I'm James McNulty and I Approve of This Post

Most of us have been here and the few of us who haven't have probably seen friends (or god forbid family) go here. But now we know, it really *was* the booze the egged you on to do it.

(You'll need to click 2 or 3 times to see the captions but they are all worth it.)

The Great Man's Lady

Sometimes while flipping through the channels you stumble on a glittering gem that you've probably stepped over and never noticed before, The Great Man's Lady (1942) is one of those glittering games.

The cast is amazing: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McRae and Brian Donlevy. If for no other reasons than that, this is a movie worth seeing. However, the story is great twist on the often told, "How the American West Was Conquered" myth told from the point of view of a mysterious 100+ year old woman looking back over her life. To tell you anymore would spoil the story except to say that if you are familiar with any of these actors the characters they embody as slight variations on how we are used to seeing them.

The plot and tone of the movie is atypical of most mainstream movies of the WWII period and I would love to see this movie remade today (which is something I *rarely* say).

There are some real surprises that may not quite make this a tear jerker but might make you gasp. Barbara Stanwyck has always been one of my favorite actresses and the makeup artist did an A++ job of making her look like a 100 year old woman, the makeup is so realistic. But beyond that, she embodies her elderly self so well that she seems more like Victoria Barkley (look it up if you don't know who I mean) than to young woman from The Lady Eve.

I caught this on Turner Classic Movies, keep your eye open for it. I couldn't find it on Netflix but it is available as part of a compilation of Stanwyck's films. She's an amazing actress and the set is well worth the $35 price tag.

The Great Man's Lady is a must see.