Humoresque (1946): Crawford and the Sea of Love
Thrilled to be writing this for the 2023 CMBA fall blogathon, because Humoresque is a classic Second Sight movie where the riches it offers mostly get eclipsed. In this case it's by Crawford's dazzling diva turn, which sweeps all before it. Hoping to stir you to see...
The Apartment (1960)
Why do I watch The Apartment whenever it’s on, and why, after all these viewings, do I get a little bit excited every time it’s on the schedule? Same reason I watch a lot of movies the same way. I watch them the same way I listen to music I love, which is to say, not...
Bernard Herrmann: Citizen Kane’s Other Genius Outsider
NOTE: Dear reader, I know you've all been in tech hell once in a while. Unfortuately, I have been all week, and while I won't bore you with the dull, frustrating details, the upshot is, I got o photos for this post, so it is incredibly dreary to look at. But...
Giant (1956): Can This Marriage Be Saved?
Oh boy, I get to write about Giant! Or rather the marriage therein, between Texan Bick Benedict (Rock Hudson), rich, powerful, and beautiful scion of a 595,000 acre ranch, and Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), daughter of an old money Maryland family. Giant spans 25...
Raw Deal (1948): Crashing Out of Corkscrew Alley
"I believe in the nobility of the human spirit. It is that for which I look in a subject I am to direct. I do not believe that everybody is bad, that the whole world is wrong. The greatness of Shakespeare's plays is the nobility of the human spirit, even though he may...
All Twisted Up Inside: Arthur Kennedy and Frank Sinatra in Some Came Running (1958)
This is about Kennedy's performance in Some Came Running (1958), directed by Vincente Minnelli. Kennedy scored his fourth Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of Frank Hirsh, the embodiment of small-town small-mindedness and hypocrisy. I am...
Love Letters: Dear Thomas Mitchell
"I didn't know I was that good" ?what you said upon accepting your Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Stagecoach (1939) Dear Tom, or Dear Kid Dabb (Only Angels Have Wings, 1939) ...Diz Moore (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939) ...Doc Boone (Stagecoach, 1939) ...Clopin...
?Acting is a ridiculous profession?? ?notes on Peter Lorre
This post is part of the 2014 What a Character! blogathon. To see more, click graphic (above).? ?Acting is a ridiculous profession unless it is part of your very soul.? ??Peter Lorre Even people who have never seen Peter Lorre in a movie know his nasal, dreamy voice...
In Their Own Words: Joseph Cotten on Tallulah, The Third Man, Citizen Kane, and his friendship with Orson Welles
Cotten as Holly Martins in?The Third Man?(1949) Joseph Cotten, who was born May 15, 1905, appeared in some of the best films of the 1940s, including?Citizen Kane,?The Magnificent Ambersons,?Shadow of a Doubt,?Gaslight,?Portrait of Jennie,?Lydia, and?The Third Man. In...
A Viewer’s Guide: How to Watch Grand Hotel (1932)
Grand Hotel, always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens. courtesy Pre-Code.com Grand Hotel took home the Best Picture Oscar for MGM in 1933, beating another MGM release,The Champ, as well as Samuel Goldwyn’s Arrowsmith, Fox’s Bad Girl, First...