Auntie Mame (1958)

 Pros: Rosalind Russell is utterly divine as Mame Dennis, a sort of bohemian former actress living in New York City when she inherits her young nephew, Patrick (first Jan Handzlik, then Roger Smith) whom she immediately adores. The plot is also solid on how Mame lives an eccentric and varied lifestyle while her brother has only traditional, conservative plans for Patrick and the dinner scene toward the end is utterly brilliant.

Cons: Based on a stage play, it is portrayed in a similar fashion with fade outs and spotlights as the scene is preparing to change which is such a shame. The one scene with Mame and her editor, Brian O'Bannion (Roger Hughes) is also borderline assault. Those are my only problems with the film, as this is one of the few that actually includes an epilogue.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-This was daring for showing what is believed to be an unmarried, pregnant woman, Mame's former secretary, the geeky Agnes Gooch (Oscar-nominated Peggy Cass, great), though as it turns out, she didn't dream her wedding after all. 

-Tuna is already puréed, it doesn't need to be blended again. 

-Going to school in the nude is always bizarre.

-Sure, Mame tried to upstage her friend, Vera (Coral Browne), but their friendship was stronger than that. 

-Despite Mame being an educated, worldly woman, she fails at several entry-level positions, though to be fair, being a switchboard operator is terribly confusing. 

-Once we saw Patrick with Pegeen (Pippa Scott), Mame's new secretary, we knew it was all over with his fiancé, the brassy Gloria (Joanna Barnes), and thank goodness.

-This film also touches a bit on anti-Semitism and how Mame is appalled by that and how she exacts her revenge. 

-I'm glad Mame wrote a book, she certainly lived a crazy and interesting and worthwhile life. 

I Want to Live! (1958)

 Pros: Susan Hayward is great and fully deserved her Oscar as Barbara Graham, a former call girl and mob mistress with a rap sheet longer than her arm though she wasn't even there when the murder happened, given her record, she goes down for it anyway and is soon on death row, despite having a young child. The realism of the prison cells and gas chamber are told with intricate details which is shocking to be seen in a film from that era. It even shows Barbara's husband (Wesley Lau's) addiction and withdrawal with frankness.

Cons: They never show the murder or what actually happened and they don't truly show where Barbara was on the day of the crime. And you don't really understand why Barbara ends up marrying that bartender.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Simon Oakland gives a good supporting performance as the journalist, Ed Montgomery, who at first condemns Barbara but eventually becomes a champion for her.

-It is clever when Ed turns off his old-fashioned hearing aid as he can't stand the racket after Barbara's death.

-It takes a lot of people to kill a person. 

-I wonder why she didn't have her friend Peg (Virginia Vincent) take custody of her young son, instead leaving him with her mother-in-law instead. 

American Graffiti (1973)

 Pros: Flawless acting and the solid twists and turns in the screenplay make this film something different. The plot is simple, four mismatched friends have one last night to enjoy their youth before some of them leave for college but nothing is ever as simple as that, some change their minds, several times over, others need to leave in order to save their future. The acting is also impeccable. The soundtrack is also flawless.

Cons: Teenagers apparently never need sleep and there is one scream overheard that never receives an explanation and sure, the plot is basic but it stills manages to be fascinating, though you don't always understand why the characters make the decisions that they do.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-The cast is great, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Paul LeMat, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and a young Harrison Ford. However, not as many of them became as famous as you would have thought.

-Richard Dreyfuss aged poorly in four years. By the time he won his Oscar, he was already going gray.

-Richard Dreyfuss never finds the girl he seeks and is forced to join a gang along the way, not wanting to commit crimes, he escapes to college though he had just changed his mind.

-Ron Howard decides to stay though he hates his little California town but choices to stay after his long-term girlfriend nearly dies. 

-Two of the four friends meet tragic, untimely endings.

-Out of the entire cast, only Candy Clark, a lookalike to Connie Stevens was Oscar-nominated and while she's great, it is hard to extoll her performance above all the others. Personally, I thought Mackenzie Phillips was great as the little girl desperate to be older. 

-The editing is also very consist throughout the film. 

Paper Moon (1973)

 Pros: Tatum O'Neal was great as the wise, observant con-artist. Orphaned after her mother's death, she befriends Bible salesman, Moses Pray (Ryan O'Neal) and the two form a fragile and co-dependent relationship but eventually their shady schemes catch up to them, but it is a wild ride until then.

Cons: It is unclear as to why Moses shows up, late, at the funeral in the first place and Addie's (Tatum's) father remains unknown. And yes, they are bad people preying on the naivete of others, still, the film is largely a solid one.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Madeline Kahn has another shiny supporting role as Trixie, one of Moses's girlfriends who gets in the way of the long con Addie and Moses have going on.

-Addie may a truly talented con-artist but she's observant and doesn't wish to instill more harm on those suffering but takes advantage of the super wealthy.

-P.J. Johnson is also great in her smaller role as Imogene, Trixie's maid though that its being kind as she is seldom paid but she is a true ally and friend for Addie.

-I wonder where Addie gets her dress.

-Randy Quaid has a crazy, little cameo. 

-When Tatum O'Neal won her Oscar, neither of her parents attended the ceremony, which is just sad.

-This film probably didn't help with the difficult relationship she has with her father.