Holland-Taylor Movie Reviews

The young and beautiful unmarried Polly Parish (Ginger Rogers) finds herself in just such a comical situation when one day she passes a orphanage and sees a woman leaving a baby on the stairs. Before she can stop the woman, she finds herself picking up the baby for fear it will roll off the steps. The door opens and everyone assumes this is her baby. Frustrated, she leaves and won't assume responsibility for the child. Later the baby is returned to her and she takes a liking to the cute little bundle of fun.

On the same day she is fired from her department store job and this makes everyone believe she has had to give up her child due to her job loss. Of course, it gets even more comical when everyone assumes the department store owner (David Niven) is the father.

If I tell you too much about this movie, it will simply spoil the plot. It is similar to a comedy of errors in which everyone makes the wrong assumptions and takes action on what they consider to be the facts.

I really had great fun watching this movie, although seeing such a cute baby in this movie started to get the maternal clock ticking again.

It is interesting to note that Ginger Rogers "at first" refused to appear in this movie, however she was somehow convinced to play the part. This was one of her early attempts at doing straight comedy.

Quite a lovely classic comedy.

Ginger Rogers is a store clerk who happens to see a woman leaving a baby at the door of a church. She rushes forward to tell the woman not to do such a thing when suddenly the woman flees and the door opens. Ginger is assumed to be the mother of the baby and the priest insists that she keeps the child. And from there the story springs.

The Church, in their role of helping, interferes at the store to make sure Ginger keeps her job so that she can raise the child. This brings her to the attention of her boss. Fascination and romance follow.

Ginger is like a rider on a roller coaster. She can not get off or change things. She must hold on as best she can until the ride ends.

This movie is wonderful and delightful, but only really works if one accepts the innocent nature of films of the day. Ginger is accused of having a baby. Even the people she has worked with every day believe it. All this despite that fact that in the movie Ginger has a waist of about sixteen inches and there is no way she could have been pregnant without everyone seeing her condition. But that aside, it is a truly wonderful film.

The young and beautiful unmarried Polly Parish (Ginger Rogers) finds herself in just such a comical situation when one day she passes a orphanage and sees a woman leaving a baby on the stairs. Before she can stop the woman, she finds herself picking up the baby for fear it will roll off the steps. The door opens and everyone assumes this is her baby. Frustrated, she leaves and won't assume responsibility for the child. Later the baby is returned to her and she takes a liking to the cute little bundle of fun.

On the same day she is fired from her department store job and this makes everyone believe she has had to give up her child due to her job loss. Of course, it gets even more comical when everyone assumes the department store owner (David Niven) is the father.

If I tell you too much about this movie, it will simply spoil the plot. It is similar to a comedy of errors in which everyone makes the wrong assumptions and takes action on what they consider to be the facts.

I really had great fun watching this movie, although seeing such a cute baby in this movie started to get the maternal clock ticking again.

It is interesting to note that Ginger Rogers "at first" refused to appear in this movie, however she was somehow convinced to play the part. This was one of her early attempts at doing straight comedy.

Quite a lovely classic comedy.

Ginger Rogers is a store clerk who happens to see a woman leaving a baby at the door of a church. She rushes forward to tell the woman not to do such a thing when suddenly the woman flees and the door opens. Ginger is assumed to be the mother of the baby and the priest insists that she keeps the child. And from there the story springs.

The Church, in their role of helping, interferes at the store to make sure Ginger keeps her job so that she can raise the child. This brings her to the attention of her boss. Fascination and romance follow.

Ginger is like a rider on a roller coaster. She can not get off or change things. She must hold on as best she can until the ride ends.

This movie is wonderful and delightful, but only really works if one accepts the innocent nature of films of the day. Ginger is accused of having a baby. Even the people she has worked with every day believe it. All this despite that fact that in the movie Ginger has a waist of about sixteen inches and there is no way she could have been pregnant without everyone seeing her condition. But that aside, it is a truly wonderful film.

Happy Accidents was by turns funny, endearing and suspenseful. I won't spoil the ending, but suffice it to say it all fit together well.

This is a fun comedy. The leads are terrific and the supporting cast is flawless. DVD features are minimal, but the commentary with writer-director Anderson and star D'Onofrio is entertaining. Subtitles are also available in Spanish, and that's about it.

Great date film.

New York novelist Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) writes these grand adventure stories for women with heroines who always seem to meet that perfect adventure minded hero she can not. When her sister is kidnapped in Columbia she attempts to ransom her with a treasure map to a fabled green jewel. In doing so, she enlists the aid of real action adventurer Jack 'Trustworthy' Colton (Michael Douglas). But Jack isn't quite like the heroes of her books!

Douglas is terrific as the crude and jaded 'hero' and con man who really wants that map! The trouble is, so does his rival Ralph. Danny DeVito is very funny as the all so slimy Ralph, who will stop at nothing to get that map. Jack may really want it, but Ralph really, really wants it! Add the very sexy Turner into the mix, sprinkle in a dash of romance, and you have a very entertaining film for everybody.

Though this movie was actually filmed in Mexico you'd never know it. The jungles are lush and wondrous, a veritable cornucopia of tropical beauty. Turner is gorgeous, Douglas is rugged, and DeVito is, well, DeVito in this really fun film. There is a great "feel" to this film we don't get anymore at the movies. The only thing you need to beware of when buying this one is the bad guys and the Crocs!

The director was Robert Zemeckis and the screenwriting was handled by Diane Thomas. Neither one repeated for the sequel, THE JEWEL OF THE NILE, which was not quite as good in my opinion.

ROMANCING THE STONE received only one Oscar nomination and that was for Best Editing. I was surprised because I thought it was one of the most entertaining movies I ever saw. The big winner of Oscars in 1984 was AMADEUS.

Diane Thomas received a Writers Guild of America Award for her work on ROMANCING THE STONE. Ten years later Robert Zemeckis finally won a Best Director Oscar for FORREST GUMP.

Friendship, love, spontaneity, spirituality and fun mix with religion, tradition, duty, and ritual. How Stiller, a rabbi, Norton, an Irish Catholic priest, and Elfman, an Irish Catholic gal struggle to balance these is a joy. The supporting cast is terrific also, especially Anne Bancroft as Stiller's mom.

It is brilliant how such serious issues can be dealt with in such a light hearted and comical way. The fine soundtrack also compliments the movie. One standout tune is "Heart of Mine," sung by Peter Salett at the end of the film.

Being set in Manhattan, the film has additional appeal to anyone who has ever lived there.