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In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film of the year. Right now, th read more

Do I watch this film in front of others? No.Do I recommend it to others? No.Do I praise it anywhere public? No.Have I watched it many times? Oh yes.There’s something to be said for that first love story that gets you as a kid. I was quite young when I first saw Somewhere in Time on TV–I read more

Do I watch this film in front of others? No.Do I recommend it to others? No.Do I praise it anywhere public? No.Have I watched it many times? Oh yes.There’s something to be said for that first love story that gets you as a kid. I was quite young when I first saw Somewhere in Time on TV–I read more

Johnny Guitar (1954): Guilty Pleasure? Nah On June 3, 2018 By CarolIn Uncategorized Johnny Guitar (dir. Nicholas Ray), the Casablanca of westerns, is a psychological melodrama that often gets overlooked and unfairly dismissed. It’s not the greate read more

For me, watching the Oscars is kind of like being in a bar, ordering a caesar-salad, and just one single pint. Watching the Oscars is kind of like being back in early high-school orchestrating plans to see Home Alone 3 (in theaters) when I knew all  logic dictated that I should actually be at home read more

Dramatic enough for you? Oh and just about everything on this poster is a lie. I love cheesy movies from any era so this challenge was a tough decision. My favorite guilty pleasure silents include The Sheik, The Heart of Humanity or… well, the list goes on. However, I decided to choose some n read more

Supposedly what makes you feel guilty about a “guilty pleasure” is despite your enjoyment of it, your fear of discovery of liking/loving said “lowbrow,” “embarrassing” or “campy” material, makes you keep it under wraps. Well, a good friend of mine says there should be no such thing as read more

If you don’t know about the real-life 1927 case that inspired James M. Cain to write Double Indemnity (and The Postman Always Rings Twice, for that matter), pick up A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Ron Hansen (Simon and Schuster, 2011).  In fact, whether you know everything or nothing about the read more

Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee in "A Summer Place" (1959) I have three main guilty pleasures: ridiculous, flashy clothes; Krispy Kreme doughnuts and trashy classic films. I love pre-code 1930s films because of their quick witted lines, snappy pace and how down trodden women somehow pull them read more

It’s Los Angeles in the 1950s and the GI Bill-fueled migration from city to suburb is in high gear. An opening shot of a vast (but shockingly empty) freeway system sets the scene. A gorgeous young couple in a late-model Chrysler cruises out of town. They smile as they pass billboard after bill read more

It’s Los Angeles in the 1950s and the GI Bill-fueled migration from city to suburb is in high gear. An opening shot of a vast (but shockingly empty) freeway system sets the scene. A gorgeous young couple in a late-model Chrysler cruises out of town. They smile as they pass billboard after bill read more

It’s Los Angeles in the 1950s and the GI Bill-fueled migration from city to suburb is in high gear. An opening shot of a vast (but shockingly empty) freeway system sets the scene. A gorgeous young couple in a late-model Chrysler cruises out of town. They smile as they pass billboard after bill read more

This post is our contribution to the final CMBA blogathon of the year, a veritable feast of guilty pleasures ranging from pre-Code flicks through the fabulous excesses of the 1980s. To see the wonderful contributions from other CMBA members, check out the list on their site! The celebration starts read more

Gene Tierney's best known roles are, as the murder victim in the film, Laura (1944). She was also Oscar-nominated for my favorite film, Leave Her to Heaven (1945). After being spotted by Darryl F. Zanuck, during a stage performance of, The Male Animal (1940), Gene was signed to a contract with 20t read more

You watched a movie. You knew it wasn’t very good. But you loved it anyway! The premise of the CMBA’s Guilty Pleasure Movie Blogathon makes me feel guilty about my participation in said blogathon because I don’t think The Greatest Show on Earth is a bad movie. I don’t! read more

he The Classic Movie Blog Association, of which Backlots is a member, is hosting a very interesting blogathon–dealing with those films that we know are stinkers, but that we love anyway. Backlots generally concerns itself with positive reviews (when deserved!), but this is a real opportunity read more

In late September, the Classic Movie Blog Association is having a blogathon devoted to guilty pleasures–that is, those films of questionable technical quality, but those we love nonetheless. I jumped at this opportunity. There are so many films that I adore but are…let’s face it& read more

Classic Movie Man’s Guilty Pleasure: “Devotion” In 1943, Warner Brothers set out to film an account of the Brontë siblings, focusing mainly on the lives of authors Charlotte (Jane Eyre) and Emily (Wuthering Heights). In the 1930s and 1940s, the studio produced many successful read more

Classic Movie Man’s Guilty Pleasure: “Devotion” In 1943, Warner Brothers set out to film an account of the Brontë siblings, focusing mainly on the lives of authors Charlotte (Jane Eyre) and Emily (Wuthering Heights). In the 1930s and 1940s, the studio produced many successful read more

Classic Movie Man's Guilty Pleasure: "Elephant Walk" Part of the fun of loving movies, is loving the ones that don’t quite hit the mark, the ones that are sometimes so bad they’re good. One of my guilty movie pleasures is 1954’s Elephant Walk. A big-budget spectacle from Param read more