then resume swaying to the beat. Oh, baby, I dig that.

Why does the instrumental make no sense? The town is at this Kansas picnic.

Listen to the conservative music that's played from bandstands during the picnic portion of the movie. At nighttime, the music has all been on the bland Lawrence Welk side. Perfect for that section of Heartland America. When Hal tells the bookworm sister that he'll teach her a dance step her learned in L.A., the music instantly goes from small town whitebread to sounding like the Dave Brubeck Quartet. A cool Pacific Coast jazz beat comes out of nowhere -- but I'm so glad it did.

Hal and Madge have fallen in love. But Rosemary has been drinking straight from the bottle and wants to dance withHal horizontally. And feels him up to prove it. She makes a hot mess of herself at the picnic. Maybe life will give her break come the morning light.

There you have it. The same holiday mentioned in two classic films with Roz -- Auntie Mame and Picnic. You can have a holiday double feature starring Rosalind Russell and see Cliff Robertson's perky nipples in one of her films. Happy Labor Day.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

In The New York Times last Friday, there was a big ad in the Weekend Arts section for the movie Begin Again. The top of the ad read "As The Summer Ends, The Oscar Race Begins Again."

For me, the Oscar Race began before the summer when The Grand Budapest Hotel opened. I loved that movie