Somebody altered my blog password while I was otherwise engaged--no matter; all is back to normal. Almost Famous has its longeurs, but it was fun to see. It's one of the rare ones that doesn't suffer for not being seen on the big pantalla. In the authenticity department it's lacking, but the stewardess uniforms were a wonderful amalgam of Braniff and American, heavy on the Braniff. Follow the Fleet is a lesser Astaire-Rogers effort but seeing it after all these years makes one realize how far above most efforts a lesser Fred is--case in point, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. For that one, I don't know whether it's the 'fifties effect that elicits the bleah or the garish color or Jimmy Van Heusen's mediocre (for him) musical efforts. Okay; so now I look in the AMDB and find it was released in 1949--just as gruesome an era, with a completely uncharming Bing Crosby and the odious William Bendix. Nurse Betty is very peculiar, but extremely comical in places. Morgan Freeman is the real star. Crispin Glover makes one of his rare non--peculiar appearances. A Stolen Life makes one believe that 1946 was also an accursed year for movies. The "charm" of Glenn Ford has never been apparent for me. Just more reasons to be grateful that the 'sixties arrived. Splitting Heirs was never seen in this town, so far as we can remember--noteworthy for an early view of Catherine Zeta-Jones. Nothing to Lose was well worth seeing and unexpectedly funny. How it got made is a mystery. Our Christmas tree still smells wonderful. Christmas letters are still being written. Christmas baking has yet to be done. Many small packages are to follow.