Box Office Treasure Wednesday

"Fasten your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy night!"

Okay, not really. But I got your attention, didn't I?

And this Treasure Box Wednesday is all about movies that grab the ol' attention and keep it. I was thinking about what to discuss for today, and in addition to curling up with those good books, another favorite winter pastime is spending a few hours with a great old film.

And there really are some gems out there, too. Ones, I was thinking perhaps, not all of you lovers of the vintage have gotten a chance to see.


Like how about All About Eve, the tale of a fading star, a rising starlet and treachery?

Or Sunset Boulevard, with another aging screen diva-- Nora Desmond-- tries to recapture her fame anyway she can?

Maybe To Kill A Mockingbird is more your style-- a beautiful adaptation of Harper Lee's book starring Gregory Peck...

Or perhaps you might enjoy The Philadelphia Story. You get Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, to boot!

Mr. Grant makes another appearance in Arsenic and Old Lace, a screwball comedy about murder, old aunties, Teddy Roosevelt impersonators and the criminal element.

And if you think you're seeing 6-foot-eight rabbits before your eyes in Harvey, well you won't be the only one. Just ask eccentric Elwood P. Dowd, likebly played by Jimmy Stewart.

Some other screen classic suggestions include:

• Bogart in Dark Passage with Lauren Bacall (very film noir) or The African Queen with Katharine Hepburn
• The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, the original film on which the TV series was based.
• Fred Estaire and Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face
• And one of my favorite Hitchcock films, Rope-- based on a play and shot as if all experienced in one long scene.

And for some more modern pictures to while away the hours? How about:

• A Little Princess, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's book (always makes me cry, unfortunately)
• Chocolat, starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche
• Or a modern take on the classic Wizard of Oz-- the Tin Man miniseries. While more sci-fi than the original stories and very much its own picture, I thought this was very nicely done

Well, that should be enough to get you started, anyway! If you have any movies that are favorites of yours for cold and snowy days, I'd love it if you'd share them with our readers in a comment.

• If you happened to miss last Sunday's post, of funny ads from the 1950s farm journal, click here.

Until next Sunday-- happy viewing!