book: The Roman Hat Mystery (1929) by Ellery Queen

An unflattering remark about this novel the other day by a crime blogger whose judgments I generally enjoy reminded me I should read the book again: it’s been a very long time indeed since last I did so, my copy then being one of those old Victor Gollancz yellow-jackets (borrowed from the St. ... Read full article

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone Directed by José Quintero Written by Gavin Lambert and Jan Read from a novel by Tennessee Williams 1961/USA Louis de Rochemont Associates First viewing/Netflix rental Well, the scenery is gorgeous and we get a great scene-stealing performance by Lotte Lenya. Stage ... Read full article

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)

Certain classic films are able to overcome their artificiality and transcend towards a level of camp that’s endearing and entertaining, while other films get crushed under the weight, taking everything so seriously and eliminating the fun. Tennessee Williams called Jose Quintero’s adapta... Read full article

o/t: The Romantic Countdown continues on its long and winding road

Two more additions to the Romantic Countdown over at Wonders in the Dark: #88 Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) by J.D. Lafrance and #87 Across the Universe (2007) by Allan Fish. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / C... Read full article

o/t: the romantic countdown continues at Wonders in the Dark

The two latest movies to be covered are #91 The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and #90 Les Enfants du Paradis (1945). I’m not really equipped to comment on the latter piece, by Tony D’Ambra, but I’m impressed by John Greco’s argument that, while there are many reasons why ... Read full article