True Classics Posted by Carrie on March 12, 2011

Hands held high/Touch the sky./ You mean everything to me. My experience with The Rescuers (1977) happened a little backwards. I grew up with the audiotape (you know, the ones where they use clips from the film and narrate the story), but I was older before I actually saw the...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on March 10, 2011

Throughout the month of March, we’ll be celebrating the behind-the-scenes roles of women during the classic film era. Earlier this week, we took a look at some of the first women to step into the role of director during the silent film period. Today, we’ll look at a few of...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on March 8, 2011

Today, March 8, is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, which falls, appropriately enough, at the start of Women’s History Month. Though it’s not a nationally-recognized holiday here in the United States (as it is in several countries across the world), it is nonethe   read more

True Classics Posted by Nikki G on March 5, 2011

Winnie the Pooh has been a family favorite as far back as I can remember–from my Winnie the Pooh books and my brother’s toys to calling my sister Eeyore when she was in a particularly pessimistic mood. We also grew up watching the various spinoff shows that aired in the...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on March 3, 2011

In the mid-1930s, the screwball comedy was still a relatively new subgenre of film. Many critics label It Happened One Night, released in 1934, as the first “screwball” picture ever produced, and subsequent films such as Twentieth Century (also 1934) and Hands Across the Table (1935) bui   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on March 1, 2011

Lovely, talented, and always gracious, classic film actress and popular pin-up girl Jane Russell passed away yesterday at the age of 89. Russell’s start in Hollywood came at the hands of millionaire Howard Hughes, who was enamored by her beautifully voluptuous figure, displayed to such winnin   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 28, 2011

One of the most visible and beloved supporting players of the 1950s was a middle-aged, theater-trained actress from Brooklyn, Thelma Ritter. You may not know her name, but if you’re a classic movie fan, you know her face. Ritter appeared in supporting roles in a series of big-name films opposite...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 27, 2011

Tomorrow marks the start of the Jean Harlow Blogathon, hosted by the Kitty Packard Pictorial! We are so excited to be participating in this event to celebrate the centenary of one of the most gorgeous, talented, and truly funny actresses to ever come out of Hollywood. Harlow’s birthday is Thur   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 25, 2011

Note: you can find the first part of this entry here. Joseph Breen’s second caveat in adapting Streetcar revolved around the character of Blanche, whose more sexually predatory side could not be fully explicated on the screen per Production Code regulations. The faded Southern belle’s l   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 23, 2011

We’ve previously touched on issues of censorship here at True Classics, but our next two entries this week will take a more in-depth look at the Hays Code, particularly in regards to the struggle to adapt the controversial source material of A Streetcar Named Desire for the big screen. By 1950   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 21, 2011

Here are our recommendations for TCM’s final week+ of 31 Days of Oscar. Happy viewing! Tuesday, February 22nd =8:00PM EST: The Defiant Ones (1958) Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier star as a pair of chained-together fugitives who must put aside their mutual hatred and work together in order to se   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 20, 2011

This post is our contribution to the ongoing For the Love of Film (Noir) blogathon. As we mentioned last week, the blogathon is being held in support of the Film Noir Foundation, and all of the funds collected will be dedicated to the restoration of 1950′s The Sound of Fury,...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 19, 2011

For Christmas, a friend of mine scored a copy of the new Wii game Epic Mickey. If you haven’t heard of this game, it’s an attempt to turn Disney’s signature character into a bad-ass of the umpteenth degree while reacquainting folks with some former Disney animation stars like Oswal   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 16, 2011

Our very own Carrie has submitted a piece for the “Jane Austen Made Me Do It” short story contest, hosted by the Republic of Pemberley. And I know all of you out there want to help us see Carrie’s charming story make it into the upcoming anthology of Austen-inspired prose,...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 14, 2011

Here are our daily recommendations for your 31 Days of Oscar viewing this week: Tuesday, February 15th 10:30AM EST: Black Orpheus (1959) The first time I saw this film was in a postcolonial literature class in college, and I fell in love with its musical, magical beauty. It’s a retelling of th   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 13, 2011

The upcoming March 2011 issue of Vanity Fair has an excellent interview with the grande dame of old Hollywood, Lauren Bacall. At the age of 86, Bacall remains a sharp, intuitive, and fiercely independent figure whose legendary profile still leaps out of a photograph. In the interview, Bacall reminis   read more

True Classics Posted by Carrie on February 12, 2011

  I had to take Robin Hood (1973) on our Disney list. I grew up with an older brother (more or less) who absolutely loves this one. He spends a lot of times whistling “Oo-De-Lally.”  My sister rewatched this with me, per a tradition of ours: watching animated films when...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 10, 2011

We here at True Classics are very excited about two upcoming blogathons in which we will be participating! First up, starting on Sunday, Ferdy on Films and the Self-Styled Siren are joining forces to host For the Love of Film (Noir). Brandie will be contributing a post on the 1947...   read more

True Classics Posted by Brandie on February 8, 2011

Confession: it’s hard to remember to come over here every day and post the daily recommendation for 31 Days of Oscar. As you may have noticed, I neglected to do it yesterday and … um … the day before (bad Brandie!). So instead of worrying about whether or not my forgetful...   read more

True Classics Posted by Nikki G on February 6, 2011

The Aristocats marks the beginning of the transitional period between the Walt era and the Renaissance that took the studio by storm in the late 80s and 90s, and as such is full of lasts and firsts.  Most notably, this was the last story that Walt approved and the first...   read more