"2017"

On the night of January 30, 1937 in London, Laurence Olivier took the stage during the intermission of “Hamlet” to announce the birth of his co-star Michael Redgrave’s first child. Addressing the audience, he said: “Tonight a great actress is born.” His words were prophetic.

When MGM head Louis B. Mayer authorized the then-princely sum of $75,000 to purchase the film rights to L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” children’s books in 1938, he knew he was in for a challenge. A couple of attempts had already been made to adapt the stories in the silent era, and had fallen flat. Still, Mayer had been impressed with the unexpected success of Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” the prior year, and wanted to match it.

 Life is full of weird coincidences: The first time Brad Pitt’s star power really hit me was in a film directed by...Robert Redford. The movie, of course, was Brad’s big breakthrough, 1992’s “A River Runs Through It”, in which Brad plays the more rebellious of two brothers growing up in 1920’s Montana. Watching it over twenty years ago, I vividly remember thinking that Redford was directing a younger version of himself. Think about it: they look alike, they talk alike, and a generation apart, each would be considered for the same kind of roles. Each in their younger days had the fair, clean-cut quality commonly referred to as “All-American”.

Comedy fans, rejoice! Today is Mel Brooks’s 88th Birthday - and this year also marks the 40th anniversary of two enduring Brooks classics: “Blazing Saddles” came out in February ‘74, while “Young Frankenstein” premiered in December.

Eva Marie Saint would never play showy roles in movies; she wasn’t temperamentally suited for them, and she didn’t need to do them. She was never one of those outsize personalities who always seems to be saying: “Look at me!” That, in fact, was a big part of her appeal. In her quiet, determined way, she also decided when fame hit that she would have a life and a career. She took time to raise her two children with her husband of 65 years, director Jeffrey Hayden. This meant fewer high profile roles.

During the bleakest days of the Great Depression, screwball comedies gave struggling Americans vital relief and escape. These films skewered the upper class, which seemed only fitting, while simultaneously giving audiences the vicarious thrill of experiencing life on easy street, among high society.

In need of a laugh? Aren’t we all? That simple truth explains why there is nothing better than a consistently funny movie. Given the tricky, delicate nature of comedy, I’d also claim there are few things worse than a movie that tries to be funny but isn’t. It’s hardly surprising that there are many more comedies out there of the latter variety.

With the 91st Academy Awards upon us, the time feels right to recognize the crucial role that movies have played in our lives, particularly in troubled times.

French cinema is alive and well in the 21st century, as evidenced by these twelve titles, all made since the millennium. They are all…magnifique!