Keeper Of the Flame - 1942 TCM on June 16th at 6PM (EDT)

This is not the typical Spencer Tracy/Katherine Hepburn movie and it is probably the least known movie they made together.

Tracy plays a renowned newspaper reporter just returned from covering the war, (WWII) in Europe and he is sent to cover the funeral of a much admired American icon who was killed in an auto accident.

After he meets Katherine Hepburn (the widow) he senses there was more to this dead man's past than most people suspected.

Look for Forrest Tucker, Percy Kilbride (Pa Kettle) and Margaret Wycherly in solid performances. Richard Whorf who plays the business manager for the deceased man, went on to become a successful director in TV years later.

Van Johnson was driving to the premier of this movie, when he was involved in a terrible car accident. If you have noticed the scars on his face in later movies, they come from that accident. Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson were very good friends and Tracy made sure that after he recovered, Van Johnson would be in one of Tracy's movies. He was true to his word and Van Johnson had a large part in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" in 1944.

Recognition of a true Superstar

Sharon and I watched “Strike Up The Band” (Netflix) a 1940 musical starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Watching this Busby Berkeley directed work was a wakeup call reminding both of us that Mickey (almost 90) may not be with us too much longer. Right now, he does have four movies filming or in post-production.

Before most of us were born, Mickey was in the entertainment business and stealing scenes in almost every movie he was in. We have had a chance to watch many of Mickey’s movies, but I realized after checking his list of movie credits, I still have not seen most of them.

Mickey had the good fortune to work with many costars of the first magnitude, but he always seemed to bring a certain special energy along with his prodigious talent to his movie roles.

Larry and Sharon Zini

Feel free to comment on this post or any other post on our movie blog.

Suggested movies to view from Leah and Marsha

Sophie’s Choice - 1982 - w/ Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline. The survivor of a Nazi concentration camp has found a reason to live, but is hounded by her experiences. A well deserved Oscar for Streep.

Bagdad Cafe - 1987 - w/ Jack Palance, Christine Kaufmann. A fight with her husband leads a woman to make some interesting friends in a desert Cafe.

The Best Movies Blog - Welcome

We encourage those who enjoy good movies to

join the posting on our new blog. The intent is to

share our views and comments about the movies

we love.