Sept. 1 – What a way to start off the month: Billy Wilder’s “One, Two, Three,” with James Cagney spewing rapid-fire dialogue of the kind we haven’t heard since “His Girl Friday” – that is until Vince Vaughn came along in “Swingers,” “The Wedding Crashers” and “The Break-Up.”
Sept. 2 – “Queen Bee,” in which the inimitable, peerless Joan Crawford levels an entire family.
Sept. 3 - All in one day: Robert Aldrich’s war flick, “Too Late the Hero”; Laurel and Hardy’s funny-but-frustraing “The Music Box”; the precious but not-too-precious “The Umbrellas of Cherbough” and Chris Marker’s singular “La Jetee.”
Sept. 5 – Cukor directs that most civilized cinematic cat fight, “The Women.” Herb Ross’ underrated but sublime musical version of “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.”
Sept. 6 – Hey, it’s the original “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” featuring the sublime Robert Donat! “The Explosive Generation.” Love that title.
Sept. 7 – Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland in playwright Frank D. Gilroy’s irresistible “From Noon ‘til Three.” Plus three with Judy Holliday - “The Marrying Kind,” “Phffft!” and “Full of Life,” a wonderful trilogy.
Sept. 8 – William Castle’s minor classic “Homicidal,” almost better than ”Psycho.” Almost.
Sept. 9 – Susan Hayward and Bette Davis in the ultimate gay-camp fete, “Where Love Has Gone.” Sinatra double-deader - “High Society” and “Pal Joey.” Plus Lemmon slumming amiably in “Under the Yum-Yum Tree.”
Sept. 10 – Robert Wise directed Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie, Jean Simmons and Sandra Dee as sisters in the New Zealand-set “Until They Sail,” with Paul Newman on hand for a little testosterone. Also: Vincente Minnelli’s compulsively watchable “Some Came Running,” with Sinatra at his prime.
Sept. 11 – Henry Koster’s “Flower Drum Song.” Forget “The Sound of Music.” This Rodgers and Hammerstein film musical is much, much better – and much less annoying.
Sept. 12 – “Billie,” a charming but little-known film version of the popular Ron Alexander play, “Time Out for Ginger” (adapted by Alexander himself). Patty Duke has the title role as an incorrigible tomboy and Jim Backus plays her dad, the role that Melvyn Douglas played on stage. Plus, “The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer,” in which Cary Grant romances jailbait Shirley Temple, at the request of her older sister Myrna Loy. Let’s just say that it could never be made today.
Sept. 13 – “Bright Road,” an early Dorothy Dandridge-Harry Belafonte flick, Plus “I Thank a Fool,” another soap with the edgy Susan Hayward.
Sept. 14 – Norman Jewison’s “Gaily, Gaily,” an incredibly charming take on the Ben Hecht book with the appealing Beau Bridges in a role that should have made him a major star but didn’t. Plus, “Never Wave at a Wac,” in which Rosalind Russell does the “Private Benjamin”bit.
Sept. 15 – “Soylent Green,” Richard Fleischer’s succulent, shrewd scifi that is ultimately about cannibalism.
Sept. 16 – Disney’s nifty “Bednobs and Broomsticks,” Angela Lansbury’s door prize for not getting to recreate “Mame” on screen.
Sept. 17 – Yasujiro Ozu’s affecting “Tokyo Story,” about a pair of elderly parents who learn that they have worn out their welcome in their childrens’ lives. A must-see.
Sept. 18 – “Suspicion.” Say no more.
Sept. 19 – Ida Lupino’s “The Trouble with Angels,” in which Roz Russell and Gypsy Rose Lee enjoy a reunion of sorts.
Sept. 20 – Francois Truffaut’s seminal “The 400 Blows.” Again, a must-see.
Sept. 22 – Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder,” arguably the best courtroom film ever made.
Sept. 23 – Disney’s “Candleshoe,” with Jodie Foster when she was still an interesting actress. Plus, Hitchcock’s obscenely absorbing “North by Northwest.”
Sept. 25 – More Hitch”: “To Catch a Thief”
Sept. 26 – “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” Joe Sargent’s best film with great performances by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw and Hector Elizondo. Plus, “Good News,” June Allyson’s signature film.
Sept. 27 – “The Young Lovers,” with Peter Fonda, Deborah Walley and Nick Adams. Couldn’t you just die? But don’t. Wait for Wilder’s acidic “Ace in a Hole.” Plus Kirk Douglas as a conflicted Jew in WWII in “The Juggler” and Ida Lupino’s juicy “The Bigamist.”
Sept. 28 – “Freaky Friday,” the original mother-daughter switcheroo with Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. Something the timid remake left out: John Astin as the dad turned on by his wife who is now really his teenage daughter.
Sept. 30 – Joseph Mankiewicz’s “Sleuth” with Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine and a painted portrait of Joanne Woodward. The unseen wife in the film (pictured in the portrait) is billed as Eve Channing, a play on Mankiewicz’s “All About Eve.” Plus Frank Perry’s early indie, “David and Lisa.”
Oct. 1 – “Diabolique,” in which Geeorges Clouzet directs the low-down Simone Signoret. Classic.
(Artwork: Poster art from Wilder's nimble "One, Two, Three"; the DVD dustjacket of "Homicidal"; the poster art from "Billie," plus a Playbill page for "Time Out for Ginger," the play on which "Billie" is based; Beau Bridges and Melina Mercouri in Norman Jewison's "Gaily, Gaily," plus poster art from "Gaily, Gaily," and poster art from Ozu's "Tokyo Story" and Lupino's "The Bigamist")
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Anyone interested in perusing some 2060 of my film reviews, dating back to 1994, can do so by simply going to RottenTomatoes.Com
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