For this installment of our Bette Davis study, we’ll explore another significant role for Davis as “Julie Marsden” in William Wyler’s JEZEBEL (1938). As we have addressed in our introduction, the often contradictory and complicated, undoubtedly attention-grabbing, and fiery, yet with a heart-of-gold persona of Bette Davis, “Julie” will pull us in to a similar path of discovery. JEZEBEL was nominated for the Academy Award … Continue reading Exploring JEZEBEL (1938)
Before he came to Hollywood, Billy Wilder had written this story concept years earlier in German, “From A to Z.” He said Thomas Monroe helped him “Americanize it”. Here, his story fully evolves into a screwball comedy with a twist on SNOW WHITE and the SEVEN DWARVES (1937). We see many references to the Disney animated version of the classic fairytale. But this is not … Continue reading A Fairytale Gone Wilder: BALL of FIRE
As we begin our filmography of Bette Davis films, we’ll start with a Pre-Code from 1933, Robert Florey’s EX-LADY. For those of you who have not taken my Pre-Code course or those who simply need a reminder, let’s start with a little refresher of what exactly a “Pre-Code” is. Pre-Code cinema (1929 – 1934) refers to a very specific timeline in film history when the … Continue reading Bette Davis Defies Gender Conventions in EX-LADY (1933)
A charming, small town in ‘Middle America.’ A simple way of life where neighbors are friendly, polite, but cautiously on guard of strangers that behave strangely. In Herk Harvey’s only feature film/now cult classic, CARNIVAL of SOULS (1962), the small college town of Lawrence, Kansas was the perfect setting for the eery, atmospheric horror. In the early 1960s, with a population of little over 30,000 … Continue reading A Haunting Hometown: CARNIVAL of SOULS (1962)
Welcome! In this series we will explore the legendary actress Bette Davis through an introduction of her life and a selection of her films. By examining her life, we gain a glimpse into understanding her drive to become one of the best actresses on the Hollywood screen. Fans beloved her but the larger-than-life Bette was frequently misunderstood. The brutally honest but hard-working yank has often … Continue reading A Film Study: BETTE DAVIS
By the Autumn of 1945, Cary Grant, along with our global allies, surely breathed a collective sigh of relief. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan followed by surrendering on September 2, 1945. The second world war was over, but this was the deadliest global conflict in human history, with an estimated 50 to 85 … Continue reading Cary Grant Builds Trust Issues in NOTORIOUS (1946)
Today we’ll meet Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster, a very different sort of ‘challenged married man’ than we met in his prior film, PENNY SERENADE. In contrast, Frank Capra’s ARSENIC and OLD LACE is madcap macabre whirled into a hilarious, bigger-than-Brooklyn tale. Before being made into a film, ARSENIC and OLD LACE was a huge hit on the Broadway stage. Playwright Joseph Kesselring was said … Continue reading A Spooky Study: ARSENIC and OLD LACE
Get your hankies ready. Today, we’re discussing George Stevens’ PENNY SERENADE. This is the third feature film pairing of Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. While audiences had seen both Dunne and Grant in some dramatic roles in the 1930s, each had gained their biggest successes via comedies. This film takes a dramatic turn to melodrama. Director George Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) … Continue reading Beautiful Tearjerker: PENNY SERENADE (1941)
As we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day under polarized politics that grows increasingly similar in tension to an era over one hundred sixty years ago when our union was splintered in turmoil, let’s explore a cinematic tale of likely the most iconic of all American figures in John Ford’s YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (1939). In the role of the young Abe Lincoln is Henry Fonda. Fonda … Continue reading The Fate of Freedom, Ford, and YOUNG MR. LINCOLN
In my last entry, we discussed Cary Grant’s first feature-length film, Frank Tuttle’s THIS IS THE NIGHT. That year, Cary starred in many Paramount films, under the first year of his contract. Today’s session, we’ll cover MY FAVORITE WIFE (1940). From 1932 to this film in 1940, Cary worked in 35 films. By the late 1930s, Cary finished up his Paramount contract, signed onto a … Continue reading Cary Grant Steps Out in MY FAVORITE WIFE
Outspoken & Freckled 