Julie Christie 75 -- April 14, 2016

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Happy 75th birthday to beautiful British actress Julie Christie, who was born on 14-April-1941.

When the recent adaption of Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd opened, I was telling my wife and daughter about a comment by Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle.  I explained that Bathsheba Everdene had a problem, that every man she met fell madly in love with her.  "What a terrible problem to have," said my daughter; I detected a hint of sarcasm. 

Mick LaSalle wrote: "The ultimate failure of Far From the Madding Crowd, the latest screen adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel, resides mainly in an area almost too delicate to mention. But as there’s no gain in hinting or talking around the issue, there’s really no alternative ... In the 1967 adaptation, directed by John Schlesinger, Bathsheba was played by Julie Christie, so the spectacle of grown men falling all over themselves made perfect sense.

 "In this new version, Bathsheba is played by ... Carey Mulligan.

"Now let’s just say straight out that it’s hardly unthinkable that a man could be in love with Carey Mulligan. Nor is it outside the realm of possibility that three men could be in love with Carey Mulligan. But three for three? Three out of three implies four out of four. It implies an irresistible force, capable of ensnaring anyone. But that force isn’t there. If it could be acted, Mulligan could do it — she’s a fine actress. But charm on that scale can’t be acted. It’s either there or it’s not."

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Coincidentally, Julie Christie was born on the same page as disgraced baseball player Pete Rose.  I find it difficult to think of two people who could be more different.