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)

WHAT EVER HAPPENED to BABY JANE?

We have arrived at the final film in this Bette Davis film study series. The opportunity for WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE came nearly twelve years after our last film, ALL ABOUT EVE. She continued working in those dozen years, but the golden era of Oscar nominated romantic lead roles was rapidly fading away. Now fifty-six years old, Davis was entering the last chapter in … Continue reading WHAT EVER HAPPENED to BABY JANE?

Exploring JEZEBEL (1938)

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)