Fausterlitz

There seem to be at least three Best Picture winners among the "dishonorable mentions": Chariots of Fire, Out of Africa, and The English Patient. I suspect, though, that those may represent a relatively small number of actual voters (as do the mentions of, say, Dazed and Confused, Pulp Fiction, Fargo, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Until 2004, the awards voting was open to the general public, some of whom may have simply been seizing the opportunity to downvote a highly-praised film they felt was overrated, rather than necessarily having seen a massive number of films in any given year and carefully pondering which specific one was literally the worst. Not to say that Oscar voters are known for always being soberly judicious or unbiased in their own voting either, and the Stinkers (like its better-known spinoff, the Razzies) at least makes no pretense of being a serious exercise.

This 1839 self-portrait by photographer Robert Cornelius, often credited as the "world's first selfie," always reminds me of actor John Savage: And something about this Julia Margaret Cameron portrait of an unnamed Italian actor (as Shakespeare's Iago) makes me think of Oscar Isaac:

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Yes, that would actually have been my next clue! It's also interesting because she never went to college herself (after a brief first marriage at age 17, she immediately focused on establishing herself as an actress).

Yes, lavenderblue, you passed with flying colors (plus extra credit!) :-) Just for the record, the other facts I alluded to (but didn't ask for): the European country was Switzerland. Erich Maria Remarque reportedly had relationships with Dolores del Rio, Hedy Lamarr, and Marlene Dietrich. In 1958, he made a cameo appearance in the Douglas Sirk film A Time to Love and a Time to Die, based on his novel.

oops, sorry--didn't realize they actually had appeared in the same film (aka zero degrees of separation)!

hint: she moved to Europe to live with her fourth husband, by which time her second husband had already moved (coincidentally) to the same European country.

I'm not against them either, and sometimes they can even improve on a previous version (e.g., The Maltese Falcon). I just meant that if it was Obsorne's favorite film, he would likely have found any other version wanting. Didn't mean to suggest that everyone else should feel the same way. Also, as implied in my second paragraph, there may be certain aspects of the novel that the 1936 film was unable to include (either for length or censorship reasons), so the impulse to have another go at it could be at least partly motivated by that.

Let's hope not -- it was reportedly Robert Osborne's favorite film. Maybe they're interested in returning to Sinclair Lewis's original novel? (The screenplay was based on Sidney Howard's stage adaptation. Not sure what the significant differences or omissions are, compared to the novel.) Someone once turned it into a musical, believe it or not.

Steve Martin was in The Jerk (1979) with M. Emmet Walsh, who was in Slap Shot (1977) with Paul Newman. Next: Elizabeth Bracco (played Tony's sister on The Sopranos)

Thief (1981) -- dies in a hospital bed while talking to James Caan (and Tuesday Weld). Next: Steve Martin

Kyle Chandler was in Mulholland Falls (1996) with Melanie Griffith, who was in Nobody's Fool (1994) with Paul Newman. Next: Jean Harlow

Yes, I hadn't seen the film in many years and was pleasantly surprised by that, especially in the "Put Me to the Test" number. The choreography was probably more difficult than they were used to (and easier than what Astaire was used to!) but the net result is delightful, especially if you let go of any expectations of a typical Astaire routine and just enjoy it on its own terms. Dance critic Arlene Croce (who, like me, has mixed feelings about the film otherwise) agreed: "Burns and Allen are like ministering angels in this film; they're so needed and they're so good. Both danced well, and Gracie could even dance in character. Like Ginger Rogers she tap-danced without losing her femininity." I also enjoyed Montagu Love's performance as Lord Marshmorton.

Thanks, lavenderbue. CoraSmith, I should have waited for you to answer the second half of my question before proceeding (will do that next time). Let me know if my Paris/Marseille answer was correct. Thanks! :-)

Vertigo. It's based on the French novel D'entre les morts (literally "From Among the Dead," but usually translated as "The Living and the Dead'") by the writing team of Pierre Boileau and Pierre Ayraud, who went by the nom de plume of "Boileau-Narcejac." In the novel the main character (Roger Flavières) is a Parisian lawyer. Unlike in the Hitchcock film (where Scottie passes a woman on the street who reminds him of the dead Madeleine), Flavières sees a woman's face in a newsreel filmed in Marseille and so has to go there to find her. P. S. for anyone who wondered, the Bob Cummings film in the previous question was Saboteur (1942), with Norman Lloyd as the villain. (I'm sure you knew that, just completing the answer.) :-)

Angela Lansbury appeared in Gaslight (1944) with Charles Boyer, and in Mary Poppins Returns (2018) with Emily Blunt. (74 years later!) Next: Bette Davis and Christoph Waltz

Yes, exactly. Mason and his wife Pamela bought the famously ornate "Italian Villa" in 1949, although by that time Keaton hadn't lived there for 17 years. They converted what had been Keaton's film-editing room into a tool shed. While rummaging around one day, Mason found prints of several Keaton films stuffed into a safe. Exactly what happened after that seems to be a matter of some debate. One source states that when Keaton showed up on his doorstep and tried to claim the films, Mason refused, instead donating them to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (apparently because he doubted Keaton had the money and skill to properly restore them himself), and that Keaton later referred to this event as the "crowning indignity" of his life. Another source says that Mason notified film collector Raymond Rohauer of the films and gave them directly to him. (It's possible that both sources are correct, and that Rohauer only entered the picture years later, which would make more chronological sense.) In any case, Mason certainly deserves credit for taking the situation seriously, and possibly saving several films (or at least decent prints of them) from disappearing entirely. Nice work, Peebs, and your turn. :-)

Thanks, lavenderblue. I forgot about Ball of Fire, which in some ways was also an atypically gentle role for him. Next: This actress began her stage career as a Ziegfeld Girl, but spent her last years (after her film career had largely ended) as a wealthy socialite. She was once nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress, although possibly her best-known role was in a silent film. Among many other roles, her third husband once starred in a famous Twilight Zone episode. She made three movies with him, one of which was directed by a famous foreign film director. Her fourth husband was the author of a novel that became an Oscar-winning Best Picture. (Before their marriage, he had previously had relationships with at least three other famous actresses. He also made a cameo appearance in a film based on one of his other novels.) Name the actress, her Oscar-nominated role, her third and fourth husbands, and the foreign film director. (Extra credit: name her second husband--he was kinda famous, too.)

I believe you're looking for the Austrian character actor Oskar Homolka (1898-1978) and his fourth wife, actress Joan Tetzel (1921-1977). Homolka had an extensive stage career in Germany before coming to the U. S. (and also claimed to have appeared in at least 30 silent German films). His best-known early film role in English was in Hitchcock's Sabotage (1936) (where his death at the hands of Sylvia Sydney, shown below, seems nearly as much of a surprise to her as it does to him), and he was Oscar-nominated for his atypically avuncular role in I Remember Mama (1948). He was more often cast as villains, spies, or Soviet officials, especially as he aged and his thick eyebrows gave him a certain resemblance to Leonid Brezhnev. Among his other well-known films are The Seven-Year Itch (1955) and War and Peace (1956). He appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes "Reward to Finder," "The Ikon of Elijah," and "The Hero." Joan Tetzel was born in New York City and had most of her career on the Broadway and London stage (including playing Nurse Ratchett in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" on Broadway). Her best-known films were probably Duel in the Sun (1946) and Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (1947), both with Gregory Peck. She also appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Guest for Breakfast."

The Letter (1940) Love Letters (1945) Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)

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Next: Buster Keaton owes the survival of several of his best-known feature films (plus a few shorts) to what other well-known actor, and why?

Abbe Lane was in The Wanderers with Peter Ustinov, who was in Evil Under the Sun with James Mason, who was in The Verdict with Paul Newman. Next: Vilma Banky

Order Order Out of Order (2019)

Walter Connolly Next: C.W.