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The Great Lie (1941) August 6, 2015August 6, 2015 / The Cinema Dilettante Time to turn the serious business meter up to 11. So, The Great Lie. Look, I am not exaggerating one bit* when I say that this is the greatest piece of fine, soapy melodrama this side of a read more

Is this poster not gorgeous? I would hang this on my wall in a second. Lately I've been watching a lot of Eleanor Powell films, which wasn't by design. I like Powell--she was a terrific dancer, a good actress, and a woman who portrayed intelligence, ambition, and kindness. It's a little crazy that h read more

I know, I’ve been away for awhile and I kind of left you all hanging without posting the last chapter of Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. Well, better late than never, right? And, for those of you who may be just joining us, or who just want to catch up, here are the previous posts for this serial:1, read more

Share This! “It will be closed in the early spring by an act of God, and I’m sure Mr. Drake hopes it will be . . . a boy.”—— Loretta Young as Jane Drake in the curtain call at the end of her husband’s play As a film, Bedtime Story exists in at least four incarnations, representing a span read more

Share This! “It will be closed in the early spring by an act of God, and I’m sure Mr. Drake hopes it will be . . . a boy.”—— Loretta Young as Jane Drake in the curtain call at the end of her husband’s play As a film, Bedtime Story exists in at least four incarnations, representing a span read more

Lucille Ball is one of my favorite actresses, although at this point, you're probably wondering "Who isn't your favorite?" To which I reply, "Oh, getting fresh, are we?" (Can you tell I just watched Gold Diggers of 1933?) Anyway, I'm such a fan of the glorious Ms. Ball, it's a guarantee that I will read more

  Originally published June 20th, 2012 Sullivan’s Travels has an entry in so many Best Of or Top Ten lists that to name them would be ridiculous. With such an aura of legend around it I expected a lot and it delivered!  Sullivan’s Travels furthered my love of Veronica Lake (who I gr read more

We kick off The July Five 2015 with five days devoted to director Preston Sturges. Sturges is a director with deft comedic timing, a flair for dialogue and banter, and an adroit mix of social commentary and narrative. It is this latter element that can turn off audiences looking for more straightfor read more

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) provides a different perspective on the Ziegfeld Follies from Best Picture Winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936); it focuses on a trio of chorines rather than the showman himself, who never actually appears in the picture. Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr star as three youn read more

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) provides a different perspective on the Ziegfeld Follies from Best Picture Winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936); it focuses on a trio of chorines rather than the showman himself, who never actually appears in the picture. Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr star as three youn read more

Ziegfeld Girl (1941) provides a different perspective on the Ziegfeld Follies from Best Picture Winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936); it focuses on a trio of chorines rather than the showman himself, who never actually appears in the picture. Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr star as three youn read more

Preston Sturges has a great structure to The Lady Eve. The first part of the film–the majority of the runtime–has wealthy oddball Henry Fonda returning home on a ship and falling in love with Barbara Stanwyck. Makes sense, as she’s wonderful, only she (and her father, Charles Cobu read more

Franchot Tone and Deanna Durbin paired up for their first film Nice Girl? in 1941. At the time, Deanna Durbin was an innocent operatic ingenue just turning 20 years old while Franchot Tone, at 36, was marrying for the second time to young actress Jean Wallace. In Nice Girl?, Franchot's character dee read more

(Image via Wikimedia Commons) Mrs. Barrington (Jeanne De Casalis) is the wealthy head of a Scottish estate. She has big wartime plans for the extra cottage on her property. She’s decided to take in a few child evacuees… but has also offered the cottage to a man named Charles Dimble (Alas read more

Universal has just released 1941 on Blu-ray. This movie has long been considered Steven Spielberg's worst film as a director, and it is also remembered as a costly bomb--but like several other films with bad reputations, 1941 now has a cult following. 1941 started out as one of the first scripts wr read more

Universal has just released 1941 on Blu-ray. This movie has long been considered Steven Spielberg's worst film as a director, and it is also remembered as a costly bomb--but like several other films with bad reputations, 1941 now has a cult following. 1941 started out as one of the first scripts wr read more

Some of my favorite screenshots I've been able to capture of Franchot! As Robert Stevens in Frank Lloyd's 1941 film This Woman is Mine, Franchot Tone gets the chance to display a bit of stubble and throw a few punches. The sea-based action film is slightly reminiscent of Mutiny on the Bounty as Fr read more

In Citizen Kane, director Welles ties everything together–not just the story (he does wrap the narrative visually), but also how the filmmaking relates to the film’s content. Kane’s story can’t be told any other way. That precision–whether it’s in the summary seq read more

Okay, gang, it’s Saturday again, and time for another installment of Saturday Breakfast Serial and our ongoing chapter play, Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. And, for those of you who may be just joining us, here are the previous posts for this serial: 1, 2, 3, 4,  5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Ah, read more

UK / 78 minutes / bw / British National, Anglo–American Dir & Pr: John Baxter Story: Crook’s Tour (1941 radio play) by John Watt, Max Kester Cine: James Wilson Cast: Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Greta Gynt, Charles Oliver, Gordon McLeod, Abraham Sofaer, Bernard Rebel, Cyril Gardiner, Leo read more