Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on February 14, 2020

Months back I wrote a piece for a different site on streaming services for Horror film lovers.    It is not hard to figure out that this delivery system is the new way to get entertainment delivered to your phone, tablet, and television if you have the necessary tech available such...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on January 30, 2020

Hard boiled detective stories are lovely fodder for film. The dark streets full of grime, corruption and broken bottles and dreams coupled with spent cartridges.  This is the world of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer at its cliché best with all the trimmings of a blue plate special with poison gravy.    read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on January 25, 2020

I am sure we all read some of the  biographies of the stars, hoping to get some insight or  dirt.  Loads of these works are out there; from the ‘unauthorised’ label with many books being written by the studio press people or the newspaper columnist of the time.  These people...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on January 14, 2020

Sixties film making has a particular niche and creators pressed  new subject matter and techniques.   The rise of the ‘biker film,’ thought to be low budget drive in fare for the  teenagers more interested in making sure  the ‘wild oats’ were well stowed away. Many of these   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on January 2, 2020

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Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on December 19, 2019

Not everyone  can be  a big star in Hollywood. In fact, many make a comfortable living and end up drifting into other opportunities.  Some still toil on camera, being the face  you know but can’t put a name to. Whether David Manners  fits into that category along with  Lyle Talbot...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on December 12, 2019

When you have your PVR loaded with holiday film fare  or you pop in your favorite  disks in what ever format you choose for yourself or guests; just cast your mind back to another way to watch. When PVR was still the “stuff dreams are made of,” those of us...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on December 5, 2019

n The Horror pictures of the Golden age are could be like “Diner food’ to  ‘ serious film goers or  Movie gourmets.’  If that is  so then  side dishes you get with a  diner meal add to the being filled up.  If the lead actors and central story are the...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on November 28, 2019

I remember the usual films, THE GRINCH THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS with Boris Karloff; CHARLIE BROWN’S CHRISTMAS with the sad tree that tips over when an ornament is put on it.   The skating sequences from THE BISHOPS’S WIFE with David Niven, Cary Grant and Loretta Young are also part of holiday...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on November 14, 2019

The following words are a shameless plug as they appear in my current ebook and soon to be print SCREEN AND SCREEN AGAIN.    Not much change in Halloween which has just passed us by except the people.  Who would have dreamed of a  24 hour channel for Classic film...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on October 23, 2019

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Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on October 4, 2019

The little things you find when you walk into a shop – like Alain Delon’s character did  in ONCE A THIEF (1965). This Ralph Nelson directed picture is a stylish thriller from the opening frame to the end titles.   The  opening sequence, shot  in a  San Francisco jazz club, features...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on September 11, 2019

Warner Brothers takes a dip into the non-gangster market with director William Keighley. He may have seen this as an assignment to get over and done with.  Keightley would work with James Cagney many times and  be in the director’s chair for  co direction credit  in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on September 6, 2019

Allegory themes tend to be a hit and miss proposition.  A lovely example is  STRANGE CARGO (1940) with one of Clark Gable’s best on camera moments of life  and the hereafter. Clarence Brown’s THE  HUMAN COMEDY (1943) with Mickey Rooney is another.  The  picture was  originally written b   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on August 27, 2019

Days accelerate today as never before.  You read a calendar and  wonder where a year has gone.  Lucky when you watch film you can slip into seasons quite well hence it was not out of of place the  see  the silent picture  THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE (1921). The picture – while not...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on August 23, 2019

Sometimes you just want to sit down with a good book. Not an electronic book.  Yes, they  are  wonderfully convenient. But a book is something that you hold up.  When I am lucky enough to travel to places like Los Angeles, I  find myself in  Larry Edmunds bookshop on Hollywood...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on August 9, 2019

The grind house / exploitation film sub genre known as  the biker film or teenage juvenile delinquent picture are fondly looked at today through a different lens.   What seems to be cheap, simple and  visceral entertainment capitalizing  on trends or headlines has become a retro art form; often vaul   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on July 31, 2019

The after war picture most remember (with good reason), is, of course: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946).   R.K.O studios TILL THE  END OF TIME (1946) was released two months previous to MGM’S picture, both oddly enough in Mexico with the  USA premiere not happening till 1947. TILL THE...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on July 19, 2019

The scope of large events such as war can be hard for people to grasp. History is usually  written by the victors.  Hence,  VACATION FROM MARRIAGE (1945),  in the  USA (A. K. A.  PERFECT STRANGERS) presents the watcher with a low key, intimate view of ordinary people who undergo a...   read more

Stardust and Shadows Posted by Terry on July 13, 2019

Classic film is not confined to black and white pictures of the ” Golden Age.” Many were  glorious imitations of what has been done before,  and that is comforting. You will find occasional seismic changes such as the Production Code altering the precode  era to the advent of post war...   read more