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Jessica Borthwick, A Forgotten Front Lines Filmmaker We’re all familiar with the adventurous silent era cameramen who coolly took their equipment into dangerous situations, whether by trekking Arctic tundras or crossing broiling deserts. The excitement of capturing actual life led many to take read more

Noir Nook: No Femme Fatale Required Film noir movies have numerous characteristics in common – voiceover narration, flashbacks, use of shadows and light, unusual camera angles, anti-heroes, and, of course, the ever-popular femmes fatales. All noirs, of course, don’t have all of these traits read more

The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) Set in its own modern day in the wake of World War II, The House on Telegraph Hill (1951) merges elements of the female Gothic and film noir to present a gripping story about survival, deception, and maternal devotion with a rich subtext for viewers to ponder af read more

Classic Movie Travels: Mary Kornman Mary Kornman Mary Kornman was born Mary Agnes Evans on December 27, 1915, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Her parents were David Lionel Evans, a railroad manager, and Verna Comer. Eugene Kornman, cameraman for Hal Roach, married Verna and adopted Mary. Soon enoug read more

Final Resting Places, A Tribute to Western Filmmakers This month we’ll be again paying tribute to Western filmmakers as we visit their Southern California gravesites. We’ll begin by honoring several Western directors. The prolific George Sherman began his career in ’30s ̶ read more

Silents are Golden: Chaplin’s Year At The Keystone Film Company In August 1913, Charlie Chaplin wrote a letter to his brother Sidney to share some exciting news: “I have had an offer from a moving picture company for quite a long time but I did not want to tell you until the whole thing was read more

Noir Nook: Shadows in the Victorian Age Western noir. British noir. Sci-fi noir. Neo-noir. So many types of noir these days. And there’s a new one – new to me, at least: Gaslight noir. I recently discovered this category of films on the Criterion Channel, where they were curated by film read more

Silver Screen Standards: Jane Eyre (1943) I’ve spent the fall of 2023 swimming in the wake of Jane Eyre, both the original 1847 novel by Charlotte Brontë and the 1943 adaptation starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles. I’ve been teaching a class about the novel for one lifetime learning program read more

Classic film fans know what it’s like to sit through a movie that’s all scratched up or crackles and pops; that’s too hard to see and too difficult to hear. Yet we take it in stride because we know it’s the only way to see movies that have suffered from decades of deterioration. read more

Classic Movie Travels: Jack Benny Jack Benny Bejamin Kubelsky was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 14, 1894, to Meyer and Naomi Kubelsky. Meyer worked as a saloon owner and haberdasher, emigrating to the United States from Poland; Naomi emigrated from Lithuania. Though Kubelsky was born read more

Western RoundUp: Showdown (1963) Showdown (1963) is part of the new Audie Murphy Collection III from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Showdown starring Audie Murphy, Kathleen Crowley, and Charles Drake I shared news of this summer’s Murphy Blu-ray releases here in July, and a fe read more

Silents are Golden: 12 French Silent Film Recommendations Thanks to pioneering inventors like the Lumière Brothers, who famously held the first public showing of motion pictures in Paris on December 28, 1895, France is often considered the birthplace of cinema. And beyond producing early cameras read more

Horror films can sometimes be too much even for the most fervent fan. Maybe it’s a scene so gross that you close your eyes. Or the minute you realize there’s a demon involved, and you change the channel (devil movies are a huge no for me). Perhaps there’s a scene so terrifying read more

Noir Nook: Stand By Your Man(or, The Smart Femme Saves The Day) Everybody knows about the femme fatale in film noir. You know, the dame who uses her wiles to get her way, often in the form of getting some hapless dude to either murder somebody, secure a stash of cash, or both. I love these da read more

Silver Screen Standards: Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) Although it’s more Gothic mystery than true horror, Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) fits right in for spooky movie season. With its ghosts and gruesome past, the decaying Southern mansion where the story takes place is a perfect read more

Classic Movie Travels October: Red Skelton Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton was born on July 18, 1913, in Vincennes, Indiana. He was the fourth son born to Joseph and Ida Skelton. Skelton had three older brothers named Denny, Christopher, and Paul. Skelton’s father, a grocer and former Hagenbec read more

The Lone Hand at McCrea Ranch A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a wonderful event at McCrea Ranch. The ranch, located in Thousand Oaks, California, was the longtime home of Joel McCrea and his wife Frances Dee; I previously wrote about it and shared photos here in 2019 and again  read more

Silents are Golden: Silent Superstars: John Bunny and Flora Finch As a followup of sorts to my Vitagraph Studios piece, here’s a look at two of the company’s most popular stars, now considered icons of early 1910s screen comedy! Still from A Cure for Pokeritis (1912). It can be tempting read more

Noir Nook: Must-See Marie We need to talk about Marie Windsor. She was gorgeous. Talented. Adept at playing dames from the deadly side of the tracks, but able to hold her own in comedy as well. And she once held the title of Miss D. & R.G. Railroad. But for my money, Windsor is most read more

Silver Screen Standards: Dick Powell in Murder, My Sweet (1944) The picture opens with a blinded Marlowe (Dick Powell) being questioned by the police about his involvement in a tangled web of crimes. Humphrey Bogart might be the most iconic version of Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled detective, read more