csdcsdcsd2003

I majored in History of Art so I appreciate the effort that went into "How to Steal a Million," a film I first viewed at the movies when it was released back in the 1960s and then again recently on cable. How many other movies mention Cezanne, Van Gogh, Benvenuto Cellini - like, zero! However, Nicole (Audrey Hepburn) could have spared herself all the effort she went through in order to protect her forger father (Hugh Griffith) from being arrested by simply telling the authorities, should they discover the Cellini Venus was a forgery, that it was an heirloom handed down through the ages, which was the truth. Still, I enjoyed the cast, especially Audrey in a most glorious wardrobe, the interior of her family home, charming Paris street scenes, cute little cop cars, museum displays - a charming film that went on a bit too long. Too much smooching in the closet!

I'm really intrigued by "I, Jack Wright" on BritBox: 3 wives, a missing heir, many other offspring, one patriarch, two wills, 100 million and wildly unequal bequests. My lawyer husband suggests that the heirs settle among themselves; otherwise, millions will vanish in legal fees, etc. Well, they don't listen and instead contest the will. Best of all is Gray (John Simms), who usually portrays mild detectives who adore Mum, here is the first-born son of Jack, a perpetually down-on-his-luck music producer avoiding a violent loan shark and certain death while his daughter is rolling in clover after the reading of a dodgy, disputable 2d will prepared by a sly tight-lipped lawyer. Countless lawyers haven't kept Sal, wife #3, out of hot water. She is either in elegant clothes and lush surroundings or prison sweats and a gloomy lock-up bemoaning her fate and self-made millionaire husband who was shot dead looking in on his pigeons. He didn't look after her or one of their offspring - why? At first the show kept me up at night but by Ep 3, I've calmed down.

"What remains" is a gruesome 4-part drama that is hard to dismiss - and not in a good way, although the acting is exceptional. ~~ Have you ever lived in a peculiar old house with peculiar neighbors who are not friendly? I have, a few times, and the big old Victorian house with many apartments connected by many steps in "What Remains" seems familiar to me, dark and ugly no matter how many lights are glowing and how varied each interior appears. ~~ When a young couple moves in to this British monstrosity, they search for the source of a leak dripping from above into their hallway and find a corpse in the loft (what we Americans call an attic), a female who resided in a flat that once belonged to her deceased mother. Their flat has been abandoned, fully furnished, with food decomposed on a counter. No one reported the young woman missing; she has no phone, no job, and no internet presence, which although mentioned is never explained. No janitor comes around, no plumber, no one notices when she isn't there. The neighbors - grumpy math teacher, a journalistic couple, a young dark-eyed male, two lesbians - hardly noticed her when she was very much alive, sad soul. The authorities, notified at last, are quick to move on but one detective, due to retire, is curious and concerned. A recent widow, he has plenty of time and energy to see the case through to the bitter end. There is an unwritten rule in fiction-writing: when a gun is shown in Act 1, it has to go off by Act III. There's no gun in "What Remains" but then again, British detectives don't carry guns, do they?