And CP's bouquet money says that State of the Union (1948) is just the thing to warm the voters' cockles on this schizophrenic weekend. No one does a Washington fable better than Capra, and no one flings woo like Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Tracy plays a self-made man who, when lured into an idealistic run for the presidency, makes a stop at the vipers' nest. Along the way, he tracks down his soul, ditches chippie Angela Lansbury and falls back in love with wife Kate, who shimmers here with inside-and-out loveliness. Yes, this one outwags "Wag the Dog" for currency, excepting of course the Capra ending -- but we don't expect to see Mr. Smith turn up on C-SPAN either.
Of course, most true love occurs well outside of the nation's capital. So, CP's valentine to you, dear reader is this spud's intimate compilation of love tales -- sweet and violent, sick and saccharine, doomed and otherwise:
Dr. Zhivago (1965). Julie Christie, and lots and lots of snow.
True Romance
(1993). A CP favorite; check out Gary Oldman as the pimp.
Witness
(1985). Kelly McGillis. The bathing scene.
Gun Crazy
(1950). Lovers on the lam; a cult classic.
Brief Encounter (1945). Strangers on a train platform. A very British romance.
Summertime
(1955). David Lean. Katharine Hepburn. Venice.
Casablanca
(1942). Speaks for itself.
Breathless (1959). The Godard original, please. Almost makes you
want to be French.
Betty Blue (1986). French too; a very very sexy movie.
An Affair to Remember (1957). Okay, ladies, it's
your day. But come on.
Not a complete list, of course; feel free to send CP your favories. Now go buy those flowers. Then break out the wine, turn the lights down low, and ... have a happy President's Day.