What Dreams May Come 1998

     Chris and Annie meet when their boats collide on a lake in Switzerland.  They get married and they have two children but they are killed in an auto accident.  Chris is able to separate himself from his loss and pain but Annie has a breakdown.  She is hospitalized and Chris helps her to heal through art painting.  Annie heals and they return to their lives despite their continuing pain.  Chris is doing an errand for Annie and he is killed in an auto accident.  This time Annie has an even greater breakdown and she sinks into despair.  Chris has gone to the next world and it contains stunning events and visuals.

     This film is divided into two halves, the life before the death of Chris and the life after.  There are heartbreaking moments in the first section but they recover.  The life after Chris dies is full of fantasy and another section of heartbreak.  I’m not sure I believe the fantasy because it seems to contain the afterlife events contained in every religion?  3* (This movie is OK)

113 min, Drama directed by Vincent Ward with Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Annabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow, Jessica Brooks Grant, Josh Paddock, Rosalind Chao, Lucinda Jenney, Maggie McCarthy, Wilma Bonet.

Note:  Imdb 7.0 out of 10, 54% critic 85% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in several California locations plus Montana and Venezuela.  Some later scenes were filmed on the rusted Essex class aircraft carrier USS Oriskany DV-34.  In 2006, the ship was sunk to create an artificial reef.

Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta) 1992:

     The setting of this film is in the 1930’s during the era of air pirates, bounty hunters and aviators ruling the sky in Italy.  Porco Rosso is a former ace pilot from WWI but now he flies contract jobs.  He makes a living in rescuing people kidnapped by the air bandits preying on cruise ships sailing the Adriatic.  He has a rival in Donald Curtis who is working for the bandits.  They compliment each other since they are both in the same business and they both enjoy the company of women.  Porco is at a disadvantage because a spell was cast on him and he has been turned into a pig-man.

      I missed the more recent style of animation with the hair of the character flowing in the wind.  That is my favorite part of Studio Ghibli productions.  These characters and the story are interesting.  Especially the main female characters, Gina, the hotel owner and Fio, the young engineer.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

94 min, Animation directed by Hayao Miyazaki with the voices of Michael Keaton, Susan Egan, David Ogden Stiers, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Cary Elwes, Brad Garrett, Bill Fagerbakke, Kevin Michael Richardson.

Note:  Imdb 7.8 out of 10, 94% critic 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 241 reviews.

Special Note:  Miyazaki is an independent agent and he isn't a member of the Japanese Anime Industry or the Hollywood/Disney franchise.  This feeling is blended into the life of Porco.  Miyazaki and Ysauyoshi Tikuma founded their Studio Ghibli in 1985.

Calvary 2014

     Father James is trying to maintain his regular weekly routines as a small-town priest in Ireland.  His Sunday confessionals featured a man who threatened to kill him by next Sunday.  He doesn’t know who the man was but he said a Priest started to molest him from the age of seven.  This priest is dead but it doesn’t show anything to kill a bad priest.  It makes a statement to kill a good priest!!  Unfortunately, Father James is hit with a log of spiritual challenges this week while he mentally tries to prepare himself for his possible death!!

     I couldn’t get into this film?  There are too many characters that didn’t mean anything to me?  I wasn’t sure whether this threat was real and if it would actually be carried out?  It seemed too much brain work on my part to try to figure out who was in the confessional?  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

102 min, Drama directed by John Michael McDonagh with Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach De Bankole, M. Emmet Walsh, Marie-Josee Croze, Domhnall Gleeson, David Wilmot, Pat Shortt, Gary Lydon, Killian Scott.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 89% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Ireland.

Punchline 1988

     Steven Gold is attending medical school during the day and he’s a stand-up comedian in the evenings.  He out of money and he doesn’t have enough time to study for his classes.  He does his act at the Gas Station, a New York comedy club.  Everyone is working for low wages but hoping for a big break.  Lilah Krytsick is a housewife but she wants to do stand-up.  Steven notices her and he starts to help her with her act.  A TV station comes to the club and Steven remembers he needs to think only about his success. 

     I could not get interested in this film.  It’s just one joke after another but it gets old and not funny quickly.  It’s dated and I can’t say anything good about it?  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

128 min, Comedy directed by David Seltzer with Sally Field, Tom Hanks, John Goodman, Mark Rydell, Kim Greist, Paul Mazursky, Pam Matteson, George Mcgrath, Taylor Negron, Barry Neikrug, Angel Salazar.

Note:  Imdb 5.8 out of 10, 50% critic 42% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 36 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Burbank, California.  The estimated budget was $15,000,000 and the gross was $21,032,267 in the US.  Sally Field was an uncredited producer.  Tom Hanks was 32 years old at the time of release and Sally Field was 42.

To Write Love on Her Arms 2010

      Renee has always loved fairy tales and she has a very colorful imagination.  When she was a child, she had a lot of nightmares and her mother encouraged her to use her imagination differently.  Create butterflies and growing grass instead of scary things.  Renee had two good friends in high school and they shut out the world together.  They went to a party and Renee didn’t want to leave but they did.  What happened later changed her life and she fell into addictions.  Drugs, alcohol, depression and self-injury.  Renee calls her friends for help and they introduce her to someone who can help.  He is another person with the same battles but one who has conquered the darker side.  She gets clean for five days with their help and then she goes into a rehab program for six months.

     Renee has bipolar disorder and prescribed medication did help her with coping until she went off the rails.  This is a good story and I’m surprised about the low reviews.  You can see and feel Renee’s pain plus that of her parents and friends.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

118 min, Bio directed by Nathan Frankowski with Kat Dennings, Chad Michael Murray, Rupert Friend, Mark Saul, Juliana Harkavy.

Note:  Imdb 6.6 out of 10, 17% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 65 reviews.  

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Orlando, Florida.  Kat Dennings is also Darcy Lewis in the Thor films.  Chad Michael Murray is also Jack Thompson in Agent Carter.  The original title was Renee.  There is a web site twloha.com with information about this movement dedicated to hope.

The Letter Writer 2011

     Maggy Fuller receives an encouraging letter in the mail but she doesn’t know the person who sent it.  She asks her parents but they don’t know.  She goes to the Post Office and one of the workers sends her to a nearby retirement home.  She meets Sam Worthington, he wrote her the letter even though he doesn’t know her personally.  He has made it his life’s work in his later years to send letters to strangers and also to give notes to strangers.  He once had harsh words with someone who later died.  He can’t say he’s sorry to this person so he reaches out to other people.

     This is a simple and sincere movie about a troubled teen girl.  Her parents are divorced and her mom works hard as a waitress.  Maggy only cares about her boyfriend and their band.  Through Sam and the other residents of the retirement home, she begins to expand her world.  She realizes the person she is and the people who care about her are more important.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)  

85 min, TV Movie directed by Christian Vuissa with Aley Underwood, Bernie Diamond, Pam Eichner, Stella McComas, Kylee Thurman, James Gaisford, Nicholas Neve, Curt Doussett, Tonia Freeman Doussett.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 64% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.8* out of 5* with 148 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in just 17 days of shooting by a crew of fifteen people.  Aley and Pam also played daughter/mother in the film One Good Man.

Bob the Butler 2005

     Bob Tree lives in Canada and he has gone through the yellow pages alphabetically to choose jobs.  He gets fired a lot so he needs a plan for moving on quickly.  He has worked through the A’s and now he’s into the B’s.  He was a babysitter and now he is going through training to be a butler.  He gets an emergency babysitting call from Anne Jamieson.  She is working on setting the entire world in order but starting first with her job and her home.  She has two children, Tess and Bates.  They have been through a lot of babysitters and they usually don’t stay very long.  In fact they leave quickly.  Bob Tree seems to be having better luck.

     This is a family friendly and funny movie that is a different course for Tom Green.  He begins to change a very busy mom and shows her a different path.  I like his little pet hamster, Bob is not supposed to have a pet but he does.  The little hamster gets into adventures too.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

90 min, Comedy directed by Gary Sinyor with Brooke Shields, Tom Green III, Genevieve Buechner, Benjamin B. Smith, Rob LaBelle, Valerie Tian, Simon Callow, Iris Graham, Delores Drake, Bill Chandler, Jonathan Ndukwe.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, 43% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 47 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Aldergrove and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E 2015

     The setting of this film is the Cold War of the 1960’s.  Napoleon Solo was offered a deal, become a CIA agent or go to prison?  His assignment is to help Gaby Teller defect to West Germany in spite of the efforts of KGB agent Illya Kuryakin.  Later, the three team up on a mission to stop a private criminal organization from activating a nuclear bomb.  Gaby’s father has the scientific skills to accomplish to construct and arm a bomb.  Napoleon gets on good terms with Victoria, the brains behind this operation.  Gaby pushes to meet with her father to find out where the bomb is located.  Illya is working with her and he is supposed to be her fiancé.

     I saw this in a theater and I thought it was good.  There is plenty of action, snappy dialogue, good character development and a good story.  This is entirely different from the TV series that ran from 9/22/64 to 1/15/68.  I recently watched one episode and it was surprisingly low budget.  The movie was filmed in the United Kingdom and Italy with an estimated budget of $75,000,000.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

116 min, Action directed by Guy Ritchie with Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, Sylvester Groth, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris, Christian Berkel, Misha Kuznetsov, Guy Williams.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 67% critic 80% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Metascore 55 with 40 reviews, 7.8 with 117 ratings.

Special Note:  U.N.C.L.E. stands for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.  Their opponent in the TV series was Thrush, The Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.  My favorite quote is from Hugh Grant, “For a special agent, you are not having a very special day?  Grant has a small role and he will be 55 in September but he is looking slightly old?  

Unbroken 2014

     This film is adapted from a book by Laura Hillenbrand, she is also the author of Sea Biscuit.  Louis Zamperini was an Olympic athlete and he joined the armed forces during WWII.  After his plane went down, he was one of three men stranded in a lifeboat at sea for 47 days.  One of the men died and the Japanese navy took the other two prisoners.  They were taken to a prisoner-of-war camp and treated as enemies of Japan.

     This is a difficult movie to watch and there was one section where I had to leave the room and could not continue until the story moved forward.  There is more to the story because this is just the portion of his life prior to and during the war.  He lived to be 97 years old so this film just covers the years between 1941 and 1945.  Just a few sentences at the end of the film describe his remaining 69 years.  3* (This movie is OK)

137 min, Bio directed by Angelina Jolie with Jack O’Connell, Miyavi, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund, Finn Wittrock, Jai Courtney, Maddalena Ischiale, Vincenzo Amato, John Magaro, Luke Treadaway, Louis McIntosh, Ross Anderson.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 51% critic 71% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 1/2*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in several locations in Australia.  The actors dieted for months to have the appearance of extreme depletion.

Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death 2008

     The home at #62 West Wallaby Street has been converted to a granary with ovens, robotic kneading arms and huge mixing bowls.  There is an old fashioned windmill on the roof with the words, patent-pending.  The business at Top Bun is booming, they have a delivery van and they take the bread to their customers.  There is a minor problem.  Wallace is not worried but Gromit is very concerned.  Twelve local bakers have disappeared this year?  Wallace is too distracted to worry because he has met Bake-O-Lite bread girl Piella Bakewell.  He thinks she may be ‘the one!’  Gromit is a little bit happy because Piella has a very nice little French poodle named Fluffles. 

     This is so funny!!  Gromit is a VERY smart dog!!  I would also say that he is smarter than Wallace.  Piella is an unusual woman too!!  It seems convenient that she would like a baker with the word pie in her name??  Fluffles is sweet and she has long fluttery eyelashes.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

30 min, Animation directed by Nick Park with the voices of Peter Sallis, Sally Lindsay, Melissa Collier, Sarah Laborde.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 76% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.7* out of 5* with 119 reviews.

Special Note:  The DVD says the running time is 87 minutes but this episode is actually only 30 minutes.  The ‘making’ segment adds to the minutes plus a Shaun the Sheep episode.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Bristol, England.  Gromit reads a book called Electronic Surveillance for Dogs.  Previously, he read Electronics for Dogs in The Wrong Trousers.  A very smart dog indeed!!

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water 2015

     Krusty Krab and Plankton get into a fight over the secret formula for Krabby patties.  The formula suddenly disappears and all of the residents of Bikini Bottom are going crazy without the Krabby patties.  Everyone believes that SpongeBob and Plankton worked together to steal the formula.  They really don’t have the formula and they team up to make a time machine to go back in time and get the formula back.  Bikini Bottom turns into post-apocalyptic chaos without hope until SpongeBob smells Krabby patties.  They follow their noses to the edge of the water.

     It has been eleven years since the last SpongeBob movie.  The rating for this film says action and rude humor.  There is plenty of rude humor!!  Some of the scenes are hilarious.  Antonio Banderas is almost unrecognizable as a pirate with long hair and a long beard.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

92 min, Animation directed by Paul Tibbitt with the Antonio Banderas and the voices of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Doug and Carolyn Lawrence, Jill Talley, Clancy Brown.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10, 78% critic 55% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 722 reviews.

Welcome to Me 2014

     Alice Klieg lives in Palm Desert, California.  She has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and she’s seeing a therapist.  She wins the lottery and now she has $86 million dollars!!  She quits her psychiatric medications and she wants to have a talk show like Oprah.  She has recorded every televised showing of Oprah and her television has not been turned off in 11 years?  Alice makes a deal with a television company to have her own daily talk show and she writes a check for $15 million dollars.  She talks on camera about everything she’s thinking and her painful past experiences.  She also has cooking segments of unusual dishes?

     How not to spend millions of dollars!!  This film is different and good but the editing needs to be sharper.  There are too many of the television scenes and we can get the point quickly!!  I thought there was ambiguity over money at the end between Alice and her best friend Gina?  Is the conclusion real or just a ‘fun’ part of the television show?  3* (This movie is OK)

87 min, Comedy directed by Shira Piven with Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, Wes Bentley, Joan Cusack, Loretta Devine, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Thomas Mann, Tim Robbins.

Note:  Imdb 5.9 out of 10, 71% critic 48% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*.

Special Note:  The director Shira Piven is the sister of Jeremy Piven.  Joyce Piven, the actress playing the mother of Kristen Wiig is the real mother of Shira and Jeremy!

A Most Violent Year 2014

     The setting of this film is New York City during the winter of 1981.  This year was one of the most violent crime years in the history of the city.  Abel Morales and his wife Anna are working hard to expand their business of home heating oil delivery.  They have made an offer on a property at the port for easier supply of the heating oil.  He has a set amount of time to come up with the money or he will lose the property and also the down payment.  He has his backers lined up but they start to fold.  The company has had several truck hijacks with the driver pulled out of the truck and the oil sold to another company.  Abel can’t find out who is behind these thefts.

     The basics are solid in this film but there is poor delivery.  The running time is too long, the story is told very slowly and how can viewers really get interested in the home heating oil business?  Gambling, money laundering, racketeering, as in the Soprano series is interesting.  The cover business of trash hauling was not interesting and that was not the feature.  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

125 min, Action directed by J.C. Chandor with Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Christopher Abbott, Matthew Maher, Albert Brooks, Jerry Adler, Quinn Meyers.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 90% critic 69% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*.

Special Note:  The role of the attorney played by Albert Brooks was originally written for Stanley Tucci.  

The Bridge (Die Brucke) 1959

     All the German boys in the village of draft age receive their notices.  Their parents cannot believe they have been drafted since they are teenagers still in high school?  The time period is WWII during the last months of fighting between the Germans and Allied Forces.  After their training sessions, a German officer places them on guard duty for a bridge.  He thinks this will be a safe assignment and they will be able to handle the job.  They see trucks are driving quickly across the bridge by seasoned German troops racing away from the Allies.  The boys really believe they can hold this bridge when several American tanks appear heading for the bridge.

     The boys don’t know what they’ve gotten themselves into when they begin battle with the tanks.  They also don’t know the other soldiers are fleeing because Germany has already lost.  They are holding this bridge at the risk of their lives but how can this stance make any difference at this point in the war?  This is difficult to watch during the scenes of fighting.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

103 min, War directed by Bernhard Wicki with Folker Bohnet, Fritz Wepper, Michael Hinz, Frank Glaubrecht, Karl Michael Balzer, Volker Lechtenbrink, Gunther Hoffmann, Cordula Tantow, Wolfgang Stumpf, Gunter Pfitzmann, Heinz Spitzner.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 100% critic 85% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 50 reviews.

Special Note:  This film was also released in 1998 and 2015.

Another Woman 1988

     Marion Post is married to Ken, this is her second marriage and she is about to turn fifty.  She is a well-respected Dean of Philosophy at a women’s college and she is on sabbatical to write another book.  Ken is a physician, Marion doesn’t have any children and Ken has Laura, his daughter from a previous marriage.  Marion’s first husband died from a mixture of alcohol and pills fourteen years ago.  She doesn’t believe it was a suicide but an accident.  Laura and Marion have a good relationship.  Laura’s mother has a volatile personality and Laura doesn’t have much of a relationship with Ken.  Marion and Ken have a lot of friends they get together with regularly to socialize.  Because of the upcoming milestone birthday and some incidents with people in her life, Marion wonders if she made the right decisions in her life? 

     This is a Woody Allen movie and of course the subjects are entanglements in relationships, marriages and friendships.  I thought this was interesting and good.  The characters and dramas are well developed with some surprises.  I could tell from the picture on the DVD cover that this film is related to the style of Ingmar Bergman.  The specific film is Wild Strawberries, Imdb 8.3 released in 1957.  A professor confronts the emptiness of the life he has lived.   3 ½* (I liked this movie)

81 min, Drama directed by Woody Allen with Gena Rowlands, Mia Farrow, Ian Holm, Blythe Danner, Gene Hackman, Betty buckley, Martha Plimpton, John Houseman, Sandy Dennis, Philip Bosco, Harris Yulin, Frances Conroy.

Note:  Imdb 7.4 out of 10, 65% critic 76% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Alpine, New Jersey and in Manhattan, New York.  This is the first out of four collaborations between Allen and Bergman's preferred cinematographer, Sven Mykvist.

The Gambler 2014

     There are two sides to Jim Bennett, he’s an English professor by day and a high-stakes gambler by night.  He is in debt for $240,000 and he has seven days to get the money or else!!  He does get the money from his wealthy mother but the price is the end of their relationship.  For him, this is just collateral damage!!  What does he do with this money?  Of course, he gambles it away!!  Then he borrows money from people who would almost rather kill him than get their money back?

     Jim Bennett is in denial about his addiction to gambling!!  He’s not very good at winning but very good at losing.  He’s not very good as a teacher either.  He’s just floating though his life and nothing really causes him to notice.  The only thing he really does well is borrow from Peter to pay Paul. This movie had potential but it gambles it away.  Jim Bennett is a sad sack with the same expression from the beginning to the end.  2* (I didn't like this movie)

 111 min, Crime directed by Rupert Wyatt with Mark Wahlberg, George Kennedy, Griffin Cleveland, Jessica Lange, Brie Larson, Michael Kenneth Williams.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10, 46% critic 32% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*.

Special Note:  This film is a remake of a 1974 film with James Caan, Imdb 7.4.

Happy Accidents 2000

     Ruby Weaver is not very lucky when it comes to relationships with men.  She wants to change them, fix them and this means she becomes stuck with losers.  Her girlfriends keep a box of pictures of the rejected losers dated by their group.  When Ruby meets Sam Deed in the park, she thinks he is different.  Surprisingly, he goes out of his way to return a book she left on the park bench.  He has recently arrived in New York from Dubuque, Iowa.  Ruby is seeing a therapist and she tells Maggie Ann everything about her life and her relationships.  The main subject recently has been Sam.  He says he’s from the future and he has traveled back from May 8, 2439.  Ruby doesn’t know whether to believe what he says but she wants to keep him because she may be able to ‘fix’ him?  Sam has some other odd things about him other than his future story.  He’s afraid of small dogs and he has a barcode tattooed on his arm.  Sam agrees to pay a visit to talk to Maggie Ann, Ruby’s therapist.

     I didn’t believe a word Sam said!!  I could not believe anyone hearing his story would not take him to a mental hospital?  Sam and Ruby seem right for each other only because she thinks his story could be ‘true?’  I can’t give too many details away but there are a lot of ‘quirky’ happenings in this happy accident!!  3* (This movie is OK)

110 min, Romance directed by Brad Anderson with Marisa Tomei, Vincent D’Onofrio, Nadia Dajani, Holland Taylor, Sean Gullette, Bronson Dudley.

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10, 72% critic 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed in Connecticut.  The director, Brad Anderson's aunt plays Maggie Ann.  Sam Rockwell was originally cast as Sam Deed but he appeared in Galaxy Quest released in 1999 instead. 

The Last of the Belles 1974

     This film is based on a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and it is a semi-fictional telling of how he met his wife.  He was in the army and stationed in Alabama in 1919.  His real life story and his fictional work are mixed together in telling about a soldier meeting a Southern girl.

      Not very good as you can tell by the 0% rating by the audience on Rotten Tomatoes!  There is a lot of drama but you don’t really care about the characters so all this drama doesn’t matter.  They are just rich people living way above their means to keep people thinking they are rich?  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

98 min, TV Movie, Bio directed by George Schaefer with Richard Chamberlain, Blythe Danner, Susan Sarandon, David Huffman, Ernest Thompson, Richard Hatch, James Naughton, Albert Stratton.

Note:  Imdb 5.7 out of 10, 0% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 2.5* out of 5* with 35 reviews.

Anne of Green Gables 1934

      This film is adapted from a novel in a series by Lucy Maude Montgomery.  The setting is the year of 1908, Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla live on a farm on Prince Edward Island, Canada.  They have asked to adopt a boy and Matthew has gone to the train station to pick him up.  Matthew would like a boy to help him with the farm work.  There is a surprise when he gets to the station, there is a girl instead of a boy and she is very talkative.  Matthew doesn’t know what Marilla is going to say or do when she sees him arrive home with a girl?  Matthew says he can hire a boy to help him and Marilla may find the girl to be good company.  Marilla decides to see if Mrs. Blewett would like the girl to help her with her children.  This doesn’t work out at all and Marilla says she would not leave a dog she liked at Mrs. Blewett’s house!!  Matthew, Marilla and everyone in the village grow to love Anne Shirley.

     I thought this was interesting and enjoyable.  Marilla likes everything just so in her home and Anne manages to get a trouble all the time.  She gets into trouble her first day at school too.  Children in this time period had chores like churning milk into butter.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

78 min, Comedy directed by George Nichols Jr. with Anne Shirley, Tom Brown, O.P. Heggie, Helen Westley, Sara Haden Murray Kinnell, Gertrude Messinger, Charley Grapewin, Hilda Vaughn, June Preston.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 78% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.0* out of 5* with 49 reviews.

Special Note:  Actress Anne Shirley was born in 1918 and she died in 1993.  She changed her name from Dawn Evelyeen Paris to Anne Shirley because she liked this name much better.  She had several other names before legally changing her name at the age of 16.