RIP Marge Champion

I thought she was adorable.  She and her very handsome husband entertained me when I was falling in love with movies, with musicals and with absolutely anyone who danced on that big screen.  Marge and Gower Champion were the only married dancing movie partners I knew and they dazzled me with their vitality, twirling, swirling, dipping, leaping, kicking, acrobatics and imaginative choreography through six films, a television series and numerous other TV shows.

From the 1940s: Red River

1948 Western

From United Artists

Directed by Howard Hawks

Starring

John Wayne

Montgomery Clift

Joanne Dru

Walter Brennan

John Ireland

Harry Carey

Noah Beery Jr.

Harry Carey Jr.

Chief Yowlachie

Paul Fix

Mickey Kuhn

Hank Worden

Coleen Gray

Visiting Film Noir: Double Indemnity

1944 Film Noir

From Paramount Pictures

Directed by Billy Wilder

Starring 

Fred MacMurray

Barbara Stanwyck

Edward G. Robinson 

Porter Hall

Jean Heather

Tom Powers

Byron Barr

Richard Gaines

From the 1940s: Rachel and the Stranger

1948 Romance Comedy Drama

From RKO

Directed by Norman Foster

Starring

Loretta Young

William Holden

Robert Mitchum

Gary Gray

Tom Tully

Sara Haden

James Darren

I've always had a fantasy about James Darren.  No, not that...!  I fantasized that he was really the genuinely nice guy I suspected he was.  I have probably always had that fantasy about movie stars in general.  Of course, fantasy is the right word here because nice is not often the case.  

From the 1950s: River of No Return

1954 Western

From 20th Century Fox

Directed by Otto Preminger

Starring

Robert Mitchum

Marilyn Monroe

Rory Calhoun

Tommy Rettig

Murvyn Vye

Douglas Spencer

Guilty Pleasure: Ladies of the Chorus

1948 Drama

From Columbia Pictures

Directed by Phil Karlson

Starring

Marilyn Monroe

Adele Jergens

Rand Brooks

Nana Bryant

Eddie Garr

Steven Geray

The Directors: George Stevens

He stood alongside John Ford, William Wyler, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, John Huston and a few others as one of the great American directors of Hollywood's Golden Age, a genius craftsman of some classic cinema.  He was legendary for his sharp eye for detail that enhanced his visual storytelling.  With a couple of exceptions, he had a strong rapport with some of Hollywood's most renowned actors which produced memorable performances.  Three of his films in the 1950s, darlings among the critics and public, are among my favorites ever.

Visiting Film Noir: No Way Out

1950 Film Noir
From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz

Starring
Richard Widmark
Sidney Poitier

Linda Darnell
Stephen McNally

Mildred Joanne Smith

Harry Bellaver

Ruby Dee

Ossie Davis

Amanda Randolph

Stanley Ridges