I recently saw the new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, now in its last weeks at the Hudson Theatre, and it’s been rattling around in my brain ever since. (Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe are outstanding. If you can make it, don’t miss it.) A musical […]
La Belle Dame sans Merci: ‘Baby Face’ (1933)
Baby Face has earned a reputation as one of the films that led to the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code—and it’s easy to see what gave censors the vapours. Not only does Alfred E. Green’s film dare to speak plainly about female exploitation, it depicts a woman ruthlessly exploiting men and celebrates her. (The story […]
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: Femme Fatales
“She was bad. She was dangerous. I wouldn’t trust her any further than I could throw her. But, she was my kind of woman.” -Rod Riley (Fred Astaire) in the ‘Girl Hunt’ ballet, The Band Wagon Happy Valentine’s Day! And what better day to celebrate femme fatales, those sinuous, cold-hearted, duplicitous sirens who lead hardboiled […]