I had a dream last night about Elizabeth Taylor, probably because she shares a birthday today with my mom. The only thing I remember about it is that she said that Whatever Happened to Baby Jane is a terrible movie.

I remember thinking in the dream, "True, but Bette Davis is still a better actress than you."

This post is for the British Invaders Blogathon at A Shroud of Thoughts.

Novelist Daphne du Maurier is best known for Gothic romances like Rebecca; her 1957 novel The Scapegoat -- part mystery, part thriller, part domestic drama -- though excellent, has largely flown under the radar. A recent BBC adaptation starring Matthew Rhys, which changed the setting from France to Britain and altered many other major elements of the story, brought some attention to it. But there's a previous version, a 1959 feature film directed by Robert Hamer and starring two of my favorite actors -- Alec Guinness and Bette Davis -- that I believe deserves to be much better known. (Hopefully, its release on DVD by Warner Archive will help with that!)
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Barnes & Noble has a buy one classic, get one free sale (at the moment I'm leaning toward Mister Roberts and Bell, Book and Candle, though Now, Voyager is not completely out of the running). Also a Friday the 13th sale on 13 mystery DVDs. Enjoy!