the classic Rear Window, which would have tied her with Greer Garson and Bette Davis for the most consecutive nominations.  Considering that she would have almost-certainly lost to Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront, perhaps the miss was for the best for a woman who said her many losses meant she "knew what it was like to be a bridesmaid, but never a bride."

5. Helen Mirren

Age at First Nomination: 49
First Nominated Film: Mirren scored a bit of a surprise nomination for The Madness of King George in 1994, but followed that with three expected citations for Gosford Park (2001), The Queen (2006), and The Last Station (2009).
Did She Win?: Mirren stampeded to basically every award known to mankind in 2006 with The Queen, a performance so noteworthy that she ended up winning a Tony for the same role nearly a decade later.
What Took So Long?: One of the most unexpected movie stars of the past decade, Mirren worked steadily in films in the 1980's, but almost always in character roles.  She also took frequent time off to do theater, and wasn't one of the Merchant-Ivory go-to's at the time, which probably hurt as that was what British actors were being cited for during the era.
Also Worth Noting: Mirren is well-known for her work as a monarch.  In her lifetime she's played 5 Queens: Elizabeth I, Elizabeth II, Queen Charlotte of Mexklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Gertrude (in Halmet), and the Queen of Egypt in The Prince of Egypt.

4. Gladys Cooper

Age at First Nomination: 54
First Nominated Film: Cooper's first nomination came for her nightmarish work in Now, Voyager (1942), and she earned two more supporting nods for The Song of Bernadette (1943) and My Fair Lady (1964).
Did She Win?: Cooper never pulled this off.  I wonder if she was pretty close for Song of Bernadette (it's a show-y part), but the other two seem unlikely.
What Took So Long?: Cooper spent much of her earlier career as one of the biggest theatrical draws of the 1930's, frequently finding herself headlining shows in the West End and on Broadway.  It wasn't until she moved to Hollywood in 1940 that she made her mark in film, and all things considered got on with Oscar pretty damn quickly.
Also Worth Noting: Is one of the rare actresses to have been nominated for the Tonys, Emmys, and Oscars without winning any of them.  Had she been nominated for a Grammy and lost, she would have joined Lynn Redgrave as the only person to have been nominated for all four awards and never won a trophy.

3. Judi Dench

Age at First Nomination: 63
First Nominated Film: Dench, like so many British actresses of a certain age before her, got in for playing a queen, in this case Victoria in Mrs. Brown.  She followed that turn with six more nominations for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), and Philomena (2013).
Did She Win?: She did, for Shakespeare in Love, the second-shortest performance ever to win an Academy Award after Beatrice Straight in Network.
What Took So Long?: Dench didn't really do film prior to her major breakout in Mrs. Brown, focusing principally on television and theater (she's in the Royal Shakespeare Company).  However, it is worth noting that she won a BAFTA eleven years prior to her turn in Mrs. Brown for the Oscar-blessed Room with a View.  Had her costar Maggie Smith stuck to lead like she did at the BAFTA's for the Oscars, Dench may well have gotten to Oscar eleven years earlier than expected (which still would have kept her on this list, for the record).
Also Worth Noting: Dame Judi has never been able to pull off an Emmy, perhaps the only major acting trophy she hasn't bagged, despite three nominations (for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Cranford, and Return to Cranford).  Dench nearly got a Razzie nomination for her bizarre appearance in The Chronicles of Riddick (she was on the shortlist), but the bizarre list of Britney Spears, Condoleezza Rice, Carmen Electra, Jennifer Lopez, and Sharon Stone kept her from such a dubious distinction.

2. Ethel Barrymore

Age at First Nomination: 65
First Nominated Film: The Grand Dame of the American Stage got her first Oscar nomination in None But the Lonely Heart in 1944, followed by The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Paradine Case (1947), and Pinky (1949).
Did She Win?: Yes, Barrymore won on her first try with None But the Lonely Heart.
What Took So Long?: Barrymore made a few silent films very early in her career, but largely stuck to the stage and was actually quite snobbish about the cinema, sticking to the theater and doing the likes of Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Maugham in the process.  She was bought by a major paycheck for None But the Lonely Heart, her first film in over a decade, and the acclaim that followed convinced her to stay in Hollywood.
Also Worth Noting: Barrymore turned down a marriage proposal from Winston Churchill because she thought he wasn't going anywhere.  That has nothing to do with movies or Oscars, but is a good anecdote so use it at your next dinner party.

1. Edith Evans

Age at First Nomination: 75
First Nominated Film: In the only year where three women were nominated in Supporting Actress for the same film, Evans joined her costars Diane Cilento and Joyce Redman in being nominated for Tom Jones (1963).  She followed that citation with nods for The Chalk Garden (1964) and The Whisperers (1967).
Did She Win?: No, Evans never won.  She likely came the closest in 1967 after picking up a number of precursors and getting numerous plaudits (she's superb in the largely forgotten film).  However, sentiment won the day and the inferior Guess Who's Coming to Dinner got Kate Hepburn her second trophy in the wake of Spencer Tracy's death.
What Took So Long?: Evans was one of the biggest names on the British stage, playing numerous Shakespearean roles and debuting roles in plays by the likes of Noel Coward and Bernard Shaw.  Though she dabbled in film, she didn't really take off until her small role in Tom Jones.  After that she stuck with film and gained a large amount of success during the 1960's and 1970's.
Also Worth Noting: Though she didn't win in 1963 (fellow dame Margaret Rutherford was successful), she did get to pick up Tony Richardson's Best Director award for him as he wasn't there.

It's worth noting before we go that Bullock isn't the only actress that is in contention for being included in this list (though she's the only one with a film that's an immediate threat).  Brenda Blethyn, Jacki Weaver, Catherine Keener, Viola Davis, and Melissa Leo also all are sitting at two nominations and would crack this Top 10 if they scored a third.  Do you think Bullock or any of these women will be able to go-the-distance and get a third nod?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

OVP: Meet Me in Las Vegas

Film: Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
Stars: Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Agnes Moorehead, Lili Darvas, Jim Backus, Cara Williams, Paul Henreid, Lena Horne
Director: Roy Rowland
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Scoring of a Musical)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Celebrity is a funny thing, particularly when it's one that's rather fleeting.  That was one of the below-the-line aspects of this forgettable musical starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse, but it's the one that kept sticking out to me.  The film has a running gag of having nearly a dozen major stars of the era randomly show up in cameo appearances, some of whom are still recognizable (Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds) and some of whom you'd have to have a very keen knowledge of Hollywood to recognize (Pier Angeli, Vic Damone, Elaine Stewart).  All-in-all, it's still a fun game of "guess the star" (which is a game I enjoy in general when channel-surfing over to Turner Classic Movies), which distracts from a pretty mediocre plotline.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is about Chuck (Dailey), a down-on-his-luck professional gambler and Maria (Charisse), a sheltered and prissy ballerina who by circumstance realize that when they hold hands, magical things start to happen.  Suddenly they find that they are insanely wealthy from gambling, and slowly they fall for each other after a night of carousing and gambling (which causes Maria's star to rise as a tabloid sensation).  As they fall in love, though, they start to realize that when you're lucky in love, you're unlucky at the card table, and in the end, after what appeared to be a fairly genuine breakup, they decide to give it a go, melding their two worlds into one.

I will say that there were portions of the film that I liked.  After an insane series of films from the 1950's and 60's where every single woman gives up a promising career for a man, it was refreshing to see that they weren't going to go that route here (half the year would be her career, half would be his), and I was desperately worried that she'd throw away her promising talent to please her man, so this was a most welcome development.  I also loved the dance numbers with Charisse-there's a reason this nabbed an Oscar nomination, as the ballet numbers are like something you can't imagine was caught onscreen; Charisse's impossibly long legs jet across the stage as if motorized.  Absolute precision, absolutely spell-binding, and the two guest numbers by Lena Horne and Frankie Laine (again, two of the many, many, many random celebrity cameos) were wonderful; Laine shows that gusto that would be his trademark and nobody can sing a torch song like Lena Horne.  It's kind of wonderful to see two major singing stars of the 50's unencumbered by screaming crowds or playing a part, just giving us a great musical performance.

The actual musical numbers integral to the plot in the film are much more miss than hit, though.  Dan Dailey's "Yellar Shoes" number is dreadful, and while his cute number with Mitsuko Sawamura is fun, it's more because Sawamura, who was enjoying an odd flash-in-the-pan fame at the time, is so enjoyable (if you'd like, you can see her sing during this same time period with Judy Garland right here).  Overall, though, I would say that it's more the dance direction that Oscar should have paid attention to rather than the scoring.  At least it wasn't a nomination other than the music, though, as the story and acting is just bad-Charisse plays Maria as too prim and Dailey's easy-going charm can't seem to find the cad he's supposed to be in the earlier scenes.

Those are my thoughts on this quiet little musical from the mid-50's-what are yours?  Has anyone seen it?  If not, what do you think of Dailey and Charisse, two major stars of this era?  And how do you think modern celebrity cameo bonanzas onscreen will fare in the future?  Share below!

OVP: The Singing Nun (1966)

Film: The Singing Nun (1966)

Stars: Debbie Reynolds, Ricardo Montalban, Greer Garson, Agnes Moorhead, Chad Everett, Katharine Ross, Juanita Moore

Director: Henry Koster

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Best Scoring of Music)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

The studio films of the 1960's usually have a dated feeling about them that earlier movies, particularly the musicals of the 1950's, just don't seem to have.  I don't know if this is because of me psychologically projecting that these films should be more advanced or if, in their efforts to cling to continued relevancy these films went even further toward a conservative, repeated form of filmmaking.  Whatever the reason, musicals from this era by-and-large feel dated and stoked with far too much "message."

(Spoilers Ahead) This particular movie, starring Debbie Reynolds as Sister Anne (the film is loosely based on the life of Jeanine Deckers, the famed "Singing Nun") is about a woman in a convent in Belgium who loves music.  The convent is impressed with her singing prowess, and eventually she lands an unlikely record contract from her handsome old classmate (Everett).  In the process, she becomes quite well-known around the world, and in one of those wonderful cameos that only happen in films with major stars (Reynolds was just that around the time of this film), Ed Sullivan did an extended cameo in a similar fashion to the role he played to Deckers in real life.

If it were just a series of fun hymns and Sister Anne's rise and ultimate crisis of conscience over whether to pursue fame or stay with the church, I think it could have been an interesting movie. However, there's a number of side stories involving a young boy and his sister (Ross), living in abject squalor that totally take us out of the picture.  The film wants to be edgy by implying that Ross is a prostitute or pornographic model (it's dicey on which its projecting) and by randomly inserting a discussion of abortion into the center of the movie with an ancillary character (Reynolds' character, considering her occupation and the time period, is clearly pro-life).  The movie gets bogged down whenever it's taking away from the music, and these political distractions seem cloying and instantly date the movie.

The supporting cast, considering their pedigree, is not particularly good either.  In these sorts of situations, the star usually shines the brightest (this part, even if the film isn't too good, is tailor-made for the breezy Reynolds).  Ricardo Montalban is annoying as a manipulatively cheerful priest, and we never get the sense as to whether he knows he's being so pushy and insertive in people's lives or whether it's just naivete.  Agnes Moorhead plays, well, Agnes Moorhead (the same circular casting could be said for Juanita Moore).  And Greer Garson spent far, far too much time watching Peggy Wood to prepare for her role as Mother Superior.

That is, of course, the other factor to keep in mind with this movie.  Say what you will about The Sound of Music, but the film has impact, and with this film with similar elements coming only a year after that movie's release, you can see the way that it borrows from the Best Picture winner.  We see Sister Anne singing with the children, the pin-drop aspects of the guitar, the way that Sister Anne is conflicted about the man with romantic feelings for her, and the way that Mother Superior is a beacon of strength.  The problem is that no aspect of this movie can survive the comparison, even the music (the only Oscar-nominated aspect, and while tuneful and crisp with Reynolds lovely voice, it becomes instantly forgettable even with songs that seemed catchy at the time).  And while it's unfair to compare, this is most definitely an apples to apples situation.

Those were my thoughts-have any of you seen The Singing Nun?  If so, what were your thoughts?  Do you have a particular favorite in Reynolds' filmography?  And where does the scoring rank in your own ballot from 1966?  Share in the comments!

OVP: The Seventh Cross (1944)

Film: The Seventh Cross (1944)
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Signe Hasso, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Agnes Moorehead
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Supporting Actor-Hume Cronyn)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Spencer Tracy is one of the sturdiest of the Golden Age actors, and oddly doesn't have a filmography that screams "legend" in the way that Clark Gable or Humphrey Bogart do.  Sure, the Tracy/Hepburn films are well-known, but Adam's Rib or Woman of the Year aren't part of the lexicon the way that Gone with the Wind or Casablanca are.  And yet, Tracy is a legend, well-regarded, and an Academy superstar.  He received a stunning nine nominations in his career, and I will admit right now that I have yet to see a one of them, so we will be visiting all nine in the upcoming months/years/decades (don't really have a time table yet on this project, but with 2,228 films to go, it'll be a while).

So I was very glad that last month on Turner Classic Movies it appeared that they were doing Spencer Tracy month, and while most of my recordings got eaten by a very hungry TiVo while I was on vacation, I did manage to save this small film from 1944 by Fred Zinnemann.  Zinnemann, a director who got his films Oscar-nominated almost every time he went out, was a methodical director-a man who  could get at the hearts of his characters and their minute actions-look at The Search or From Here to Eternity or Julia-these are films that are about the obstacles people need to undertake to make their lives better, and The Seventh Cross, one of the lesser known movies in his filmography, does just that.

The film is about George Heisler (Spencer Tracy), one of seven men who have escaped from a concentration camp.  Slowly but steadily, Heisler is the only man left standing amongst the seven, as all of them are brought back to the concentration camp, and killed on one of the seven crosses in the yard (hence the title).  The film follows Heisler as he slowly works his way through a small German city, trying to figure out a way to connect with his friends and get a passport out of the city.  After being rejected by the woman he loved before his arrest, who is now married and threatens to turn him over to the Gestapo, we are given a cavalcade of odd characters (including Moorehead, in a strangely small role considering she was an Oscar nominee two years earlier and would be again in 1944), before Heisler finally calls on an old couple that he knew (Cronyn and Tandy), who risk everything to get him to safety, which he eventually does reach, but not before Cronyn realizes that he needs to become political and involved, and of course Heisler gets a brief amount of romance (though nowhere near the amount indicated in the film's posters and promotions) with the lovely Signe Hasso.

The movie is noteworthy for a couple of reasons, not least of which is the date it was made.  Like Casablanca, the war was still going on when this film was made, and it's one of the few films to feature the concentration camps to be made during the era.  It's shocking the amount of detail that they are able to get into for a film that had minimal first hand accounts (though it is based on a book, so that is likely the main source, but still).  It's also fascinating to see the great chemistry that Tracy, playing an introverted character, can still muster with his costars.  I loved the way that he slowly realizes the amount of risk people are willing to go to save him, and the realization at the end that he will be living his life to help them, save them if necessary, comes across less as melodramatic and more as a legitimate reaction a person would have to such a turn of events.

Cronyn was the film's sole Oscar nomination (oddly Tracy didn't land it, despite his Meryl Streep-like track record with the Academy), and this was the only Oscar nomination he received in his entire, decades-long career.  It seems appropriate that he received the nomination opposite his beloved wife of over 50-years Jessica Tandy, as he always had his best chemistry onscreen when the original Blanche Dubois is by his side.  Cronyn's work is strong-it reminded me a little of the work of Harold Russell two years later in The Best Years of Our Lives, in that they are both very earnest, and slowly realize their own limitations and what they would be best at in the world.  Cronyn's work isn't quite of the same level as Russell's (admittedly, Russell gets meatier material to work with), but it's definitely the sort of strong character work that the supporting nominees in the 1940's usually enjoyed.

It's a fairly straight-forward film, so that's where I'll leave it, but some questions to ponder before you go-what did you think of The Seventh Cross (if you've seen it)?  What's your favorite Tracy performance, and why do you think he doesn't enjoy the stature of a Gable or a Bogart?  And what's your favorite pairing of Cronyn/Tandy?

The Opposite Sex (1956)

Film: The Opposite Sex (1956)
Stars: June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Jeff Richards, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Leslie Nielsen, Agnes Moorehead, Joan Blondell, Carolyn Jones
Director: David Miller
Oscar History: None to speak of, but you just know they were close, considering the film received a Best Comedy/Musical Picture nomination from the Golden Globes and 10-time Oscar nominee Helen Rose did the costumes
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

Do you ever have that moment when you're flipping through the channels, waiting for something to speak to you, and suddenly, there it is, a Turner Classic Movies commercial break?  My stomach lifts, and I don't dare hit the "Guide" button on the television, as I am so excited to see what film is about to grace my living room.  Maybe I'll watch it, maybe I won't, but I suddenly have the opportunity to watch a movie from start-to-finish as it airs live on television.  I found myself there this morning, and before I knew it, I had watched all of The Opposite Sex.

I am a little embarrassed to say how long it took me to realize that this was a musical-version of The Women, the classic 1939 tale of comedic bitchiness that you simply must investigate (it stars a Many Rantings favorite, Joan Crawford with one of her arch-rivals, Norma Shearer).  Let's just say it took until they went to Reno before it started to sink in, which is at least half of the movie.  This film doesn't boast quite that iconic talent, but it isn't missing star power when you have a cast list that features June Allyson and Joan Collins in the lead roles.  Unlike the 1939 original, Sex does in-fact have men featured onscreen, though they're more props (the hunktastic Richards) or dopes (the "I'll-go-where-you're-leading-me" Nielsen) than anything else.

For those not familiar with the original or the awful Meg Ryan-remake, the story is about a gaggle of women who gossip about their friends, and in particular, Allyson's Kay, whose husband (Nielsen) has cheated with Collins' Crystal.  Allyson is told of this news by her frenemy Sylvia (well-played by the glamorous Dolores Gray), and bitchy madness ensues as the women exchange men and barbs with a frenetic speed.  For any actressexual, it's a necessary viewing and you'l find yourself falling all over one character or another.  The ones that spoke most to me were Gray, the eternally pregnant Blondell, and in an extremely bit role Carolyn Jones (who, like she did in The Bachelor Party, makes the most of a small part).

I can't say that I loved either of the two leads, both ladies having names I'm more familiar with than their filmographies.  June Allyson is a star whose face I could have attributed to any number of other actors prior to this, and whose husky voice and onscreen demeanor are both traits to admire and pursue in other films, even if I thought her mousy character was a bit too wimpy for the lioness's den of women that she's dealing with; additionally, Collins, who has curves like the Indy Speedway, is fun to watch vamp it up, but also seems a bit out-of-her-element when she is trying to act sweet-it's hard to believe anyone couldn't see right through her.  And though this is a musical, it doesn't boast a lot of music-the only numbers come from Allyson (who is dubbed in one of her numbers despite her wheelhouse including an excellent singing voice) and two bizarre musical numbers from "guest stars" to the movie.  This is particularly upsetting when you consider that Ann Miller of all people is in this cast and never once taps, shakes, or croons, and that the musical is made from the greatest studio to ever churn out the song-and-dance routine, MGM.

There's more I could delve into (how much do you love Agnes Moorehead and how weird does Leslie Nielsen look before his prematurely grey/white hair set in?), but I want to hear from you.  What did you think of The Opposite Sex, and where does it rank in your personal rankings of the multiple Women films?  Did you have a best in show?  And with Allyson and Collins-what would you recommend I look into first to get the best showcase of their talents?