Fedora (1978)

After watching Fedora I have no feeling that the title character, a famously reclusive movie star, had anything special because director Billy Wilder miscast the pivotal role - the film's downfall. The story is intriguing (and thematically ripe for a remake starring Renée Zellweger!) but I thank author Tom Tryon for that because the whole presentation feels like a B movie. It was interesting to see Stephen Collins (yes THAT Stephen Collins) play a young William Holden but Marthe Keller is just wooden and Hildegarde Knef is no Gloria Swanson ... or Greta Garbo.

Watch Fedora on YouTube now

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Arizona (1940)

With Jean Arthur playing a MILF who knows how to use a gun AND how to bake a pie AND how to get the younger William Holden (in a very early role) as her husband, Arizona might be the first pre-feminist feminist western. The film does an excellent job of conveying the rough and ready 1800s.

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Arizona (1940)

I'm not a fan of westerns but Arizona is a a high-falutin', scootin', rootin', tootin shoot 'em up with an involving plot about civilizing the Tucson territory and two excellent performances by Jean Arthur and her very young (1940!) and very handsome love interest, William Holden. The black and white photography (shot on desert locations) is stunning and the action scenes (including wagon train attacks and a cattle stampede) are thrilling. And the lead character (Phoebe Titus as portrayed by Ms. Arthur) who uses her wits to build her businesses (and the territory) surely makes this the first post-modern feminist western - years before Johnny Guitar.


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When Time Ran Out (1980)

When Time Ran Out was supposed to be the cherry on the 70s disaster film cake of Irwin Allen - despite its release in 1980. That date was a harbinger for this leaden volcano-explodes-and-people-escape-lava epic, which has a mixed bag of well paid actors (William Holden, Jacqueline Bisset, Edward Albert, Red Buttons, Valentina Cortese, Veronica Hamel, Alex Karras and Allen's wife, Sheila) running away from lava that, as pointed out early in the story, ...moves slowly enough to give us time so don't rush. The pacing never picks up so I would be remiss to not note the most interesting thing about this movie: actor Paul Newman used his salary to bankroll Newman's Own, a self-sustaining business which continues to contribute millions of dollars to charity even after his death.

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...S.O.B. (1981)

S.O.B. is a black comedy about politics (sexual and otherwise) in Hollywood that is wickedly insightful and strikingly accurate (from what I've read anyway). Interestingly, the film falters towards the end when it falls into farce - one of the (many) issues that also plagued Darling Lili, the filmmaking experience on which writer/director Blake Edwards based his script. Still, it's a wild ride with a sterling cast that is worth taking; and Julie Andrews's pineapples are breast-taking (sic).