Nitrate Soul Mate

At Cinecon last month, I met the most adorable memorabilia dealer. He was a short, round, older man with thick glasses and stark white hair. In his dealer area, he had box upon box of movie still files. They were organized by actor name. I went straight to the Ms, looking for some Robert Montgomery stills. And for the life of me, I couldn't find his file. Resigned that it didn't exist, I picked up the William Powell one and started thumbing through.

The dealer came over and said that I looked disappointed with the selection. I told him that he had a very impressive collection, but that I couldn't find a file for Montgomery. He responded,

"My dear, I don't have one file for that man....... I have several! I left them at my shop... but I will bring them tomorrow just for you," He winked and made a note on a little pad from his pocket. (I don't think I was the only one he was bringing files for.)

When I showed up the next day, he did indeed

have 3 files of Robert Montgomery stills!!! Yes, I was in heaven! The smile on my face must have shown my absolute joy because the little man said, "I guess this is the guy you were looking for."

I replied that Montgomery is my all time favorite. The adorable little dealer said, "I will try not to take that personally. After all, everyone has their own nitrate soul mate...."

I fell in love with that phrase... Nitrate Soul Mate.

It got me to thinking... why do we fall in love with any particular actor? Is

it the way they move? The way they speak? Is it gradual... or adoration at first sight?

Robert Montgomery (if you didn't already know) is my all time favorite. I can't pin it down to any one thing about him, but the way he makes me feel when I watch one of his films

. I think that is the heart of it. We gravitate towards certain actors because of the experience they give us as a spectator. They escape that fourth wall and suddenly we're there with them.

Nitrate Soul Mate... that adorable little man was onto something... We all have our own actor. That one that makes a perfectly awful day bearable again... who we connect with above all other actors... who holds our attention so completely that we don't seem to care how bad

the plot might be.

I found mine... and I am still trying to get my hands on all of his films....

Who is yours? Who is that one actor that you would choose every-time, rain or shine??