The last time Dorian was a guest host, she did a shot of the back of Tyrone Power's head, from the movie, Witness for the Prosecution. Now we have an extension of this theme, a man without a head. At first I thought this was a slacker/ gen-x movie such as Dazed and Confused or Flirting with Disaster. Then I realized who the guest host was, and said, Nah, no way. Like the game of chess, you play against the opponent, not the pieces. I used Orlofsky to generate a list of 1.85:1 A.R. movies, and began searching backward from year 2000 until I got to reasonable candidates. The pajamas and the shoes are big clues. No comedy in the past 10 years features someone wearing both. So this has to be a Terry Gilliam film, or some other wacko movie.
 

Here's a movie which combines the themes of many movies. Except, this movie seemed to originate the ideas first, in 1960. We begin with a Jules and Jim type of story, where the two male leads, Delon and Ronet hang around, and later pick up a chick as a goof. Ronet pretends to be a blind man (funny and original). Next Ronet and Delon go for a boat ride, with Ronet's girlfriend, Marie Laforet. Does this sound like Knife in the Water (1962), or what? To top it off, Delon plays with a knife, poking it between his fingers, on the deck of the boat. Same thing that Zygmunt Malanowicz did in Polanski's movie. Next, Delon assumes Ronet's identity. To a certain, and less sinister extent, this is also done in the movies The Matinee Idol (1928), The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933), The Whole Town's Talking (1935), Grosse Fatigue (1994), etc.. And you wonder why so many movies seem to look so familiar. However, when you combine all of these elements, and the signature color photography of Henri Decae, you have a movie that looks and feels like no other. Decadent, homoerotic, narcissistic, you name it. I think even John Simon would appreciate this film (Pauline Kael certainly did). 

Now, how did so many of you figure this out? Maybe it was the aspect ratio (1.66:1), or the actor, Alain Delon. I thought I was very clever when I instantly recognized the movie, and prayed that no one else would. Fat chance!
 

You have to magnify this picture to see the lettering on the door. But the bottom two words say Detective Agency. The woman looks like Hedy Lamarr, Yvonne De Carlo, or Dorothy Lamour. You know the type. The rest is easy- just use Cinemania to search for "detective" in connection with these actresses. If you enjoyed this movie, you'll also appreciate My Favorite Blonde, with Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll.
 

Darn, I knew this screen shot was not 'scoped properly. In other words, it's a pan-and-scan shot of a widescreen (2.35:1 A.R.) movie. I asked the quizmaster about this on Tuesday, but he neither confirmed or denied my hypothesis. Otherwise, he would be giving me an unfair advantage. This movie violates Harpo's rule #1 - thou shalt not use a screen shot from anything but a Laserdisc or DVD. Pay attention future hosts- rent the anamorphic 35 mm or non-anamorphic 70 mm print of this movie and transfer the frame to a JPEG file, if you have to. Don't confuse the FAQ writer, because he's likes to look at the big picture (LOL).  Anyway, this film defies research, because no one mentions the above scene in any book that I could get a hold of. Furthermore, none of the pictures in Screen World or The Films of Gregory Peck give any indication that this could be part of the movie. Congratulations to newbie Ben London, who got this picture correct, as well as the other four. But next time remember Harpo's rule #2- all newbies must send me their guesses in advance, so I can act as a clearinghouse for Dan. Yeah, and send me some money through PayPal, too.

Do you want to know about some other films that feature the same (or similar) optometrist's device as Arabesque? How about Secrets & Lies or Decalogue? Bet you didn't know that.
 

I'd rather be good than lucky. But sometimes, luck helps. Several weeks ago, I was trying to identify the film Them! from a screen shot of a little girl. I stumbled upon the above movie, which features a pair of kids. Even if I didn't, the number of English comedies made on or before 1955 numbers around 105, according to Cinemania. To get a broad view of these films, read David Shipman's, The Story of Cinema. The only pitfall you have to avoid is confusing the above movie with Kind Hearts and Coronets. Screen World can be used to rule out this choice. All that remains is On Approval, which you can verify by examining the front and back cover of the DVD. So that's how you could have guessed the most difficult movie of the week.

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