From Here to Eternity

Legendary screen actress Deborah Kerr has died at 86. Best remembered for her roles in "From Here to Eternity" and "An Affair to Remember," it was her portrayal of Laura Reynolds in 1956's "Tea and Sympathy" that will always be dearest to me. In the film, Kerr befriends a "sensitive" young student named Tom Lee, whose lack of interest in the "manly" pursuits of sports, mountain climbing and girls labels him "sister-boy" at the college he is attending. (The one sport he did master was tennis, but his Kenny Walsh slice forehand just made him look like more of a girl.) Complicating matters is that Kerr is married to the college's macho head master, who is just as quick as the students to point out the young boy's "manly" shortcomings. A film that sadly still resonates today and is shocking as much for what it does say as what it doesn't. (NYT)