92.
The Dame;
Jean Simmons.
Jean Simmons came to the fore in the latter half of the 40s taking on two classical literary rules as the young Estella in David Lean’s Great Expectations, whose classic bitchiness bewitched the lead character, then 2 year later, she took on the role of of Ophelia in Olivier’s Best Picture winning, Hamlet and at the age of just 20, picked up her first Oscar nomination. In the 60 years since then she has starred in an incredibly wide variety of films, from musicals, to swords and sandals Roman epics, animated films and Westerns. She has one of the longest most successful and varied careers in Hollywood history and is still going strong.
The Dude;
Morgan Freeman.
In an age of ‘stars’ both lacking in charisma and talent breaking into the spotlight in their teens it is quite something to believe that Morgan Freeman did not become a star until the age of 52, 1989 starring in both Glory and the Best Picture winner Driving Miss Daisy he was suddenly catapulted to fame after 18 years in the business and in the almost two decades since that breakthrough he has time and time again, established himself as an absolutel legend in the industry. His monumental turn at the heart of The Shawshank Redemption probably remains the crown jewel in his career to date, but fine work under the Oscar winning work of Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby has added to that prestige and playing the character he played in Bruce Almighty certainly helped to shine a light on the general consensus of Morgan Freeman.
The Director;
Ben Sharpsteen.
Ben Sharpsteen is a man who worked a 60 year career for Walt Disney, yet across those 60 years his reputation as an icon of animation was solidified by a 2 year period when he turned out Fantasia and Pinocchio in 1940, and Dumbo in 1941, three all time classics of animated cinema, guided to the screen by the same man. Sadly he spent the rest of his career working mainly as a producer and his only directorial output came in the form of documentary shorts but those three legendary pictures proved more than many can manage in a lifetime and ensure that his reputation in the business is preserved forever.
The Picture;
Spiderman 2 (Sam Raimi, 2004)
When Sam Raimi brought Spiderman, the most iconic of Marvel superheroes to the big screen in 2002 his effort was met with rapturous approval as he turned in a wonderfully executed origina story with a great lead performance from it’s hero Tobey Maguire and remained true to the light comic book touch of its source. Yet it was at heart, just an origin story, and when all involved returned 2 years laters for the sequel they eclipsed their original effort in every possible way. It is an altogether bigger affair with a more complex villain, a far more powerful emotional story at its centre, Tobey Maguire on even better form than before, moment after moment of laugh out loud comedy and beautifully played heartaching humanity and one of the most satisfying conclusions in the history of the movies. It is pure and simply one of the most enjoyable moviewatching experiences that there is.
The Parnassus Times 