My most-read article of each series of posts

So, every once in a while, I check my blog stats. I think it’s important to keep up with your audience as that is a good way of knowing where to go next and how to outline your articles. Your fans are loyal for a reason and I like to give back as much as possible. And the other day, as my new series of posts debuted, I was curious to know what the most popular article in each of my previous series was – just for fun. So… what were they?

DOUBLE BILL: 5^th – Woman in the Window (1944) and Scarlet Street (1945) – This is a Fritz Lang, Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennet and Dan Dureya double bill that is somewhere in the cult bracket of the film noir canon. One of my favorite Double Bills to write.

COMEDY GOLD: 6^th – The maracas scene from Some Like It Hot (1959) – I am not surprised at all by this, as Some Like It Hot is clearly the funniest film ever made. Nuff said.

SCREENPLAY BY: Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon – From A Double Life (1947) to Adam’s Rib (1949), these two were responsible for some of Hollywood’s greatest screenplays. Everyone loves a power couple!

FAVORITE ANGRY MAN: 12^th (Juror 2) – Interestingly, Juror 2 has it! It’s most likely the first one that comes up in Google searches, due to algorithms, but I think it’s sweet that the most demure of the 12 Angry Men gets the attention he deserves.

WORLD CINEMA: Purple Noon (1960) – The first film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley is the most-read WORLD CINEMA post and again, I’m not surprised. Alain Delon’s ever-enduring popularity comes through here and rightly so.

I will be updating this list in the future to include the most popular ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES article. I wonder what it will be?

ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES: Notorious (1946)

Happy 2022… whatever’s left of it at this point, as we all slowly despair… But hey, let’s not dwell, because I’ve got a brand new series for you! That’s right, after DOUBLE BILL, in which I compared two films which, to the naked eye, have little in common, COMEDY GOLD, where I talked about some of my favorite funny moments, SCREENPLAY BY, in which screenwriters get the spotlight for once, FAVORITE ANGRY MEN, in which the 12 Angry Men are ranked in order of my preference, and WORLD CINEMA, where international movies are all the rage, I bring you ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES, which is exactly what it sounds like. I will showcase a film and give you three of my favorite quotes from it. Because who doesn’t love quoting quotes? First up, we have one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most romantic films, Notorious (1946), in which Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) infiltrates a ring of nazis to gather information, with the help of government agent T. R. Devlin (Cary Grant), as the two of them fall in love with each other… Things get complicated with Alicia decides to marry the leader of the organization, Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains)… Here we go!

1. ‘I’m very sorry you all have to go. It has been a perfectly heinous party.’ Alicia – This kind of sounds more like a screwball comedy type of line, and it’s wonderfully delivered by Bergman. The whole party scene is very tongue-in-cheek, indeed.
   
   
2. ‘Dry your eyes, baby, it’s out of character.’ Devlin to Alicia – This is the shift in Devlin and Alicia’s tumultuous love-hate relationship and one of the most acidic lines ever uttered in a film. It’s a soul-crushing moment, in which Devlin can’t contain his feelings anymore after Alicia tells him she’s going ahead with the plan to be with Alex Sebastian…
   
   
3. ‘I’m married to an American agent.’ Alex Sebastian to his mother (Leopoldine Konstatin) – I’ve always loved this line and Rains’ delivery. It’s such a great moment of realization and the stakes go up about 150%…

There you have it, folks! Stay tuned for next month’s ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES!