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June 16 movie: Come Fly With Me. I had high hopes for campy good fun from this early 60s sex comedy about 3 flight attendents (excuse me, air hostesses) searching the globe for rich husbands. Unfortunately the movie doesn't live up to the premise. The acting is pretty bad -- one of the flight attendants is particularly shrill -- and the plot gets rather preachy and moralistic towards the end. At least there were some good costumes and hairstyles. Maybe it was the title that made me think the movie would be so good. Just writing this has put Sinatra's version of that song into my head.

June 17 movie: The Belle of New York. This was a musical starring Fred Astaire and Vera Ellen. While watching it Georg and I talked about what it is that makes a musical work. There are so many elements -- the songs, the dancing, the story, the dialogue, the characters -- that all have to come together. Not to mention that ineffable quality that makes a movie sparkle. I guess "chemistry" would be the best word for it. This movie didn't have it, nor several other key elements (for instance, almost all the songs were terrible), but there were a couple of great dance numbers.

June 18 movie: Those Three French Girls. This movie was the 30s equivalent of a teen sex comedy: the plot is a flimsy excuse for Reginald Denny, two wise-cracking American guys and the titular three French girls to romp together. They romp in a jail, in a barn, at Denny's rich uncle's house, and at the girls' clothing shop. It's rompalicious. The movie is most noteworthy for having been rewritten by P.G. Wodehouse.

June 1 movie: How to Marry a Millionaire. Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe star as three New York women trying to find rich husbands. I remembered enjoying this movie on previous viewings, but this time I kept comparing it unfavorably to Designing Woman. None of these women have lives aside from searching for a husband. I suppose that applying today's standards to gender roles in a fifty year old movie is a guarantee that I won't enjoy the movie. But they have to at least give me something to go on.

Oh, also Monroe wears an absolutely ridiculous pair of glasses, and somehow manages to make them look absolutely adorable.

June 1 movie: June Bride. With less than three weeks before the big event, I think it's time for some wedding-themed movies. This is one of my favorites. Bette Davis and Robert Montgomery play old flames who reconnect while reporting on a small-town society wedding for Home Life magazine. (She's the magazine editor, he's a recently demoted journalist.) The supporting cast includes Mary Wickes, who I love always.

Davis and Montgomery have great chemistry. Davis is especially wonderful letting Montgomery know that in the years after he dumped her, she discovered she doesn't need him anymore. Her confidence is sexy when she gets in close and says "If we're going to mean anything to each other again, it will be on my terms, not yours." Too bad the ending doesn't fulfill that premise. Still, forget the last five minutes and it's wonderful. I love the dialogue when they spar together. Here's a typical exchange:

Montgomery: "I was walking down Madison Avenue, feeling wonderful because I had been with you. Then I had a terrible realization."
Davis: "That you forgot to borrow cab fare from me."
Montgomery: "No, I remembered that."