Mahogany

On the one hand, "Mahogany" (1975) is the tale of a schoolteacher who becomes the world's preeminent fashion model/designer. On the other, it's a love story between - White House alert - a Chicago community organizer and the clotheshorse he adores. On either, it's all perfectly ludicrous in a "Way We Were" way. But Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams have something real together. Their love could have launched a thousand Essence magazine covers, then burned them all up.

—W.M.