Spitball Army

We hadn’t eaten Granny’s empanadas in decades, but this year I made them. Each bite of sugary refried beans tasted of childhood.

At the holiday buffet, “one-trip-to-the-table” Gary inserts turkey slivers inside a lemon pie wedge and jalapeño slices atop that.

On a crowded Green Line car, I gasped, said Hello. She smiled, said something in French. I desperately wanted to touch her face.

Call me Fred. Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night, I struggled writing my bio. All the best opening lines had been taken.

Here is yet another Basil Rathbone Holmes picture that places the detective smack dab in the middle of the 20th century. Holmes is on the trail of a piece of microfilm that is making its serpentine way into the hands of the Nazis. There is a terrific set piece in a booby-trapped antique shop that I would swear I’ve seen copied since in another film or TV show (maybe in a Pink Panther film, or an episode of “I Love Lucy,” or the secret agent spoof “Top Secret”). There are also some great dated touches: passengers smoking in airplanes; a fully stocked railroad car bar with plush leather upholstery; small planes flying around over New York City; civilian cars pulling up alongside an airport runway to collect passengers. Best quotable line from the movie: “No screams till the customer’s gone.”