Part II Deceit, Desire, and Survival: Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg?s?Shanghai Express(1932) and?The Scarlet Empress?(1934) A missionary wins the heart of a poetic warlord, a woman of mystery wins back her untrusting lover, and a promiscuous princess wins...
Here are three pre-Code films about women from the West who find themselves in dangerous situations in exotic lands (China in two, Russia in the other). The women are thrown upon their own resources, their ability to adapt and survive, with little or no support or...
The Girl Can?t Help It?(1956),?Jailhouse Rock?(1957),?Les Girls?(1957) Two classic but revolutionary rock?n?roll movies and one golden-age Hollywood musical, made in the twilight of the genre and the studio system. If you know?The Girl Can?t Help It?it?s probably for...
At first Miriam Hopkins did not want to play ?Champagne Ivy? Pearson, the charmingly carnal little bird who is infatuated with Jekyll and abused and terrorized by Hyde. When director Rouben Mamoulian offered her the part, she set her jaw and said No. She would play...
This post is part of the?Contrary to Popular Opinion Blogathon,?where we set the consensus on its head by defending a maligned film, performer or director or toppling a beloved one! Stella Dallas?is still much beloved 78 years after it was made, and a favorite to many...
?If you were to see?Love Me Tonight,? Mamoulian said in an interview in 1970, ?although it is a very light, gay musical, you?d see in it most clearly what motivates me, what I like. The whole of?Love Me Tonight?is a poem, from beginning to end. Everything is rhythm,...
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