By Movie StarAlfred HitchcockAudrey HepburnAva GardnerBarbara StanwyckBasil RathboneBette DavisBilly WilderBob HopeBoris KarloffBurt LancasterBuster KeatonCarole LombardCary GrantCharlie ChaplinClara BowClark GableClaudette ColbertDana AndrewsDeanna DurbinDebbie ReynoldsDoris DayElizabeth TaylorErnst LubitschErrol FlynnEsther WilliamsFranchot ToneFred AstaireFred MacMurrayGary CooperGene KellyGeorge CukorGinger RogersGloria SwansonGrace KellyGreer GarsonGregory PeckGreta GarboHarold LloydHedy LamarrHenry FondaHoward HawksHumphrey BogartIda LupinoIngrid BergmanIrene DunneJack BennyJack LemmonJames CagneyJames StewartJane RussellJean ArthurJean HarlowJeanette MacDonaldJeanne CrainJoan CrawfordJoan FontaineJohn FordJohn WayneJudy GarlandKatharine HepburnKay FrancisKirk DouglasLana TurnerLauren BacallLillian GishLon ChaneyLoretta YoungLouise BrooksMae WestMarilyn MonroeMarion DaviesMarlene DietrichMary AstorMary PickfordMickey RooneyMiriam HopkinsMyrna LoyNatalie WoodNorma ShearerOlivia de HavillandOrson WellesPaul NewmanPaulette GoddardPreston SturgesRichard WidmarkRita HayworthRobert MitchumRudolph ValentinoShirley TempleSidney PoitierSpencer TracySteve McQueenTeresa WrightTyrone PowerVincent PriceVivien LeighWilliam HoldenWilliam PowellWilliam WylerWoody Allen By HolidayNew Year's DayPresident's DayValentine's DayEasterMother's DayFather's DayMemorial DayJuly 4thLabor DayColumbus DayHalloweenThanksgivingChristmasBlack History MonthWomen's History Month All Blogs4 Star Films (3507)50 Most Influential Disney Animators (58)A Person in the Dark (367)All Good Things (815)Backlots (412)Caf? Muscato (572)Caftan Woman (904)Carole & Co. (3081)Cary Grant Won't Eat You (493)Cinema Crossroads (42)Cinematic Catharsis (933)Cinematically Insane (268)CineMaven's Essays from the Couch (152)Classic Cinema Gold (319)Classic Film & TV Cafe (1287)Classic Film Review (14)Classic Movie Hub Blog (1970)Classic Movie Man (980)Classic Movies (3247)Classic Reel Girl (95)Comet Over Hollywood (1343)Creme de la Creme (32)Criterion Blues (770)Critica Retro (1467)Curtains (58)Durnmoose Movie Musings (1105)Film Reviews and Anything Else I Get Inspired by (27)Finding Franchot: Exploring the Life and Career of Franchot Tone (161)Flickers in Time (2221)GlamAmor (587)Hitchcock Master (147)Hollywood Revue (532)Hometowns to Hollywood (859)How Sweet It Was (86)In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood (154)Lady Eve's Reel Life (733)Le Mot du Cinephiliaque (945)Love Letters to Old Hollywood (150)MacGuffin Movies (362)Movies Silently (1029)Noir and Chick Flicks (1998)Noirish (1273)Once Upon a Screen (420)Outspoken and Freckled (140)Phantom Empires (60)Pop Culture ImagineMDD (103)Serendipitous Anachronisms (82)Shadows and Satin (1011)Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers (1939)Smum County (115)Stardust and Shadows (120)Studies in Cinema (118)The Baz (164)The Blonde At The Film (331)The Bogie Film Blog (147)The Cinema Dilettante (110)The Giddy Blog (152)The Great Katharine Hepburn (240)The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog (1775)The Jeanette MacDonald Blog (94)The Man on the Flying Trapeze (643)The Old Hollywood Garden (464)The Timothy Carey Experience (1181)The Vintage Cameo (134)The Wonderful World of Cinema (631)Timeless Hollywood (73)True Classics (573)Virtual Virago (1634)Where Danger Lives (136)Wolffianclassicmoviesdigest (640)

So, for absolutely no reason, the other day, I felt like I was in the mood to rank stuff and make a challenging list. As a result, I made a top list of my 95 favourite film directors! Why? No idea, but I think it was about time, right?! And believe me, it was not an easy task. So, to rank things o read more

As I noted in my Pre-Code Crazy post a few days ago, this year’s TCM Film Festival extended into May, so I’m recommending a movie for the Film Noir Files that I previously covered here at Shadows and Satin. For this month, I’m pleased to recommend one of my favorite noirs – They Live By Night read more

In the early 1960s a plethora of great "motion picture theme" albums were released and honestly, it is hard to choose one over the other when comparing them. Ray Ellis and His Orchestra was not as popular as Ray Conniff or Ferrante and Teicher, but he had a large output and recorded equally stellar read more

It’s hard to believe that the 2026 TCM Film Festival – my 12th in-person and 14th overall – will kick off in just two weeks! It seems that I live my entire year waiting for this event; it always seems so far away, and then before I know it, it’s here and gone, and I’m living for the next one. read more

As I mentioned earlier this week, Kristina and I are doing something a little different this month (and maybe next month!) and recommending pre-Code and film noir movies that we’re previously written about on our respective sites. My recommendations for April are all airing on the same day – April read more

In recent years, podcasting has considerably increased in popularity, and now, “what’s your favourite podcast?” is as common a question as “what is your favourite film?” or “who is your favourite singer?” That is something we definitely wouldn’t have i read more

Bing Crosby was always the hippest cat in the music industry and when it came to toe-tapping rhythms, he really knew how to swing it. Dixieland music was a particular favorite of his, so he decided to team up with his gal pal Rosemary Clooney and band leader Billy May to create a Dixieland album in read more

 HITCHCOCK'S PRO-NAZI FILM? is about as clickbait a title as you can get. This is a 2023 documentary about Alfred Hitchcock's 1944 film LIFEBOAT, and the controversy it caused upon its release. I was not aware of the existence of this film until I saw the DVD of it listed among the new arr read more

Welcome to The Film Noir Files, the noir series here at Shadows and Satin and over at Speakeasy, the blog authored by my pal Kristina, where each month we recommend a film noir feature for you to watch on TCM. We never know what the other has selected until we post, and part of the fun is trying to read more

"If there ever was a 'Si Zentner kind of music', this is it -- music of great intensity and drive, just right for Si's big band style". So reads the album notes of Si Zentner & his Orchestra's From Russia with Love album from 1964 and boy are they right! The handsome orchestra leader had a read more

At an isolated Antarctic research station, scientists battle a deadly alien with such extraordinary shape-shifting capabilities that the men don’t know if the person next to them is still human. The truth is only revealed when the alien is threatened and violently abandons its current inhabitant. read more

Welcome to The Film Noir Files, the noir series here at Shadows and Satin and over at Speakeasy, the blog authored by my pal Kristina, where each month we recommend a film noir feature for you to watch on TCM. We never know what the other has selected until we post, and part of the fun is trying to read more

This is a wonderful album. Pepe Jaramillo was a fantastic pianist and the arrangements of these popular film themes are lovely. In an era when all of these songs appeared on countless instrumental albums, it seems impossible to create a new and unique arrangement for each and yet Ken Thome, the musi read more

Welcome to The Film Noir Files, the noir series here at Shadows and Satin and over at Speakeasy, the blog authored by my pal Kristina, where each month we recommend a film noir feature for you to watch on TCM. We never know what the other has selected until we post, and part of the fun is trying to read more

In 2015, I launched my Marathon Stars concept, which aimed to explore a particular actor or actress’s filmography. More precisely, the chosen stars were actors I had previously admired in a few films but definitely had to see more of. Later on, I took things forward when transposing that to a read more

In our family, the Christmas season just wouldn't be the same without a viewing of the 1970 musical Scrooge. My sister and I grew up watching this film with our "Oma" Rozi because it was one of her favorites. Since her passing, we have watched it every year with our father because it is one of his f read more

 Film Masters saves another classic film from public domain purgatory with their Blu-ray release of 1943's LADY OF BURLESQUE, a musical-mystery comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck, with direction by William Wellman. LADY OF BURLESQUE was based on a novel written by stage star Gypsy Rose Lee e read more

Welcome to The Film Noir Files, the monthly noir series here at Shadows and Satin and over at Speakeasy, the blog authored by my pal Kristina, where each month we recommend a film noir feature for you to watch on TCM. We never know what the other has selected until we post, and part of the fun is tr read more

In 1955, Richard Brooks’s Blackboard Jungle became the first Hollywood film to feature rock & roll music, marking such a historical moment with the iconic notes of “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets playing during the opening titles. A year later, Frank Tas read more

How To Attend A Silent Film Festival So here you are, a big fan of century-old-or-older films. You’ve seen dozens of slapstick comedies, romantic dramas, and exciting epics in the solitude of your own home, and you’re probably well acquainted with the history behind them, too. Obviously the read more