Hey! How About a Double Feature? I've Got 12 Suggestions

Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Brining Up Baby

You've got plenty of time on your hands and love movies, right? Maybe it's especially hot where you are and you don't want to leave your air conditioning. Or perhaps you've got an injury or illness and are thus housebound. Or maybe you're incredibly lazy. Or -- like me -- maybe you just love films. Why not enjoy a double feature? Aren't you lucky that I'm around to offer suggestions? Well, aren't you? I here offer twelve choices with a little bit of something for everyone: screwball comedies, classics, war pictures, westerns, noirs. The offerings below do not include sequels or prequels as anyone can sort those out. I also do not include any pure remakes (a different versions perhaps, but all are different in significant ways). With one exception I've only suggested movies that I and most other cinephiles hold in high regard. I hope you find a duo that you enjoy.

Bringing Up Baby (1938) Hawks and What’s Up, Doc? (1972) Bogdanovich. The first is, of course, one of the great all time screwball comedies and features one of several pairings of Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It's about a daffy dame who --we're not sure why -- falls for a straight-laced, serious and perpetually dead-panned scientist. The story involves a leopard named baby, a dog burying a dinosaur bone and all the requisite madcap antics that comprise a screwball comedy. What's Up is Peter Bogdanovich's modern version with Ryan O'Neal and Barbara Streisand assuming the two lead roles. San Francisco is the setting and its many hills prove vital to the climatic chase scene. O'Neal, like Grant, is scientist and Streisand, like Hepburn a pixelated woman who loves him. Both films include a fiancé for the male lead who in Doc it is Madeline Kahn in her film debut. The main and most important similarity between the two is that they are hilarious.

The Philadelphia Story (1940) Cukor and High Society (1956) Walters. Philadelphia Story also features Hepburn and Grant and throws in Jimmy Stewart for good measure. Our leads are a divorced and Hepburn's Tracy Lord is set to marry a man that anyone can see is ill-suited for her. Grant has been coaxed into showing up  at the wedding so that a reporter (Stewart) can get the scoop for a scandal sheet. It's a very funny film but not played solely for laughs as many of the scenes between the two leads show. High Society is a musical version of the story and the only film I here mention that I'm not a huge fan of. Still it is a passable film, as light as air and fun to watch when you consider that Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby are doing the singing and Louis Armstrong provides instrumentals. Plus Grace Kelly plays Tracy Lord in her final film role before she became the Princess of Monaco (true story).

Casablanca (1942) Curtiz and Play it Again, Sam (1972) Ross. I don't suppose anyone needs a detailed summary of Casablanca so I'll focus on Sam and how it is a nice accompaniment to the Bogie classic. Woody Allen plays a film critic who is obsessed with Bogart (here played admirably, if imperfectly by Jerry Lacy) and has conversations with him. He is best friends with a married couple (Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts) who try to help recover from a recent divorce and find true love. Allen finds love but it is in the person of Keaton's character. There's a very strong Casablanca influenced vibe to the story although with Woody instead of Bogie it is done for laughs. The climatic scene of Sam mirrors Casablanca. One of the great oddities of my film-viewing experience is that I actually saw Sam first. Anyway, watch them in the proper order and enjoy,

Madeline Carroll and Robert Donat in The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps (1935) Hitchcock and North By Northwest (1959) Hitchcock. If you like the films of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock (is there anyone who doesn't?) this is a natural pair to watch back-to-back. The 39 Steps features the cross country chase of an innocent man (Robert Donat) in which seeming allies turn out to be villains. During the chase our hero hooks up with a lovely blonde (Madeline Carroll). At one point in the chase Donat hides in a very public setting. The climatic scenes is in a famous place. North by Northwest features the cross country chase of an innocent man (Cary Grant) in which seeming allies turn out to be villains. During the chase our hero hooks up with a lovely blonde (Eva Marie Saint). At one point in the chase Grant hides in a very public setting. The climactic scene is in a famous place. So they're the same exact film? Not exactly. The former is in the UK and the later in the US. The McGuffins are different as are many other particulars of the stories. They are both delightful films, The 39 Steps being one of my all -ime favorites.

Winter Light (1963) Bergman and First Reformed (2017) Schrader. Some people might have paired First Reformed with Taxi Driver (1976) Scorsese (Paul Schrader wrote the screenplays for both) and indeed they bear striking similarities. However I think it bears more of a resemblance to Winter Light, my favorite Bergman film (which is saying a lot because he's my favorite director). Both center around ministers who are suffering crises of faith. Both are loved by a woman that he is cruel to. Both counsel a parishioner who is suicidal with similar results. There are many divergences in their stories, such as the love found by the minister in First Reformed. But both are very heavy movies that ask one to think about many topics including the big one -- God's silence. You may need to be in the right mood but you'll feel better for having watched them

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Blue Jasmine (2013). This is a pretty obvious pairing. Here we have two excellent films that feature bravura acting performances by actress who won Best Actress Oscars (Vivian Leigh and Cate Blanchett). Both played women who lost their marbles and watching that mental disintegration is a fascinating cinematic experience. There are numerous other similarities in their stories including a sister coming to stay with family in another city after a breakdown. Both women have suitors and in both cases the romances are ill-fated. While both feature strong supporting casts there is no matching Streetcar which includes Marlon Brando but that's to take nothing away from a fine performance in Jasmine by Bobby Cannavale as the testosterone-fueled muscle-bound brother-in-law.

Cristine Miloti and Andy Samberg in Palm Springs

Groundhog Day (1993) Ramis and Palm Springs (2020) Barbakow. Groundhog Day is the story of man who experiences the same day over and over again. It's become so ingrained in our culture that it is now part of the lexicon. It is also spawned several imitations and one can argue that Palm Springs is one such film. However, I think what Palm Springs proves is that repeating day movie has practically become a sub genre of film and television. One well worth exploring in different ways. In the original Bill Murray stars as the cynical careerist weatherman who keeps reliving February 2 (Groundhog Day) with sometimes hilarious consequences. However Groundhog is no mere comedy. It raises a lot of questions about how we use our precious time on this planet and how we can redeem ourselves. Palm Springs features Andy Samberg who continually repeats a day in which he is attending a wedding in Palm Springs. But he ends up with a companion and love interest (Cristin Miloti). It is not destined to be classic like the original but it is a damn funny film and a delightful romance. Palm Springs only just came out and is available on Hulu and I highly recommend it.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) Hall and Heaven Can Wait (1978) Beatty. In Mr. Jordan we have a boxer (Robert Montgomery) nearing a shot at the tile when he is mistakenly taken to heaven after an accident. In Heaven Warren Beatty is an NFL quarterback on the verge of the Super Bowl who is also mistakenly killed off in an accident. In both cases the execs up in heaven have to send the deceased back but need to find a different body and both end up temporarily occupying the form of a multi-millionaire of bad character until an athlete's body becomes available. Both find love along the way. They are funny, romantic, clever and interesting films that include excellent supporting casts. Edward Everett Horton, James Gleason and Claude Rains in the original and Jack Warden, Charles Grodin and James Mason in the latter film. Heaven has the advantage of featuring the scrumptious Julie Christie as the love interest but I still slightly prefer Jordan. Both good films and good fun.

Apocalypse Now (1979) Coppola and Platoon (1986) Stone. Why not go back to the muck and mire and blood and guts of  the Vietnam War? Other than the setting they have little in common, oh except for the fact that their fantastic films. Both are unsparing in their look at war. Apocalypse is based on Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness and stars Martin Sheen as a man on a US Army sanctioned assignment to kill a man. He'll need to weave through the war and some of its attendant insanity and insane figures to do it. Platoon is roughly a true story (there's nothing fantastic about it) of a young solider and his platoon (hence the title) as it experiences the horrors of war, particularly Vietnam style. There are atrocities, sudden and violent deaths, fear, anger and confusion. They are both brilliant films that -- like so many others -- show the ugliness of war.

John Goodman and Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski

The Big Sleep (1946) Hawks and The Big Lebowski (1998) Coens. Let's be clear that Lebowski is not an updated version of The Big Sleep, the classic noir in which Humprehy Bogart stars as the detective Phillip Marlowe working his way through a byzantine plot to solve...well it's hard to say what and I speak as someone who's seen the film countless times and read the book and read a book about the book. It is nevertheless a great film. Lebowski, starring Jeff Bridges is also a great film and it has a tenuous relationship with The Big Sleep. Both have twisting plots (like mangled pretzels) colorful characters, dead ends and u-turns with world weary heroes. Lebowski is a comedy that owes its inspiration to The Big Sleep and let's just leave it at that.

Little Big Man (1970) Penn and Dances With Wolves (1990) Costner. Two movies about whites being assimilated into Native American tribes as the frontier closes. Dances is a more earnest film and won a passel of awards including the Best Picture Oscar. Oddly it seems the much less respected of the two today and frankly its fall from favor mystifies me. Little Big Man is pure tall tale with Dustin Hoffman starring as an everyman of the old West who meets everyone, is everywhere and does everything. Most notably he is several times adopted as a member of the Cheyennes. In Wolves Kevin Costner is an American soldier who eschews the army and the white world to become a Sioux tribe member. Both films served as rebuttals to the negative portrayals of Native Americans that were such a staple of Hollywood from its beginnings. I wouldn't call either a great film but I've enjoyed repeat looks at both over the years as they are endlessly entertaining in their own rights.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Ray and Mean Girls (2004) Waters. I'm proud of this double feature because I thought outside of the box (where exactly is that box?). From the 1950s and 2000s you've got two films about high school students. You could say the similarities end there and not be far wrong. Rebel is meant to be a serious look at teen angst and rebellion while Mean Girls is a comedy about high school cliques, fitting in and the vagaries of teen relationships. I like the idea of having two movies of different eras with different intents that touch upon the same milieu.