the course of true love... ...gathers no moss

A slate of classics. Just see how well that works....

Sunset Blvd. (1950) - "A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return."

Source: I borrowed the Blu-ray from the public library
I watched it because: William Holden is a favorite, and this is a classic

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Movies (original list 1998) #12

    100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th anniversary edition 2007) #16

IMDB: 8.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 99% Audience: 95%

notable quote: "'I'm not an executive, just a writer.'

    'You are, are you? Writing words, words, more words! Well, you'll make a rope of words and strangle this business! With a microphone there to catch the last gurgles, and Technicolor to photograph the red, swollen tongues!'"
story: down on his luck writer happens into a gig ghostwriting for a silent film star whose career has not gone the way she'd planned
visuals: gorgeously shot, lit, and carried out—the way that the characters move through the scenes
costumes, hair & makeup: stunning, theatrical but believable at the same time
acting: I'd expected to find it melodramatic, but I was sucked in completely, right away, and it wouldn't let me go. Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond is one of the finest performances I've ever seen on film. 

intangibles: Sunset Blvd. has been called the best film about moviemaking, which I absolutely believe. I was riveted from start to finish, amazed by how many lines I knew, and utterly drawn in by the plot. 
Academy Award winner:
• Best Writing, Story and Screenplay—Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marshman, Jr.

• Best Art Direction—Set Decoration, Black and White

• Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Actor—William Holden (Joe Gilles)

• Best Actress—Swanson

• Best Supporting Actor—Erich von Stroheim (Max Von Mayerling)

• Best Supporting Actress—Nancy Olson (Betty Schaefer)

• Best Director—Billy Wilder

• Best Cinematography, Black and White

• Best Film Editing

• Best Picture
overall: very highly recommended

Harvey (1950) - "Due to his insistence that he has an invisible six-foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane—but he may be wiser than anyone knows."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it's about a rabbit, and it was Easter

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Laughs (2000) #35

    10 Top 10 (2008) Fantasy #7

IMDB: 7.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 86% Audience: 93%

notable quote: "Years ago, my mother used to say to me, she'd say, 'In this world, Elwood, you can be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart.... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."
story: profoundly ineffectual, mentally ill man lives with his sister and her daughter, under an extreme psychotic delusion that his family and various townspeople not only accept but encourage. Hilarity ensues.
visuals: pretty basic sets
acting: painfully effective 

intangibles: this is supposed to be comedy, and it is supposed to be good cinema, but I found it excruciating. I don't think it is a matter of how film, or life, has changed since the 1950s, that I am embarrassed and disgusted by it because of my 'modern sensibilities,' but that I am missing some kind of comedy gene that others seem to have in abundance.  I thought this movie was God-awful and sad.
Academy Award winner: Best Supporting Actress—Josephine Hull (Veta Louise Dowd Simmons)
Academy Award nominee: Best Actor—James Stewart (Elwood P. Dowd)
overall: not recommended

Ben Hur (1959) - "After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from the public library
I watched it because: it's on the AFI lists

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Movies (original list 1998) #72 

    100 Years ... 100 Thrills (2001) #49

    100 Years ... 100 Cheers (2006) #56

    100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th anniversary edition 2007) #100

    10 Top 10 (2008) Epic #2

IMDB: 8.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 74%

notable quote: "When I find him, I shall know him."
visuals: big and elaborate
costumes, hair & makeup: mini-togas for the guys, and strangely form-fitting shroud-y gowns for the ladies
acting: big and elaborate, like theater in a thousand-seat house

intangibles: I didn't like it. Boring, way overlong (212 minutes), repetitive, and of course Charlton Heston (Judah Ben-Hur), the pre-Shatner, chewing the scenery throughout. I am not especially fond of epics, and this is the prime example of why.
Academy Award winner:
• Best Picture—Sam Zimbalist

• Best Actor—Heston

• Best Supporting Actor—Hugh Griffith (Sheik Ilderim)

• Best Director—William Wyler

• Best Cinematography, Color

• Best Art Direction—Set Decoration, Color

• Best Costume Design, Color

• Best Sound

• Best Film Editing

• Best Effects, Special Effects

• Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
Academy Award nominee: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
overall: not recommended

The Philadelphia Story (1940) - "When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself."
Source: I borrowed the Blu-ray from the public library
I watched it because: I knew nothing about it except that it was on the AFI lists

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Movies (original list 1998) #51

    100 Years ... 100 Laughs (2000) #15

    100 Years ... 100 Passions (2002) #44

    100 Years ... 100 Cheers (2006) #20

    100 Years ... 100 Movies (10th anniversary edition 2007) #44

    10 Top 10 (2008) Romantic Comedy #5

IMDB: 7.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 93%

notable quote: "'Dexter, are you sure?'

    'Not the least, but I'll risk it. Will you?'

    'You bet!'"
story: Tracy and Dexter married when she was young, and divorced almost immediately thereafter amid a flurry of fights. When she decides to marry again, Dexter appears—but to help, or to disrupt?—as do a couple of tabloid reporters. 
visuals: crisp and lovely, beautifully lit and shot
costumes, hair & makeup: gorgeous! The costumes are incredible.
acting: Katharine Hepburn (Tracy Lord) is the undisputed star of the show, with such marvelous range of emotion. I thought she was absolutely wonderful.

intangibles: this is an outstanding film, funny and romantic, smart and silly. I can't wait to see it again.
Academy Award winner:
• Best Actor—James Stewart (Macaulay Connor)
• Best Writing, Screenplay

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Actress—Hepburn

• Best Supporting Actress—Ruth Hussey (Elizabeth Imbrie)

• Best Director—George Cukor
overall: most highly recommended

The Marrying Kind (1952) - "Florence and Chet Keefer have had a troublesome marriage. Whilst in the middle of a divorce hearing, the judge encourages them to remember the good times they have had, hoping that the marriage can be saved."
Source: the film is part of my "Silver Screen Romances" box set
I watched it because: I was in the mood for something uncomplicated to watch while distracted by mundane tasks
IMDB: 7.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 67% Audience: 65%

notable quote: "Maybe it's a good thing to know it's possible."
story: wow, this is so NOT uncomplicated! Detailed, shown mostly in flashbacks, and far sadder than I ever could have expected.
costumes, hair & makeup: an effective plot point
acting: Judy Holliday (Florrie Keefer) is really good here

intangibles: hard to watch, but worth a view
overall: recommended

[the title quotation is from The Philadelphia Story]