Midnight Oil:Movies and More

"Philadelphia Story" (1940) IMDb stars Katharine Hepburn whose ex, played by Cary Grant, complicates her present wedding plans enormously, as recorded by a tabloid reporter, James Stewart. The star-studded cast goes down in film history in this classic romantic comedy. The broadway hit, which also starred Ms. Hepburn in the lead female role, was recycled into a highly successful film adaptation thanks to great casting and wonderful dialogue. Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) takes us all on a roller coaster ride leading up to the big day of her society wedding accompanied by a great assortment of annoying relatives, expensive wedding gifts, a knock-out wardrobe, interfering members of the press and a bothersome ex-husband or two hanging around in the wings. Cary Grant is perfectly understated until just the right moment as C.K. Dexter Haven (I just can't resist letting that lovely name just roll off the tongue). Plans come more than slightly unraveled as a result of prying eyes, a drink or two too many and general foolishness and pride. But, all's well that ends well. Everyone, including the audience, is most content with the state of matrimonial bliss by the film's finish.

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Catch the video clip for "Philadelphia Story" (1940) here.

“The Snake Pit” (1948) IMDb has Olivia de Havilland play the part of Virginia Cunningham, a young woman who finds herself locked up in a mental asylum. The film, taken from a novel by Mary Jane Ward and directed by Anotole Litvak, combines the point of view of the disoriented and harassed patient, Virginia, with external elements that keep the film firmly grounded in reality. In spite of the efforts of her loving husband (Mark Stevens) and Dr. Mark Kik (Leo Genn) to reach her, the harrowing experiences of the mental patient continue for a full two hours. “The Snake Pit” is  an unusually honest film about mental illness for 1948 even if it does enter the realms of the melodramatic and over the top psycho-analysis at times.

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Catch the TVO video trailer for "The Snake Pit" (1948)

"Went the Day Well?" (1942) INDb, from a short story by Graham Greene, is a wartime propaganda film with some surprises up its sleeve. The film, set in a sleepy English village, depicts the responses of ordinary folk to the extraordinary situation of having some German paratroopers land in their backyard posing as a British engineering detail. Watch out for dithering sweet little old ladies who serve tea and crumptets while hiding an axe behind their backs!

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Catch the video trailer of "Went the Day Well?"