Movie Classics Posted by Judy on February 8, 2012

Made the same year as Wellman’s great Beau Geste, this lesser-known drama, sadly not on DVD as yet, is another wildly noble and compelling period melodrama adapted from a novel by an imperialist author, Kipling.  There was clearly a demand for such films in 1939, in the early days of the...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 23, 2012

Carrying on with my series where I pick five films which have some kind of loose thematic connection – not necessarily the best or even my favourites, but five which interest me. Anyway, films about films seem to be my theme of the moment, as I’ve recently written postings about...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 21, 2012

Films about classic cinema are proving very popular at the moment. There’s The Artist, a tribute to silent cinema – and My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne and Kenneth Branagh, which goes behind the scenes of the making of The Prince and the Showgirl in 1957.   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 16, 2012

I’ve decided to do a new series of postings which will appear on my blog every Monday and will be picture-led, picking out five films on a particular theme. These are not necessarily the “best” five or even my five favourites, but just a selection that interested me. It would...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on January 7, 2012

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo in 'The Artist' A belated Happy New Year to everyone visiting this blog, and thanks very much for all your support. I intend to update more this year, hopefully at least once a week, so watch this space! This will mean keeping my postings shorter,...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 16, 2011

Even more good news on Wellman DVD/Blu-ray releases. Kino Classics recently announced it would be releasing a restored print of  Nothing Sacred (1937) this month, and it is now doing the same for another great  Wellman film from the same year, A Star Is Born, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on December 3, 2011

In the interests of obsessive completism, I thought I’d mention that I’ve just watched another rare 1930s William Wellman film. Sadly, however, if I’m honest, on this occasion the thrill of anticipation was greater than the pleasure of seeing the movie, The President Vanishes, whic   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on November 19, 2011

Frances Dee and Douglas Fairbanks Jr Countless movies from the 1930s feature fast-talking, fast-living  journalists, armed with battered old typewriters, phones and bottles of whiskey. Some of these reporters are fearlessly determined to expose corruption at any cost. Others, however, are quite the   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on November 14, 2011

Clara Bow in 'Wings' Wow! I’ve just written a posting about all the Wellman goodies coming out on DVD – and now comes the news from the wonderful Classicflix blog that his silent masterpiece Wings (1927) (winner of the first Oscar for best film) is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on November 12, 2011

William Wellman and Dorothy Coonan on the set of 'Wild Boys of the Road ' It’s been a while since I did any full reviews of William A Wellman movies here, but I have been watching more of his work in the meantime and have updated my Wellman page with...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on October 23, 2011

I’ve finally managed to see pre-Code romantic comedy Laughter, starring Nancy Carroll, Fredric March and Frank Morgan. It was in a very poor print online (at good old YT), but I’m just happy to have seen it at last. It has never been released on DVD – probably because neither of...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on September 25, 2011

I’ve been watching a lot of Lubitsch’s famous pre-Code musical comedies recently, so thought it would be interesting also to see this little-known serious anti-war drama which he made at the same period, starring Lionel Barrymore. Broken Lullaby – also known as The Man I Killed, af   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on September 5, 2011

I haven’t had much time for blogging lately, even for the shorter postings I keep vaguely promising – but here are a few thoughts on another Capra pre-Code melodrama, again starring Barbara Stanwyck as a fish out of water. This is said to be the movie which made her a...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on August 14, 2011

Sorry not to have updated for a while – I’ve been busy and then was away on holiday. However, this is just a note to say that I was interested to hear a report about how Birmingham Central Library has discovered what could be the UK’s largest collection of silent...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on July 9, 2011

Actress Barbara Stanwyck is probably best-known for her roles in films noir like Double Indemnity, where she plays a cold-hearted femme fatale. But, great as she undoubtedly is in this kind of part, I tend to prefer her earlier films when she plays characters with more warmth – as she...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on June 18, 2011

I’ve been meaning to write about one or two more obscure pre-Codes that I’ve seen in the last few weeks, but haven’t got round to it and my memory of some of them is already starting to fade. So here is a short posting on one of these, Big City...   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on June 5, 2011

I’m continuing my series of postings on William A Wellman films with a look at another of his smash hits. However, Beau Geste is very different from most of his movies that I’ve discussed so far. Returning from Technicolor to atmospheric black and white, this is a melodramatic imperialis   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on May 22, 2011

Back to the pre-Code period – and back to John Barrymore. I’ve already written about one fine, though little-known, film where he plays a lawyer, State’s Attorney (1932). The following year he starred in this even better legal drama, which must be one of his finest talkies, and is   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on May 14, 2011

I’m returning to the director whose career I’ve been intermittently following on this blog, William A Wellman – and to another famous  movie, which has a lot in common with its predecessor, A Star Is Born, though this time the emphasis is on satirical screwball comedy rather than t   read more

Movie Classics Posted by Judy on May 7, 2011

I’ve watched a few little-known pre-Codes lately which aren’t masterpieces by any means, but are still interesting. I thought I’d post a few thoughts on them before they fade in my mind completely, starting with this early Bette Davis comedy-drama from Warner Brothers. Davis is one   read more