[the 'stache]

Ok, so my last three:

The Big Sleep (1946). dir. Howard Hawks, starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall. Warner Brothers just released a fabulous blu-ray of this film through their Warner Archive Collection. This is the second of four films that Bogie and Bacall did together; great noir with an equally interesting back story. The film was shot in 1944/part of 1945, and then shelved for the better part of a year. The Great War had just ended, and Jack Warner made the decision that the studio needed to push all their war-centric films to the theater while interest in the subject matter was still high. Based on some input received by Lauren Bacall's agent, several scenes were re-shot, giving Bacall more up close shots, and capturing the same acerbic wit she demonstrated in her first film (and first pairing with Bogart, To Have and Have Not). While her first film had been a major success, and critics had lauded her as a great actress, her followup, Confidential Agent (with Charles Boyer) was a box office bomb; the same critics that gushed about her ability, and screen presence, openly questioned if Bacall could act at all. Fortunately for the studio, and Bacall, the redone scenes improved upon an already good film, and created a cinematic classic.

Au revoir les enfants (1987). dir. Louis Malle, starring Gaspard Manesse, and Raphael Fejtö. This is a story focusing on two young boys living in a Catholic boarding school in Nazi-occupied France towards the end of World War II. Beautifully directed, and deeply personal, it would be one of the final films directed by the French master. Highly recommended!

Niagara (1953). dir. Henry Hathaway, starring Joseph Cotten and Marilyn Monroe. An atypical noir film, shot in glorious three-strip technicolor. Marilyn Monroe shines here as the archetypal femme fatale, flourishing with the opportunity to play something other than the stereotypical dumb blonde. Though critics at the time were not impressed with the acting in the film, focusing instead on the beauty of the falls, and Monroe's ample curves, I think both leads are quite convincing. Cotten, known for his performances in such heavyweight films as The Third Man, Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, is electric as the paranoid husband. And Monroe, demonstrating subtle nuances to her acting at times, wields her sexuality with deadly precision. I've always found it sad that she was so limited, early in her career, in the kinds of roles she was given. That was Twentieth Century Fox, and the media, telling her what her "place" was in the grand scheme of things. This is a big reason why she fought to create her own production company. Niagara hinted at what she was capable of. Of course, it would be a few more years until Marilyn hit her stride as an actress, perfecting her comedic timing in Some Like it Hot.