Period of Adjustment — Tonight on Turner Classic Movies
Posted on December 13, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Tennessee Williams’ only comedy is this neglected gem of a movie about two couples at Christmas. It has never been available on DVD so your only chance to see it is tonight on Turner Classic Movies.
It stars a very young Jane Fonda as a nurse who impulsively marries her favorite patient, a Korean War veteran (Jim Hutton) who is still struggling with what today we might call post-traumatic stress. He tries to cover up his nervousness with a lot of bluster and instead of a romantic honeymoon she finds herself driving with him in a hearse to visit his best 
Army buddy (Tony Franciosa), who is having his own marital problems, in large part due to his interfering father-in-law, who is also his boss. Three of the 1960’s finest character actors fill out the cast, including John McGiver and, in a rare appearance together, Jack and Mabel Albertson (real-life brother and sister).
It is a bittersweet comedy about endearing characters and it is nice to see some Tennessee Williams characters show some generosity, sweetness, and hope. The reconciliation of the two couples is genuinely touching and it is a wonderful holiday treat for those looking for something a little different.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4tR0G03240
Truman Capote’s bittersweet memory of his childhood Christmas making fruitcakes with his elderly cousin, the only relative who cared about him is beautifully filmed with the magnificent Geraldine Page and Capote himself reading the narration.
The California Raisins guys put together this Christmas special, with the highlight the funniest-ever performance of “Carol of the Bells.”
Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are French nuns trying to raise money to build a hospital. Their faith and goodness transforms those they meet.
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents” is the first line of this classic novel based on the loving if sometimes tumultuous family of author Louisa May Alcott. The movie opens with an important Christmas lesson about the joy of giving.
Based on the classic book, this stars Loretta Swit as the mother of six rambunctious kids who insist on playing roles in the church pageant.
Before Google, companies had human beings to track down information. Katherine Hepburn plays the head of the all-female research department for a television network and Spencer Tracy is the engineer who is installing the company’s first computer, which takes up a whole wall and uses punch cards and vacuum tubes. Sparks fly — and not just in the equipment.
Bruce Willis plays a cop visiting his estranged wife at her office Christmas party when the building is taken over by bad guys led by Alan Rickman in this action-movie classic.
Tom Hanks stars in this animated story based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg about a magical train ride to the North Pole.
This comedy smash hit stars Macauley Culkin as a little boy who is accidentally left home when his family goes away for the holidays and has to take care of himself and guard the house from a couple of inept thieves. The slapstick is a bit over the top but the message of Christmas is surprisingly touching.
The story of the plucky orphan from the comic pages became one of the biggest Broadway musicals of all time and one of its highlights is Christmas with Daddy Warbucks.
about his time as a third assistant director (basically a gofer) on the set of a movie she made in England with Sir Laurence Olivier. You can have your own week with Marilyn Monroe, the most popular sex symbol in movie history, by watching some of her films. I recommend:
Monroe plays a gold-digging showgirl in this colorful and energetic musical. Her signature song “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” inspired Madonna’s “Material Girl” video.
The American Film Institute’s pick for the funniest American movie of all time is Billy Wilder’s gender-bending masterpiece about two male musicians (Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) who disguise themselves as women and join an all-female band so they can hide from mobsters. Monroe plays the band’s lead singer who has a weakness for saxophone players. It gets better and funnier every time you see it.
Yves Montand plays one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the world. When he hears that a small off-Broadway musical satiric revue makes fun of him, he goes to the theater to complain. But the director thinks he has shown up to audition and when he sees Monroe (in sheer practice tights and leotard) is in the cast, he pretends to be an actor. She sings a sizzling version of “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.”
Many people think Monroe’s best performance as an actress is in this poignant story of a cowboy in love with a bar girl. She sings a heartbreakingly (intentionally) trashy “That Old Black Magic.”
Monroe’s most iconic pose comes from this film about an innocent flirtation between a man who stays in New York while his family is on vacation and his free-spirited upstairs neighbor.
When Monroe wanted to be taken more seriously as an actress she formed a production company to finance this film, co-starring and directed by Sir Laurence Olivier. It is more interesting to watch to compare their incompatible acting styles than it is to try to care about the slight story, but definitely worth seeing if you plan to watch “My Week With Marilyn.”
Monroe co-stars with Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable in this romantic comedy about three blonde models with a plan to find wealthy husbands.
) got a very unusual request. A terminally ill rabbi asked if Albom would write and deliver his eulogy. “As is often the case with faith, I thought I was being asked a favor,” Albom says. “In truth, I was being given one.” At around the same time, Albom met an African-American drug addict and drug dealer turned pastor leading a ministry to Detroit’s homeless population. Albom’s experiences with these two inspiring men led to the book 
, now a 