Cabalgata de pasiones

This will touch nerves among those of us who ponder what-might-have-been. The title sounds like it's one of those ha-ha overbright 1950s musicals....but in reality, it's a bittersweet flashback tale of a half-century slice of one man's life as a small-town barber, where fate has permanently halted his dreams of success in the big city.

The film steers clear of the cardboard clichés that such films were fond of in the '50s; instead we get thoughtful vignettes (most beautifully photographed) of the progression of events, big and small, through one man's days and years. As such, it becomes at times a mirror that we look into. David Wayne's performance is stunning, and all the other players are ideally cast as well.

This could be the perfect movie.

There are a number of moments of screen magic, but I can't forget the quiet scene of final transition near the film's end as the camera pans away from the barbershop and we find ourselves in the present day.

You'll cheer for the barber, folks. And don't go through life without seeing "Wait 'Til The Sun Shines, Nellie". It's the kind of film greatness we no longer see.