Category Archives: Posts by Jennifer Garlen

Silver Screen Standards: Blithe Spirit (1945)

Blithe Spirit (1945) Supernatural comedy is one of my favorite movie genres any time of year, but I’m especially drawn to it once the first Halloween decorations start to materialize. After a recent viewing of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

Leave Her to Heaven (1945) The mingling of film noir and melodrama can yield strange but beautiful fruit, as it does most memorably in 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, adapted by Jo Swerling from the 1944 novel by Ben Ames … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: The Ladykillers (1955)

The Ladykillers (1955) Like most Gen Xers, I grew up associating Sir Alec Guinness with his role as Obi Wan-Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Only as an adult did I discover his earlier work and his tremendous talent … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) When Roger Corman died on May 9, 2024, at the impressive age of 98, his passing marked the end of a brilliant cinematic career that began in the 1950s and continued for more than … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: Transformative Drag in Some Like It Hot (1959)

Transformative Drag in Some Like It Hot (1959) Some Like It Hot (1959) is widely celebrated as one of classic Hollywood’s greatest comedies, even though its cross-dressing plot roused conservative ire and caused the movie to be released without Hays … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: The Ghost Goes West (1935)

Silver Screen Standards: The Ghost Goes West (1935) Supernatural romance and comedy are unique but often overlapping subgenres with some truly outstanding movies among their ranks, from Topper (1937), Blithe Spirit (1945), and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) to … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: Heaven Can Wait (1943)

Silver Screen Standards: Heaven Can Wait (1943) While you might expect a movie about the balance of a man’s life being judged at the gates of Hell to be heavy existential stuff, Ernst Lubitsch’s Heaven Can Wait (1943) serves it … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: The Pirate (1948)

Silver Screen Standards: The Pirate (1948) I always say that a splashy Technicolor musical is the best remedy for the dreary days of winter, and The Pirate (1948) certainly makes waves with its lively comedy and energetic dance numbers, even … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: Storms and Silence in The Spiral Staircase (1946)

Silver Screen Standards: Storms and Silence in The Spiral Staircase (1946) Gothic atmosphere churns tempestuously in Robert Siodmak’s 1946 mystery, The Spiral Staircase, with a terrific storm in the natural world that mirrors the psychological turbulence experienced by both heroine … Continue reading

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Silver Screen Standards: The House on Telegraph Hill (1951)

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 … Continue reading

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