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My Favorite Wife (1940) reunites stars Irene Dunne and Cary Grant after their first pairing as a comedic couple in The Awful Truth (1937), and once again there's both love and trouble. Grant plays a husband flummoxed by the return of his supposedly dead first wife on the very day that he marries his read more

Adapted from the novel by Marcia Davenport, East Side, West Side (1949) is more melodrama than murder mystery, although there always seems to be a noir plot lurking beneath its surface. Surprisingly, star Barbara Stanwyck appears in good girl mode as a wronged wife enduring domestic discord. It's no read more

Adapted from the novel by Marcia Davenport, East Side, West Side (1949) is more melodrama than murder mystery, although there always seems to be a noir plot lurking beneath its surface. Surprisingly, star Barbara Stanwyck appears in good girl mode as a wronged wife enduring domestic discord. It's no read more

As its twelve Oscar nominations and six wins attest, Mrs. Miniver was the right film at the right moment in 1942. Americans newly engaged in World War II flocked to the theater and took away a sense that they were fighting for people like the Minivers and their quaint English village. Even to direct read more

Warning: This essay contains spoilers for the film.   The English rose features prominently in William Wyler's Oscar-winning 1942 film, Mrs. Miniver, where its symbolic value is, at first glance, fairly straightforward. The rose functions as a symbol for England; when the title charac read more

As its twelve Oscar nominations and six wins attest, Mrs. Miniver was the right film at the right moment in 1942. Americans newly engaged in World War II flocked to the theater and took away a sense that they were fighting for people like the Minivers and their quaint English village. Even to direct read more

Warning: This essay contains spoilers for the film.   The English rose features prominently in William Wyler's Oscar-winning 1942 film, Mrs. Miniver, where its symbolic value is, at first glance, fairly straightforward. The rose functions as a symbol for England; when the title charac read more

My husband, who knows how much I like puzzles, recently sent me a link to the Puzz Grid site, where puzzle enthusiasts submit puzzle grids for others to solve. Of course I immediately thought about making my own versions with classic movie themes! Here's how the puzzle grid works. Each puzzle conta read more

My husband, who knows how much I like puzzles, recently sent me a link to the Puzz Grid site, where puzzle enthusiasts submit puzzle grids for others to solve. Of course I immediately thought about making my own versions with classic movie themes! Here's how the puzzle grid works. Each puzzle conta read more

Peter Cushing returns to the role of Doctor Van Helsing for this sequel to Hammer's 1958 reinvention of the Dracula story, but, in spite of the title, Dracula never actually appears. Instead, Van Helsing combats a new undead menace and the relentless obstacle of the doctor's own terrible timing, whi read more

Peter Cushing returns to the role of Doctor Van Helsing for this sequel to Hammer's 1958 reinvention of the Dracula story, but, in spite of the title, Dracula never actually appears. Instead, Van Helsing combats a new undead menace and the relentless obstacle of the doctor's own terrible timing, whi read more

2017 was a busy year, which meant that I watched fewer films than I have in previous years. We did some traveling, my daughter's school schedule ate a lot of time with me driving her to dual enrollment classes the next town over, and I was more engaged in politics than I ever have been before (a goo read more

2017 was a busy year, which meant that I watched fewer films than I have in previous years. We did some traveling, my daughter's school schedule ate a lot of time with me driving her to dual enrollment classes the next town over, and I was more engaged in politics than I ever have been before (a goo read more

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you get to enjoy some classic movies along with your obligatory family time this week. I'm sure many of us will kick off the official start of the Christmas season on Friday with a holiday classic or two - at our house that's White Christmas (1954), even though it almost read more

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you get to enjoy some classic movies along with your obligatory family time this week. I'm sure many of us will kick off the official start of the Christmas season on Friday with a holiday classic or two - at our house that's White Christmas (1954), even though it almost read more

Part crime drama and part body horror, The Penalty (1920) helped to propel Lon Chaney to true stardom after seven years in the film business and a long roster of less memorable roles. The melodramatic adaptation of Gouverneur Morris' novel about an amputee crime lord gave Chaney the opportunity to d read more

Part crime drama and part body horror, The Penalty (1920) helped to propel Lon Chaney to true stardom after seven years in the film business and a long roster of less memorable roles. The melodramatic adaptation of Gouverneur Morris' novel about an amputee crime lord gave Chaney the opportunity to d read more

Written and directed by Curtis Harrington, Night Tide (1961) offers a moody atmosphere and a very young Dennis Hopper as its main attractions, along with a tragic story about a girl who believes she might be a supernatural temptress from the deep. Its low budget production and ambiguous monster migh read more

Written and directed by Curtis Harrington, Night Tide (1961) offers a moody atmosphere and a very young Dennis Hopper as its main attractions, along with a tragic story about a girl who believes she might be a supernatural temptress from the deep. Its low budget production and ambiguous monster migh read more

Mixed reviews are often the hardest ones to write, and I have mixed feelings about Kings Row (1942), the Sam Wood drama adapted from the controversial novel by Henry Bellamann. I think, ultimately, the film is useful as an example of the ways the Hays Code could undermine the purpose of an artistic read more