Funny Face (1956) Technicolor- I hate mimes, I hate magic and I HATE musicals (with the exception of Elvis movies) so I suffered quite a bit during this film. Audrey Hepburn portrays a mousy waif working in a Greenwich Village bookshop when her bookish hum-drum life is turned upside down by New York's finest fashion magazine who takes over the shop for a fashion shoot. Fred Astaire is a twinkle-toed photographer who "discovers" Audrey and decides to transform her into a model for the big spring fashion show in Paris. Intellectual Audrey would rather be smoking pot with progressive thinking hepsters in underground opium dens in Paris than be walking runways but she plays along for the free trip. Looking swell in her jet black cat suit and beret, Audrey frequents the hangout for the Paris hep cats in some beatnik scenes that simultaneously spoof and celebrate the lifestyle. This movie ultimately gets bogged down (like all musicals) by song and dance numbers with the exception of the final number down in the opium den. My big complaint is the "mating dance" between Fred and Audrey filmed in the garden with a lens filter so soft I thought I had cataracts. Girls-rent this for the clothing. Guys-skip this one altogether...Breakfast at Tiffany's is stronger Audrey fare.

Designing Women (1957) Technicolor- After a night of whirlwind partying in Los Angeles, a hung over Michael Fagan (Gregory Peck) falls in love with Marilla Brown (Lauren Bacall) pool side and the two immediately elope to Arizona. He says he's going to show her the Big Apple where he's a sportswriter who enjoys poker games, smoking, the violence of boxing matches and imbibing gratuitous libations between writing stories for his daily newspaper column; but it turns out she already knows the town because she's a high profile clothes designer hep with the jet set high tone theatre and fashion industry of New York City. While trying to sort out the chaos of the collision of these two lifestyles, Mike gets himself in trouble with the mob and his wife simultaneously and goes into hiding to avoid getting the snot beaten out of him by the head mob goon (Chuck Conners!) and his "boys." Mike must try to solve his marital and professional problems while a wacky cast of characters (and the two principles) speak to us in first person narration all culminating with hilarious results where Lauren Bacall (changing costumes every 3 minutes) must avoid capture by the mob. This is a funny and enjoyable romantic comedy in the "when opposites attract" vein.

How To Marry a Millionaire (1953) Technicolor- If you can endure the insufferably long orchestral opening, you will be delighted by this charming well written terrific little movie about 3 models tired of dating working class no-accounts, and resolve to catch some bigger fish. They set themselves up in a posh New York penthouse apartment and set out to woo millionaires down at the Stork Club. Lauren Bacall is the cool sophisticated mastermind of this plan enlisting the talents of the voluptuous Marylin Monroe who brilliantly portrays a bubble head who is blinder than a bat. Cute, sassy, and doe eyed Betty Grable rounds out the trio and we even get to see the famous legs (worth the rental price alone!) that spurred our boys all the way to Berlin in "dubya dubya two." Despite the lack of a single car crash, gunshot or hint of violence, I really enjoyed this movie. The clothes and Rory Calhoun are there for you ladies: and cool cars, architecture and hot models are there for the fellas with plenty of laughs for everyone... I declare it a WINNER!!!