Samuel A. Taylor

‘Avanti!’ (1972) not among Wilder’s elite, but it certainly avoids cliches

“Avanti!” (1972) is a Billy Wilder film that misfires on one cylinder. It gets you to your destination, but it’s not the smoothest ride. I

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‘Sabrina’ (1954) an all-time great breezy romance

At one point in “Sabrina” (1954), Linus Larrabee (Humphrey Bogart) asks Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) to sing her song in French for him again, slower.

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Cuban Missile Crisis gives ‘Topaz’ (1969) real-world heft

Alfred Hitchcock often talked about how maguffins need not be defined; the audience just has to know it is important to the characters, and therefore

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‘Vertigo’ (1958) a surreal, maybe unreal, masterpiece

“Vertigo” (1958) is the second-best film of all time according to Sight & Sound’s 2022 worldwide poll of critics and directors, beaten out only by

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