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The Menacing Mist is endless. It starts with Bela Lugosi trying to kill Robert Kent with his remote control robot, but then he has to deal with some insurrection from lackey Jack C. Smith. Kent’s just doing action, so at least he’s not doing bad acting. Smith, on the other hand, is doing some bad read more

They are the actress and actor most associated with the beloved genre of screwball comedy (apologies to others, such as Claudette Colbert and William Powell), but how many screwballs starred Carole Lombard and Cary Grant? The answer...zero.Had it not been for Lombard's premature passing, she and Gra read more

Phantom Creeps hits the halfway point with some intrigue involving one of the cast possibly being a double agent (fingers crossed as it’d give the plot something engaging) and Bela Lugosi getting a new weapon, a kind of ray gun. The ray gun doesn’t get much usage after the demonstration because read more

This 1930 photo shows Carole Lombard with someone who would gain renown in costume design, although these days she's not as well remembered as Edith Head, Irene or Adrian -- Gwen Wakeling (1901-1982). While Wakeling never designed for a Lombard film, she frequently worked with Cecil B. DeMille. Lomb read more

Thundering Rails is mostly vehicular action. It starts with Robert Kent and Dorothy Arnold trying to land a damaged plane while dropping hand grenades on the foreign spies (being careful not to hurt good guys Regis Toomey and Edwin Stanley). Then there’s a bunch of car chases. The cliffhanger–which read more

I find it hard to believe that in all the time that I’ve been writing this blog I’ve not written about one of my all-time favorite movies.Fortunately this 1968-fest gives me a chance to rectify that. I can’t remember how young I was when I first saw Planet of the Apes. One of the g read more

I suppose Invisible Terror, which doesn’t feature much invisible terror, is an improvement over the previous chapter. Terror does have Edward Van Sloan in a full flight suit waving a gun around threateningly. Not many opportunities to see such a thing. The story continues to be Feds versus gangster read more

Unlike their American counterparts, most British film magazines such as Picturegoer were weeklies, not monthlies, enabling Carole Lombard (shown in the Dec. 4, 1937 issue) and other stars to appear on their covers more frequently. (A question to Michelle Morgan or any other UK readers: Is there any read more

If Crashing Towers is any indication, the only thing keep The Phantom Creeps creeping along is top-billed Bela Lugosi. He’s not in the chapter much–more often than not he’s invisible–and, wow, are things rough without him. In addition to the predictable bad acting from Robert Kent and Dorothy read more

For some years now I’ve been putting monthly roundups here of the book notes that I post on Goodreads, with links to the individual posts. My scribbles about movies have, of course, been posted here at Noirish. More and more I’ve been wondering if this isn’t sometimes an artificial read more

Despite a stupefying cliffhanger resolution–disasters happen, people just don’t get hurt–Death Stalks the Highways turns out not too bad. Comparatively. Take Bela Lugosi for instance. He tries real hard with some of his acting. It’s not good, but he’s trying. The trying gets him ahead of Robert read more

The Menacing Power does all right setting up the hook of The Phantom Creeps–Bela Lugosi is a mad scientist with various technological inventions he’s going to use for nefarious purposes–and even manages to gracefully segue between the expository setup and the chapter’s cliffhanger. So far Lugosi’s read more

Carole Lombard's work on screen and personality off it has inspired ensuing generations of actresses, particularly those whose forte is comedy. Now, one of them is remaking a signature film from another...but with a twist.In 1987, Goldie Hawn (top) starred in "Overboard," playing a wealthy heiress w read more

At times, it's hard to guess which downtown theater palaces hosted premieres of Carole Lombard films such as "To Be Or Not To Be" (above). But since it was a United Artists production, chances are good that it opened in downtown Los Angeles at this theater at 7th & Broadway, shown in 1938:Note that read more

Since Sunday tends to be a day of quiet and reflection for many people, it seems an appropriate day to celebrate silent movies. But in keeping with the “day of rest” theme, I’m just going to post this without any commentary and just sit back and let you enjoy. read more

It would mark the only co-starring of screwball comedy titans Carole Lombard and Cary Grant...and yet, "In Name Only," Lombard's first film at RKO, was instead a heartfelt drama, with Kay Francis -- hired at Carole's urging -- completing this romantic triangle. That the story semi-paralleled Lombard read more

Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece Michael Benson Simon & Schuster, 2018 Upon its release, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) became a sensation as a sort of Disneyland ride for grown ups. With its innovative, and trippy special effects, it was the perfe read more

Ah, what one goes through in screwball comedy! Carole Lombard, all wet after being caught in a downpour while on a World's Fair ride, can vouch for such travails in this pic from "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," her return to comedy following three years in dramatic roles better received by critics than the gene read more

Carole Lombard's second film with William Powell, "Ladies' Man," made in the spring of 1931, proved she still had a ways to go as an actress. She tries to keep up with the more experienced Powell and Kay Francis, but can't quite do it. Thankfully, Bill and Kay carry the load, which for Lombard was a read more

Between this blog and my previous one, Professor Damian’s Public Domain Treasure Chest, I’ve been writing about movies for quite a while now. Because of that, there are a lot of posts that have simply gotten lost to the mists of time. So, I figured I’d use the idea of “Throwb read more