Roman Holiday

Who wouldn’t fall in love with Audrey Hepburn? You can hardly blame Gregory Peck, given that his leading lady here it at the height of her powers as the epitome of grace, beauty, charm and charisma. Hepburn is a wonder in this movie, bringing absolute believability to her role as a European princess out on the lam for one free day. (It probably helped that she really was the progeny of at least minor royalty.) The third costar of the film, the city of Rome, does yeoman’s work at giving the tale a magical setting with both ancient and modern touches throughout, as befits a fairy tale. Though the story may fit that most traditional of genres, this one casts its spell in many standard forms, but without, perhaps, a real fairy tale ending. Certainly, had this film been made recently, the denouement would have been radically different; maybe there’s something to say there about the difference between this time and a period when easy outs were not always the order of the day. One negative critique: the pacing of the movie seems a little too slow for the modern viewer. Whether that’s something wrong with the film or with me is a matter for debate. Overall, this movie makes for light and breezy entertainment, something that may not be profound but is most assuredly a good time spent with one of the medium’s most luminous stars. That’s the scoop: she’s a girl you want to spend a day with, for sure. 

How the West Was Won

Alternatively entertaining and asinine. Yes, movies were different back in the day, especially westerns, which hardly exist nowadays. Still, you kind of wonder when musical numbers randomly break out in the midst of the story of westward ho! expansion. Anyway, there's a lot of hokum here, some decent action scenes, a hilarious cameo scene with John Wayne as Sherman and Harry Morgan as Grant at Shiloh--visually incongruous barely begins to describe it--and just a little bit of regret about, you know, all that stabbing Indians in the back. And the bad restoration job on the DVD I watched--including distractingly viewable seams between the original Cinerama panels--didn't help. As a time capsule piece, I guess it may be worth a look, once in a while. Otherwise, not the best work of an admittedly all-star cast.

To Kill a Mockingbird

A profound, touchingly emotional telling of Harper Lee's classic novel. Whether you've read the book or not, this presentation--including Gregory Peck's masterful performance--reminds you that Atticus Finch is the father every child should have.

Spellbound

Alfred Hitchcock's supposed classic. I say supposed because, though the film has much to recommend it, it never really clicked for me. Maybe Gregory Peck didn't convince me, or the laughable idea of Ingrid Bergman--roughly 21 years old at the time of filming--as a psychiatrist pushed my suspension of disbelief too far, or...actually, I can't really put my finger on it. You can watch it, and you'll probably like it, but you can also forget it, too. Pick your poison.