I understand that I have no one but myself to blame for this predicament, but the idea that everyone who stops by this blog will be first greeted by the sight of a particular slack-jawed face (see the post below this one) is a little too much for me to bear. By all means, scroll down and read the pertinent post, but before doing so, enjoy this much more companionable image, of Claudia Cardinale, from Visconti's The Leopard. Thanks for your support.
Oh, excellent choice as an example of cinematic beauty (both in the shot’s mise-en-scene, and in the actor you chose to highlight).
Breathtaking. I actually gasped. Thank you. (Although the Swanberg piece is fascinating, even if like me you’ve never seen a single one of his movies.)
Ms Cardinale had the good fortune or exquisite instincts to lend her talents/beauty to a disproportionate number of wonderful films (along with B. Lancaster, B. Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, James Mason). Generations hence will watch her bringing water out to the gawking railworkers in the magisterial ending of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST and wish to God they had been born sooner.