– A reader writes, inspired by yesterday’s list of the best Hollywood films of the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties:
Strong list. I agree that Robin Hood trumps Casablanca as Michael Curtiz’s great contribution, though I imagine you’ll get arguments. I’d put Big Sleep over To Have and Have Not for Howard Hawks. You really ought to consider a Disney picture in that pantheon: Pinocchio, probably.
In fact, I thought about Disney, though I would have been more inclined to include Dumbo. What I really regret, though, is not having had room to include one of the short cartoons that rank as a genre high among the greatest achievements of Hollywood’s Golden Age–but which one? Chuck Jones’ “Bully for Bugs”? Tex Avery’s “King Size Canary”? I feel another list coming on.
(Incidentally, OGIC, I wouldn’t mind hearing from you about my little list.)
– I took the train to Washington, D.C., yesterday afternoon, dropped my bags off at the hotel where I’ll be spending the week, had dinner with Laura Lippman at the excellent Caf