Guilty Pleasures: The Adventures of Hajji Baba

1954 Adventure
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Don Weis

Starring
John Derek
Elaine Stewart
Amanda Blake
Thomas Gomez
Paul Picerni
Donald Randolph
Rosemarie Bowe
Claude Akins

My Favorite Christmas Movie

White Christmas

1954 Musical

From Paramount Pictures

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Starring

Bing Crosby

Danny Kaye

Rosemary Clooney

Vera-Ellen

Dean Jagger

Mary Wickes

John Brascia

Anne Whitfield

REVIEW: Mary Poppins Returns

Directed by Rob Marshall
2018 Family Fantasy
2 hours, 10 minutes
From Disney

Starring
Emily Blunt
Lin-Manual Miranda
Ben Whishaw
Emily Mortimer
Julie Walters
Colin Firth
David Warner
Jeremy Swift
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Meryl Streep
Dick Van Dyke
Angela Lansbury
and the children
Pixie Davies
Nathanael Saleh
Joel Dawson

Remakes: Destry Rides Again

Universal owned the rights to this Max Brand novel and made three versions of it in 1932, 1939 and 1954.  The 1939 film, of course, is the revered one and it deserves every bit of the praise.  It plays well to this day... I know because I just walked over from my easy chair to computer after having watched it.  Well, um, okay, I finished watching the 1954 version after glomming the 1939 one.  Trust me, I have never known this story as well as I do this very moment.

REVIEW: The Favourite

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
2018 Historical Comedy Drama
1 hour 59 minutes
From Fox Searchlight

Starring
Olivia Colman
Emma Stone
Rachel Weisz
Nicholas Hoult
Joe Alwyn

Sal Mineo

Boy oh boy, did he want to become a movie star.  Did he ever.  At a point in time, it's all he could think about.  There would be a time that his motivation was to make it about the work itself, but in the beginning and for some time afterward, it was about the money and the perks and the fame.  And he didn't want the bucks just for himself but for his family as well.  He wanted them to have luxuries and respect and pampering.  He knew that when his family said their last name was Mineo others would say... are you related to Sal Mineo?  What could be any better?

Good 50's Films: The Country Girl

1954 Drama
From Paramount Pictures
Directed by George Seaton

Starring
Bing Crosby
Grace Kelly
William Holden
Anthony Ross
Gene Reynolds
Jon Provost

Donna Reed

She was the symbol of gentle femininity through 40 movies, most of which were B efforts.  Donna Reed had good parts in two incredibly famous films, one of which would see her win an Academy Award for best supporting actress, and the other is a national treasure.  As the 1950's were winding down, she made the transition to television and put that gentle femininity to good use as one of TV's most famous moms.