Journeys in Classic Film Posted by on June 30, 2015

Originally published June 20th, 2012 Sullivan’s Travels has an entry in so many Best Of or Top Ten lists that to name them would be ridiculous. With such an aura of legend around it I expected a lot and it delivered!  Sullivan’s Travels furthered my love of Veronica Lake (who...   read more

Journeys in Classic Film Posted by on June 29, 2015

We kick off The July Five 2015 with five days devoted to director Preston Sturges. Sturges is a director with deft comedic timing, a flair for dialogue and banter, and an adroit mix of social commentary and narrative. It is this latter element that can turn off audiences looking for...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on June 22, 2015

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) provides a different perspective on the Ziegfeld Follies from Best Picture Winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936); it focuses on a trio of chorines rather than the showman himself, who never actually appears in the picture. Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr star as three youn   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on June 22, 2015

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) provides a different perspective on the Ziegfeld Follies from Best Picture Winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936); it focuses on a trio of chorines rather than the showman himself, who never actually appears in the picture. Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr star as three youn   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on June 22, 2015

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) provides a different perspective on the Ziegfeld Follies from Best Picture Winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936); it focuses on a trio of chorines rather than the showman himself, who never actually appears in the picture. Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr star as three youn   read more

The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on June 12, 2015

Preston Sturges has a great structure to The Lady Eve. The first part of the film–the majority of the runtime–has wealthy oddball Henry Fonda returning home on a ship and falling in love with Barbara Stanwyck. Makes sense, as she’s wonderful, only she (and her father, Charles Cobu   read more

Finding Franchot: Exploring the Life and Career of Franchot Tone Posted by Franchot Tone Fan on June 4, 2015

Franchot Tone and Deanna Durbin paired up for their first film Nice Girl? in 1941. At the time, Deanna Durbin was an innocent operatic ingenue just turning 20 years old while Franchot Tone, at 36, was marrying for the second time to young actress Jean Wallace. In Nice Girl?, Franchot's...   read more

The Motion Pictures Posted by Lindsey on May 27, 2015

(Image via Wikimedia Commons) Mrs. Barrington (Jeanne De Casalis) is the wealthy head of a Scottish estate. She has big wartime plans for the extra cottage on her property. She’s decided to take in a few child evacuees… but has also offered the cottage to a man named Charles Dimble...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on May 19, 2015

Universal has just released 1941 on Blu-ray. This movie has long been considered Steven Spielberg's worst film as a director, and it is also remembered as a costly bomb--but like several other films with bad reputations, 1941 now has a cult following. 1941 started out as one of the first...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day Jr. on May 19, 2015

Universal has just released 1941 on Blu-ray. This movie has long been considered Steven Spielberg's worst film as a director, and it is also remembered as a costly bomb--but like several other films with bad reputations, 1941 now has a cult following. 1941 started out as one of the first...   read more

Finding Franchot: Exploring the Life and Career of Franchot Tone Posted by Franchot Tone Fan on May 16, 2015

Some of my favorite screenshots I've been able to capture of Franchot! As Robert Stevens in Frank Lloyd's 1941 film This Woman is Mine, Franchot Tone gets the chance to display a bit of stubble and throw a few punches. The sea-based action film is slightly reminiscent of Mutiny on...   read more

The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 16, 2015

In Citizen Kane, director Welles ties everything together–not just the story (he does wrap the narrative visually), but also how the filmmaking relates to the film’s content. Kane’s story can’t be told any other way. That precision–whether it’s in the summary seq   read more

Durnmoose Movie Musings Posted by Michael on May 2, 2015

Okay, gang, it’s Saturday again, and time for another installment of Saturday Breakfast Serial and our ongoing chapter play, Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. And, for those of you who may be just joining us, here are the previous posts for this serial: 1, 2, 3, 4,  5, 6, 7,...   read more

Noirish Posted by John Grant on April 29, 2015

UK / 78 minutes / bw / British National, Anglo–American Dir & Pr: John Baxter Story: Crook’s Tour (1941 radio play) by John Watt, Max Kester Cine: James Wilson Cast: Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Greta Gynt, Charles Oliver, Gordon McLeod, Abraham Sofaer, Bernard Rebel, Cyril Gardiner, Leo   read more

Durnmoose Movie Musings Posted by Michael on April 25, 2015

Okay, gang, it’s Saturday again, and time for another installment of Saturday Breakfast Serial and our ongoing chapter play, Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. And, for those of you who may be just joining us, here are the previous posts for this serial: 1, 2, 3, 4,  5, 6, 7,...   read more

Caftan Woman Posted by Caftan Woman on April 24, 2015

Movie: Goodbye Again Genre: Comedy Sub-genre: screwball, romance, trains Allan Scott and George Haight's play Goodbye Again had a successful run of 216 performances in the Broadway season of 1931/32 starring Osgood Perkins. Ben Markson (Gold Diggers of 1933, What Price Hollywood?) wrote the s   read more

Comet Over Hollywood Posted by on April 20, 2015

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: “Navy Blues...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on April 7, 2015

Like many of the old dark house pictures of its era, The Black Cat (1941) relies upon an offbeat mixture of comedy and horror, zipping from gasps to giggles like a cheerily macabre carnival ride. For some horror purists, the goofier elements of these films repel, but it's easy to...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on April 7, 2015

Like many of the old dark house pictures of its era, The Black Cat (1941) relies upon an offbeat mixture of comedy and horror, zipping from gasps to giggles like a cheerily macabre carnival ride. For some horror purists, the goofier elements of these films repel, but it's easy to...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on April 7, 2015

Like many of the old dark house pictures of its era, The Black Cat (1941) relies upon an offbeat mixture of comedy and horror, zipping from gasps to giggles like a cheerily macabre carnival ride. For some horror purists, the goofier elements of these films repel, but it's easy to...   read more