Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on February 18, 2018

Can’t get enough of Norma Shearer and The Divorcee. Today’s List o’ the Week is an easy one – my Top 20 favorite pre-Code actresses. Because I couldn’t possibly rank them in order of how much I love them (Stanwyck vs. Crawford vs. Blondell vs. Shearer!?!? Come ON!), I put...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on January 24, 2018

The anticipation builds . . . It’s about that time – time for another installment in my monthly look at the 2017 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival! And this month I’m taking a look at one of my favorite experiences of the festival – the Hand and Footprint Ceremony featuring...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on January 15, 2018

I don’t remember the first time I heard the name “Helen Twelvetrees,” but for many years she was, for me, just an unfamiliar actress from the 1930s with an interesting name – like Gwili Andre or Jobyna Ralston. I never really thought about seeing her in a film, or even...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on December 30, 2017

As 2017 comes to a close, it’s the perfect time for my next entry in my ongoing look at this year’s Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. And what better topic than one of the first events I attended – “Remembering Robert,” which was presented on April 6, 2017, exactly one...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on December 7, 2017

Before I decided to choose Two Seconds (1932) for this month’s Pre-Code Crazy pick, I’d only seen the first five minutes of it – I’d never made it any further. Boy, was I a dope. This is a really good one, y’all. Trust me. What’s it about? To be honest, it...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on December 1, 2017

Young Ava. It’s hard to believe that another Noirvember has come and gone – it flew by like a bird on the wings of night. For my final post of this year’s month-long shadowy celebration, I’m serving up some trivia about some of our favorite noir performers. I hope you’ll lear   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 29, 2017

The beginning. Every film noir lover knows about the era’s favorite couple, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. They’re like shadowy elegant royalty, with almost a dozen noir credits between them. But before Bacall, there was Mayo – Mayo Methot, that is, Humphrey Bogart’s third wife, to whom he was m   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 28, 2017

A noirish conversation if I ever saw one. The more I see William Talman, the more I like him. That is, the more I see him outside of a courtroom with Perry Mason. That’s where I first met this actor and first grew to view him with equal parts dislike...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 27, 2017

1916 – 1990 Hear the name “David White,” and you might offer a blank stare and a shrug to indicate your lack of recognition. See a picture of David White, and you’re likely to instantly think “Larry Tate from Bewitched.” But not me. I summon up a vision of Otis...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 26, 2017

I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it. I can’t exactly put my finger on what it was that took such a hold of me – maybe it’s the way it opens with a voiceover by the city itself. (“I am the city . ....   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 25, 2017

A pal I met through the World Wide Web sent me a DVD of this movie, and it literally sat languishing in my home for years before I decided to check it out. Boy, what a bonehead! First off, the film stars director-turned-actor-turned pulp fiction writer Erich Von Stroheim (perhaps...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 24, 2017

These three. Without a doubt, Gloria Grahame is one of my favorite film noir actresses. Her sultry, sin-filled demeanor was practically made for this shadowy era of filmmaking, and in Human Desire, she doesn’t disappoint. Here, she’s Vicki Buckley, a sexy and duplicitous housewife whose feminine wil   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 23, 2017

From Ann Sheridan and my family, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Cluck. And here’s a Noirvember Thanksgiving tip: A frequent question around this time of year is what wine to pair with a Thanksgiving meal. The answer most often given is Pinot NOIR. Pinot NOIR is a lovely light red that pa   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 22, 2017

Gritty and fast-paced, Cry of the City focuses on a mélange of distinctive characters, including Martin Rome (love that name), played by Richard Conte, a small-time hood who has recently added the murder of a cop to his long list of misdeeds; Teena (Debra Paget), Rome’s unflaggingly steadfast girlfr   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 21, 2017

With Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. She was Effie Perine in The Maltese Falcon (1941). Maggie Biederhof in Mildred Pierce (1945). Elvira Powell in Caged (1950). Lee Patrick could do it all. Undeniably talented but woefully underrated, Patrick died on today’s date in 1982, just one day before her 81st   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 20, 2017

One of my favorite guilty cinematic pleasures is Where Danger Lives. It stars Robert Mitchum as Jeff Cameron, a compassionate doctor who becomes involved with a mysterious woman by the name of Margo Lannington (Faith Domergue) after she’s brought to his hospital following a suicide attempt. Before l   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 19, 2017

It happens with noir like every other type of movie. You see an actor in a film. You’ve seen him before, probably many times before. But who is he? What’s his name? Who knows?!? Today’s Noirvember post takes a look at a few of these “dark corner performers,” a term...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 18, 2017

This ain’t no Lily Munster. Last week, while compiling my list of favorite noirs for each year, I ran across several years that had multiple features that I love. One of these was 1949, which is fairly overflowing with first-rate films from the noir era. Today’s Noirvember post shines the...   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 17, 2017

I love a good noir movie poster, don’t you? Today’s Noirvember post celebrates my favorites! What are some of yours? Join me tomorrow for Day 18 of Noirvember!! ~ by shadowsandsatin on November 17, 2017. Posted in Noir Films Tags: film noir, Laura, Night Editor, Noirvember, Noir   read more

Shadows and Satin Posted by shadowsandsatin on November 16, 2017

Murder, My Sweet (1944) ~ by shadowsandsatin on November 16, 2017. Posted in Noir Films, Noirvember 2017 Tags: Dick Powell, film noir, Mike Mazurki, Murder My Sweet, Noirvember, Noirvember 2017   read more