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Cities are like people, in that some periods represent career peaks, and there are plenty of examples of golden ages to go around: Paris in the 1920s, Los Angeles in the 1940s, and New York in the 1950s all brim with romance in the popular imagination. But no scene was quite as explosive in sheer energy and style as London was in the 1960s. A nation finally emerging from Blitz mentality and the rationing of World War II, England was primed for a major cultural earthquake, thanks to the crumbling of centuries-old social constriction, and the emergence of the Baby Boomers's youth culture. And when that earthquake, or “youthquake,” came, it was the movies that registered its shockwaves. “Swinging” London was its epicenter, as bands like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Kinks created a danceable soundtrack for the era, and pioneering hair stylist Vidal Sassoon snipped girls’ hair into a bob, perfect for bouncing along to the beat (and of course, boys’ hair grew down past their collars). 

If you ask a true movie buff to identify the most gifted director in the history of film comedy, believe it or not, you might not hear the names Woody Allen, Rob Reiner, or even Mel Brooks – funny as many of their films may be. Some aficionados might point to Chaplin, Keaton, or Preston Sturges. My own vote goes to Ernst Lubitsch.             His string of classic comedies, extending from the late ‘20s to the early ‘40s, were all characterized by what became known as “The Lubitsch Touch.” The key to his approach lay in trusting his audience’s intelligence, in their ability to infer and appreciate subtle comic nuance. Try to imagine that happening in today’s Hollywood.      Lubitsch relied more on suggestion than demonstration; he counted on his public to fill in the blanks, and of course, they did. He was known for his urbane characters, witty dialogue, and chic, exotic settings - catnip for Depression-era audiences desperate for escape and a heady dose of glamour.

Seemingly more machine than man, Churchill lived to see his 90th birthday, smoking and tippling pretty much the whole way, getting by on the occasional cat nap.