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 ”A train and a room, and a car and a room, and a room and a room…”  A Hard Day’s Night has been touted by fans and critics alike as one of the most influential musical films of all time and a precursor to the modern music video. A huge financial and critical success, it insp read more

A Japanese Tragedy aka Tragedy of Japan (Nihon no higeki) Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita Written by Keisuke Kinoshita 1953/Japan Shôchiku Eiga First viewing/Hulu   I don’t like films that constantly flip flop between flashback and present day.  This is one. The story frequently shifts read more

In her short Hollywood career, Helen Hayes was an unusual screen presence. Though the tiny actress was understated, placid and almost entirely lacking in glamour, she was also quietly powerful, and always exuded unassuming confidence. Though she would ultimately win two Academy Awards, Haye's s read more

Book Review: A Real American Character: The Life of Walter Brennan A Real American Character: The Life of Walter Brennan University Press of Mississippi, 2015 Walter Brennan (1894 – 1974) was one of the most popular character actors of the twentieth century. Often playing the movie sidek read more

Last week I published a “Covering Comics” article featuring one of my all-time favorite horror comics, Marvel’s The Tomb of Dracula which ran from 1972 to 1979. You can read that article here. One thing that I didn’t note at the time was that there was an animated adaptation read more

Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot. The 1974 adaptation of Agatha Christie's controversial mystery Murder on the Orient Express spawned a string of theatrical and made-for-TV films based on her works. I recently revisited Orient Express and, for comparison purposes, also watched the 2010 version starr read more

Picturegoer was a popular weekly British film publication during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Carole Lombard was its cover subject at least three times over a 16-month span in the early '30s, before "Twentieth Century" carried her to full-fledged stardom. Above is the cover from March 26, 1932.I read more

Picturegoer was a popular weekly British film publication during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Carole Lombard was its cover subject at least three times over a 16-month span in the early '30s, before "Twentieth Century" carried her to full-fledged stardom. Above is the cover from March 26, 1932.I read more

Gangsters, prohibition, Al Capone, the St. Valentine Day’s Massacre. It all sounds like some distant piece of folklore that by now is far removed from our modern day sensibilities. But when films like The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and of course Scarface came out, these things were at the fo read more

Gangsters, prohibition, Al Capone, the St. Valentine Day’s Massacre. It all sounds like some distant piece of folklore that by now is far removed from our modern day sensibilities. But when films like The Public Enemy, Little Caesar, and of course Scarface came out, these things were at the fo read more

Slightly more than a month ago, we ran this Carole Lombard cover as part of an eBay ad for the December 1933 issue of Hollywood magazine -- the issue immediately preceding the 10-year span of its being uploaded to the Media Histori Digital Library. Well, we're doing an encore, so to speak, because w read more

Slightly more than a month ago, we ran this Carole Lombard cover as part of an eBay ad for the December 1933 issue of Hollywood magazine -- the issue immediately preceding the 10-year span of its being uploaded to the Media History Digital Library. Well, we're doing an encore, so to speak, because w read more

Actress Joan Leslie in the 1940s With her shining smile, bright eyes and fresh face, actress Joan Leslie had an innocent girl-next-door appeal. But during her career at Warner Brothers during the 1940s, Joan Leslie held her own in top films with major actors such as Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart and read more

Cavalry officers George Custer (Ronald Reagan, third from left) and J.E.B. Stuart (Errol Flynn, fourth from left) form a lifelong friendship in Santa Fe Trail (1940). Santa Fe Trail (1940) is one of the most unusual old Hollywood Westerns. It's billed as an exciting action-adventure starring the read more

William Powell, Esther Williams and Angela Lansbury in a love triangle. Who thought up that one? I love all three of them, but I'd never put them together. It was this curious casting that led me to The Hoodlum Saint, now on DVD from Warner Archive. Set in the years after World War I, Powell is Ter read more

Share This!It seemed that no screen sleuth was so sacred in his role that he couldn’t be played by any number of other actors. Whether large or small, when beginning any survey of those innumerable private detective film series of the 1930s and ’40s, it must be remembered that there is that ultimate read more

(A couple of months ago, I was in my local McKay’s bookstore and happened across a handful of Shadow pulps for less than $1 apiece. I’ve had a lot of fun reading – or in a couple of cases re-reading – them, and that’s what led to this post.) Something different this wee read more

Keepers: The Greatest Films--and Personal Favorites--of a Moviegoing Lifetime Richard Schickel 2015, Alfred A. Knopf I hadn't intended on reviewing Richard Schickel's recent book, in which he reminisces about favorite movies he's seen over the years. However, by the time I'd read a few chapters, I read more

Another great roundup from Todd. As ever, click anywhere on the list to be taken to his Sweet Freedom site, where you’ll find individual links to all the articles and reviews. Allan Fish: Hard to be a God Anne Billson: Top Ten Plaster Cast Movies Anonymous: Frances Ha; Once Upon a Time in th read more

This is a day that invariably brings joy to my life...the anniversary of Carole Lombard's birth. It was 107 years ago today in Fort Wayne, Ind., that Jane Alice Peters entered the world......and though she was on this mortal coil for not even one-third of a century, she certainly left her mark -- no read more