Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 8, 2015

Image Source This story about how Tippi Hedren inspired the rise of Vietnamese nail technicians in America is so touching. I always thought she seemed like a nice person, but what she did to help female refugees of the Vietnam war took sensitivity and intelligence, in addition to kindness. (hat...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 6, 2015

The Warner Archive Blu-ray edition of 42nd Street glimmers from the first frame. Even the title card looks magnificent. The credit "Silks by the Cheney Brothers" never looked more glamorous. To see the film that I watched dozens of times as a teenager on a VHS copy recorded from TV...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 4, 2015

Bandit: How tall are you? Stranger: About six feet…six with the hat. In the midst of the 1960s craze for spaghetti Westerns, a scrawny, scrappy Man With No Name made his way to the top of the heap. With a series of films in which his character was simply known...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on May 2, 2015

Barbara Stanwyck's bold button collar dress in Baby Face (1933) is worn again by an office worker in Housewife (1934): George Brent is in both films too!   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 30, 2015

The Seattle International Film Festival announced its 2015 line-up today, and it is going to be a fantastic year for classic film fans. SIFF has long offered a bold and fascinating program of archival movies, but as I enter my third year of covering the festival, now in its 41st...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 29, 2015

Anita Ekberg in The Alphabet Murders I recently enjoyed a pair of new Warner Archive releases starring Tony Randall and David Niven, two actors who can bring lightness to the darkest subject matter. They do just that in the jaunty, but deadly The Alphabet Murders (1966) and Where the Spies...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 27, 2015

Image Source Crime on My Hands Craig Rice, George Sanders Dean Street Press 2015 (Originally published 1944) Stranger at Home Leigh Brackett, George Sanders Deant Street Press 2015 (Originally published 1946) I just whipped through a pair of vintage George Sanders mysteries, and to my great sor   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 24, 2015

Image Source I wonder what happened to the original versions of these paper caricatures made for film advertisements? They're gorgeous! This is a fascinating article about how Elizabeth "Tippy" Walker, the actress who played one of the young girls in The World of Henry Orient (1964) with Peter Se   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 22, 2015

Though he is featured prominently in much of the advertising for Our Mother's House, Dirk Bogarde doesn't appear in the film until the half point. Up to then, it is the domain of a remarkable cast of seven children who play siblings coping with the sudden death of their sickly...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 19, 2015

Image Source Spencer had eyes like an old wild animal....He had a soul that had no release; you were not looking into an empty room. He found acting easy and life difficult. -Katharine Hepburn, about Spencer Tracy Quote Source   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 19, 2015

Anita Ekberg plays around in Boccaccio '70 (1962).   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 17, 2015

Image Source At a recent event in Prague Kim Novak displayed her paintings and shared some interesting comments about her art, films and the memoir she wrote and lost. Roar (1981) is being re-released by Alamo Drafthouse. Directed by Noel Marshall and featuring then wife Tippi Hedren , step daught   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 16, 2015

I couldn't think of a better way to start day four of TCMFF than with the rousing opening number of Calamity Jane (1953). Doris Day standing on top of a speeding stagecoach singing at the top of her lungs was quite the eye-opener. Though I knew it was ridiculous, there...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 15, 2015

Image Source Saturday was one of the most purely enjoyable days of the festival. All I did was watch movies and I think the simplicity of it all appealed to me. My energy started to flag a little, partly because I hadn't had a sit down meal for too long,...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 14, 2015

I went light on the movies the second day of TCMFF. Only at a film festival can you say that seeing four flicks in a day is a "light" viewing schedule. After the Christopher Plummer hand/foot print ceremony (which I wrote about here), I had planned to see The Proud...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 13, 2015

When I saw that a book had been written about the affair between Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, I wondered if there was enough to say about their brief romance to fill a book. It turns out, it doesn't even fill half a book, but this dual biography, while not...   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 12, 2015

Image Source Hollywood is a simple fairy tale; if you understand that, you'll never get hurt. -Cary Grant, to Sophia Loren Quote Source   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 11, 2015

Picture perfect Kay Francis in The House on 56th Street (1933)   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 10, 2015

It is time once again for the annual Film Preservation Blogathon. The theme this year is sci-fi. I'm disappointed that I probably won't have time to participate! Having just tried the LA version of the TCM bus tour, I was interested to read this account of the New York tour....   read more

Classic Movies Posted by KC on April 8, 2015

I'd planned to sleep in the first day of the festival. Events and screenings typically don't begin until after noon and I envisioned a leisurely morning. However, when as a member of the media I was offered the chance to check out the TCM Bus Tour, I figured I should...   read more