Classic Movies Posted by KC on December 1, 2016

When Broadway Went to Hollywood Ethan Mordden Oxford University Press, 2016 What would post-silent age Hollywood have become without the contributions of talents from Broadway? It's difficult to envision the industry developing the way it did without the infusion of stage actors that gave the early   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 29, 2016

For armchair travel via time machine, there's no beating James A. Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks. From 1930 to 1954, this prolific producer filmed hundreds of Technicolor shorts all over the globe. I missed seeing the first two Warner Archive volumes of these fascinating little films, but very much enjo   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 27, 2016

I had a lovely time at the multi-plex this afternoon, where I had the rare opportunity to watch a classic film in the kind of theater that is usually home to the latest big screen blockbuster. Because of this, it always feels like a triumph to me to attend movies...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 26, 2016

Etsy Well the dust has settle from Black Friday and Buy Nothing Day has passed, so let's do some Classic Movie Style shopping! Over the past year I have gathered lots of great gift ideas for classic film fans and I am excited to share them with you. Get some...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 25, 2016

The Love Witch, now in theaters, will get a lot of attention for its brightly-colored retro look, but it is perhaps most striking for the way it revels in the rarely explored female point of view. A visual throwback with modern ideas about love, romance and their navigation by women...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 22, 2016

Hollywood Divided: The 1950s Screen Directors Guild Meeting and the Impact of the Blacklist Kevin Brianton University Press of Kentucky, 2016 On October 22, 1950, over 500 members of the Screen Directors Guild met late into the night at the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was a special meeting, called to...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 16, 2016

I've always had a lot of respect for Peter Bogdanovich, both as a filmmaker and as a custodian of film history. When many of the great directors were still alive, he befriended these legends and recorded their thoughts for future generations. He would also pay tribute to the style and...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 8, 2016

King of Jazz: Paul Whiteman's Technicolor Revue James Layton and David Pierce Media History Press, In 1930, a struggling Universal Studios hitched its hopes for resurrection to two mega-productions: one, the dark anti-war epic All Quiet on the Western Front the other, a frothy Technicolor musical   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on November 3, 2016

The romantic noir thriller On Dangerous Ground (1952) transcends an uninspired story thanks to the special talents of its cast and crew. Directed by Nicholas Ray, starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino and scored by Bernard Herrmann, the economical production makes a surprising emotional connection. No   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on October 28, 2016

This batch of six MGM and Warner Bros. shockers is a quirky cousin to the classic literature-inspired horror classics of Universal Studios. It features familiar stars of horror: Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and champion screamer Fay Wray, in flicks that get a little naughtier, creepier an   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on October 21, 2016

Cocteau: A Life Claude Arnaud Originally published: Gallimard, 2003 English translation by Lauren Elkin and Charlotte Mandell: Yale University Press, 2016 Jean Cocteau never quite fit in with the human race. Lost in fairy land fantasies and opium reveries, with even his hair refusing to part right   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on October 14, 2016

In the early forties, Russian-American film producer Val Lewton was head of horror production at RKO Studios. In a precise agreement with the studio, for each film he was given a strictly limited budget, a title and instructions to keep the running time short. With these basic elements, an efficien   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on October 6, 2016

So much of the joy of Love Me or Leave Me is in the luxurious MGM-style polish of the production. There's the beautiful sets, the too gorgeous to be real costumes and the beauty of the luscious color photography. This glossy fictionalization of the rise of chanteuse Ruth Etting and...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on October 4, 2016

Dolce Vita Confidential: Fellini, Loren, Pucci, Paparazzi, and the Swinging High Life of 1950s Rome Shawn Levy W.W. Norton & Company, 2016 When I learned of the publication of Shawn Levy's Dolce Vita Confidential, my first thought was, "Please let him write about the time Anita Ekberg threaten   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on September 29, 2016

Dan Duryea Heel with a Heart Mike Peros Hollywood Legends Series University Press of Mississippi, 2016 Though Dan Duryea made his name playing slippery cinematic cads, it turns out he was one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, just like fellow screen rascals and beloved citizens Basil Rathbone and Au   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on September 27, 2016

"Call me Ishamael." Herman Melville's opening line to Moby Dick is one of the most famous first sentences in English literature, and yet, when a large volume of the book is opened to the first page in the credits of this pre-code take on the novel, there is no Ishamael...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on September 23, 2016

There are few screen actors who have gone through as many career changes as Elizabeth Taylor. In the first part of that astonishing professional journey she transitioned from a sweet-tempered child actress, to a gorgeous ingénue and then decided that she was more than a movie star; she was going...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on September 21, 2016

Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936 Edward Sorel Liveright Publishing Company, 2016 In 1936, actress Mary Astor swept Hitler and Franco off the front pages of newspapers when a diary detailing her extramarital sexual romps was made public. The star's ex-husband attem   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on September 18, 2016

I think personally that every actress should do a little film. Even a short film. And all directors should act, to know how difficult it is also the other way around. -Anna Karina Quote Source   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on September 14, 2016

Making its Warner Archive DVD debut, Alfred the Great isn't an unheralded classic, though it has some fascinating elements. Starring David Hemmings in the title role and Michael York as Guthram, a brutal Viking with a Prince Valiant bob, it's a visually striking epic with inventive battle scenes, an   read more