 Both Margaret Salinger and Maynard characterized the author as a devoted film buff . According to Margaret , his favorite movies include Gigi ( 1958 ) , The Lady Vanishes ( 1938 ) , The 39 Steps ( 1935 ; Phoebe 's favorite movie in The Catcher in the Rye ) , and the comedies of W.C. Fields , Laurel and Hardy , and the Marx Bros .. Predating VCRs , Salinger had an extensive collection of classic movies from the 1940s in 16 mm prints . Maynard wrote that " he loves movies , not films " , and Salinger argued that her father 's " worldview is , essentially , a product of the movies of his day . To my father , all Spanish speakers are Puerto Rican washerwomen , or the toothless , grinning @-@ gypsy types in a Marx Brothers movie " . Lillian Ross , a staff writer for The New Yorker and longtime friend of Salinger 's , wrote following his death , " Salinger loved movies , and he was more fun than anyone to discuss them with . He enjoyed watching actors work , and he enjoyed knowing them . ( He loved Anne Bancroft , hated Audrey Hepburn , and said that he had seen Grand Illusion ten times . ) " 
