Sophia Loren on Netflix

This Oscar-winning international film great and I share a birthday. My late mom used to say to me every year, "You and Sophia Loren -- born on the same day, September 20th!" My parents, Mom especially, adored Sophia Loren.     

I vividly and happily recall being a little boy, sitting in the back seat of our Plymouth, hearing my parents hearty laughter as Sophia Loren did a striptease for Marcello Mastroianni in De Sica's YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW, one of the many films we saw at the drive-in movies in Los Angeles.

During the actress' long marriage to film producer Carlo Ponti, the entertainment news reported that Loren had trouble holding a pregnancy. The couple had no children. One Sunday as we went to church, Mom said "We're going to light a candle and pray that Sophia Loren can have children." That's how much a fan my mother was. And, yes, I did say Hail Marys after we lit the candle at church. Loren won the Best Actress Oscar for her gripping performance as an Italian widow with a daughter surviving World War 2 in 1963's TWO WOMEN, also directed by Vittorio De Sica.

Sophia Loren, now in her 80s, has returned to the screen in a full-length feature now on Netflix. THE LIFE AHEAD was directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti. There's a spirit of De Sica's love for the working class and disenfranchised in Ponti's direction. 

Sophia Loren's strength and power and charisma as a movie star have not dimmed. The actress delivers the goods in this feature. She plays Madame Rosa, a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor who now acts as sort of a guardian to the children of young hookers. Madame Rosa is still street smart. She can be kind, manipulative and a fairly immovable object when it comes to wanting her way. Loren, at times, holds herself with a majesty that suggests someone who was fully aware how her looks and sexual appeal could mean financial survival. The eyes, lined but not overdone with make-up, are expressive and have a worldly-wise glamour. The lips are full and attractive. Loren with her fabulous face and figure was an arresting screen beauty. But, in Loren's career, she treated the face and figure as great assets to help her art. They were gifts from heaven that she used wisely and with heart. Her main focus was the art of acting. Because of that, she can and has aged gracefully. Her career was not just about her looks.

This is the story of two opposites thrown together who have more in common than they realize. Rosa becomes the guardian to a bitter street kid, a Senegalese immigrant, who stole from her and sells drugs. Both know the streets and both live partially in a dream state. He notices there are times when Madame Rosa wanders through the apartment like a ghost. He, at night, dreams of a lioness. The more the boy learns about Madame Rosa, the more he learns about himself. Eventually, he becomes her protector. His name of Momo and he is played terrifically by young Ibrahima Gueye. Director Ponti draws a natural, excellent performance from him. He and \Sophia Loren shine together. This feature runs about 90 minutes and is worth watching. I loved it. Edoardo Ponti presents his movie star mother in very fine form. The actress can still amaze you. Here's a clip from THE LIFE AHEAD now on Netflix with English subtitles.

Brava, Sophia Loren! This story was done previously Fellow Best Actress Oscar winner Simone Signoret, another actress my mother adored, starred in the 1978 film entitled MADAME ROSA. 

Tootie in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

 We made it through that grueling, extreme stress test called 2020. I'm positive I am not the only person who watched Vincente Minnelli's 1944 classic original movie musical, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, and wept when Judy Garland sang the poignant "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." Garland, playing Esther Smith, was the star of the film that introduced us to the Smith Family. We see the family over one year the lead into the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. Of the five children in the family, child actress Margaret O'Brien played the youngest one. She was called Tootie and O'Brien stole every scene that included her. Tootie is a feisty and lovable youngster.

 To me, Vincente Minnelli was a close to being a Civil Rights activist in the MGM stable of film directors that one could hope to find. He presented Black actors in respectable roles that wouldn't make Black moviegoers cringe when watching them onscreen. His directorial debut was making the 1943 film version of the Broadway musical comedy hit, CABIN IN THE SKY. His all-Black cast was headed by Ethel Waters, recreating her Broadway role, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and Lena Horne. His World War 2 love story, THE CLOCK, starred Garland (then Mrs. Vincente Minnelli) is her first dramatic. Especially in the film's final scene, we see a crowded Grand Central Station with relatives saying goodbye to their men in uniform. Unlike other Hollywood studio films made during the war, Minnelli shows us several Black men in uniform. We also see a Black wife and mother bidding a farewell to her military husband -- and he's an officer. Seeing those Black GI's was so significant to be because they represented photos in our family scrapbook of my father when he served in WW2 and friends of family who also served. In my teen years, I saw Gene Kelly in a TV interview tell how Vincente Minnelli and held their ground and got their artistic way when they wanted dozens of Black background actors and the Nicholas Brothers in Minnelli's Judy Garland and Gene Kelly musical, 1948's THE PIRATE. They had to deal with MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer who, apparently, wasn't too keen on all that racial inclusion. But Minnelli and Kelly stressed that the story took place in a Caribbean village back in the days of pirates. Black people were plentiful in the Caribbean. There's a Black dancer in the "An American in Paris" ballet in Minnelli's Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1951, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.

There are no Black characters in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS and no Black background actors. However, there is a nod to racial inclusion. I have seen MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS countless times but I really noticed it last month when it aired on TCM two days before Christmas. 

 Esther hosts a summertime party at her house with her main goal being to get a kiss from "The Boy Next Door." Tootie, who should be in bed, sneaks downstairs to see the festivity. Esther brings her into the party. Her big brother, Lon, whispers into Tootie's ear. Tootie announces, "I can do the Cakewalk if Esther does it with me." Esther, of course, does and we see the two sisters do the Cakewalk in the charming "Under the Bamboo Tree" number.

The Cakewalk was a celebratory pre-Civil War dance created and originated by plantation slaves. It's from Black American culture. Eventually it made its way in the entertainment field. It was performed in vaudeville by Caucasian and Black performers such as Bert Williams. The dance grew so in popularity that New York City hosted a Grand Cakewalk event in 1892. In 1903, the Cake Walk was filmed with Black dancers performing it. Tootie has an awareness of Black culture and her family obviously knows it.

Near the end of the film comes the touching "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." There's heartbreak in the family when the lawyer dad announced he's being transferred to New York City and the family has to move a few days after Christmas. Esther has just becoming engage to the boy next door. Little Tootie's whole world is in St. Louis. She doesn't want to move. She doesn't want to leave all her toys and her friends.

Esther enters Tootie's room a few minutes into Christmas morning. Tootie, crying, sits at her window looking for Santa Claus and wondering if he'll be able to find her in New York City the next year. Esther sits to comfort her little sister. As Esther enters the room and removes her coat, look at the lower left hand corner of the frame. Tootie has a Black female doll that's very visible. The doll is not dressed as a mammy or a pickaninny. She's in a nice dress. 

That often-overlooked, tiny detail makes me smile. That, and Tootie's love of the Cakewalk, tell me something good about the girl. And they're more examples of Vincente Minnelli's respect for Black culture and Black images on film.

Johnny Cash and MY DARLING VIVIAN

 I finished rewrites for my part-time job and wanted to relax by watching something informative that's not getting lots of press. But should. I found the perfect thing. It's a 90 minute documentary, now available on Amazon Prime, called MY DARLING VIVIAN. It's about the first wife of famed singer Johnny Cash, the shy Catholic woman who bore him four daughters. Did you see the movie biopic about Johnny Cash and June Carter called WALK THE LINE? I paid to see that movie in theaters about three times. I loved the performances and I especially loved the script co-written by its director James Mangold. Seeing MY DARLING VIVIAN reminds you that movie biopics are entertainment with actors in them. They are not documentaries. In 2005's WALK THE LINE, Joaquin Phoenix played Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon won a Best Actress Oscar for playing June Carter Cash, Johnny's also famous second wife. Ginnifer Goodwin played Vivian Cash. Her Vivian was somewhat of a shrew. She was a controlling, annoying wife who seemed not to care at all about Johnny's ambitions and career. She wanted his constant, obedient attention and the financial benefits of his stardom for their house. This is not at all like the Vivian Cash you meet in this documentary. You'll understand why one daughter felt WALK THE LINE "did some damage" to her mother's memory and another daughter just refused to see it. Vivian Liberto was a very ladylike girl of Sicilian heritage in San Antonio, Texas. Her Catholic upbringing was strict, often leaving her to feel inferior. Then she met an 18 year old guy in the service and stationed in San Antonio. His name -- Johnny Cash. We see and hear excerpts from some of their many love letters. The daughters described their late mother as an "elegant" woman who "dressed beautifully" and was "exotic looking." 

The four grown daughters are Cindy, Kathy, Tara and singer Rosanne Cash. Each daughter is interviewed separately. None of them is in conflict with the others in the interviews. If anything, the siblings complement each other. MY DARLING VIVIAN is their love letter to their mother who, as one says, "faded into negative obscurity" after their parents divorced and he married June Carter.

 Johnny and Vivian Cash had a happy marriage. They married in 1954 in San Antonio and then moved to Memphis. In Memphis, they were so poor that she had a hard time purchasing groceries and had only two dresses. Come 1955, things changed. Johnny cut a record with Sam Phillips and his career was on the ascent. He and Vivian had a baby, but he had to get in his car and go on the road to other cities for music gigs. This was a new show biz practice -- going on the road. He was very concerned about leaving Vivian alone at home with a baby and she was concerned about being without Johnny.  In 1956, his TV appearances really kicked up his stardom. By the way, his song "Walk the Line" was written as a love song to Vivian. In 1958, they moved to Encino, California and that's when things started to fray in the marriage. Soon Johnny was very busy and very famous and going on the road even more. Vivian had no friends, no help in the house and four girls all under the age of 6. And Vivian still had to get accustomed to Johnny's country ways. He loved to bring stray animals home. One day, he brought home a little animal his daughters immediately loved as a pet. Then, one day, Johnny invited friends over for a barbecue. Tex Ritter, Patsy Cline and June Carter attended. His daughters were shaken when they couldn't find their pet and then discovered what was on the barbecue grill.

In 1963, Johnny Cash appeared at the Hollywood Bowl. June Carter was also on the bill. The daughters report there was friction between June and their mother. In 1965, when Cash got busted for buying pills in El Paso, things really began to come undone in the home. Rosanne said that drugs changed her dad's personality. Also, his road tours grew longer and he sometimes wouldn't keep in touch with Vivian. 

With this drama being enough for Vivian, more was on the way. She was a private, sweet person. When Johnny had a court date because of his El Paso arrest, she went to be by his side. She was photographed by newspaper reporters. She wore a dark fur coat and, with her dark Sicilian looks, it was erroneously reported that singer Johnny Cash had a Negro wife. The South went crazy. The KKK was after Johnny. A newspaper printed that she was "a Negress" and they had "four mongrelized children." Vivian got hate mail. She feared for the safety of their children. In 1966, Johnny Cash's representatives had to send out letters confirming that his wife was, indeed, Caucasian so he could get bookings in the South again.

The Johnny and Vivian Cash relationship could've inspired its own biopic. 

If you classic film fans ever saw the 1936 biopic, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, you know that Luise Rainer got one of her two Best Actress Oscars for playing the first wife of showman Florenz Ziegfeld. In the movie, Anna Held (Rainer) calls Flo to poignantly congratulate him on his second marriage. After the call, the maid asks why she divorced him if she still loved him. She tearfully replies that she thought filing for divorce would bring him back to her. The same thing applies to Vivian. She filed for divorce thinking it would make Johnny straighten up and come back to her. He didn't contest the divorce and later married June Carter. That marriage became like a mythic country music romance with June getting credit for helping him kick drugs and helping to raise their six or seven kids, four of which were Vivian's.

Vivian remarried. The girls tell us that she never stopped loving Johnny. Vivian and Johnny had a tender reunion after June passed in 2003. It's stunning how the country music scene back in the day erased Vivian from Johnny's history. This documentary is loaded with previously unseen family photos and home movies. We see that Vivian was truly elegant, beautifully dressed and exotic looking. This revealing and respectful biography was directed by Matt Riddlehoover. It's one of the best documentaries that I've seen in 2020. Here's a trailer.

About JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY

This original musical fantasy is on Netflix. JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY is like 10 pounds of candy canes and Christmas cookies stuffed into a 5 pound sack. It's overproduced -- and I loved every single minute of it. When I was a kid, you really didn't see Black characters in Christmas stories presented on TV during the holiday season. You saw Black artists in the holiday music variety specials but rarely in Christmas stories. For instance, back in the 70s and 80s, no one would've thought of casting big, brawny, barrel-chested James Earl Jones as the Ghost of Christmas Present in a TV production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. He'd have been perfect for that part. Well, this Netflix feature definitely changes that. JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY is unabashedly, unapologetically, joyfully Black. Three of its stars are Keegan-Michael Key, Anika Noni Rose and Best Actor Oscar winner Forest Whitaker -- and they all sing. Yes, Forest Whitaker has a sweet singing voice as you'll hear in three numbers.

 Whitaker is the lead character. The story starts in modern day with Phylicia Rashad, at her loveliest, reading a Christmas story to little children. It's the story of the chipper toymaker and inventor Jeronicus Jangle who owned his own shop in the Victorian era. There's sort of a toymaker ALL ABOUT EVE element in the story. The good-hearted Jeronicus has an apprentice. The apprentice steals Jeronicus' book of inventions and one of the toymaker's most important dolls. Fast forward 30 years and we see the broke and broken Jeronicus (Forest Whitaker) who has emotionally closed himself off from the world. He doesn't smile. He doesn't respond to the saucy flirts from a middle-aged widow. This will all change when the sad inventor's whiz of a granddaughter comes into his life and brings light back into his heart and reignites his sense of invention.

 This feature is beautifully photographed and very well cast. I loved how the costumes blended Victorian era fashions with African/Black American style details. The choreography is energetic and fun as are the music numbers overall. The plot is nothing heavy. It's geared towards a happy ending. As I wrote earlier, this film is delightfully overproduced, but...let's face it. The Christmas season is not one in which we practice simplicity and Spartan behavior. It's about being big, colorful and fabulous. Christmas is a holiday in which over-production is the norm.

Little Madalen Mills as Journey, the Jangle grandchild, is a bright Christmas gift in herself. This little actress has shining star quality. She's wonderful in this film. Another gift is Lisa Davina Phillip as Ms. Johnson, the widow with a crush on the older Jeronicus. Her vamp number in his shop is a hilarious show-stopper.

We've watching Forest Whitaker every since he played one of the teen bad dudes in the 1982 comedy, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH. In his real high school years, he performed in school musicals. He also studied in a conservatory. When his film career kicked in and he was booking work in serious films such as PLATOON, BIRD (in which he played jazz great Charlie Parker), CRYING GAME, PANIC ROOM and THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (his 2006 Best Actor Oscar-winning role as dictator Idi Amin), Whitaker put his musical talents on hold. It's great to see him take on a whimsical role and remind us of his musical skills.

We also get 12 inches of Ricky Martin. The singer is the speaking and singing voice of the foot-long devious Don Juan matador doll. I cannot recall Ricky Martin being as relaxed and funny in a performance as he is here. He is an absolute hoot as that vain, manipulative matador doll. 

 I wish JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY was a TV feature that ABC, CBS or NBC would air annually for family viewing during the yuletide season. It's that charming an original Christmastime musical fantasy.

About PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

 One of the sweetest experiences I ever had at a movie screening in New York City involved actress Carey Mulligan. It was a screening for film critics and several of the city's oft-quoted and high-tone critics were present. The movie was AN EDUCATION, the 2009 romantic drama directed by Lone Scherfig. Within the first ten minutes of the movie, critics were leaning forward in their seats as if watching magic happen. In a way, they were. They were leaning forward, fascinated by the charismatic new actress they were seeing for the first time. The critic I sat next time, whispered to me "She's got an Audrey Hepburn quality." The actress was Carey Mulligan. Early the following year, Lone Scherfig would learn that she'd directed Mulligan to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Carey Mulligan was indeed a promising young woman -- and she has delivered on that promise.

 Her talent fascinates. Her range, her bold choices and her commitment to character. I feel the British-born Carey Mulligan should've received a second Oscar nomination for her performance in the excellent Depression-era Mississippi story, MUDBOUND (2017), directed by Dee Rees. One of Liza Minnelli's signature tune is "New York, New York" which she introduced in the 1977 Martin Scorsese movie of the same name. To see and hear a different and amazing jazz interpretation of that song, see Carey Mulligan as the needy Manhattan nightclub singer in Steve McQueen's SHAME (2011). 

Carey Mulligan is again compelling in the new drama called PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN directed and written by Emerald Fennell. A Brit, like Mulligan, she makes her directorial debut in this tale of revenge and sexual assault. I loved Carey Mulligan's performance. I did not love the film. The story takes place in Southern California. Like a policewoman working as a decoy to nab muggers or other criminals, Cassie goes to male-heavy bars and pretends to be drunk. The guys who offer to take her home appear to be nice guys but usually attempt to take sexual advantage of her thinking she's too drunk to care. Then -- surprise! She turns the tables on them by revealing she's totally sober and angry. Something happened to a female she knew about ten or more years ago. That something has caused Cassie to simmer with anger for all those years and the anger has now reached its boiling point. 

America went from the "Me Too" period, which was ablaze with revelations about the creepy sexual behavior towards women by Harvey Weinstein, the once-beloved Bill Cosby and NBC's former "nice guy" TODAY Show anchor Matt Lauer, into the George Floyd "Black Lives Matter" protesting the racial inequality that still exists in the country. When women starting to speak out again Weinstein and Lauer and some said they were afraid to speak up earlier for fear that they'd never work again, I said to a Black male friend of mine, "I believe them." He agreed. We'd been in work situations in which we felt we were denied equal opportunities. We were advised not to complain to human resources about the racial inequality because we might not remain employed. Assaults against women and racial discrimination were two sides of the same coin.

Cassie has a right to be angry, just like relatives of George Floyd have a right to be angry. So, nowadays, I've grown weary of strong women with a righteous anger being portrayed and referred to as a "psycho bitch" or a "stupid c**t." Cassie is called both and, eventually, seen as slightly unhinged mentally. Also, I didn't like that as she works her way down her hit list, she places a couple of women in potentially dicey sexual situations.

Cassie is 30 and lives with her clueless but loving middle class suburban parents. She works as a clerk at a coffee shop. This coffee shop is not exactly Starbucks. It's never busy. We never seen more than three customers in it. Her personality behind the counter is not exactly charming. So, as the story of revenge progresses and she's driving around town, buying champagne at a ritzy restaurants, purchasing props and disguises for some of her revenge deeds and hiring help with those dark deeds, I kept wondering "How the hell is she doing all this with a coffee shop clerk salary?" Laverne Cox plays Cassie's boss. Unfortunately, the role is little more than the "sassy Black friend" role. Cassie is whip-smart. She should've been a marketing executive who represented one of the brands of coffee served in the shop...someone who was able to afford top legal help to bring the sexual assault case to light so justice could be served. 

 The film opens with a sequence inside a bar populated by many young men. We see shots of their crotches. They talk about women and getting lucky. They're predominantly White and have that nice guy, All American look. There is one Black guy with them. They all seem to work for the same company. My initial thought was, "The Black dude may think he's in with the group, but I bet they all get promoted before he does." Cassie is constantly asked "Are you okay?" Before we found out the full details on the assault, Cassie visits a female friend played by former SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE member, Molly Shannon. The friend knows what happened all those years ago. It's a short scene but one that reminds you that Shannon has proven to be a strong dramatic actress in recent years. Her character says to angry coffee shop clerk, "Cassie, move on. Please. For all of us."

But, of course, she won't. Carey Mulligan's performance is terrific. But the movie is sour and certain situations seem totally implausible.

One of the best parts of the film was seeing her reteamed with actor Alfred Molina as one of the few men in the story who provides her a moment of emotional relief. Molina was wonderful as the father to her character in AN EDUCATION.

I mentioned the dramatic film work of former SNL cast member Molly Shannon. I recommended you see her as the needy, neurotic Southern California office worker whose lack of romantic love leads her to have an obsession with owning dogs. That comedy/drama co-stars Oscar winner Regina King and it's called YEAR OF THE DOG (2007). In OTHER PEOPLE (2016), Shannon plays a terminally ill Sacramento mother whose gay son has come in from New York City to help her after he's broken up with his boyfriend. Shannon gave a Best Actress Oscar nomination-worthy performance in that touching film..

Tom Hanks on Horseback

I have been an ardent Tom Hanks fan ever since I saw the premiere episode of the 1980 ABC sitcom, BOSOM BUDDIES. Seeing him in drag every week was a highlight of my night. After starring on that sitcom, he went on to become on of my favorite film actors and one of Hollywood's most popular stars. SPLASH, BIG, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN and SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE were box office winners to his credits and, coupled with his well-deserved reputation for being a true gentlemen, he became a beloved movie star. Many tagged him the new Jimmy Stewart thanks to his All-American warm appeal. I just saw the new Tom Hanks movie. It's a drama. And a western. I don't think I have ever seen Tom Hanks on horseback. But I certainly did in NEWS OF THE WORLD, a story that begins in North Texas in 1870. The Civil War is over. Ulysses S. Grant is President. As Jimmy Stewart has often been mentioned when describing the Hanks movie charm, this new film reminds me of those edgy, tough westerns Stewart made during the 1950s. Westerns in which there was a social darkness and he was not the "Mr. Nice Guy" of movies like DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Hanks plays a Civil War veteran named Captain Jeffrey Kyle Kidd. He is sort of a news anchor. As the movie opens, we see the film's title appear over a stack of newspapers on a desk. The newspapers are from various cities. Captain Kidd reads aloud stories from the papers to an eager seated audience. The audiences receives the stories as if they are that -- stories like those written by Mark Twain. To them, they're entertainment. Captain Kidd regards them as journalism that's giving the audience a world view and expanding their knowledge.

 I found myself wishing that film had been released soon after we saw Hanks as TV's Mister Rogers in 2019's A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. Why? Because some elements feel contemporary -- especially considering the temperature of the nation under the administration that leaves the White House next month. As Kidd tells his audience that he's about to read them "...the great changes that are happening out there," we see the predominantly White audience. One Black woman sits way in the back. One of the stories is about the meningitis epidemic. The audience gasped when Kidd read that the epidemic had claimed 97 lives. Kidd is a traveler. As he tells one person, "I read the news from town to town."

A little lost blonde girl is placed in his custody. She speaks German and some Native American. Her name is Johanna and she's reminiscent of the Natalie Wood character in John Ford's THE SEARCHERS. Her family was killed by Indians, the Indians took her captive for quite some time. Long enough for her to learn their ways and some of their language. Kidd becomes her protector because he knows he's in harsh Texas territory. Not just geographically harsh. He's shocked to discover the corpse of a Black person attached to a sign that reads "This is a white man's country." He's targeted by Texans who brag of having killed Mexicans and Indians. He's targeted for advocating a free press and reading news about President Grant and the proposed abolition of slavery, He protects Johanna from sexual predators and other dangers. He's determined to get her to a safe place with other immigrants of her kind. Helena Zengel plays the mysterious, brave Johanna.

Captain Kidd and little Johanna are strong characters who have a heaviness in their hearts. Will we learn what it is and can they both reach some kind of a safe place? 

A western may seem like odd movie territory for Tom Hanks but, if you're a Hanks fan, consider seeing this. He's in excellent form as the war veteran trying to move through the darkness of society and his own soul. Based on a novel of the same name, NEWS OF THE WORLD was directed and co-written by Paul Greengrass who previously directed Hanks in CAPTAIN PHILLIPS.

Top Work in MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM

 I watched the adaptation of MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM on Netflix. It's the film based on the play by August Wilson. I predict that the marvelous Viola Davis will get an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The nomination will make her the most Oscar-nominated Black actress in Hollywood history. That will be her fourth nomination. If she's nominated and wins, she will be the second Black woman in all Hollywood history to take home the Oscar for Best Actress. Viola Davis goes beyond acting in this production. She is Ma Rainey -- the proud and potent Mother of the Blues. As Ma will tell you in a heartbeat, Bessie Smith learned from her. From the moment you see her, Ma Rainey's face tells you all you need to know about her. This is a tough, under-respected artist who has paid her dues and has helped pay some other people's dues. She's a bi-sexual blues singer keeping a recording date with her band. The story opens in small town Georgia and takes us to the recording session in 1927 Chicago.

 Davis gained weight, close to 200 pounds, to play the role. She's since dropped the pounds and, with the help of a trainer, got into svelte shape for her next role. She is dynamic as this woman, demanding attention and respect in her recording session while knowing her artistry will never get the respect and pay it deserves because she's Black. Viola Davis is stunning in the role. Solid work also comes from the late Chadwick Boseman as young Levee, a gifted jazzman who carries the blues and the rage of his race in his soul. Boseman could get a post-humous Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He's a memorable standout in the role. Also delivering a stellar supporting performance is veteran Black actor Glynn Turman as Toledo, the silver-haired member of the band who has his way of surviving the racism of America. Turman is now in his early 70s. He deserves major recognition. We saw him on the big screen as a high schooler in COOLEY HIGH (1975) and in the foreign film THE SERPENT'S EGG (1977) written and directed by master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. He has extensive TV credits. Turman was a regular on the hit sitcom, A DIFFERENT WORLD and later on HBO's THE WIRE. In the original 1959 Broadway cast of Lorraine Hansberry's A RAISIN IN THE SUN, Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee played Walter and Ruth Younger. Glynn Turman played the couple's little boy. Yes, Glynn Turman deserves recognition. I highly recommend you see MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM. George C. Wolfe directed it. Denzel Washington co-produced it.

Viola Davis' Oscar nominations came for DOUBT, THE HELP and FENCES. In FENCES, also an adaptation of an August Wilson play, her leading man and director was Denzel Washington, He directed her to an Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress.

Here's a true happening from my life: In the mid 1990s, I was working on live local morning news program in New York City after three years of network host work on VH1and on a syndicated summer replacement late night game show. However, I still had no agent. A New York City in the Broadway theatre district contacted me and enthusiastically said she was a big fan of mine and could do big things with me. She booked me for a meeting. She booked another fellow too. I introduced myself and we chatted before our meetings. Honestly, I was surprised to see him there and surprised he didn't have representation. I'd seen him so excellent work on stage on in TV roles. He's a Black/Latino talent.

We both signed with that agent. Eight months later, she dropped us both. She said she didn't know what to do with us.

 The other fellow is actor, playwright and screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson. He wrote the screenplay for MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM. And he did a damn fine job.