Screen Gems

The September order is pretty good size, 102 titles. Most of these are films that are of the 'gap' order variety, golden age-screen idol kind of filler. But there are some truly fantastic films in this buy. Ray Harryhausen's Jason and Argonauts is the best 'stop action' animated movie ever made, (Well maybe with the exception of King Kong). Double Indemnity has to be on everybody's too 100 list. Its Billy Wilder directing a Raymond Chandler script of a James Cain novel. Edward G Robinson's plodding methodical insurance investigator has Colombo beat any day. The Prince of Foxes and the Mark of Zorro are two (I think) highly under-rated films. The Mark of Zorro along with Captain Blood, the Adventures of Robin Hood, and the Prisoner of Zenda, has to be one of the best swashbucklers ever made, while the Prince of Foxes is a personal favorite of mine. It was shot on location so the sets and costuming are awesome. Everett Sloane has to be one of the most delightfully sinister sidekicks in movie history. Moby Dick with Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart and Orson Welles is another movie which the critics don't like but which I think is one of the greatest movies ever made. The detail, the realism, and the acting are all superb. John Huston directed and Raybradbury wrote the script. I would like to say that Peck's Ahab stole the show but there were so many other fine performances it's impossible to point them all out.

Two newer movies I think everybody should catch are For the Love of the Game and Searching for Bobby Fischer. Sports movies are always tough to make but there is something about Kevin Costner and Baseball that just seems to click on screen. Searching for Bobby Fischer is one of those movies you won't forget. It's got a great cast and is very well done. (Look for Tony Shaloub in a bit part with Gummy Bears.) Its about a kid that's a child prodigy in chess and how his family, and specifically his father, tries to cope. It's got Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley, Lawrence Fishburne, William H. Macy and others.