Black Narcissus(1947).

Black Narcissus(1947). British director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden. It is a psychological drama about the emotional problems that happen within a convent of nuns in a Himalayan valley. Cast: Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar and Flora Robson, and features Esmond Knight, Jean Simmons and Kathleen Byron.

A group of nuns, headed by the young and inexperienced Sister Clodagh, is sent to the Himalayas to open a convent with a school and a clinic. They live in a beautiful palace.

Sister Clodagh arrives with Sister Briony, picked for her strength; Sister Philippa, for her gardening skills; Sister Honey, the most popular nun; and Sister Ruth, who is in poor health and wants a challenge. Having trouble communicating with the people, the Sisters must rely on the manager, Mr. Dean, an Englishman. Sister Clodagh takes in Kanchi, an Indian girl turned away from her family, and the Young General, looking for an education. The high altitude has ill effects on their memories and even for one nun, madness.

This film is one of the most beautifully photographed color movies I have seen. The most stunning scenes happens near the end of the movie. Ruth's mental disintegration is very sad and her change in appearance will take your breath away. (bottom picture).

Kathleen Byron (11 January 1921 – 18 January 2009). She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She made her film debut in Carol Reed's The Young Mr Pitt (1942), in which she had two lines as a maid.

She was best known for her roles in the films: A Matter of Life and Death (1946), The Small Back Room (1949)and Black Narcissus (1947). Byron was romantically linked with Michael Powell around the time the film was made; he was named as co-respondent when she was divorced in 1950.

Her success in Black Narcissus led her to Hollywood, which resulted with a supporting role in Young Bess (1953). Her later roles were mostly in B-movies.

This Could Be the Night(1957).

This Could Be the Night(1957). Comedy directed by Robert Wise. The movie is based on the short stories by Cornelia Baird Gross . Cast: Jean Simmons, Julie Wilson and Paul Douglas. Actor Anthony Franciosa made his debut in this film.

The story begins when, straight-laced Anne Leeds, answers a classified ad for a part-time secretarial job during the night shift at the Tonic nightclub, to work for owner with a big heart, who is charmed by her intelligence. She falls in love with his partner Tony Armotti, who is a womanizer.


Anne's first night includes witnessing an fight and decoding a bookie's message about one of Rocco's bets. Tony decides to fire her because he feels she doesn't belong in a nightclub, but his other partner Rocco rehires her. Anne becomes friends with many of the customers. The club staff are a like able bunch of "characters" ... from busboy Hassan, whose father won't let him change his name until he passes algebra, to strip-dancer Patsy, who really wants to be a cook.

Julie Wilson (born October 21, 1924). First working for the musical group, Hank's Hepcats, Wilson headed to New York and found work in two nightclubs, the Latin Quarter (nightclub) and the Copacabana.

She made her Broadway debut in the 1946, Three to Make Ready. In 1951, she moved to London to star in, Kiss Me, Kate and remained there for four years, performing in shows: South Pacific and Bells Are Ringing while studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She returned to New York to replace Joan Diener in Kismet. Other Broadway credits include: The Pajama Game (1954), Jimmy (1969), Park (1970), and Legs Diamond (1988), for which she received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also toured in, Show Boat, Panama Hattie, Silk Stockings, Follies, Company, and A Little Night Music.

Wilson, landed a regular role on daytime soap opera, The Secret Storm. She also perform in, Kiss Me, Kate and many episodes of, The Ed Sullivan Show.

Jean Simmons

Jean Simmons was married and divorced twice: she married Stewart Granger in Tucson, Arizona on December 20, 1950. In 1956 she and Granger became U.S. citizens; they divorced in 1960. On November 1, 1960, she married director Richard Brooks; they divorced in 1977. In a 1984 interview, given in Copenhagen at the time she was shooting the film Yellow Pages, she talked about her marriages, stating:

“ It may be simplistic, but you could sum up my two marriages by saying that, when I wanted to be a wife, Jimmy (Stewart Granger) would say: 'I just want you to be pretty.' And when I wanted to cook, Richard would say: 'Forget the cooking. You've been trained to act – so act!' Most people thought I was helpless – a clinger and a butterfly – during my first marriage. It was Richard Brooks who saw what was wrong and tried to make me stand on my own two feet. I'd whine: 'I'm afraid.' And he'd say: 'Never be afraid to fail. Every time you get up in the morning, you are ahead.' ”

She had two daughters, Tracy Granger (born September 1956) and Kate Brooks (born July 1961), one by each marriage – naming them after her friends: Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Simmons moved to the East Coast in the late 1970s, briefly renting a home in New Milford, Connecticut. Later she moved to Santa Monica, California, where she lived until her death from lung cancer at home on January 22, 2010, nine days before her 81st birthday.

Video from the film: Guys and Dolls (1955). A musical starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine. The film is based on the Broadway musical by Frank Loesser, who composed the music and wrote the lyrics. The musical scenes for Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando were sung by the actors themselves (no dubbing).



Please click here to learn more about Jean Simmons.

She Couldn't Say No (1954) .

She Couldn't Say No(1954). Cast: Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons.

After returning to her childhood home in Progress, Arkansas from England, where oil heiress Corby Lane lived for many years. Corby,is on a mission to repay the town for paying for the life-saving operation when she was a baby. She sets out to look for Dr. Robert Sellers, her childhood physician. Finding the Doc not at home, Corby pushes the "emergency only", causing alarm to go off. Doc, who is out fishing at the near by river, has just caught the famous prized fish named Hercules, hears the noise, thinking that there is an emergency, races back to his house without his fish.

Corby is surprised to see how young the Doc is, introduces herself as "Miss Johnson" who is on her way to California. Corby, then asks Doc what he would do if she gave him $5,000? He tells her that he would lock her up as a lunatic. Doc takes Corby over to Mrs. McMurty's boardinghouse. Then invites her to Harley's Tavern, to try to trick her into revealing her true identity. Corby's plans soon backfires when, the town becomes the destination for every fortune seeker from miles around.

To tell you the truth what caught my attention to this movie was the paring of Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum. I thought the film was clever and very entertaining.

Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979), When he moved to New York he quickly found himself landing roles in Broadway productions. He landed a role in the film, Tobacco Road, he developed the country character that he would later be typecast throughout his career.

He played a long string of supporting role characters as wise rural types, as in, The Red Badge of Courage (1951), The Lusty Men (1952),The Kettles in The Ozarks (1955) The Last Command (1955), The Tall T (1957) and El Dorado (1967).

In 1952, he earned an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor in the western, The Big Sky.

Throughout the '50s, '60s, and '70s, Hunnicutt made nearly 40 guest appearances on American television programs such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Perry Mason, and The Twilight Zone.