MO

Jeff Bloch writes in the introduction to this tome that "Frankly, My Dear is a celebration of women in their best moments in the movies--their brilliance, their wit, their guts and passion, their sadness, even their tragedy." Though this book of quotations was compiled by a man and sports a title line of Clark Gable's, readers will find plenty of zingers here delivered by women. No volume of this kind would be complete without Helen Broderick's "the only difference in men is the color of their neckties" (Top Hat, 1935), Kathleen Turner's "you're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man" (Body Heat, 1981) or Madeline Kahn's "is that a ten-gallon hat--or are you just enjoying the show?" (Blazing Saddles, 1974). But that's just for starters. Readers can expand their repertoire to include some of the hundreds of queries, ripostes, jabs, and jests that promise to spice up any occasion, as well as some pretty stiff ammunition for those still-all-too-frequent times when the, er, fairer sex needs defending. --Raphael Shargel