The American President is a sweet romance story set in the midst of the American Presidency and an impending election. The movie was directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The American President (Michael Douglas) has just had some high poll ratings and this gives his team some confidence that they are in a good spot to win re-election. His principal advisor and Chief of Staff (Martin Sheen) and he go back a long way and have an easy comfort. He also does not seem to have any character blemish, being a widower with a young daughter, and no female companions to worry about. The only issue is the contender from the rival party, but they are not really worrying about this.
Things start to change when a new lady Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening) comes into town, as one of the main lobbyists for a Green coalition. Her aim is to get a law passed that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions (a target for most environmentalists since that leads to a reduction in fossil fuel consumption and an overall reduction of oil used). She has a pretty good reputation as a lobbyist, being able to get members of Congress to her position. The President also has an objective, to get gun laws modified by a small extent, so that he can claim overall credit for reducing guns in general hands and maybe cause a reduction in violence levels (one of his advisors Michael J Fox wants him to try and do something like that, but the President is unwilling to go beyond a certain point). However, he is not willing to try and stake a lot of political capital in trying to get a comprehensive arms control bill passed.

And then the President meets her in a accidental meeting at the White House, where she is criticizing the President for his administration’s policies in the environmental sphere, not knowing that the President has just walked in. When she finds out, there is a sense of embarrassment, but it passes and he makes a deal with her that if she can get a majority in Congress, the environmental bill will get the support of the administration. The President is taken with her, and invites her to be his date for an official function since he needs a companion; she is a bit taken back, but accepts. The date passes by fine, and she gets closer to the President, but a bit apprehensive since she is after all a political lobbyist and he is the President, imagine the complications. Soon, however, things start to heat up when she spends a night at the White House with the President, and the press corps is outside in the morning to greet her :-). She is the talk of the night shows and the President is slowly becoming the target of the moral groups, and as well the target for his election contender. This heightens when it is discovered that Benning had once taken part in a demonstration in which the American Flag is burnt, and this calls into question the patriotism of the President, and he is severely attacked by his opponent Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss).
Against the advice of his advisors, the President refuses to reply to these attacks, assuming that this will demean his office if he has to respond to such attacks. However, in the end, the President betrays her by trading the votes of some die-hard anti-environmental bill politicians (from Michigan, where Detroit is the center of the car manufacturing corporations and die-hard opponents of the bill). When this happens, and Benning finds out, she is fired from her job since the bill is now dead, and she gives a piece of her mind to the President and walks out. After some introspection, the President finally decides to respond to all the attacks, and gives a rousing press speech where he defends her right as a free American to burn the flag in a demonstration (a freedom enshrined in the bill of rights), commits his administration to fight for the environment and withdraw his arms control bill and float a new one that will actually do something to control arms. This is a rousing speech that convinces her that this is a new President, as well as promise a rousing fight from his side in the election campaign that will take the fight to his opponent.
This is a very liberal movie from a very liberal movie maker, and is worthy of a watch.

The Piano is a movie that was released in 1993, and went to earn great critical acclaim, along with a bunch of Academy Awards. The movie was the brain-child of Jane Campion, who wrote and directed the movie (the movie was produced by Jan Chapman). It is a movie that is very different, with the depiction of the silent lady, who has a strong will, and who struggles for her own feelings in a land far away from her own. The movie was a big hit at the Oscars as well, with 3 awards (and a total of 8 nominations), along with a host of other movie awards as well (such as Palme d’Or (Golden Palm), BAFTA, Australian Film Institute, Golden Globe, etc). Holly Hunter, who won the Best Actress Oscar, was only the second actress in the non-silent movie era to get the Best Actress Award.

Academy Awards Won:

* Best Actress (Holly Hunter)
* Best Screenplay - Original (Jane Campion)
* Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin)

Nominated:

* Best Cinematography (Stuart Dryburgh)
* Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson)
* Best Director (Jane Campion)
* Best Editing (Veronika Jenet)
* Best Picture

The movie is set in a harsh, rainy, mid-19th century New Zealand backwater. The subject is one that is not dealt with too often, making this an even more interesting movie - the movie deals with the wishes and aspirations of a young mail order bride who is not able to strike a bond with her husband, but instead becomes closer to her husband’s neighbor.
Alistair Stewart (Sam Neill) lives in New Zealand in a frontier backwater and desires a bride. In Scotland, Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), who has a daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) marriage is arranged with Alistair and she is sent via ship to New Zealand. Ada can speak, but remains silent, and has done so since she was six years old (the reasons for why she stopped speaking are never clearly outlined in the movie). She is able to make herself understood through sign language (with the help of her daughter), through writing, and through usage of the piano (something she loves). For some special people, they are able to understand her without her needing to use speech, and that includes her former teacher who was also Flora’s father.
She reaches New Zealand along with Flora, and spends the night over there along with her luggage (including a piano - something that will form the center-piece of the movie). The next day Alisatair reaches there with a Maori crew to pick her up (having taken the help of his neighbor Baines (Harvey Keitel) to hire the crew). They find that they cannot carry everything, and so the piano is left on the beach. In the marriage, Ada stays distant from Alistair (displeasing him a lot), and her desire to go to the piano is very great, so she asks Flora to talk to Baines to take her to the piano. Baines agrees after some hesitation, and they spend a fine day at the beach; Baines is very impressed by Ada’s playing of the piano. Soon, Baines suggests to Alistair that Alistair can have a piece of land that he wants, if he gives the piano along with lessons from Ada to Baines. Ada is shocked, but Alistair goes along with the deal.
Baines then offers a deal to Ada, he will sell her back the piano one key at a time (for a total of 36 black keys) if she lets him do what he likes when she is playing. This leads to a series of intimacies that Alistair soon discovers. Ada has grown much closer to Baines and further away from Alistair, and he furiously boards her inside the house. Baines also returns the piano in order that they can get away from this arrangement, but it may be too late already; they are in love with each other.
Baines is planning to leave soon, and Alistair visualizes a new beginning with Ada, when he discovers (via Flora) a love letter that Ada was sending to Baines in a piano key. He is furious and chops off Ada’s index finger, with the promise of doing more if she continues to meet Baines.
Alisatair is soon able to read Ada’s face, and discovers that she can only be at peace with Baines, and sends her away on a ship with Baines; at the start of this journey, in a beautiful scene, Ada gets the piano thrown into the water, goes down with it and then comes up again in a sort of re-birth. She settles into a life with Baines in a different town along with her daughter Flora.

‘The Sound of Music’ is an award winning musical film released in 1965. The film was based on a successful Broadway musical by the same name, and the movie itself was one of the most successful music themed movies ever made. In fact, the movie, made at an approx budget of $ 8 million, made over $155 million at that time (and if this figure is inflated adjusted for the current, the movie made $ 1 billion at current prices, making this one of the most successful movies of all times). At the Oscars too, the movie was extremely successful, earning a total of 10 nominations, and willing 5 of them, including the treasured ones of Best Picture and Best Director.
The movie is very famous for the songs, and is actually known as a Rodgers and Hammerstein movie (so named due to the 2 song writers & musicians - Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (who died before the movie version was started)). The movie, although a musical, is based in Austria in very serious times, at a time when the Nazis were becoming more and more powerful, and is about the eventual escape of a family from the clutches of the Nazis.

The Academy awards for which ‘The Sound of Music’ was nominated were:

Wins

* Best Picture
* Best Director (Robert Wise)
* Sound
* Best Adapted Score
* Film Editing

Nominations

* Best Actress (Julie Andrews)
* Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Wood)
* Best Cinematography
* Best Art Direction
* Best Costume Design

The movie was essentially based on the Von Trapp family, headed by a widower naval commander, Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), and his seven cute children Liesl (16), Friedrich (14), Louisa (13), Kurt (11), Brigitta (10), Marta (7), and Gretl (5). In the midst of this comes Maria (Julie Andrews), studying to be a nun; she is sent to be the governess of these children. After some initial confrontation with the children and their father, she wins them over with the power and fun of her music and song (and these songs are the ones to watch).
The Captain warms to her when he sees the children getting closer to her, and Julie in turn finds herself falling for the Captain, but he is engaged to the wealthy baroness, Elba. Elba realizes the Captain is getting close to Julie, and sends her back to the convent. However, the Captain soon makes it clear that things will not work with the Baroness, and when Maria gets back to the house, they wed.
However, politically things are not turning out right. The Nazis take over power in Austria, and want Captain von Trapp to serve in the military. He however is not willing to serve, and buys time by taking part in a concert, from the entire family escape over the hills to Switzerland.

Songs from the movie:

* “Prelude and The Sound of Music”
* “Overture” (Main Titles, consisting of “The Sound of Music”, “Do-Re-Mi”, “My Favorite Things”, “Something Good” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”) seguéin= into the Preludium
* “Preludium: Dixit Dominus”, “Morning Hymn” (Rex admirabilis and Alleluia, based on traditional songs)
* “Maria”
* “I Have Confidence” (lyrics and music by Rodgers)
* “Sixteen Going On Seventeen”
* “My Favorite Things”
* “Salzburg Montage” (instrumental underscore based on “My Favorite Things”
* “Do-Re-Mi”
* “The Sound of Music” (reprise)
* “The Lonely Goatherd”
* “Edelweiss”
* “The Grand Waltz” (instrumental underscore, based on “My Favorite Things”)
* “Ländler” (instrumental based on “The Lonely Goatherd”)
* “So Long, Farewell”
* “Processional Waltz” (instrumental underscore)
* “Goodbye Maria/How Can Love Survive Waltz” (instrumental underscore, incorporating “Edelweiss” and the deleted song “How Can Love Survive?”)
* “Edelweiss Waltz” (instrumental, Act 1 Finale, based on “Edelweiss”)
* “Entr’acte” (instrumental, consisting of “I Have Confidence”, “So Long, Farewell”, “Do-Re-Mi”, “Something Good” and “The Sound of Music”)
* “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”
* “My Favorite Things” (reprise)
* “Something Good” (lyrics and music by Rodgers)
* “Processional” (instrumental) and “Maria”
* “Sixteen Going On Seventeen” (reprise)
* “Do-Re-Mi” (Salzburg Folk Festival reprise)
* “Edelweiss” (Salzburg Folk Festival reprise)
* “So Long, Farewell” (Salzburg Folk Festival reprise)
* “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” (reprise)
* “End Titles”

It Happened One Night is a comedy released in 1934, from the stable of Director Frak Capra. The movie was based on a story by Samuel Hopkins Adams, called Night Bus. The movie was very popular, and was the first movie to win all 5 major Oscars
- Best Picture,
- Best Director: Frank Capra,
- Best Actor: Clark Gable
- Best Actress: Claudette Colbert
- Best Screenplay: Robert Riskin
An interesting tidbit is that Clark Gable’s award statuette was auctioned in 1996, Steven Spielberg had the winning bid of $607,500. He got it, and then donated the award to the Academy. No such luck for Claudette’s award; when it was offered for auction in the next year, nobody bid for it.

The movie had a different sort of love story - a mismatched couple; an indifferent out of work reporter out for a story, and a superior acting heiress running away from a protective father. The story of how they came together over a period of time (the title is a bit misleading, no climatic event happens on any one night), and realize that they are in love with each other was skilfully presented, making this an all time great movie. And this was after neither Gable nor Colbert were satisfied by the script, but after starting the movie, they accepted it. The end result was a movie that was reckoned to be smart, sexy, funny, and a great see. Imagine a movie in the 30’s having a scene where the hero claims to be an expert at hitch-hiking, but is unable to stop a single passing vehicle. Then the heroine uses her unfair advantage by lifting her skirt and flashing a bit of thigh, presto, a vehicle stops.
The movie is about this rich heiress Ellie Andrews; spoilt rotten by her father. She falls for a rich money-seeking and handsome weasel, King Westley. Her dad stops her in the nick of time, but the call of love is over-powering and she jumps off from her prison aboard the family yacht and wants to make her way to New York to join her love. Boarding the bus, she meets Peter Warne (Clark Gable). Gable has just been fired from his newspaper. They have a brief skirmish over a seat; when that is settled, she misses her bus the next day (hilariously assuming that the bus will wait for her when she is having a great breakfast). Her purse has been stolen, she has no money, and the reporter has recognized her. He threatens to tell her dad about her location unless she gives him the story, and what a juicy story that will be.
They have to spend nights at motels on the way, and he uses a clothesline with a blanket to separate the single room in which they are staying (staying as a married couple in order to save money). All the time he taunts her for being a rich spoilt girl (when she suspects him of being funny by booking a room as a husband and wife, he turns it around by telling her that he is only interested in the story and not in her). Near the end, he leaves the motel for some work, and the couple owning the motel kick her out suspecting some funny business. Ellie is so disoriented that she calls her dad, who is so relived at getting her back that he agrees for her marriage. In a misunderstanding, she thinks that Peter has betrayed her, while Peter believes that she has double-crossed him.
Peter does contact her dad, but not to claim the large reward, but only the sum that he spent on her. Her father is so intrigued that he gets after the reporter until Peter tells the truth, he is in love with Ellie, although if he were rational, there was no reason that he should be in love with her. The climax, the marriage scene. Andrews tells his daughter that Peter did not betray her, he only came for the expenses, and if she really loves Peter and wants to make her dad happy, she should run away. There is a car waiting at the back, and she does. The happy dad negotiated with Westley to get the earlier marriage annulled, and everybody is happy.

Some years back, the quest to make limitless energy from the concept of cold fusion seemed like the answer to our energy ills; it was propounded as the next frontier in research - unfortunately, the entire research imploded in a drama of falsehood and accusations. The Saint, use the theme of cold fusion as the central scientific thread running through the movie. However, the movie is more than that. It gives the 2 main characters of Val Kilmer and Elizabeth Shue a good platform to display their acting abilities, and I liked Val Kilmer in this role.
The Saint is not a new concept, being based on the main characters of Simon Templar in the series of books (created in 1928) by Leslie Charteris; these books were published under the series ‘The Saint’. These series finally ended in 1983, and also found their way into multiple movies, a radio series of the 1940’s, a British television series starring Roger Moore, and others.

In a slight deviation from the original, this movie does not have the hero claiming to be the character from the book, but the name is instead combined from 2 names, Simon from Simon Magus, and Templar from the Knights Templar, a medieval sect of warriors. The movie also had an interesting twist; in the original version, the female lead, Dr. Emma Russell is killed and Simon Templar goes back to do battle, to avenge her, leading to a final climatic battle with guns, tanks, exploding oil, and so on. However, test audiences did not like this ending, and the movie ending had to be changed drastically, ending in the current form.
The movie has a fair amount of adventure and action, with some amount of unbelievability. To be able to get into the Russian President’s bedroom, bypassing his entire security, and that too without much external support seems somewhat difficult, but the Saint managed it without too much effort.
The movie is essentially about the scientific efforts of Dr. Emma Russell, who is developing the formula for cold fusion, and has achieved some success in it. On the other hand, there is Simon, who has been tormenting the British police with his various heists, committed under different names (each name being that of a different saint). He has one final heist left so that he can reach the $50 million mark. This comes to him in the form of a Russian oligarch, Ivan Tretiak, who wants to get the Presidency of the Russian Federation, and wants to hire The Saint to steal it. After some hesitation, when threatened with the death of Dr. Emma, Simon agrees to do it.
He woos Dr. Emma, steals it and then turns it overs to Ivan. It is however incomplete. In the meantime, Dr. Emma comes to Moscow after him; and Tretiak is now after both of them.
The action gets more heated up, and leads to the Russian President’s bedroom where Simon bursts in, and then Tretiak and his son comes in to capture both of them. Tretiak plans to expose the President’s wasteful expenditure in buying such a formula in a show trial. However, during this process, the missing part of the formula is released, and the experiment is shown to be a grand success. The President quickly resumes power. There is a final tease scene where The Saint shows himself to British police, and then meets Dr. Emma.

Pride and Prejudice is truly one of the classics. Jane Austen wrote a number of books, and this particular one was published in 1813 (yes, you read that right, this was almost 2 centuries back). A romantic book with a flavor of comedy, Pride and Prejudice has remained popular throughout, and has inspired many a movie to be made on the story (the latest starring Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfadyen). However, nobody should believe the book to be a classic version of a Mills & Boon type romance novel; the story brings out the England of the time, the class distinctions, the pressures on a family at that point. Most critically, the heroine of the novel is not a girl wont to swoon romantically, but a girl with pride.

The novel has a very famous line right at the beginning, a line that can be easily quoted and remembered: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”. Such a line may seem strange in today’s politically correct world, but in the world of the book, it was very true. The description of the England of the time, where a man with a fortune is seen to be a good catch is combined with the sheer drama and emotion of social interactions (calling it hypocrisy is not out of the question). And it’s not only the 2 main characters who build the story, but a whole host of characters from different social strata and with different motives who make the story to be a much better one.
The story is set in a small English county village where the Bennet’s (a family, not rich, live with the parents and 5 daughters). Mrs. Bennet aim in life is to see her 5 daughters marry comfortably, so when the rich Mr. Bingley and his richer friend Mr. Darcy come visiting, they are the center of attraction. However, the 2 friends are a contrast, with Mr. Bingley seemingly a well natured man, enjoying the attention of all, particularly the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane. Darcy, on the other hand, is more of a man full of himself, and soon starts to put off people, especially the second elder Bennet daughter, Elizabeth (and the main heroine of the story). Soon, because of a quirk of fate (Jane’s illness while visiting the Bingley’s), Elizabeth comes to stay at a place that Darcy visits, and he continues to fall for her. However, a soldier, George Wickham narrates to Lizzy an injustice done to him by Darcy, and the estrangement is complete.
Elizabeth has already a rich suitor after her (her cousin Mr. Collins who will inherit the Bennet property), but she declines to the horror of her mother. In addition, when Mr. Darcy proposes to her, she declines as well (no doubt helped by the fact that she finds his proposal style as pretty insulting and imperious). What compounds matter is the fact that it was Darcy who persuaded Bingley against going ahead with his relationship with Jane. This is the high point of their separation. However, things slowly turn for the better. He hands her a letter that tells her that some of her thoughts were incorrect, and he also tells her the truth about Wickham.
Later, she meets him in another location, and she feels him to be distinctly warmer. What makes the relationship much closer is when Darcy helps in finding Wickham and her younger sister Lydia (they have run away together), and then persuades Wickham to marry Lydia. Now Lizzy feels much closer to Darcy, and what makes them get together again is when Darcy persuades Bingley and Jane to get together again.

Groundhog Day is a movie released in 1993 that was a sleeper hit; praised by critics on its release but not exceptionally. It was with the passage of time that the movie got more praise, and became much more famous, especially on the DVD circuit. The movie is based on the concept of Groundhog Day, a holiday celebrated in the United States & Canada on the 2nd of January. So what is the concept of Groundhog Day ? It is an irrational method of determining whether winter will soon end ? So, on January 2, supposedly a Groundhog is observed when it comes out of its burrow, and if it sees its shadow, it will return into its burrow implying that winter will continue for 6 more weeks; if it fails to see its shadow as it is cloudy, winter will soon end. One of the most famous groundhog is Punxsutawney Phil found in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA.

Using this concept, a delightful movie was made. The movie, released in 1993 is a comedy, starring Bill Murray and Andie McDowell, based on a story by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis and based on a story by Rubin. The movie did well on release, grossing over $70 million in the US itself, but was not rated to be nothing very great. It was a much bigger hit on the DVD and home video circuit, and was evaluated to be among the top 100 funny movies. The movie is a lot about being able to get away from being focused on only oneself, and learning more about what other people want, and understanding them. Accordingly, the movie has also struck a chord with religious leaders who play on the film’s theme of slowly moving away from selfishness to a sort of rebirth where you can focus on others, and become more selfless.
The movie also made the concept of Groundhog Day, (a day that keeps on repeating itself without end and without variation) a very popular term among the US military, where it is now refers to a repetitive, unchanging and unpleasant duty. Some examples of the use of the term by military personnel ranges from Somalia, Bosnia, and Iraq.
The movie itself is about a weatherman who gets stuck in a situation of no change, where the day keeps on repeating itself over and over again, and only he is able to understand that the same day is getting repeated; slowly he changes from being a self-centered person to a person capable of understanding others and appreciate them. So, Phil Connors is a Pittsburg TV Weatherman, not very happy about having to cover the 2nd of January Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. He reaches Punxsutawney along with his producer Rita (Andie McDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott) to cover the event (celebrated as a festival in Punxsutawney. Once the celebration ends, Phil is unable to leave since a blizzard envelops the town (ironically, Phil had predicted that the blizzard would miss the town). However, in a major shock, when he gets up at 6 AM to the song on his alarm (Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe”), he realizes that it is the 2nd, and not the 3rd. He remembers the previous day, but everybody else thinks that it is the 2nd (without any memory of already having spent the previous day). This cycle keeps on repeating itself.
Initially he realizes that this repeat gives him great power, so he is able to steal money, drive drunk, lead police in a chase, and seduce beautiful women, but he is not able to seduce his producer Rita. Soon, he tires of all this, and gets frustrated. Not able to see an end, and tiring of this repeating of the same cycle, he soon tries to commit suicide many times, and succeeds, but with ultimate failure. He just gets up the next day at the same time, on the same song.
Soon, he turns a new life, trying to improve himself. He is able to convince Rita of the truth by telling her about more and more things that he learns, and also turns more compassionate towards other, including savings the lives of many people. He also learns a number of complex tasks such as learning jazz piano, sculpt ice, and know about everybody in life. Finally, after much self-improvement, he is able to profess true love to Rita, and she accepts. And this causes the day to finally move to January 3.

When I first started reading Jane Eyre, I had expected to find the protagonist to be a materialistic socialite like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind or, at best, a prig like Fanny in Mansfield Park. The last thing I expected was a woman who could very well be my idol today in the way she follows her heart and mind and takes strong decisions. It is hard to believe that Charlotte Bronte wrote this novel in 1857.

Jane Eyre, the protagonist is an intelligent, passionate orphan who is being raised by her rich aunt who is not too kind to her. She gets her education in a charitable school, Lowood, and emerges as a much learned, passionate, but sensible woman. Her many talents include a flair for languages, painting and sketching. She is hired as a governess for a french girl, Adele and falls in love with Mr. Rochester, her employer. They are about to be married when something from Mr. Rochester’s past intervenes and makes it impossible for both to be married. Jane refuses to be Mr. Rochester’s mistress and runs away. She chances upon her cousins from her father’s side and her cousin St. John asks her to marry him. Though she likes St. John as her brother, she is not able to consent to marrying him as her heart still belongs to Mr. Rochester. She goes back to find out whether Mr. Rochester was fine as previous enquiries had not yielded any results. She finds Mr. Rochester blinded and maimed by an accident and the previous impediment to their marriage removed. She ends up marrying Mr. Rochester.

One particular passage from this book that I would like to quote and which also tells us something about Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte is:

“Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”

The philosophy is very modern for the Victorian Age and might as well be one of the first feminist writing in English Literature (as far as I know). Jane Eyre herself never compromises her self respect but is not overly egoistical. She is honest and refuses to bear unfair treatment. She stands up for herself and is strong enough to resist the temptations of love from Mr. Rochester in a way that does not go well with her self-respect. She is honest and straightforward and this is why Mr. Rochester has a strong liking for her.

Anyone who wants to read the story of a woman who goes through much suffering by following her heart and at the end righteously achieves her destiny, should read Jane Eyre. And as usual, the movie does not do justice to any of the characters. Jane’s paintings, that are much a part of Jane’s character are not mentioned anywhere. The grace and certainity with which she tackles Blanche Ingram’s threat to her hopes of love is totally subdued. But more that Jane, the character that suffers most at the hands of the movie’s script writer is Mr. Rochester. One basic flaw in Mr. Rochester’s character, his lack of compassion for his mad wife is done away with and he is shown to be kindly comforting her. All that is not ideal in the novel is made ideal in the movie and this takes away the charm of the story considerably.

Roman Holiday was a movie that brought a major star to American attention. Audrey Hepburn was an almost unknown to the American public at that time; she had appeared on American television in 1952 - a CBS Television Workshop production of Rainy Day in Paradise Junction. However, she was still an unknown, and then here comes this Oscar winning role introducing this great beauty in a role that gave her plenty of screen time. To a large extent, the role is written to allow an actress plenty of freedom, and Audrey Hepburn utilized this role to the maximum possible.
A lot of people know the concept of Cinderella, where a commoner can become like royalty for the night, but then has to get back to being a commoner after a few hours. There is also the reverse story, where royalty wants to get away from it all, and be able to enjoy life like a commoner. Popular imagination has it that being a royal means a life away from stress, but this movie presents a very rigid and structured life as royalty, enough to get people to revolt against this stiff life and want to break free.

The movie was produced and directed by a famous director, William Wyler. Wyler is known for directing a number of movies such as Dodsworth (1936), Jezebel (1938), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Letter (1940), Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Heiress (1949), Friendly Persuasion (1956), Ben-Hur (1959) and Funny Girl (1968). Seeing this list, you can get an idea of the variety of movies directed by Wyler.
The combination of royalty, and a light-hearted romance that does not end in the usual marriage, but results in a bond that is not destined to progress beyond each other’s heart managed to get a total of 10 Academy Award nominations, out of which it won 3 of these awards.
Won:
1. Best Actress Oscar (Audrey Hepburn)
2. Best Original Story (Ian McLellan Hunter, later in 1982 given to the earlier black-listed Dalton Trumbo)
3. Best B/W Costume Design (Edith Head)
Nominated but did not win:
4. Best Picture
5. Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Albert)
6. Best Director
7. Best Screenplay (Ian McClellan Hunter and John Dighton)
8. Best B/W Cinematography
9. Best B/W Art Direction/Set Decoration
10. Best Film Editing

The movie is essentially about 2 characters, with Audrey Hepburn playing the royal princess of an European country, and Gregory Peck plays a reporter out for a good story, and willing to do what it takes to get the story of the real person behind the process. They meet coincidentally, and slowly fall for each other.
Princess Ann is on a European tour, generating goodwill for her country, meeting people of different countries in Europe, attending different functions, and overall getting very bored with all this. She is hemmed in by officials and her chaperone, not able to do what she wants, being guided on the right things to do. She is chafing at these restrictions, and wants to escape to see what things are really like outside the life that she is forced to live.
She manages to escape her embassy in Rome, and sets out to see the city. However, since she seemed hysterical in the embassy, she is getting drowsy and soon goes off to sleep on a park bench. She is found by reporter Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck), who like most reporters will do anything for a story. When he sees a girl sleeping on a bench, he takes her to this apartment, where she promptly sleeps on his bed, leaving him the couch. The next day he discovers from his office that he she is a princess who he was supposed to be covering, and he can visualize a great story where the real interests and feelings of a princess can be uncovered. Towards that end, he arranges to have a cameraman follow them discreetly.
He takes her for a trip around Rome, in a way that she would never have seen. She gets a different haircut, see the fountain, drive on a Vespa and have a lot of fun, including some serious discussions on life. They slowly start falling for each other, even though he still has a cameraman recording her movements. After they are tracked by the agents of her Government and manage to escape, she realizes that her time on the loose is up and she will have to back to her responsibilities.
Joe, his love overcoming his inclination to get the story, resists his editors commands to make a story, and the next day, in her press conference, presents her all the photos on the sly. And then she leaves his life forever, leaving him to wonder at what could have been, but would never happen.

Gone with the Wind is probably one of the most successful movies of all time, both in terms of the number of Academy awards it won (the movie won 10 Oscars, a record that was beaten by Ben-Hur 20 years later, but is a very high number even then), and in terms of the money that it made (when you adjust the earnings to account for inflation). It still holds the record for most number of tickets sold.
The movie is based upon the best-selling novel of the same name by Margaret Mitchell (published in 1936). Soon, Producer David O. Selznick, head of Selznick International Pictures, bought the movie rights for $50,000, a very large figure for that time (thus opening himself upto ridicule). The movie itself was made after a number of leading ladies were auditioned, with little-known Vivien Leigh finally being selected (after many leading ladies tried out for the part). The movie also had multiple directors, with Victor Fleming (45%) - who received screen credit; Sam Wood (15%), William Cameron Menzies (15%), ‘woman’s director’ George Cukor (5%) and the first director, B. Reeves (”Breezy”) Eason (2%), and the remaining 18% directed by other directors. Victor Fleming received the screen credits for the movie.

Oscars:

* Best Picture - Selznick International Pictures (David O. Selznick, producer)
* Best Actress in a Leading Role - Vivien Leigh
* Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Hattie McDaniel
* Best Cinematography, Color - Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan
* Best Director - Victor Fleming
* Best Film Editing - Hal C. Kern, and James E. Newcom
* Best Writing, Screenplay - Sidney Howard
* Best Art Direction - Lyle Wheeler
* Special Award - William Cameron Menzies - “For outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind.” (plaque)
* Technical Achievement Award - Don Musgrave and Selznick International Pictures - “For pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production Gone with the Wind.” (certificate)

Five additional nominations:

* Best Actor in a Leading Role - Clark Gable
* Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Olivia de Havilland
* Best Effects, Special Effects - Fred Albin (sound), Jack Cosgrove (photographic), and Arthur Johns (sound)
* Best Music, Original Score - Max Steiner
* Best Sound, Recording - Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD)

The movie is seen as a classic depiction of romance in times of war and despair, and of depicting a beautiful yet manipulative woman who did what she could to attain the love of her life; in the end, she finally realizes that this was all false, and by that time, her love has fallen out of love with her and rejects her (as embellished in the final famous line “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”).
Yet, the movie is also seen as an inherently racist movie as it depicts the great age of the south, with great estates, great men leading a good life with their families and their slaves. Slaves are treated in the movie (and in the book) through words and actions as being inherently inferior. This view is balanced by the opinion that the movie was depicting a time that is totally different from today’s, where there was a Civil War ongoing between the North and the South with the South refusing to outlaw slavery, and the book and movie are set on characters in the South.
The movie is centered on the beautiful Scarlett O’Hara who is in love with Ashley, unfortunately, Ashley is committed to marry his cousin Melanie; Scarlett is admonished by her dad to not try and interfere. However, Scarlett is not going to give up so easily; over a period of time, she tries her best to get Ashley interested in her (trying jealousy, direct confession), but Ashley does not change his mind. In the meantime, a roguish young man, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) meets her and is impressed by her (even though he knows about her fascination for Ashley). The impending war breaks around at that time, with able-bodied men getting pulled in for the fighting. Melanie’s cousin, the shy Charles proposed to Scarlett, and surprisingly, they get married. However, Charles dies in an army camp within 2 months of pneumonia.
The widow is expected to behave as if in mourning, but Scarlett soon displays no sign of that. Sent to Atlanta, she accepts a dance in a party with Rhett, shocking the whole society. As the tide of the war turns against the South Confederate army, Rhett helps Scarlett, Melanie and their children to reach the road leading to their house (Tara) before going off to fight for the South. When Scarlett reaches the estate, she realizes that it is in a state of disrepair, she vows to make things better again.
Soon, she is in need of money and turns to Rhett for help, but he does not have the money and she marries her sister’s fiancee, Frank Kennedy for his money. When Ashley is about to head North, she guilts him into running her sawmill (and with Melanie also persuading him). However, soon Scarlett is widowed again when in a revenge raid on a shantytown, Ashley is wounded and Frank is killed.
Rhett again proposes marriage, and this time she accepts. He promises that he will rebuild her estate, and she also builds another mansion. To Rhett’s delight, a daughter Bonnie is born; at this time, Scarlett, still pining for Ashley, takes a decision that will haunt her marriage with Rhett. She decides that she wants no more children, and hence there is no need for any further physical relations with Rhett. He is extremely angry and makes his anger clear.
Things take a turn for the worse soon. One day, when Scarlett is consoling Ashley (in a morose mood), his sister spots her embracing Ashley and starts the word around. Melanie refuses to believe it, and invites her to Ashley’s birthday party. Rhett, in a drunken mood, and jealous of her and Ashley, has sex with her, although he apologizes about it the next morning. When he returns from a visit to London along with Bonnie, Scarlett tells him that she is pregnant again. However, when Rhett taunts her about her wanting a miscarriage, she lunges at him, falls down the steps and indeed has a miscarriage. Compounding the tragedy, soon their child Bonnie has a similar horse tragedy as her grandfather, and dies.
In their bitterness over Bonnie’s death, Melanie arrives to console them, but she is pregnant after being warned that this pregnancy could be dangerous for her. Soon, she collapses, and eventually dies, but not before asking Scarlett to look after Ashley, and be kind to Rhett. When Scarlett sees Ashley crying over Melanie’s death, that is when it all breaks for her, realizing that she was loving someone who was never for her.
However, it is now too late, as when she reaches home, she sees Rhett packing. Inspite of her trying to stop Rhett with her claims of love (and genuine love by now), Rhett refuses, also taking the absence of Bonnie as another reason for the end of their relationship. And then come the famous lines:
As Rhett walks out the door, she begs him, “Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?” He answers, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” In the end, she remembers that it her estate ‘Tara’ that gives her strength, and she goes back there, waiting for another day when things will get better.