Free Republic

Today being Resurrection Sunday, the pick for today's feature is the perennial Easter favorite based upon the Lloyd C. Douglas novel about the Roman centurion who wins Christ's robe and how his life changes. The first film shot in CinemaScope. I particularly love the scene where Jean Simmons' character tells off Emperor Caligula.

Today's feature is one of my favorite epic westerns of all time. "The Big Country" features a terrific cast and perhaps the most memorable western score ever by Jerome Moross. Charlton Heston is terrific in an atypically, unheroic role for him. Wm. Wyler was so impressed with him he cast him as "Ben-Hur" the next year. The lovely Jean Simmons is fantastic as well as the beautiful and intelligent school marm whose ranch is the centerpiece of the feud. Of all Gregory Peck's leading ladies, she's the one he had the best chemistry with. The scene where they swap horror...

Jean Simmons, a radiant British actress who as a teenager appeared opposite Laurence Olivier in "Hamlet" and emerged a star whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s in such films as "Guys and Dolls, "Elmer Gantry" and "Spartacus," has died. She was 80. Simmons, who won an Emmy Award for her role in the 1980s miniseries "The Thorn Birds," died Friday evening at her home in Santa Monica, said Judy Page, her agent. She had lung cancer.

Warner Bros. today will launch a service giving the public the opportunity to custom-order DVDs of films never before released via the medium. The move is seen as a response to dwindling DVD sales and also to customer demand for titles that while not totally obscure, didn't necessarily generate enough heat to merit a full-on DVD release. The Warner Archive Collection, available at WarnerArchive.com, includes films dating back to the silent age and for $19.95 per disc Warners will burn, package and ship for receipt within an estimated five days. Currently there are 150 titles available with for a total...