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Dolly Parton was a delightful surprise to audiences as an actress.

How much has truly changed for women’s rights since 9 to 5 was released back in the 1980 Christmas holidays? As a man, it’s not really for me to say. I do believe that progress is incremental and if taken for granted, also impermanent.

Like Tootsie, that other early ‘80s comedy about sexism, 9 to 5 is still funny and timely. Unlike Tootsie, which is nearly a perfect movie, 9 to 5's original flaws still remain true: The premise is promising, until half way through, when it falters, and never fully recovers. But overall, 9 to 5 is highly entertaining and still timely.

'9 to 5' owes much to the teamwork of the star trio. Dabney Coleman makes a fine comic bad guy as their boss. And the smart comedy still has lots to say about sexism.

Criticism has been said of 9 to 5 that it plays like a movie-length sitcom. At least it plays like a smart one, especially when you compare what’s passed for mainstream movie comedy in the last couple of decades.

Jane Fonda, as newbie Judy, gets the low-down by office veteran Violet.

One of the best movie openings ever, 9 to 5 percolates with Dolly Parton’s memorable title song as a variety of women head off to work. The set up is flawless. Lily Tomlin is Violet Newstead, the office pro who keeps getting passed over; Jane Fonda is Judy Bernly, the new hire who’s newly divorced; and Dolly Parton is Doralee Rhodes, the boss’ secretary with a sex bomb figure and an unfair reputation. Their nemesis: Franklin Hart, the “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss, played by Dabney Coleman. After he humiliates them in different ways, an incident occurs which allows the women to turn the tables on their tyrant boss. They end up running the office, while he’s a prisoner in his own home, watching soaps! I won’t give any more away.

Dolly Parton is Doralee, the sweet secretary who fights off lecherous boss Dabney Coleman. Marion Mercer is his comically clueless wife.

There are a number of hilarious scenes, which are well-staged and perfectly performed. After shit hits the fan over Violet being passed over for a promotion again, the ladies drown their sorrows at Charlie’s Bar, and segue over to Dora’s house for a joint. The revenge fantasy scenes that each of the women imagine are classic and the highlights of the film. The recurring story points and comic riffs are smart and funny. Though the middle section gets sidetracked by the slapstick mix up over Hart’s office incident/accident, the movie mostly regains its footing once it gets back to the office. Still, that’s a solid 20 minutes of funny, but non-essential nonsense at the hospital.

Feeling oppressed and depressed, the three office pals drown their sorrows.

Lily Tomlin is strong, yet funny as Violet, a widowed mom who makes it all work at home, and makes her boss look good at work. Violet has the most adversarial role toward the boss man; Tomlin’s subversive comic style has its moments sparring with Mr. Hart. The glint in Lily’s eye and slyly sarcastic line reading give the dialogue an extra zing. Even by 1980, Lily had proven herself to be a solid serious actress, too. Tomlin’s Violet has strength as well as comic chops.

Tomlin's Violet is pissed after being passed over again for a promotion by boss Franklin Hart, Dabney Coleman.

Dolly Parton was a surprise delight in her film debut. Like Cher later, people were so surprised that the cartoonish Dolly could be a delightful, warm actress. In both cases, it paid to look beyond appearances! Dolly’s Dora Lee is warm and funny, as well as vulnerable. As Hart’s secretary, everyone assumes she is sleeping with him—because he’s spread that impression around the office pool. Parton’s reaction when Dora Lee finds out is priceless.

Dolly's Doralee goes ballistic when she finds out the boss has been stoking rumors

that they are having an office affair.

Jane Fonda got some knocks because her Stepford ex-wife character was so unlike her off-screen image, as when Elizabeth Taylor tried to occasionally play "ordinary" women and critics considered such casting condescending. But Jane's quite good, and has always been a skilled comic actress. Her standout moments include her silent bit, dazed after meeting Dolly’s bodacious Doralee, walking away and looking down at her own modest bosom. And for anyone who ever had a rough first day on the job can appreciate Jane’s Judy wreaking havoc in the copy room! I do think whoever made the decision to do Jane over as the spinster style was also an inspiration for Dustin Hoffman’s Tootsie. I wasn’t working in offices during the ‘80s, so I’m not a fashion expert!

Jane Fonda, as naive divorcee Judy, is nobody's Tootsie!

Dabney Coleman had the distinction of playing two total dicks in both 9 to 5 and Tootsie, and the movies may have typecast him. Dabney's got the bigger role here as Franklin Hart, and he runs with the ball. Coleman is a classic comic jerk, but also possesses the dramatic weight to be a serious threat. Dabney is quite funny in some of the more slapstick moments. With Tomlin’s Violet, Coleman’s boss is the poster boy for male chauvinism, always dangling a promotion while alternately threatening her. His moments with Parton’s Dora Lee are as a comic sexist, disgusting, but you know Dolly can kick ass—or in this case, hog-tie one! And with Fonda’s new girl, he’s the classic jerk boss.

The trio take matters into their own hands when the boss tries to play hardball.

Elizabeth Wilson is quirkily amusing as Roz, the office spy for Mr. Hart. Marion Mercer is likewise as Hart’s clueless, sweet wife, Missy. These two great comic actresses make their time onscreen count. Sterling Hayden struts through the film’s finale as Tinsworthy, The Chairman of the Board. Henry Jones is Hinkle, Hart’s boss, and Peggy Pope is Margaret, with her drunken, “Atta girl!”

Peggy Pope, as Margaret, offers a classic line of encouragement, passed away in 2020.

The story by Patricia Resnick and the screenplay and direction by Colin Higgins are all smart and snappy. The three stars play beautifully together and their chemistry truly shows—it’s no surprise that they’ve stayed friends over the decades. There was recent talk of a 9 to 5 sequel, but it fell through. Long-delayed sequels are usually infamous duds; let’s just leave some of the popular film favorites alone.

Dolly, Lily, & Jane became fast friends, which has remained steadfast for four decades.

Women have come a long way baby—to refresh a late ‘60s catchphrase. Let’s just keep moving forward. Watch 9 to 5 as a refresher to what women in the ‘60s and ‘70s put up with in the workplace.

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40 years since '9 to 5' was released, the comedy still reigns as a perennial favorite.

"I'm your Auntie Mame!" Rosalind Russell as the larger than life Mame Dennis.

Auntie Mame is the comic character instantly associated with Rosalind Russell, one of film’s classic comedic actresses.

First a comic “memoir” by Patrick Dennis, free-thinking Auntie Mame was an anti-dote to the conformist ‘50s. And the timing was just right for that class act with a bit of brass, Roz Russell, to play her. Roz first won raves as the bon vivant diva on Broadway, for two years. Auntie Mame and Roz’s prior stage smash, Wonderful Town, provided a career bridge for Russell in the ‘50s, between her studio era heyday and her post-Auntie Mame ‘60s movies.

Mame's intro as Roz Russell as she romps down those stairs, and is off and running!

I grew up on the ’74 Lucille Ball musical version, Mame, and didn't see the ’58 Russell comedy, Auntie Mame, until years later. Watching Roz’s original for this review, I kept expecting the Mame songs to start. The Rosalind Russell version is so much more buoyant and lighthearted than the Lucy musical. When Russell comes running down those stairs for the first time in Auntie Mame, Roz's energetic and effervescent personality hits you like a tidal wave. During the party scene, as Mame mingles with the best of them, it's not just little nephew Patrick's head whose is spinning.

Russell first played Auntie Mame on Broadway, to great acclaim.

Russell mixes Mame’s piss-elegant, imperious delivery with her slapstick, hoydenish side, so that Mame Dennis never becomes a one-note bore. And Roz's warmth helps offset Mame's more fanciful flaws, as well. This was reinforced after re-watching Lucy's Mame as a comparison. Lucille Ball was just as versatile as Rosalind Russell, with many of the same strengths. There was the age difference when they played Mame, though Roz was just five years older than Lucy: Russell was 50 when Auntie Mame was filmed, and Lucy was 62 and recovering from a broken leg. (Roz herself broke an ankle running down those stairs the first time.)

Mame's motto: "Live! Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"

Yet, the difference in energy and good humor is surprising. Perhaps the difference was Russell was re-recreating her Tony-winning Broadway smash, and going into filming on a high. Whereas Lucy knew everyone was depending on her, nursing a healing leg, facing ill will for taking the role from Angela Lansbury, with all eyes on her. Her grim gumption and self-consciousness over her age and ability seeps onto the screen and dissipates nearly all the fun. In fact, Lucy’s Mame feels like one of those great lady star vehicles from the ‘40s that Ball never got to play. Her pal Ginger Rogers’ leaden Lady in the Dark comes to mind. Why Lucy felt the need to scratch that itch three decades after the fact is still a mystery.

Mame needs a little Christmas, right this very minute! Patrick gives her "almost-diamonds."

It’s interesting that Roz, who was a staunch Catholic and married just once, had the raucous humor to play her polar opposite, Mame Dennis, with such ease. Lucy—whose personal life had known more than a few late nights, men, cocktails, and smokes—comes off as uptight and tough, much like her later TV appearances.

Mame & bosom buddy Vera Charles. Coral Browne is elegant & acidic as the actress.

Another surprising difference about the two versions is that the original—with Hollywood censors having their last hurrah—is more risqué than the ‘70s Mame. The one-liners from Auntie Mame are quite sly, and some of the passing characters still raise an eyebrow. In the '74 musical, once Beauregard dies, Mame becomes far less funny, and overly serious. The '58 version deftly mixes drama and humor regarding adult Patrick's conformity and Auntie Mame's misgivings. Russell, while disapproving of her intended in-laws, is up to her tricks. The uppity Epsons get funny bits of business in the ’58 film, whereas in the '70s version, they're just annoying bigots. This is certainly due to Betty Comden and Adolph Green, old pros at musical comedy and smart enough to realize that the stage play had culled the essence of the Patrick Dennis novel. In the ‘70s version, serious playwright Paul Zindel was chosen to write Mame’s screenplay. What’s strange, the most hilarious lines or bits from Auntie Mame are gone in Mame!

Rosalind Russell brings her considerable talents to the role of the free-thinking Mame.

I used to be put off that Auntie Mame is presented like a play, but now I love it. It's very stylized, yet stylish, much like the characters and performances. As Mame, Rosalind Russell gets to show off her physical comedy finesse, her rapid-speed dialogue delivery, genuine warmth, intelligence, sparkling personality, and winking sense of humor. There are so many memorable moments, as Mame gamely raises her young nephew: Life of the party Mame trying to get herself together the morning after for Mr. Babcock’s visit; novice actress Mame when she tries to upstage pal Vera Charles; Mame as a working girl, the motor mouth switchboard operator; life coach Mame conspiring to give Agnes Gooch a makeover; and the classic fox hunt scene, where Mame hangs on for dear life.

Fred Clark as trustee Mr. Babcock makes a fine comic foil for Russell's Mame.

The supporting cast is delightful, with Connie Gilchrist as Nora Muldoon, a no-nonsense delight as the Irish maid who delivers Patrick to his eccentric aunt. Fred Clark, always the comic heavy, is Mr. Babcock, the perfect foil for Auntie Mame, each with their own agenda for Patrick’s upbringing. Coral Browne is hilariously acerbic as Vera Charles, and far more elegant than later Vera, Bea Arthur, already in Maude mode. Peggy Cass gives Shelley Winters a run for her money in the nasal whine department, but here it’s done to hilarious comic effect as frumpy Agnes Gooch.

The finish to the hilarious fox hunt, where Mame wins the real prize, Beauregard!

Jan Handzlik as Patrick the boy is quite pleasant, but Roger Smith as the adult edition is a bit Ken doll-ish for my taste. Roger later found the role of a lifetime as Ann-Margret’s one and only husband. Forrest Tucker is most amiable as Mame’s southern suitor, Beauregard Burnside, he of the beaucoup bucks. Willard Waterman is hilarious, with always-reliable Lee Patrick, as Claude and Doris Upson, Patrick’s prospective in-laws. Waterman also played Mr. Babcock later in the Broadway musical Mame. Joanna Barnes is slyly funny as Patrick’s fiancee, Gloria, with her pretentious, lockjaw delivery: “It was just ghaaa-stly!”

The uppity Upsons have no idea what's in store for them, as they enter Mame's home.

The set décor must have been a field day for George James Hopkins, who did some of the most memorable film sets for decades. Malcolm C. Bert created the production and art design. Mame’s 3 Beekman Place pad gets redecorated nearly a dozen times!

The ever-changing decor of The House of Dennis!

The stylish clothes by Orry-Kelly were over the top only when the story called for it, unlike the drag queen parade of Lucy’s Mame. Surprisingly, Orry-Kelly got zero Oscar nominations during his WB studio heyday (Now, Voyager and Mr. Skeffington are surprising shutouts) but he started getting nods from the mid-50s on—but not for his Auntie Mame fashion extravaganza.

Rosalind Russell gets beautiful cinematography, hair & makeup, and costumes.

Add Roz's high spirits & energy, and you get a memorable Mame.

While much was made of Lucy’s attempts to look younger as Mame, Roz also had help to augment her face as Auntie Mame. Russell’s beautifully photographed by Harry Stradling, who later got fired from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for making Elizabeth Taylor look too good as drunken Martha! Roz’s makeup man was Gene Hibbs, famed for his mini-face lift strings and tape combo, and stylized makeup. She first worked with him on ‘53’s Never Wave at a WAC. At the time, the Hibbs effect was considered miraculous, but it gave later drag queens something to work with! Roz looks more naturalistic than some of his other clients like Bette Davis circa Dead Ringer, Eva Gabor on Green Acres, etc. And Roz’s multiple wigs as Mame offered camouflage for his fine work. Hibbs worked on a number of episodes of Lucille Ball’s latter day series, and notably Ann Sothern and Judy Garland on their TV series. Roz used him again in Gypsy and Five Finger Exercise.

Mame gets in the Christmas spirit when her luck begins to change!

Morton LaCosta, more famous for stage direction than film, helmed Auntie Mame competently, though I wonder what a Cukor or Minnelli might have done. LaCosta got to direct his two huge hits, Auntie Mame and The Music Man for the screen, and critics and audiences applauded. Both made a bundle for Warner Brothers.

Ultimately, it’s the irreverent Patrick Dennis story and irresistible Roz Russell that truly makes Auntie Mame memorable.

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"Auntie Mame" ends with her and an enchanted great-nephew, as they head off to new life adventures.

Marlene Dietrich & Charles Laughton, fascinating adversaries in "Witness for the Prosecution."

Witness for the Prosecution is the combined talents of two razor sharp artistic minds, Agatha Christie and Billy Wilder. Based on the play from mystery queen Christie’s short story, director/screenwriter Wilder expands on the premise in this terrifically told adaptation. Agatha is aces with her ingenious premise and Billy brings his smart dialogue and telling character detail here. Both are great storytellers and this ’57 version of Witness is still the best of the bunch.

Love how the ads hyped up thrills for what was a smart courtroom drama.

This Witness is an addictively watchable courtroom drama about a shady charmer on trial for murder, with an older wife who may or may not be on his side. More important than the mystery itself—who is most wily, the legendary lawyer with a bad heart, or the suspect’s wife, who seems to have no heart?

Elsa Lanchester & Charles Laughton make a great team as the bickering nurse and barrister. Elsa's character was a Wilder addition to "Witness."

Charles Laughton is great fun to watch as Sir Wilfred, Witness’ irascible lawyer. Wilfred, recovering from a heart attack, is saddled with an officious nurse, Miss Plimsoll, cheerfully played by Elsa Lanchester. Mr. and Mrs. Laughton’s bickering banter offers great comic relief in this courtroom drama. Wilder cited Laughton as his favorite actor to work with, marveling at his inventiveness for characterization. I’d say they were perfect for each other, as Wilder was great at bringing out the best in actors, and Laughton benefitted from directorial restraint. Laughton is most believable as a lawyer possibly facing his last hurrah. Only 58 at the time, he looks very frail and older, much like Spencer Tracy did in his last decade or two. In fact, Charles died five years after this film was released. Laughton gives it his all here and is funny and ferocious.

Marlene Dietrich as the mystery woman, in an Edith Head suit reminiscent

of the designs she created for Alfred Hitchcock's blondes.

The other outstanding performance, surprisingly, is from Marlene Dietrich. Considered a great persona rather than a great actress, Marlene’s cool demeanor is perfect as the seemingly cold-hearted wife. Dietrich and Laughton make a great pair, polar opposites in acting styles, and at odds as characters. As Christine Vole, the wife of the accused, Marlene is the master of restraint. In her “big” moments, Dietrich rises to the occasion. Marlene’s Christine is a character whose motivations are peeled back throughout the film and give Dietrich great opportunities as an actress. Dietrich is deliberately deadpan and snarky in her first scenes, then has some bittersweet moments in a flashback, as Christine’s frosty demeanor begins to thaw for future husband, Leonard. As the story unfolds, Christine is anything but the aloof wife. The plot twists in the last act were urged to be kept secret by the filmmakers, and some felt this cost Dietrich an Oscar nomination. Realistically, I question that, as Marlene was no longer a full-time Hollywood actress, but her performance definitely rated one.

Dietrich recalls her WWII era & gender-bending fashion in a "Witness" flashback.

My only caveat with Dietrich in Witness is her appearance. Marlene was the forerunner to today’s actresses, whose faces are pulled tighter than a drum. During filming Marlene was 56. With her wigs and skin pulls, she looked neither old nor young, but “somewhere between 40 and death,” as Mame opines of bosom buddy Vera Charles. Still, Dietrich’s far too old in the flashback scene, with her as the sex bomb performer, and Power as the “young” soldier. Watching a second time, I got past her drag queen looks in the flashback, with her measured responses to Power's character, who’s trying to win her over. Dietrich projects a quiet strength beneath the cool veneer. Edith Head, an Alfred Hitchcock favorite, designs tailored costumes for Marlene Dietrich that cause the film seem even more Hitch-like!

Marlene has some sweet moments in her flashback scene, despite wearing the most obvious wig since Barbara Stanwyck in Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity!"

Hollywood’s fun house mirror regarding age is one of my movie pet peeves. Dietrich refers to the victim as that “old woman” even though they were nearly the same age. At 22, Ruta Lee was the other woman, paired with Power at age 43, and up against Dietrich at 56! Laughton refers to Power as “young man,” which only calls attention to Ty’s age.

Dietrich w/Tyrone Power, from a "Witness" promo shoot that looks like they're for a pulp novel cover. Marlene's "ageless"appearance seems to have inspired today's divas!

Tyrone Power, as murder suspect Leonard Vole, is supposed to be boyishly charming and handsome—also, a ne’er-do-well, which he freely admits. This is a tricky type of role to pull off and still retain audience sympathy. Power had that quality as an actor. However, Leonard, as a recent vet, should be 30-ish. Ty was 43 and frankly looked at least a decade older. This makes his character seem like a case of arrested development. Still, Power was still box office and was cast after William Holden turned the role down. Richard Burton, who was not box office at the time, but a decade younger and far more talented, would have been brilliant as the charismatic cad.

Tyrone Power's first close-up as charming young cad Leonard Vole. Ty was just 43.

Witness for the Prosecution would be Power's last completed role and he died of a massive heart attack on the set of Solomon and Sheba. It's a shock to see Power in close up the first time in Witness. Here, his once lean figure and good looks now look bloated and slightly jowly. With dark bags under his eyes and black hair slicked back, Ty looks like he's about to turn into Mr. Hyde in his more dramatic moments. Power acts the charming boy well enough, but his dissipation undercuts him. In the subtle moments, Power’s performing is quite good, such as his smarmy expression at the finale, when Leonard’s wife pleads with him not to leave her. For his big dramatic moments, Power falls short, he's just not enough of a grand performer to pull them off, and it’s just bad acting.

Tyrone Power's attempts at bravura acting make him look like Mr. Hyde!

Power had been a top star right out of the box for over 20 years. Ty was rather like Rock Hudson in that he was well-liked, unpretentious, and very professional. Like Hudson, Ty's great looks were off-set by a genuine warmth and low-key charm, and un-self conscious about his physical appeal. Ty and Rock yearned to stretch artistically and be more than the handsome hero. Both did stage work and also performed in passion projects that went against their image: Power in '47's Nightmare Alley and Hudson in '66's Seconds. Both were bleak films that were dumped into theaters and bombed. They are now cult classics.

What a shame Witness for the Prosecution wasn’t filmed a decade earlier, Marlene and Power would have been perfectly cast. This would have been the era that Wilder and Dietrich teamed for A Foreign Affair and Tyrone Power was trying to broaden his range as a villain Nightmare Alley. But alas, the play version of Witness hadn’t been written yet!

What do they see that's so frightening?!

The characters, from the aging barrister and all his ailments, right down to the housekeeper and murder victim, are funny, quirky, and human. This is what makes this straight forward courtroom drama interesting. Billy Wilder marveled at Christie's model of construction, but astutely noted her writing was flat when it came to characterization. And this was one of Wilder's gifts as a screenwriter. Much of the memorable detail in Witness originated with this film adaptation.

Ruta Lee is light years away from her brassy blonde persona as the other woman.

Love the blase look on Power's face as Leonard's wife begs him not to leave her.

A superb cast of British character actors are scene stealers here: Henry Daniell, John Williams, Ian Wolfe, Torin Thatcher, Francis Compton, Phillip Tonge, and especially cranky Una O’ Connor and droll Norma Varden as the victim, Mrs. French. The lone young star is Ruta Lee in her brunette starlet phase and she’s pretty innocuous, but figures in the finale. Witness got six Oscar nominations, four in major categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.

Another Best Director Oscar nomination for Billy Wilder.

Interesting that two years later, similarly Oscar-nominated Anatomy of a Murder was also based on a real life crime that centered on a duplicitous married couple with an army background. Like Anatomy, there’s not much mystery as to WHO dunnit, but there’s more here than meets the eye of barrister’s blinding monocle. Wilder’s take on Witness of the Prosecution is still the winning version.

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The makeup man got a bit carried away. Her hand looks like it belongs to the bride of Mr. Hyde!

“They’re here already! You’re next, you’re next… you’re next!”

This Invasion was the first and by far the best of the many versions of this familiar film story. The ’56 Invasion of the Body Snatchers is simply, but strongly told. And the Don Siegel-directed version holds up well, much like that other classic multi-layered paranoia thriller, 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Dana Wynter's Becky looks like she's getting her brain washed!

***Subtle spoilers throughout!***

At 80 minutes and for less than a half a million dollars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers makes the most of its running time and low budget. Those involved in this Invasion of the Body Snatchers surely knew they were making more than a B horror film. But they could have no idea that this tale of a town taken over by “pod” people would become such a cult classic.

Dana Wynter & Kevin McCarthy's characters are now in the minority.

Despite varying opinions from the film’s participants, as to whether Body Snatchers was a commentary on the "commie scare," communism itself, or anti-conformism, this movie was made in a time when all this and more was going on in post-war America, and the world. The era most definitely informs the feeling of paranoia this film.

Don Siegel's no-nonsense direction may not be the most stylish, but it also doesn't date the movie, like some of the more heavy-handed directors of the era. The only real flaw of the film was the studio-mandated prologue and epilogue. The original ending depicted McCarthy’s Miles escaping from his hometown to a highway, running among disbelieving drivers as he shouts: “They’re here already! You’re next, you’re next… you’re next!”

Get your pods, right off the truck!

Like the same year’s The Bad Seed, which offered an equally absurd epilogue to show audiences it was “only” a movie, Body Snatchers’ studio suits decided it was too bleak an ending, so a call comes in to where Miles is being treated, and confirms his wild accusations. It nearly feels like a Dragnet parody.

The ‘50s “smart” romantic dialogue seems a spoof by today's standards, but was probably played straight at the time. However, there are some thoughtful, as well as chilling, quotes about humanity and giving up what makes us human.

One of several timeless lines from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

Kevin McCarthy is Dr. Miles J. Bennell, who offers this startling line: “I've seen how people have allowed their humanity to drain away. Only it happened slowly instead of all at once. They didn't seem to mind... All of us—a little bit—we harden our hearts, grow callous. Only when we have to fight to stay human do we realize how precious it is to us, how dear.”

Doesn't Kevin McCarthy look a bit like his pal Montgomery Clift here?

I grew up watching Kevin McCarthy play charming creeps, so to see him as the good guy fighting off the eerie pod people was a jolt. McCarthy is one of those actors who had a long career, often typecast as the oily villain, in film and television work of variable quality. Off-camera, the character actor had a fascinating personal life. At age 4, McCarthy lost both of his parents to the Spanish Flu epidemic, just before WWI ended. Kevin’s sister was novelist Mary McCarthy, author of The Group. McCarthy was a co-founder of The Actor’s Studio. For a number of years, Kevin’s best friend was Montgomery Clift, until the actor’s erratic behavior eroded their friendship. Kevin and Elizabeth Taylor climbed into Monty’s mangled car to help him the night of his life-changing car accident. He later reunited with Clift in the legendary The Misfits. Kevin’s breakout role was as Biff in the classic drama, Death of a Salesman. McCarthy loved acting and lived a long, happy life until the age of 96 in 2010. It’s interesting to watch McCarthy, who was in his early ‘40s in Body Snatchers, since he resembled a white bread version of his pal Monty. It was also a given that by this age, if Kevin was not established as a top leading man, he was going to be a character actor. And Kevin McCarthy did, for nearly 60 more years.

Dana Wynter as Becky shouldn't have fallen asleep!

Dana Wynter is perfectly cast as Miles fiancee, Becky Driscoll. Wynter always struck me as the brunette version of the Hitchcock blonde. Dana was usually cool (sometimes ice cold!), smart, classy, and understatedly sexy. Dana’s cool demeanor is unnerving at the film’s finale. I love Miles noir-like narration of the line: “I didn’t know the real meaning of fear until… until I had kissed Becky!”

Off-camera, I always found it remarkable that Dana Wynter, a movie starlet turned TV actress, was the woman who landed Hollywood super lawyer and eternal bachelor Greg Bautzer for a husband. For decades, Bautzer was Tinseltown’s most eligible bachelor. Greg had romances with many top actresses, and two serious ones: Lana Turner, and most especially, Joan Crawford. "Uncle Greg" was immortalized in Mommie Dearest and the inspiration for Lyon Burke in Valley of the Dolls. Was it coincidence or clever that Anne, who is Lyon's love interest, was played by Barbara Parkins, who looked and acted a great deal like Dana Wynter?

Dana Wynter was married to

super lawyer/ladies man Greg Bautzer.

Barbara Parkin as Anne, who marries

her super lawyer Lyon in the "Dolls" novel.

Carolyn Jones is intense as the petrified friend who finds a pod growing of her husband. Her later role as the mock horror character Morticia Addams can make you forget what an edgy actress Jones could be. Her jittery performance was exactly how I felt watching this film! Given her early dramatic career and later cult status of The Addams Family, I think that Jones would have enjoyed renewed popularity if she hadn’t died so young of cancer, at 53 in ’83.

Carolyn Jones as a woman who finds she may have another husband in the hopper!

Larry Gates, that great character actor who could either be likeable (Martha Hyer’s charming professor father in Some Came Running) or loathsome (the bigot, Endicott, who gets slapped back In the Heat of the Night), gets to be both as Miles’ fellow doctor in Body Snatchers. His memorable line, as Dr. Kauffman: “Love, desire, ambition, faith –without them, life is so simple, believe me.” O-kay!

The ’56 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers works stunningly as both a straight-forward suspense film and a chilling commentary on mass conformity.

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Every era has its own nightmare, it seems!