Movie Classics Posted by Judy on September 1, 2013

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made a total of nine films together, but, for my money, Adam’s Rib is the best. It’s a film with just about everything, from a sharp script to a great performances by the central couple as rival lawyers. It was also ahead of  its time...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on August 2, 2013

The shadow of Casablanca hangs heavy over Tokyo Joe, as Bogart attempts to recapture the mood of his most famous romance in a drama made by his own production company, Santana. Once again, Bogart plays an expat nightclub owner, this time wandering through the battered landscape of post-war Tokyo. An   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on July 20, 2013

This is my contribution to the Barbara Stanwyck blogathon being organised by Girl with a White Parasol, which features a great range of postings going right through her career. Barbara Stanwyck and Johnny Russell Sacrificial mother love was a persistent theme in 1930s melodramas – and Barbara   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on July 14, 2013

This is my contribution to the Dynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathon hosted by Once Upon a Screen and Classic Movie Hub. Do check out the other postings, which cover a wide range of artists. Facing the music and dancing If there is any one dance number which sums up...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on June 28, 2013

Margaret Rutherford on her bike This posting is my contribution to the Funny Lady blogathon being organised by the Movies, Silently blog. Please do visit and read the postings on a host of actresses from different eras. If there’s a film moment that sums up Margaret Rutherford’s screen p   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on June 21, 2013

Katharine Hepburn as Lady Cynthia Darrington Aviation movies have long held a fascination for me, but I haven’t seen many featuring female aviators — and most of those I have seen are a disappointment. For instance, I was recently excited at the chance to see the German silent film The...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on May 19, 2013

It was a film made in just four weeks, and on a shoestring. Clark Gable was forced to star in it as a punishment, according to some accounts, and turned up drunk and angry to meet director Frank Capra.  At the end of filming, Claudette Colbert said “I just finished...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on May 7, 2013

This is my contribution to the Mary Astor blogathon being hosted by classic movie blogs Tales of the Easily Distracted and Silver Screenings, running from May 3-10, 2013 – please do visit the other blogs taking part. Mary Astor and Melvyn Douglas The Mary Astor film I’ve chosen to write   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on April 30, 2013

If there’s one  murder mystery where nobody cares whodunit, it has to be The Thin Man. Why waste time puzzling over clues when you could be enjoying William Powell and Myrna Loy, and their portrayal of  glamorous detectives Nick and Nora Charles?  The scenes everybody remembers from this spark   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on April 14, 2013

James Stewart and Hedy Lamarr make an unusual romantic combination – especially when she is dressed in stunning gowns by Adrian and he is down to his last dime. However, this surprising pairing works well in the MGM romantic comedy Come Live with Me. This isn’t one of the greatest...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on April 8, 2013

This is my contribution to the James Cagney blogathon being organised by R.D. Finch at The Movie Projector. Please do visit and read the other postings. There is also the chance to win a two-DVD special set of ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ – scroll down to the bottom of the Movie...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on March 29, 2013

It’s hard to imagine a sunnier musical than Easter Parade. Everything fits together perfectly, from the sublime song-and-dance pairing of Judy Garland and Fred Astaire to the score packed with great Irving Berlin standards. Yet this brightly-coloured holiday favourite was at first intended to be dar   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on March 24, 2013

This posting is really a follow-up to the excellent John Garfield centenary blogathon. In the last few days I’ve  been lucky enough to see one of Garfield’s rarer films,  Saturday’s Children, and was surprised to realise just how many other versions of the same story have been made   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on March 16, 2013

Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse There’s a Western musical number in one of Fred Astaire’s least-known films, Let’s Dance (1950), where a TV set is seen on the wall, showing a cowboy film. Astaire eyes it disbelievingly for a second – then whips out a gun and shoots the screen....   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on March 8, 2013

Humphrey Bogart and June Allyson Nearly two decades before M.A.S.H., the Korean War romantic drama Battle Circus, starring Humphrey Bogart and June Allyson as a surgeon and nurse, covered much of the same territory. Indeed, the opening shots of a helicopter hovering above a landscape of tents looks   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on March 3, 2013

This is my contribution to the John Garfield centenary blogathon being organised by Patti at They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To. Please do visit and take a look at the other postings. John Garfield’s last film is one of his greatest – yet it tends to be known...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on February 21, 2013

Frank Loesser’s amazing score for Guys and Dolls has to be one of the greatest ever written, packed with unforgettable songs, from Fugue for Tinhorns to Luck, Be a Lady and Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat. Michael Kidd’s fast-moving choreography in the colourful street scenes, using Cinemascope to   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on February 15, 2013

David Niven and Loretta Young Latter-day screwball comedy Eternally Yours was made in what is often described as Hollywood’s greatest year, 1939, and has a superb cast. There are three actors who later won Oscars, not only leads Loretta Young and David Niven, but also Broderick Crawford as the   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on February 6, 2013

Making a list of my top ten favourite male actors was even harder than listing my favourite actresses, because there is a temptation to put all those I find the most handsome top of the list, and that isn’t really what it’s about. I’m uneasily aware that most of my...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 26, 2013

I’ve noticed that quite a few other blogs have lists of favourite actors and actresses. Today I felt like doing something a bit different from my usual reviews, so made a list of my favourite ten actresses at the moment. I’m sure if I made the list another day it...   read more