Tag: Character actors

Classic Film, Westerns

The Unexpected Delights of DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939)

In the Autumn of 2021, we were attempting how to navigate through a major pandemic. My goal was to continue teaching classic film courses; with masks on and social distance spacing, we somehow managed our best to stay safe while enjoying some old movies. That semester, I chose the topic of 1939: The Greatest Year in Cinema History. My intention was to highlight some magnificent … Continue reading The Unexpected Delights of DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939)

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Classic Film, Film Noir, Politics in Hollywood

THE BREAKING POINT (1950)

While Michael Curtiz would go on to make more films (22 more) in the decade following 1950, it is with good reason that I have chosen THE BREAKING POINT as the film to finish out our Curtiz journey. “Noir Czar” Eddie Muller while being interviewed on TCM by Robert Osborn once described this film as” brilliant,” and his favorite Michael Curtiz film; and yes, he … Continue reading THE BREAKING POINT (1950)

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Classic Film, Crime Drama

A Gangster Morality: ANGELS with DIRTY FACES (1938)

Warner Brothers’ house style during the 1930s embraced gangster films, along with the occasional big production musicals. During the Pre-Code years of the early 1930s, those gangster films were gritty and violent and made James Cagney (THE PUBLIC ENEMY, 1931) and Edward G Robinson (LITTLE CEASAR, 1931) big stars. But once the production code became enforced during the second half of the 1930s, the studio … Continue reading A Gangster Morality: ANGELS with DIRTY FACES (1938)

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Adventure, Classic Film

The ADVENTURES of ROBIN HOOD: A Technicolor Dream in Tights

We venture forth in our Michael Curtiz adventure with our next film, THE ADVENTURES of ROBIN HOOD (1938). To pivot from 2-strip color Pre-Code horror with cannibalistic themes to the Technicolor swashbuckling men in tights of Robin Hood is a perfect example of the Curtiz versatility. As a reminder, the Pre-Code era (late 1929 – summer of 1934) has ended, and as such Joseph Breen … Continue reading The ADVENTURES of ROBIN HOOD: A Technicolor Dream in Tights

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Biography, Classic Film, classic film review, Melodrama

A Real Hollywood Comeback: ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)

Today we are in for a real treat. Many have rightfully described Joseph L Mankiewicz’s ALL ABOUT EVE as one of cinema’s most remarkable films, and specifically as the most literate and intelligent scripts in all of Hollywood’s golden era. Based on a short story in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1946, author/actress Mary Orr (1910 – 2006) scribed, “The Wisdom of Eve,” in 1946 of an … Continue reading A Real Hollywood Comeback: ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)

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Classic Film, Comedy, Horror Classics

A Spooky Study: ARSENIC and OLD LACE

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

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Classic Film, Westerns

Ford’s Cinematic Send Off: THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE

(The following was included as part of my John Ford Film Study course which I taught in the winter/early spring semester of 2023. This is the last film featured in this Ford series. Please enjoy…) For our last film of this John Ford study, it seems rather fitting to end with the film that many consider to be Ford’s last great film, THE MAN WHO … Continue reading Ford’s Cinematic Send Off: THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE

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Classic Film, Comedy

Christmas in Connecticut – Holiday Classic or Feminist Screwball?

For classic film fans, the holiday season represents a time to wax nostalgic over those classic films that pop up this time of year. Everyone has his or her own must-see favorites. Perhaps you prefer a mainstream flavor like WHITE CHRISTMAS or IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, or perhaps you go for something a bit under the mainstream radar like HOLIDAY AFFAIR or IT HAPPENED ON … Continue reading Christmas in Connecticut – Holiday Classic or Feminist Screwball?

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Classic Film, classic film review, Comedy

A Christmas Miracle Comes for Trudy Kockenlocker

Many a cinephile enjoy debating what films merit the definition for a holiday movie. Ever since Preston Sturges directed THE MIRACLE of MORGAN’S CREEK (1944), the controversy surrounding the film was less focused on whether it’s a Christmas movie, but more on the shock that it ever passed the production code under Breen’s watchful eyes. Written and directed by the king of screwball comedies, Preston Sturges, The Miracle … Continue reading A Christmas Miracle Comes for Trudy Kockenlocker

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Classic Film, classic film review, Westerns

A Western Rarity: SERGEANT RUTLEDGE (1960)

With this Ford film, we’ll continue the themes from rugged wilderness and racism as discussed in my coverage of THE SEARCHERS, into similar territory in SERGEANT RUTLEDGE. We will take a closer look at the ‘Buffalo Soldiers’ of the U.S. Cavalry history, but with the suspense of a courtroom drama. For discussion of this film’s story, it’s important to note the historical relevance of Black … Continue reading A Western Rarity: SERGEANT RUTLEDGE (1960)

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