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Pretty Clever Film Gal is still struggling with the plague but crawling along the road to recovery. Thankfully, there was much to entertain and divert this week, what with the return of Bobby O. to TCM and the silent film bonanza sparked by Hugo and The Artists. It feels like a fine time to care ab read more

The blog A Piece of Monologue has this interesting reflection from Alan Schneider, the director of Samuel Beckett’s “Film.” It’s also intriguing to hear from the makers of a film about the challenges encountered while making the movie. I was surprised to learn that Keaton wa read more

Occasionally on Twitter I’ll post a random epiphany-like encapsulation of a belief I have about film in general and hashtag it #filmthought. I have decided to write this one out here because it needs more explanation than Twitter can bear. Today, I was sitting through my third screening of Hug read more

Independent Lens, the Emmy-winning PBS series, airs Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton’s These Amazing Shadows, a one-hour documentary, on Thursday, December 29, at 10:00pm (check local listings). These Amazing Shadows is an often kaleidoscopic swirl of film clips iconic and obscure, from Casab read more

Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan in Tarzan and His Mate (MGM) Think of my last few statements in cinematic terms. Something like Tarzan has been remade countless times and while rebooting clearly is a cinematic trend one never renumbers films without a purpose, without first having wip read more

Independent Lens, the Emmy-winning PBS series, airs Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton’s These Amazing Shadows, a one-hour documentary, on Thursday, December 29, at 10:00pm (check local listings). These Amazing Shadows is an often kaleidoscopic swirl of film clips iconic and obscure, from Casab read more

Independent Lens, the Emmy-winning PBS series, airs Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton’s These Amazing Shadows, a one-hour documentary, on Thursday, December 29, at 10:00pm (check local listings). These Amazing Shadows is an often kaleidoscopic swirl of film clips iconic and obscure, from Casab read more

Dinah Shore celebrating Thanksgiving at the Hollywood Canteen, 1943 Afternoon friends and neighbors… due to illness, specifically Pretty Clever Film Gal’s super-virus, the regularly scheduled Film Friday Roundup won’t be happening today. Okay, okay, it’s just a cold and not read more

Very exciting news from filmmaker David Spodak! From the official website: PATHS OF GLORY: ANATOMY OF A FILM is a documentary that examines Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 cinematic masterpiece, Paths of Glory. The project was conceived to study the modern art form of cinema with the same level of conc read more

Michael Fassbender in X-Men: First Class This has been a year in films which has been replete, or perhaps over-saturated (depending on your stance), with comic book films. Now for all you fans of semantics (and believe me I am one) I won’t get into the whole “Is that really a genre in an read more

The winner was selected via random drawing on Monday, November 21st. Congratulations go to Aurora B.! I am so excited for this Judy Garland superfan! Aurora’s favorite Garland performance is in A Star is Born, but she said it is almost impossible to pick just one. Aurora will receive a brand n read more

Pretty Clever Film Gal is contemplating renaming Classic Movie Puppy from Abby to Norma Desmond. Since moving to Toronto (and away from ready access to the adoration of millions in NYC), CMP has been flouncing about the house like some faded movie diva. The picture could only be complete is she was read more

For my fourth evening of birthday favorite films I chose: Jane and Bridget listening to Anne read a letter from their father. (This actually is my desktop background). Brief plot: The story of Anne Hilton and her two daughters Jane and Bridget on the American World War 2 home front while their fath read more

For my third evening of birthday favorite films I chose: "It's a grand night" for State Fair Brief plot: The Frank family travels to the annual Iowa state fair, entering their prize hog, minced meat and pickles into contests. The two children find romance at the fair, but it is uncer read more

For my second evening of birthday favorite films I chose: From LIFE: Stroboscopic multiple exposure of Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten talking and struggling as characters from Alfred Hitchcock's film "Shadow of a Doubt." Brief plot: Charlotte “Charlie” Newton is bored wi read more

For my first evening of birthday favorite films I chose: Van Johnson and John Hodiak listening to a Christmas Eve sermon in "Battleground" Brief plot: The film depiction of the 101st Airborne Division when they are trapped in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. The division is surrou read more

Every family has a Christmas ritual.  It might be as simple as singing carols.  It could drinking drinking eggnog.  It could be helping to feed the homeless.  Whatever it is it usually makes memories that are pretty special. Every Christmas my twin brother and I (and before you a read more

Wow, it’s been both a short, too-fast week and a really long one. Things have been pretty quiet on the blog, but Pretty Clever Film Gal has some awesome things in the works. And let me just say, friends and neighbors, Toronto is a great place to hang your hat if you love classic movies. I kno read more

At long last, in response to a request from a Shadows and Satin subscriber (Hello, Jörn!), I’ve finally managed to compile another list of Top 10 films noirs – not the better-known features like the ones I covered here, but the lesser-known gems. These are the movies that are not often mentioned read more

Yes, that's Carole Lombard (wearing a man's style tie!) at age 16, playing leading lady for cowboy star Buck Jones in Fox's 1925 oater "Hearts And Spurs." This film, and the several silents Lombard made for Fox, perished in a 1937 vault fire -- some five years before Jones himself would suffer the s read more