Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on February 6, 2018

Michael Curtiz directs Errol Flynn in Dodge City (1939), the first of the swashbuckling star's forays into Western territory, with frequent costars Olivia de Havilland and Alan Hale along for the action, as well. Briskly paced and packed with excitement, Dodge City forgoes elegaic musings on the clo   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on February 6, 2018

Michael Curtiz directs Errol Flynn in Dodge City (1939), the first of the swashbuckling star's forays into Western territory, with frequent costars Olivia de Havilland and Alan Hale along for the action, as well. Briskly paced and packed with excitement, Dodge City forgoes elegaic musings on the clo   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on February 2, 2018

My Favorite Wife (1940) reunites stars Irene Dunne and Cary Grant after their first pairing as a comedic couple in The Awful Truth (1937), and once again there's both love and trouble. Grant plays a husband flummoxed by the return of his supposedly dead first wife on the very day...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on February 2, 2018

My Favorite Wife (1940) reunites stars Irene Dunne and Cary Grant after their first pairing as a comedic couple in The Awful Truth (1937), and once again there's both love and trouble. Grant plays a husband flummoxed by the return of his supposedly dead first wife on the very day...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on February 1, 2018

Adapted from the novel by Marcia Davenport, East Side, West Side (1949) is more melodrama than murder mystery, although there always seems to be a noir plot lurking beneath its surface. Surprisingly, star Barbara Stanwyck appears in good girl mode as a wronged wife enduring domestic discord. It's no   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on February 1, 2018

Adapted from the novel by Marcia Davenport, East Side, West Side (1949) is more melodrama than murder mystery, although there always seems to be a noir plot lurking beneath its surface. Surprisingly, star Barbara Stanwyck appears in good girl mode as a wronged wife enduring domestic discord. It's no   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 29, 2018

As its twelve Oscar nominations and six wins attest, Mrs. Miniver was the right film at the right moment in 1942. Americans newly engaged in World War II flocked to the theater and took away a sense that they were fighting for people like the Minivers and their quaint English...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 29, 2018

Warning: This essay contains spoilers for the film. The English rose features prominently in William Wyler's Oscar-winning 1942 film, Mrs. Miniver, where its symbolic value is, at first glance, fairly straightforward. The rose functions as a symbol for England; when the title character allows   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 29, 2018

As its twelve Oscar nominations and six wins attest, Mrs. Miniver was the right film at the right moment in 1942. Americans newly engaged in World War II flocked to the theater and took away a sense that they were fighting for people like the Minivers and their quaint English...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 29, 2018

Warning: This essay contains spoilers for the film. The English rose features prominently in William Wyler's Oscar-winning 1942 film, Mrs. Miniver, where its symbolic value is, at first glance, fairly straightforward. The rose functions as a symbol for England; when the title character allows   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 22, 2018

My husband, who knows how much I like puzzles, recently sent me a link to the Puzz Grid site, where puzzle enthusiasts submit puzzle grids for others to solve. Of course I immediately thought about making my own versions with classic movie themes! Here's how the puzzle grid works. Each...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 22, 2018

My husband, who knows how much I like puzzles, recently sent me a link to the Puzz Grid site, where puzzle enthusiasts submit puzzle grids for others to solve. Of course I immediately thought about making my own versions with classic movie themes! Here's how the puzzle grid works. Each...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 8, 2018

Peter Cushing returns to the role of Doctor Van Helsing for this sequel to Hammer's 1958 reinvention of the Dracula story, but, in spite of the title, Dracula never actually appears. Instead, Van Helsing combats a new undead menace and the relentless obstacle of the doctor's own terrible timing, whi   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 8, 2018

Peter Cushing returns to the role of Doctor Van Helsing for this sequel to Hammer's 1958 reinvention of the Dracula story, but, in spite of the title, Dracula never actually appears. Instead, Van Helsing combats a new undead menace and the relentless obstacle of the doctor's own terrible timing, whi   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 2, 2018

2017 was a busy year, which meant that I watched fewer films than I have in previous years. We did some traveling, my daughter's school schedule ate a lot of time with me driving her to dual enrollment classes the next town over, and I was more engaged in politics...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on January 2, 2018

2017 was a busy year, which meant that I watched fewer films than I have in previous years. We did some traveling, my daughter's school schedule ate a lot of time with me driving her to dual enrollment classes the next town over, and I was more engaged in politics...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on November 21, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you get to enjoy some classic movies along with your obligatory family time this week. I'm sure many of us will kick off the official start of the Christmas season on Friday with a holiday classic or two - at our house that's White Christmas (1954),...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on November 21, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you get to enjoy some classic movies along with your obligatory family time this week. I'm sure many of us will kick off the official start of the Christmas season on Friday with a holiday classic or two - at our house that's White Christmas (1954),...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on October 13, 2017

Part crime drama and part body horror, The Penalty (1920) helped to propel Lon Chaney to true stardom after seven years in the film business and a long roster of less memorable roles. The melodramatic adaptation of Gouverneur Morris' novel about an amputee crime lord gave Chaney the opportunity to...   read more

Virtual Virago Posted by Jennifer Garlen on October 13, 2017

Part crime drama and part body horror, The Penalty (1920) helped to propel Lon Chaney to true stardom after seven years in the film business and a long roster of less memorable roles. The melodramatic adaptation of Gouverneur Morris' novel about an amputee crime lord gave Chaney the opportunity to...   read more