Christmas in Connecticut, 1945

Director: Peter Godfrey

Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet

Elizabeth Lane (Stanwyck), a single writer living in a crowded New York apartment, has created the perfect woman: Mrs. Lane, who lives on a farm in Connecticut, with a husband and baby; an exemplary mother, wife, cook-- everything! And Ms. Lane makes "Mrs. Lane" come to life in the articles she writes for a magazine.

But when the owner of the magazine, Mr. Yardely, decides to invite himself and war hero, Lieutenant Jones (Morgan), for a lovely Christmas in Connecticut, Ms. Lane is in trouble. It turns out Yardely doesn't like it when people lie in their articles. So if she wants a job, Ms. Lane must somehow come up with a husband, a farm, a baby, and the ability to flip a perfect flapjack!

Well, luckily, she's got a friend, Mr. Sloan, who keeps proposing to her, who has a farm in Connecticut. And an uncle who's also a restaurant owner, Felix, whose recipes always find their way into "Mrs. Lane's" kitchen. And after agreeing to marry Mr. Sloan, she heads to Connecticut with the whole gang!

But it just sucks for her, when Lieutenant Jones walks into "her" farmhouse, and it's pretty much love at first sight.

NOTE: If you can look at it as a cute comedy and ignore the fact that they both want to commit adultery, even though it isn't really adultery (it isn't on her side since she knows she's not really married, but Jones doesn't), then this is a sweet movie. I have to say it like that; though it is a movie, it's still awful that Jones falls in love with someone he believes to be married. And otherwise, Jones is the cutest EVER! And a war hero, as well. Did I mention the uniform?

Swoon!

Double Indemnity, 1944

Director: Billy Wilder

Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G Robinson

I was watching NCIS a few days ago, and at one point in the episode, two characters, Tony and Ziva, talk about this film, Double Indemnity, as a classic. Tony usually knows what he is talking about concerning films. (But don't even get me started with his opinion of Strangers on a Train! Those writers need to actually WATCH that movie before they write his lines about it!!)

Walter Neff (MacMurray), an insurance salesman, visits the home of Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) in a routine house call to renew her husband's auto insurance. Her husband is not at home, and they begin a flirtatious exchange, until she asks if she can get a life insurance policy on her husband without his knowing.

Wise to her game, Neff leaves immediately, putting her in her place, or so he thinks. He knows all the tricks in the business, and this one reeks of murder. Mrs. D shows up at his home later that evening, to flirt some more and assure him she doesn't want to kill her husband, though she's not very convincing in the latter argument, since Neff decides he loves her and that the two of them should kill her husband together.

It's crazy how when you're watching a movie, and your point of view is with the thief (like The Italian Job- love the new version of that one!) or the killer, in this case, you are cheering them on, in the case of the theft, or at least not wanting them to get caught, as in a murder. How do movies do that to us?

If you like the genre (film noir) or suspense, or crime movies, I'm sure you'll be delighted. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Barbara Stanwyck was a killer!

Witness to Murder, 1954

Director: Roy Rowland

Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill

I recorded this one on TCM (my favorite channel- no surprise there!) and didn't know what to expect, but I enjoyed it!

The excitement starts off right away in the first minute! Cheryl (Stanwyck) wakes up in the middle of the night to close her bedroom window. When she gets to the window, she witness the strangling of a woman across the street in a lighted apartment. Horrified, she calls the police, who come at once to her building. The murderer, Albert Richter (Sanders), sees them arrive and quickly hides the body. When they arrive, he is perfectly bewildered! Why would anyone think he had murdered a young woman!? How ridiculous.

Police Lieutenant Larry Matthews (Merrill) takes an interest in Cheryl, puzzled that she seems so obsessed with the fact that she witnessed a murder, when no evidence of any murder could be found. But when a woman's body is found in a park, Cheryl is sure that she was the victim of the crime. Richter insists that Cheryl is insane, however, and everyone is more inclined to believe him than Cheryl....

I like Barbara Stanwyck in the few movies I've seen her in. The first film I saw her in was Christmas in Connecticut. Love that one! I can't wait until Christmas time!