As a writer, I’ve always marveled at people who adapt books for the screen. On the upside, the scriptwriter gets the benefits of an established story, characters and dialogue. But there are plenty of downsides: How can you turn a beloved novel into a film that fans of the original will accept, along with the moviegoers who simply want to be entertained? How do you capture the magic of the printed page on celluloid? Which parts do you cut and which do you keep? It had to have

Walter Matthau was Jack Lemmon’s frequent co-star and best friend. Lemmon gave the eulogy at Matthau’s funeral, and a year later, was himself laid to rest near his pal in the same cemetery. Leave it to Matthau to capture Lemmon’s essence, which he did at the actor’s AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony: “He allows us to see the tragedy and the comedy of the world through the eyes of someone we know. Someone, he hints, we may even be.” Much as fans love his work in comedies lik

The 1950s bred a bumper crop of films about show biz. Some were light-hearted (Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon). Others told a darker tale (Sunset Blvd., All About Eve, A Star is Born). Lost in the shuffle is one of my favorites: The Bad and The Beautiful, starring Kirk Douglas as a ruthless film producer and the people whose careers he championed, including an alcoholic actress (Lana Turner), a Southern writer (Dick Powell), and a B-movie director (Barry Sullivan). "Peop

They say High Noon is popular with presidents: Reportedly, it was the favorite movie of Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, and Bill Clinton, who allegedly screened it 17 times during his tenure. Being the commander in chief of the free world is a lonely job – Clinton jokingly called the White House "the crown jewel in the federal penal system.” No wonder Oval Office occupants can relate to the Oscar-winning story of a marshal (Gary Cooper) who must confront a vengeful enemy al

“I’m John Ford and I make Westerns,” said the Maine-born filmmaker in one of the great understatements of all time. Ford didn’t just make Westerns – he was synonymous with them. But did you know that none of his seven Academy Awards were for his trademark genre? To me, that would be like Alfred Hitchcock copping Oscars for directing musicals (or any movies for that matter. The Master of Suspense went zero-for-five in his career.) In addition to scoring awards for wartime docu