Lauren Bacall

Last night, at the star-studded National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Awards gala, held at Cipriani 42nd Street, we asked Lauren Bacall if she thought the W.G.A. strike would have a lasting effect on the film industry.

“Oh, now is really the time to ask a question that will require lengthy discussion!” Ms. Bacall, 83, said on the frenzied red carpet, stabilizing herself on the arm of her escort, actor and film-historian Robert Osborne.

“All right,” we said in our politest tone. “What’s on your mind, then?”

“Sitting down!” she quipped, before engaging the Daily Transom in a discussion of her favorite film from 2007. “I guess, in a way, it would be There Will Be Blood, because I love Daniel Day-Lewis so much. He’s a brilliant actor.” Mr. Osborne concurred, and for the same reason. “Yeah, because of him,” he said.