I've met some teenagers and 20-somethings recently who don't know who Lauren Bacall is, who haven't heard of "The Big Sleep" or "Key Largo" or "Written on the Wind" or "The Shootist". And I try to find a recent equivalent. Madonna has some of the same attitude and, of course, mentions Bacall in the song 'Vogue'. But Madonna was never a firework. Jodie Foster is maybe more talented but less exciting. Jennifer Lopez is as beautiful but less focussed. Julia Roberts is way too sunny.
There's nobody today like Bacall, this Jewish woman who hung out with the boys, this feminist amongst the macho men, this comedienne in film noir. For a while, she stopped cinema in its tracks, made it look up at her as she looked down at it. The "Scene by Scene", her longest ever interview on TV, is screened with some of her very best films, including "To Have and Have Not", "Key Largo", and Bacall's own favourite, "Designing Woman".Read more about Lauren Bacall at:
