Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 23, 2013

I’VE just seen the 1999 film version of Trevor Nunn’s London stage revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s great musical Oklahoma, starring Hugh Jackman – who was then pretty well unknown. He makes a great Curly and to be honest I might prefer his relaxed singing in this film to   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 12, 2013

   MGM was at one time said to have “more stars than there are in heaven”. The studio certainly poured quite a few of them into its 1933 drama Night Flight, produced by David O Selznick and directed by Clarence Brown, which features both John and Lionel Barrymore along with...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 3, 2013

Judy Garland and Tom Drake Many great musicals have plots packed with drama and unlikely coincidences. By contrast, on the surface anyway, Meet Me In St Louis has almost no plot at all. However, there is far more to this holiday classic, starring Judy Garland in one of her best-loved...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 30, 2012

Alastair Sim and Mervyn Johns as Scrooge and Cratchit As promised, here’s my review of the 1951 Scrooge, which was the winner in the Movie Classics poll for people’s favourite adaptation. At heart, A Christmas Carol is a ghost story. Some productions almost lose sight of that, amid all t   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 24, 2012

Reginald Owen as Scrooge As a fan of 1930s films, I was really looking forward to seeing  this 1938 version of A Christmas Carol. However, I must admit I was rather disappointed with this very short film (just 69 minutes), which cuts out a great deal of the story, including...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 22, 2012

Orson Welles on radio I’d heard a lot about Lionel Barrymore’s great performances as Scrooge on radio, and decided today to listen to his most famous audio version of A Christmas Carol, broadcast at Christmas 1939 as part of Orson Welles’ Campbell Playhouse  series. Via Google, I f   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 20, 2012

I didn’t have time to update my blog yesterday and, realistically, my blogging might be a bit hit and miss now as Christmas arrives, but I will try to write new postings as frequently as possible, even if my Dickens in December season ends up stretching into January. Just a...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 18, 2012

Dirk Bogarde as Sydney Carton In the UK, the 1958 Rank Organisation adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, starring  Dirk Bogarde, is probably better-remembered than the 1935 MGM version. The 1950s film is the one that’s widely available here (there’s even a special edition DVD), whereas th   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 17, 2012

Harry Benham plays Nicholas Nickleby After enjoying the 1911 version of A Tale of Two Cities, I was interested to see another early silent adaptation of a Dickens novel made the following year. However, I must say I don’t feel George Nichols’ three-reel version of Nicholas Nickleby, one   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 16, 2012

I must admit that, overall, the 1933 version of Oliver Twist is one of the weakest Dickens films I’ve seen. It is nowhere near the quality of David Lean’s famous adaptation, or even of the 1922 silent film starring Jackie Coogan which I reviewed here recently. I’m glad to have...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 16, 2012

I’d been hoping to write about the 1927 British silent film The Only Way, based on A Tale of  Two Cities, as part of my series of Dickens postings – but so far I haven’t managed to see this film. The BFI does have it available to watch online but...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 14, 2012

“I’d wish you a Merry Christmas,” snaps Miss Pross (Edna May Oliver) as she walks past a drunken Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman), staggering through the falling snow. “But it’s plain to  see you’ve had it already.” However, Lucie Manette (Elizabeth Allan) has   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 13, 2012

I missed a day of ‘Dickens in December’ yesterday, so apologies for that to anyone who dropped by my blog and drew a blank, but I’m currently working on a review of the great 1935 version of A Tale of Two Cities and will hopefully be back with that later today,...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 11, 2012

Sir Michael Hordern as Scrooge I haven’t had a chance to write anything new today, but this is a posting  which I wrote for my Costume Drama Reviews blog (which I’m not currently updating, although I may return to it if time allows), a couple of years ago, about the...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 10, 2012

Thanks so much to everyone who has shown an interest in my Dickens in December series of postings. I’m getting the impression that quite a few people are particularly fascinated by the silent adaptations – it is amazing to realise that there were around 100 silent films of his works...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 9, 2012

Seymour Hicks as Scrooge The 1935 British film Scrooge, directed by Henry Edwards and starring Seymour Hicks in the title role, was the first sound version, but has tended to be overshadowed by Hollywood productions. However, I’ve just watched this version and really enjoyed it – Hicks w   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 8, 2012

I haven’t got time to write a full posting tonight, but will just give links to a couple of fascinating very early Dickens adaptations, really just fragments, both dating from 1901. The first is thought to be the very earliest Dickens film in existence, and was recently rediscovered in the...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 7, 2012

After watching Frank Lloyd’s early silent feature A Tale of Two Cities (1917),  I couldn’t resist taking a look at the second Dickens silent he directed five years later. This one is much better-known, because it has a more famous cast, headed by Jackie Coogan as Oliver and Lon Chaney...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 6, 2012

Just a short Dickens-related posting tonight! Earlier this year I went to a special day at the BFI in London where there were a number of panel discussions about Dickens on TV and the chance to see a lot of rare clips. One of the most interesting discussions was about...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 5, 2012

Maurice Costello as Sydney Carton More Dickens in December – and I’m back to silent cinema, though I do promise to include some later films in this series of postings too! Some Dickens works seem to be constantly adapted for the screen, notably Great Expectations, with two new versions i   read more