I am NOT a critic. I'm merely an observer. (Books, movies, plays, musicals etc.)

( source ) Directed by Robert Z. Leonard Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr. Written by Samuel and Bella Spewack Guy Bolton Based on Grand Hotel by  Vicki Baum Starring Ginger Rogers Lana Turner Walter Pidgeon Van Johnson Music by Johnny Green Cinematography Robert H. Planck Edited by Robert Kern Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Release dates October 4, 1945 © MGM 1945 Except for Walter Pidgeon, I have admired all the lead stars of this film since I was small. When we were living in Monterey, Ca. in the US of A, reruns and old movies were parts of my television viewership, besides Sesame Street and the Electric Company, that is.   I guess I was more familiar with Lana Turner and Ginger Rogers than anybody who equalled their caliber in the early 1970s. I would also pretend to sing and dance with Van Johnson and some others who are not in this film like Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra et al. I guess I was already in my late 20s(...

Stories about young waifs who are reared to be geniuses have a special place in my heart.  I have written many stories about these prodigies and some have been lost in space(reformatted computers and the like) and some were already submitted somewhere out there. LOST ANGEL is one such story shown decades before I was born.  The role Alpha was tailor-made for then little Margaret O'Brien(who actually is close to the age of my father) who was one of the most popular little girls in Hollywood.    Judy Garland once said when she was being interviewed about her young co-star in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS that she saw herself in her and she was glad that during Margaret's time, she did not need to take uppers to stay wide awake(she and Andy Rooney were given pills, stunting their growth).  Still,  she was worried that Margaret might miss on her childhood, so as much as she could, she played with her...Thankfully, now at 77, Margaret O'Brien is still very a...