An amazing number of film people I revere or simply admire would have turned 100 in the year 2008. I’ve missed quite a few notables already this year (think Rex Harrison, Anna Magnani, Philip Dunne, Michael Maltese, Angelo Rossitto, Tex Avery, George Duning, etc.), so, since I just got the idea for this, I’ll begin with the week of March 16-22, citing people I feel like citing who would have turned 100 this week. Please note that I’m going by the dates given on IMDB, so they may not all be accurate. Where possible I’ll try to confirm these dates from other sources.

March 16:
Robert Rossen – writer-director of BODY AND SOUL (1947), ALL THE KING’S MEN (1949), ALEXANDER THE GREAT (1956) and THE HUSTLER (1961)

Seymour Kneitel – studio cartoon director par excellence/worked for Max Fleischer and Paramount/Famous Studios; directed hundreds of cartoons including many Popeyes, also some of the Superman cartoons including the last (and one of the best), “Secret Agent” (1943). His last credited cartoon is “Space Kid” (1966), famously glimpsed on a TV screen in the bad guys’ hotel room in Walter Hill’s 48 HRS.

March 17:
Jack Hildyard: English cinematographer whose career goes back to the 1940s. Did SUMMERTIME, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, 55 DAYS AT PEKING, BATTLE OF THE BULGE, CASINO ROYALE (1967), TOPAZ, among others. Worked for David Lean and Samuel Bronston, both of whom would have turned 100 next week.

Brigitte Helm: “Maria” in Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS (1927)

March 20:
Michael Redgrave, father of the famed Redgrave siblings (Vanessa, Lynn, Corin), and star of many English and American movies, including THE LADY VANISHES, THE STARS LOOK DOWN, DEAD OF NIGHT, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, 1984, THE QUIET AMERICAN, BATTLE OF BRITAIN, etc.

I just saw Redgrave in YOUNG CASSIDY, which was on TCM for St. Pat's Day. He played W.B. Yeats. A rambling movie, somewhat directed by John Ford (mostly by Jack Cardiff), with a fine cast: Rod Taylor, Julie Christie (bewitching), Maggie Smith (excellent), Edith Evans, Jack MacGowran, etc. Less than the sum of these parts, though.