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Essential Pre-Code: Jewel Robbery (1932)
Kay Francis dreamily asks for your complicit silence. She is about to commit an illicit act, and it would be gentlemanly not to speak of it. So I shan’t, although I will spill fawning words about the...
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Frozen in Time: Making the Present Period
When Dino De Laurentiis announced plans to remake the Eighth Wonder of the World, King Kong, in 1976, there was no question the movie would take place in the present, just as the original had. The...
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Geneviève Bujold is ISABEL (1968)
Paul Almond’s ISABEL (1968) begins with a train journey across a snow-covered landscape. We watch as the film’s star, Geneviève Bujold, sits awkwardly in her seat and squirms uncomfortably in front of...
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Streep v. Huppert: Ultimate Grudge Match!
To be honest, I’m not really suggesting that Oscar-winning American actress Meryl Streep has any kind of grudge against César-winning French actress Isabelle Huppert, or vice versa. It’s just that I’ve...
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Langdon vs. Capra
The comments section to last week’s post developed a thread regarding the legacy of Harry Langdon, a comedian dear to my heart. Some of y’all said what I was going to say already, but nevertheless I...
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Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, pick five Masumura films. Ready? Go.
A few weeks ago the Consulate-General of Japan at Denver sent me a stack of titles by Yasuzo Masumura (1924 – 1986), a director largely unknown to American audiences despite a prodigious body of work...
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Facets Night School with Lew Ojeda: Cool Films on a Hot Night
Since its inception a couple of years ago, Facets Night School has morphed into more than a midnight movie series. It’s a place where cinephiles can watch and ruminate on a crazy mix of classic,...
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My classic movie gratitude list
One of the best ways to begin the day is to list the things – people, beauty, events, personal qualities (e.g. health) etc. – that you’re grateful for. Start with an attitude of gratitude! This...
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Ineptitude, Thy Name is Phillip Vandamm
Most people don’t stop to think about it (and it’s their loss) but James Mason played the befuddled loser a lot. And splendidly! And I don’t mean “loser” as in “lowlife” or “petty thug” or something...
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Barbie Goes Hollywood
I have a confession to make. I like dolls. A lot. I’ve been a casual collector for years and I’ve also written about dolls for a few publications. I usually keep my fascination with classic films and...
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From Hollywood of old, some familiar faces
It’s summertime, and the perfect opportunity to pull out some photo albums — no groans, please — and take a look at Hollywood behind-the-scenes from my stash of old news photos. It’s a nutty mixed...
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A Woman of Paris
[Slapsticon, the greatest film event of the year, has been canceled this year. To grieve it, I am devoting the entire month of July to posts about slapstick comedy.] A Woman of Paris. Not a title that...
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Movie Titles That Deserve Their Own Hall of Fame
There are certain movie titles that make you pause and consider the mystery, allure or absurdity of their meaning. They can promise so much and deliver so little like BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA (1966)...
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Home Noir: Deadly Domesticity
During post-WWII Hollywood, film noir emerged to reflect, represent, and even romanticize the corruption, dissatisfaction, and cynicism lurking beneath the veneer of normalcy and optimism that America...
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Frank Borzage’s America: The Vanishing Virginian (1942)
Rebecca Yancey (Kathryn Grayson) taps into popular sentiment with the modernist anti-landscape above. The second daughter of Cap’n Bob Yancey (Frank Morgan), longtime district attorney in Lynchburg,...
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Resolve Nothing, Roll Credits
Occasionally, I hear people (very foolish people indeed) complain that a movie doesn’t have an ending. Of course, this is nonsense. Unless the film in question has an infinite running time, it has an...
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Racist Images in Classic Films: A Conversation
Joan Crawford in TORCH SONG (1954) Today marks the end of TCM’s annual look at “Race and Hollywood.” This year TCM has focused on Arab Images on Film, which has generated some heated debates on the TCM...
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Warts and all
Few horror movies scream summer quite like FROGS (1972). Released in the spring of 1972, the film was poised midway between Alfred Hitchcock’s proto-revenge-of-nature thriller THE BIRDS (1963) and JAWS...
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Thelma goes wild
[Slapsticon, the greatest film event of the year, has been canceled this year. To grieve it, I am devoting the entire month of July to posts about slapstick comedy.] I love Thelma Todd. A lot of...
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French & Saunders Do The Movies Their Way
I’m not going to assume that you know French and Saunders, that is, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, but I bet that you might. Even if you haven’t ever caught their eponymous comedy series and...
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