Jynne

One night Turner Classic Movies just happened to show this movie last December. I'd never heard of it, watched it out of curiosity....and was pleasantly surprised. It starts kind of slow with the courthouse scene, but after that, it gets much better. I can understand why mainstream audiences back when it was originally released may not have liked it because of its realism, but as a present-day movie fan I can definitely appreciate that. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray did a great job and have great chemistry on screen (just like in their other films, "Double Indemnity," etc). If you can find it, you should definitely give it a go. My only wish is that it be released on DVD someday! :)

Excellent movie about Washington DC jockey Petey Greene. I had never heard of him, but Director Kasi Lemmons made such a good movie with great characters that I (as an audience member) was interested in finding out about him. Lemmons evokes the music, dress & style of the time very well, and all of the cast was great--not just Don Cheadle, but EVERYONE; as a woman, I liked how his girlfriend was portrayed as a strong woman who knew her man well (his strengths and his weaknesses). I highly recommend it, not just to hear some great period music, but to learn about someone who made a difference (at least in the lives of the people of DC). Both thumbs up! :D

As a kid growing up in the 70s, "The Rifleman" was one the only other western besides "Wild, Wild, West" that I really liked--I envied Mark McCain and the great father he had on the show (played by Connors). Yes, each show was a morality play but so were many other shows of the 50s & 60s (including "Star Trek"). They made their point at a time when there was still some innocence in America, and even taught tolerance for people from other countries/cultures (for example, in the episode of "Rifleman" where a Japanese man gets insulted & pushed into a fight with one of the locals & uses Judo to defend himself). Lucas McCain taught his son by example NEVER to use a gun or fight unless it was self-defense. It sounds silly now, but when I was a kid I wished my dad had explained things to me the same way Chuck Connors did to his son in the show--ah well, thank goodness for TV writers! :)