True Classics Posted by on September 21, 2012

“Oh, I dream about being Bugs Bunny, but when I wake up, I’m Daffy Duck.” –Chuck Jones In Chuck Jones’ hands, the Daffy Duck of the 1930s and 40s–loopy, zany, whooping loudly, flipping out–went through a bit of a personality overhaul in the 50s. The zaniness   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 20, 2012

Seven years before Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd dueled their way through a hilarious take on the music of Wagner in What’s Opera, Doc?, the duo tackled Italian composer Rossini in 1950′s Rabbit of Seville.  Rabbit of Seville is the brainchild of director Chuck Jones, writer Michael Malt   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 19, 2012

The 1950s were arguably the most prolific decade, artistically speaking, of animator/director Chuck Jones’ career. It was the decade that saw Jones take the stock Warner Bros. characters to new heights: he took Daffy Duck and made him an open antagonist to Bugs Bunny (and vice versa, at least   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 18, 2012

The ongoing Comedy Countdown at Wonders in the Dark is in full swing, and my second contribution to the event is now up on the site! By sheer coincidence, number 69 on the countdown is the 1955 animated short One Froggy Evening, directed by none other than the subject of our...   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 16, 2012

Friday, September 21st marks the 100th birthday of animation pioneer Chuck Jones, and in honor of this memorable natal day, True Classics is dedicating the next week’s worth of posts to the life and career of this cartoon genius. Several events marking the occasion have been scheduled in Calif   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 14, 2012

This is a busy time for all of the members of the True Classics crew … one of us has started a Ph.D program and thus will have no discernible life for the next five years or so; one of us is in the midst of an enormous work project...   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 8, 2012

Just a warning: this post is brought to you by the letter “X” and his two friends who are–funnily enough–also named “X.” (This is my roundabout way of telling you that there may be what we will politely term “delicate content” in this post, and if yo   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 6, 2012

Gun-for-hire Walter Steale, a world-weary veteran of World War I, finds himself in the middle of a political quagmire when his brother, Sam, the lieutenant governor of California, asks him to exert some muscle on behalf of his boss, Governor Edwin Davies. But when the man he’d muscled ends u   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 4, 2012

My first contribution to the ongoing Comedy Countdown at Wonders in the Dark is up now … at number 79, it’s one of my favorite romantic comedies, 1959′s Pillow Talk, starring the ever-adorable bathing pair of Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Head over there now to check out the post,   read more

True Classics Posted by on September 1, 2012

August has come and gone–a busy month, all things considered, but filled with interesting doings here at True Classics: While August was a lovely month here on the blog, September has even MORE fun things in store: In addition to these events, we’ll be returning to our regular posting   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 27, 2012

The White Cliffs of Dover is a 1944 film starring Irene Dunne and Alan Marshal. This film shares the story of the life of an American woman living in England during both World War I and World War II. Filming this flick must have been quite a challenge for the beautiful...   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 23, 2012

Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) is one of several films to feature Gene Kelly partnered with Frank Sinatra. I am a huge fan of both performers, so I love these movies. On the Town (1949) and Anchors Aweigh (1945) are on my list of favorite Gene Kelly...   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 22, 2012

C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) works on the lower rungs of an insurance company in New York City. He’s ambitious, but miserable–miserable because he has agreed to loan his apartment to various executives in the company to conduct extramarital affairs, forcing him to spend his nights waiting f   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 21, 2012

Joe: “We’re trying to tell a story with music, and song, and dance. Well, not just with words. For instance, if the boy tells the girl that he loves her, he just doesn’t say it, he sings it.” Jane: “Why doesn’t he just say it?” Joe: “Why? Oh, I don&#   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 17, 2012

Today, Summer Under the Stars on TCM features Katharine Hepburn–all day, all night, hooray! It would be wise to set your DVR to record the entire day or, better yet, just cancel any plans you may have. Get some snacks and a blanket and just get comfortable in front of...   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 14, 2012

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter has apparently long stymied filmmakers, because there has yet to be a cinematic version that fully adapts the material without changing the tone or intent of the author’s original novel. Not to be overly sarcastic about it or anything.   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 8, 2012

Biff Grimes (James Cagney) is an ex-con living in turn-of-the-century New York City who has not found much success in his post-prison career as a dentist. One Sunday afternoon, while preparing to go for a walk with his wife, Amy (Olivia de Havilland), Biff gets a call from the president...   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 6, 2012

Today, it just feels appropriate to borrow a quote from one of the funniest screenwriters of all time, the great Preston Sturges. His 1941 opus Sullivan’s Travels, from which the title of this post derives, remains one of the best comedies of all time–incisive, witty, keenly observatio   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 4, 2012

The legendary blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe, has for some time been a mystery to me. The handful of movies that I’ve seen of hers have left me unimpressed. While unarguably beautiful, she always seems to play an unintelligent, gold-digger type, which is unappealing to me (personally, I’ve   read more

True Classics Posted by on August 2, 2012

“It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. The minute you start, they put you on the all-American sucker list. You start out to build a home and wind up in the poorhouse. And if it can happen to me, what about the guys who aren’t making $15,000 a year? The ones...   read more