Quote of the Week_ Akira Kurosawa

This month we are featuring quotes from famous film directors, and we start with the late Japanese master Akira Kurosawa:

"Man is a genius when he is dreaming."

SIDEBAR: We will miss Tony Curtis. As mentioned in my last entry, I had just seen his 1958 film "The Vikings" earlier in the week. I did not mention that I had also seen his 1968 film "The Boston Strangler," both films were directed by the late Richard Fleischer, in which Curtis played the dubious title role. He gave an excellent performance in the later film, which also featured Henry Fonda, which surprisingly did not garner Curtis an Oscar nomination. We are certainly sad that he had died, and our thoughts go out to Jamie Lee Curtis.

SIDEBAR TWO: Our favorite high school in North Carolina, Ragsdale HS from Jamestown, NC, once again won a big game last night as they triumphed over Eastern Forsyth 10-7.

My Ten Favorite Films of Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda (1905-1982) would have turned 105 on Sunday. One might assume he was the most famous actor to ever hail from Omaha, Nebraska, but so did (surprisingly!) Marlon Brando.

Brando never co-starred with the elder Fonda in any films, but he was in "Apocalypse Now" with Dennis Hopper, who is the subject of a similar entry on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

We are also hoping to have a similar entry for Jane Fonda soon.

Here are our ten favorite (not in order of how good they are cinematically) films featuring Henry Fonda:

1. "Once Upon a Time in the West" (Pictured.Italy. 1968, Dir-Sergio Leone)
2. "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943. Dir-William Wellman)
3. "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940. Dir-John Ford)
4. "The Wrong Man" (1956. Dir-Alfred Hitchcock)
5. "My Darling Clementine" (1946. Dir-John Ford)
6. "Young Mr. Lincoln" (1939. Dir- John Ford)
7. "Drums Along the Mohawk" (1939. Dir- John Ford)
8. "12 Angry Men" (1957. Dir-Sidney Lumet)
9. "The Tin Star" (1957. Dir- Anthony Mann)
10. "Madigan" (1967. Dir- Don Siegel)