the ghost and mrs. muir

the year: 1947

the genre: drama


the cast: Gene Tierney (Lucy Muir); Rex Harrison (Capt. Daniel Gregg); George Sanders (Miles Fairley); natalie Wood (Anna Muir)


the plot: Living in a haunted house by the sea is a less frightening prospect for Lucy Muir, a young widow with a small daughter, than continuing to live with her sisters-in-law. At first Captain Gregg (the ghost) plays the same tricks on Lucy he has used to get rid of previous tenants. And while he loves solitude, he soon comes to admire her spunk and to make it possible for her to afford to stay in the house by deciding she will write a best-seller - his memoirs. When Lucy visits a London publisher, she also impresses a famous author of children's books, Miles Fairley. Can a ghost be jealous?


did you know: Bernard Herrmann considered his musical score for this film to have been his best. Herrmann also did the scores for Psycho, North by Northwest and Citizen Kane.


don't miss: Mr. Coombe - realtor.


extra bonus points: if you know what the word "muir" means in Gaelic.


listen for: "You said I should see men." "I said men, not perfumed parlour snakes!"



The trailer can be watched here.

my fair lady

the year: 1964

the genre: musical


the cast: Audrey Hepburn (Eliza Doolittle); Rex Harrison (Professor Henry Higgins); Stanley Holloway (Alfred P. Doolittle); Wilfrid Hyde-White (Colonel Hugh Pickering); Gladys Cooper (Mrs. Higgins); Jeremy Brett (Freddy Eynsford-Hill)



the plot: A chance meeting between two noted British linguists, Prof. Henry Higgins and Col. Hugh Pickering, leads to a wager that will test Higgins' skills. After they hear a cockney flower girl caterwaul in the street, Higgins proposes to transform the girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a refined Victorian lady with an aristocratic accent. After some hesitation Eliza agrees to become their test case.



don’t miss: Colonel Pickering’s conversation with Scotland Yard. “No, she's no relation, no. What? Well, just let's call her a "good friend", shall we? I beg your pardon! Listen to me, my man, I don't like the tenor of that question - what we do with her is our affair - your affair is bringing her back so we can continue doing it!”


listen for: “My aunt died of influenza … And what become of her new straw hat that should have come to me? Somebody pinched it, and what I say is, them as pinched it done her in. Them she lived with would have killed her for a hat pin, let alone a hat...Gin was mother's milk to her. Besides, he'd poured so much down his own throat, he knew the good of it...Drank! My word! Something chronic!”



count: how many Ascot costumes Cecil Beaton designed.


did you know: In the scene where Eliza is practicing her "H's", she sits down in front of a spinning mirror attached to a flame. Every time she says her "H's" correctly, the flame jumps. If you look closely at the paper she is holding in her hand when it catches fire, you will see handwritten upon it the dialog that she and Professor Higgins have been saying previous to this. "Of course, you can't expect her to get it right the first time," is the first line written on the paper.




also listen for: “Well, I'm dashed!”


check out: Alfred P. Doolittle, Esquire.



extra bonus points: if you can name 4 other musicals that featured the music of Lerner & Loewe.

the reluctant debutante

the year: 1958

the genre: comedy


the cast: Sandra Dee (Jane Broadbent); Rex Harrison (Jimmy Broadbent); Kay Kendall (Sheila Broadbent); Angela Lansbury (Mabel Claremont); John Saxon (David Parkson)


the plot: When 17-year-old Jane Broadbent comes to London to live with her wealthy father Jimmy Broadbent, her stepmother Sheila feels compelled by her social aspirations to introduce her to society. Jane is bored by the debutante balls she attends and the young men she is introduced to, but becomes interested in a drummer named David Parkson, who has a reputation for leading young women astray. As it turns out, Parkson's reputation is undeserved, but Sheila is convinced otherwise, and she tries to keep him away from Jane.


count: the number of times Jane says, “But I love David, and David loves me!”


don’t miss: David Fenner’s traffic updates.


check out: the trailer here.


listen for: “Marble Arch, five-one, OH-one.”

the scene: David Fenner arrives to propose to Jane, who rejects him to Sheila's dismay. Sheila tearfully insists that she only wanted the best for Jane and pleads with her not to see David Parkson. Having read about David Parkson's inheritance and title in the paper, Jimmy suggests that they invite the Duke of Positano (David Parkson) to Jane's ball that evening.



extra bonus points: if you can name the 2003 movie loosely based on The Reluctant Debutante.