"The Twilight Zone" has been revived three times on three different networks, it's been adapted into a feature film, a TV movie, a long-running radio drama, a series of comics, novels, amusement park rides, and even more. But I bet when you see that title you think of the black-and-white series hosted by Rod Serling, don't you?
Really, how could you not? It's no knock on any of the variations that followed; the original run of episodes that spanned from 1959 to 1963 is just that excellent. Sure, there are a few duds, but "The Twilight Zone" was simply paradigm-shifting, zeitgeist-seizing, landmark television, in its time and now. Of course we wouldn't have "American Horror Story", but filmmakers from David Cronenberg to Martin Scorsese to Karyn Kusama have all professed to be inspired by the series, some even to kickstart their careers. That kind of influence is hard to even tabulate.
For...
Really, how could you not? It's no knock on any of the variations that followed; the original run of episodes that spanned from 1959 to 1963 is just that excellent. Sure, there are a few duds, but "The Twilight Zone" was simply paradigm-shifting, zeitgeist-seizing, landmark television, in its time and now. Of course we wouldn't have "American Horror Story", but filmmakers from David Cronenberg to Martin Scorsese to Karyn Kusama have all professed to be inspired by the series, some even to kickstart their careers. That kind of influence is hard to even tabulate.
For...
- 10/29/2023
- by Ryan Coleman
- Slash Film
Ed Fury, a 1951 Mr. Muscle Beach winner who became one of the most successful male physique models of the era before launching a swords & sandal film career that rivaled the genre’s leading man Steve Reeves, has died at his California home. He was 94.
His death on February 24 was announced this week by his wife and family friends. A cause of death has not been specified.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story David Lindley Dies: Session Star And Multi-Instrumentalist With Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan Was 78 Related Story Jay Weston Dies: 'Lady Sings The Blues' Producer Who Gave Al Pacino Broadway Break Was 93
Born Edmund Holovchik in New York on June 6, 1928, Fury began lifting weights as a high school wrestler before moving to Southern California in the late 1940s, where he soon found his place among the Santa Monica Muscle Beach bodybuilding set. He began...
His death on February 24 was announced this week by his wife and family friends. A cause of death has not been specified.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story David Lindley Dies: Session Star And Multi-Instrumentalist With Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan Was 78 Related Story Jay Weston Dies: 'Lady Sings The Blues' Producer Who Gave Al Pacino Broadway Break Was 93
Born Edmund Holovchik in New York on June 6, 1928, Fury began lifting weights as a high school wrestler before moving to Southern California in the late 1940s, where he soon found his place among the Santa Monica Muscle Beach bodybuilding set. He began...
- 3/7/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
When Aesop Aquarian returned from acting class to discover an acquaintance dead of a gunshot wound in his spare room, he let it go.
Perhaps it had been a game of Russian roulette, or a suicide. At least these were the theories offered to him by his new Venice Beach housemates, members of what the public would in time call the Manson Family.
Later, when Aesop’s beloved custom Volkswagen camper van was mysteriously torched after he resettled with the group on their compound 30 miles north at the Spahn Movie Ranch, he accepted it. Maybe it was just an accident. Mercury could well have been in retrograde.
But Aesop finally bugged out, hitchhiking back to Los Angeles before dawn, after it was proposed he turn assassin in the run-up to Charlie Manson’s trial. “There was no humor in the suggestion,” explained Aesop,...
When Aesop Aquarian returned from acting class to discover an acquaintance dead of a gunshot wound in his spare room, he let it go.
Perhaps it had been a game of Russian roulette, or a suicide. At least these were the theories offered to him by his new Venice Beach housemates, members of what the public would in time call the Manson Family.
Later, when Aesop’s beloved custom Volkswagen camper van was mysteriously torched after he resettled with the group on their compound 30 miles north at the Spahn Movie Ranch, he accepted it. Maybe it was just an accident. Mercury could well have been in retrograde.
But Aesop finally bugged out, hitchhiking back to Los Angeles before dawn, after it was proposed he turn assassin in the run-up to Charlie Manson’s trial. “There was no humor in the suggestion,” explained Aesop,...
- 7/15/2022
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Marriage Story” looks like the only Oscar contender this season with a plausible shot at earning nominations in all four acting races, in large part because it’s one of the few films in the conversation with male and female co-leads. Only 15 other movies have accomplished that feat, which would make “Marriage” the 16th. But it’s even more impressive when you consider that it has only happened twice in the last 37 years.
According to the combined predictions of Gold Derby users, “Marriage Story” is a reasonably safe bet for Best Actress (Scarlett Johansson as an actress filing for divorce), Best Actor (Adam Driver as her husband fighting to retain custody of their son) and Best Supporting Actress (Laura Dern as Johansson’s lawyer). That leaves Best Supporting Actor, where Alan Alda is a contender for playing Driver’s kindly but out-of-his-depth attorney, but he’s an underdog according to...
According to the combined predictions of Gold Derby users, “Marriage Story” is a reasonably safe bet for Best Actress (Scarlett Johansson as an actress filing for divorce), Best Actor (Adam Driver as her husband fighting to retain custody of their son) and Best Supporting Actress (Laura Dern as Johansson’s lawyer). That leaves Best Supporting Actor, where Alan Alda is a contender for playing Driver’s kindly but out-of-his-depth attorney, but he’s an underdog according to...
- 12/18/2019
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The House of the Seven Gables
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / 1:33:1 / 89 Min.
Starring Margaret Lindsay, Vincent Price, George Sanders
Written by Lester Cole
Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner
Directed by Joe May
In 1940’s The House of the Seven Gables, Margaret Lindsay transforms from sunny romantic to stone-faced recluse in the blink of an eye – her startling performance gives a 20th century hot foot to Universal’s 19th century melodrama.
Published in 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel is set during the new era of enlightenment – a superstitious few may resist but the wheels of change are turning – just not fast enough for the Pyncheon family, a seemingly cursed dynasty plagued by corruption and cruelty.
Lindsay plays Hepzibah Pyncheon whose lover Clifford has been framed by his brother Jaffrey for the death of their father. A cold-blooded fop maintaining the family’s avaricious tradition, Jaffrey covets the distinctly gabled ancestral home and its hidden treasures.
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / 1:33:1 / 89 Min.
Starring Margaret Lindsay, Vincent Price, George Sanders
Written by Lester Cole
Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner
Directed by Joe May
In 1940’s The House of the Seven Gables, Margaret Lindsay transforms from sunny romantic to stone-faced recluse in the blink of an eye – her startling performance gives a 20th century hot foot to Universal’s 19th century melodrama.
Published in 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel is set during the new era of enlightenment – a superstitious few may resist but the wheels of change are turning – just not fast enough for the Pyncheon family, a seemingly cursed dynasty plagued by corruption and cruelty.
Lindsay plays Hepzibah Pyncheon whose lover Clifford has been framed by his brother Jaffrey for the death of their father. A cold-blooded fop maintaining the family’s avaricious tradition, Jaffrey covets the distinctly gabled ancestral home and its hidden treasures.
- 5/11/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Ethan Hawke is this awards’ season critical darling earning several best actor nods from critic’s groups including the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. and New York Film Critics Circle for his powerful performance as a troubled clergyman haunted with his past and the future in Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed.”
Hawke, who also won the Gotham Awards honor for best actor, is also nominated for a Critics Choice and a Film Independent Spirit Award but was snubbed in the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
But Hawke, who has received four previously Oscar nominations including for supporting actor for 2014’s “Boyhood,” shouldn’t give up the faith about a fifth nomination. Over the years, the academy has embraced actors and actresses who played members of the clergy with six wins and upwards of two dozen nominations.
Predict the Oscar nominations now; change them until January 22
Both Spencer Tracy...
Hawke, who also won the Gotham Awards honor for best actor, is also nominated for a Critics Choice and a Film Independent Spirit Award but was snubbed in the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
But Hawke, who has received four previously Oscar nominations including for supporting actor for 2014’s “Boyhood,” shouldn’t give up the faith about a fifth nomination. Over the years, the academy has embraced actors and actresses who played members of the clergy with six wins and upwards of two dozen nominations.
Predict the Oscar nominations now; change them until January 22
Both Spencer Tracy...
- 1/2/2019
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Does every great actress see Joan of Arc as the ultimate serious role? Ingrid Bergman ran into serious career trouble while this picture was still in release. Its cast and credits are packed with star talent — is it a misunderstood classic with a great central performance? Ms. Bergman was so enamored with the character that she played it twice.
Joan of Arc
70th Anniversary Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 146 100 min. / Street Date March 27, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan, J. Carrol Naish, Ward Bond, Shepperd Strudwick, Gene Lockhart, John Emery, Leif Erickson, Cecil Kellaway.
Cinematography: Winton Hoch, William V. Skall, Joseph Valentine
Film Editor: Frank Sullivan
Special Effects: Jack Cosgrove, John P. Fulton
Original Music: Hugo Friedhofer
Written by Andrew Solt, Maxwell Anderson, from his play
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Victor Fleming
What becomes of a grandiose...
Joan of Arc
70th Anniversary Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 146 100 min. / Street Date March 27, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan, J. Carrol Naish, Ward Bond, Shepperd Strudwick, Gene Lockhart, John Emery, Leif Erickson, Cecil Kellaway.
Cinematography: Winton Hoch, William V. Skall, Joseph Valentine
Film Editor: Frank Sullivan
Special Effects: Jack Cosgrove, John P. Fulton
Original Music: Hugo Friedhofer
Written by Andrew Solt, Maxwell Anderson, from his play
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Victor Fleming
What becomes of a grandiose...
- 3/31/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
David O. Selznick’s marvelous romantic fantasy ode to Jennifer Jones was almost wholly unappreciated back in 1948. It’s one of those peculiar pictures that either melts one’s heart or doesn’t. Backed by a music score adapted from Debussy, just one breathy “Oh Eben . . . “ will turn average romantics into mush.
Portrait of Jennie
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&W w/ Color Insert / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date October 24, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Cecil Kellaway, David Wayne, Albert Sharpe.
Cinematography: Joseph H. August
Production Designers: J. MacMillan Johnson, Joseph B. Platt
Original Music: Dimitri Tiomkin, also adapting themes from Claude Debussy; Bernard Herrmann
Written by Leonardo Bercovici, Peter Berneis, Paul Osborn, from the novella by Robert Nathan
Produced by David O. Selznick
Directed by William Dieterle
Once upon a time David O. Selznick’s Portrait of Jennie was an...
Portrait of Jennie
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&W w/ Color Insert / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date October 24, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Cecil Kellaway, David Wayne, Albert Sharpe.
Cinematography: Joseph H. August
Production Designers: J. MacMillan Johnson, Joseph B. Platt
Original Music: Dimitri Tiomkin, also adapting themes from Claude Debussy; Bernard Herrmann
Written by Leonardo Bercovici, Peter Berneis, Paul Osborn, from the novella by Robert Nathan
Produced by David O. Selznick
Directed by William Dieterle
Once upon a time David O. Selznick’s Portrait of Jennie was an...
- 10/10/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“That’S The Glory Of Love”
By Raymond Benson
“You’ve got to live a little, take a little, and let your poor heart break a little—that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love.”
The popular opening song by Billy Hill and sung by Jacqueline Fontaine, “The Glory of Love,” sets the tone for this classic, delightful motion picture that addressed a social issue at the time that we take for granted today—interracial marriage. Hey, in 1967, this was a hot topic. The Supreme Court had decided the Loving vs. Virginia case, which prohibited states from criminalizing interracial marriage, only six months prior to the film’s release (and that legal battle is dramatized in the film Loving, currently in cinemas). Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was indeed timely, certainly controversial in more conservative areas of the country, and a powerful statement about tolerance and the rights of American citizens.
By Raymond Benson
“You’ve got to live a little, take a little, and let your poor heart break a little—that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love.”
The popular opening song by Billy Hill and sung by Jacqueline Fontaine, “The Glory of Love,” sets the tone for this classic, delightful motion picture that addressed a social issue at the time that we take for granted today—interracial marriage. Hey, in 1967, this was a hot topic. The Supreme Court had decided the Loving vs. Virginia case, which prohibited states from criminalizing interracial marriage, only six months prior to the film’s release (and that legal battle is dramatized in the film Loving, currently in cinemas). Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was indeed timely, certainly controversial in more conservative areas of the country, and a powerful statement about tolerance and the rights of American citizens.
- 1/27/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland and Agnes Moorehead play it nasty, chop-chopping their way through a Grand Dame Guignol epic of 'sixties Hag Horror. Ace director Robert Aldrich's big success handed the deserving Davis a big role, and it looks better than ever on this razor-sharp remastered edition. With good original film promos as well as a lively new commentary. Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte Blu-ray Twilight Time 1964 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 133 min. / Street Date October 11, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store29.95 Starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Cecil Kellaway, Victor Buono, Mary Astor. Cinematography Joseph F. Biroc Art Direction William Glasgow Film Editor Michael Luciano Original Music Frank De Vol Written by Lukas Heller from a novel by Henry Farrell Produced and Directed by Robert Aldrich
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Good horror pictures featuring big stars were once fairly rare; this month Twilight Time...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Good horror pictures featuring big stars were once fairly rare; this month Twilight Time...
- 11/1/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
I'll trade you two RKOs for two Warners', an even swap! This quartet of movie-magic wonderments offer a full course on old-school film effects wizardry at its best. Willis O'Brien passes the baton to disciple Ray Harryhausen, who dazzles us with his own effects magic for the first '50s giant monster epic. And the best monster thriller of the decade is offered at its original widescreen aspect ratio. It's all special enough to merit a mid-week review. Special Effects Collection Blu-ray The Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Them! Warner Home Video 1933-1954 / B&W / 1:37 Academy - 1:85 widescreen / 335 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / 54.96 or 19.98 separately Starring Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack,, Frank Reicher, Victor Wong; Robert Armstrong, Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Frank McHugh; Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Donald Woods, Lee Van Cleef; James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, Onslow Stevens,...
- 10/23/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
‘The Witch Queen’ in The Last Witch Hunter.
The Witch: I’m not a witch, I’m not a witch!
Sir Bedevere: But you are dressed as one!
The Witch: *They* dressed me up like this!
Crowd: We didn’t! We didn’t…
The Witch: And this isn’t my nose. It’s a false one.
Sir Bedevere: [lifts up her false nose] Well?
Peasant 1: Well, we did do the nose.
Sir Bedevere: The nose?
Peasant 1: And the hat, but she is a witch!
Crowd: Yeah! Burn her! Burn her!
– Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Throughout history, witches have always gotten a bad rap. The Salem Witch Trials proved that.
Things didn’t improve with the birth of cinema. Filmmakers have had a magical time telling the tales of sorcery, magical powers and witchcraft.
Good or bad, funny or downright scary, their stories have fascinated moviegoers and these burnt offerings show no signs of slowing down.
The Witch: I’m not a witch, I’m not a witch!
Sir Bedevere: But you are dressed as one!
The Witch: *They* dressed me up like this!
Crowd: We didn’t! We didn’t…
The Witch: And this isn’t my nose. It’s a false one.
Sir Bedevere: [lifts up her false nose] Well?
Peasant 1: Well, we did do the nose.
Sir Bedevere: The nose?
Peasant 1: And the hat, but she is a witch!
Crowd: Yeah! Burn her! Burn her!
– Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Throughout history, witches have always gotten a bad rap. The Salem Witch Trials proved that.
Things didn’t improve with the birth of cinema. Filmmakers have had a magical time telling the tales of sorcery, magical powers and witchcraft.
Good or bad, funny or downright scary, their stories have fascinated moviegoers and these burnt offerings show no signs of slowing down.
- 10/20/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ca. 1935. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was never as popular as his father, silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in one action-adventure blockbuster after another in the 1920s (The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad) and whose stardom dates back to the mid-1910s, when Fairbanks toplined a series of light, modern-day comedies in which he was cast as the embodiment of the enterprising, 20th century “all-American.” What this particular go-getter got was screen queen Mary Pickford as his wife and United Artists as his studio, which he co-founded with Pickford, D.W. Griffith, and Charles Chaplin. Now, although Jr. never had the following of Sr., he did enjoy a solid two-decade-plus movie career. In fact, he was one of the few children of major film stars – e.g., Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Angelina Jolie, Michael Douglas, Jamie Lee Curtis – who had successful film careers of their own.
- 8/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl': Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' review: Mostly an enjoyable romp (Oscar Movie Series) Pirate movies were a Hollywood staple for about three decades, from the mid-'20s (The Sea Hawk, The Black Pirate) to the mid-to-late '50s (Moonfleet, The Buccaneer), when the genre, by then mostly relegated to B films, began to die down. Sporadic resurrections in the '80s and '90s turned out to be critical and commercial bombs (Pirates, Cutthroat Island), something that didn't bode well for the Walt Disney Company's $140 million-budgeted film "adaptation" of one of their theme-park rides. But Neptune's mood has apparently improved with the arrival of the new century. He smiled – grinned would be a more appropriate word – on the Gore Verbinski-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,...
- 6/29/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'The Letter' 1940, with Bette Davis 'The Letter' 1940 movie: Bette Davis superb in masterful studio era production Directed by William Wyler and adapted by Howard Koch from W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play, The Letter is one of the very best films made during the Golden Age of the Hollywood studios. Wyler's unsparing, tough-as-nails handling of the potentially melodramatic proceedings; Bette Davis' complex portrayal of a passionate woman who also happens to be a self-absorbed, calculating murderess; and Tony Gaudio's atmospheric black-and-white cinematography are only a few of the flawless elements found in this classic tale of deceit. 'The Letter': 'U' for 'Unfaithful' The Letter begins in the dark of night, as a series of gunshots are heard in a Malayan rubber plantation. Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) walks out the door of her house firing shots at (barely seen on camera) local playboy Jeff Hammond, who falls dead on the ground.
- 5/8/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
“It never occurred to me that I would fall in love with a Negro, but I have, and nothing’s going to change that!”
Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner screens this weekend at The Hi-Pointe Theater as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, January 10th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. Admission is only $5
Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner (1967) is an essential comedy drama about a progressive father and mother who are forced to face their own ideals when their daughter wants to marry a Black doctor. The cast is spectacular from top to bottom including Spencer Tracy, receiving his last Best Actor Academy Award nomination (posthumously) for his final role and Katharine Hepburn (her second of four Best Actress Oscar wins) as the married parents, Katharine Houghton as their daughter, Sidney Poitier as the aforementioned doctor, Cecil Kellaway,...
Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner screens this weekend at The Hi-Pointe Theater as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, January 10th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117. Admission is only $5
Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner (1967) is an essential comedy drama about a progressive father and mother who are forced to face their own ideals when their daughter wants to marry a Black doctor. The cast is spectacular from top to bottom including Spencer Tracy, receiving his last Best Actor Academy Award nomination (posthumously) for his final role and Katharine Hepburn (her second of four Best Actress Oscar wins) as the married parents, Katharine Houghton as their daughter, Sidney Poitier as the aforementioned doctor, Cecil Kellaway,...
- 1/5/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Cary Grant films on TCM: Gender-bending 'I Was a Male War Bride' (photo: Cary Grant not gay at all in 'I Was a Male War Bride') More Cary Grant films will be shown tonight, as Turner Classic Movies continues with its Star of the Month presentations. On TCM right now is the World War II action-drama Destination Tokyo (1943), in which Grant finds himself aboard a U.S. submarine, alongside John Garfield, Dane Clark, Robert Hutton, and Tom Tully, among others. The directorial debut of screenwriter Delmer Daves (The Petrified Forest, Love Affair) -- who, in the following decade, would direct a series of classy Westerns, e.g., 3:10 to Yuma, The Hanging Tree -- Destination Tokyo is pure flag-waving propaganda, plodding its way through the dangerous waters of Hollywood war-movie stereotypes and speechifying banalities. The film's key point of interest, in fact, is Grant himself -- not because he's any good,...
- 12/16/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
February is Black History Month, and to help celebrate, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting a Tribute to the 86-year old Sidney Poitier at their Classic Black Film Festival. Lucky St. Louis movie buffs will have the opportunity to view eight vintage Sidney Poitier on the big screen. Every Thursday in February, The St. Louis Black Film Festival will be presenting two Poitier films at St Louis Cinemas Galleria (630 St Louis Galleria, Richmond Heights, Mo 63117)
The Sidney Poitier Tribute Film Festival kicks off this Thursday night (February 6th) with two Poitier classics; Lilies Of The Field and Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner
Lilies Of The Field (1963) is the story of Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier), an itinerant jack-of-all-trades, who stops to help a group of German nuns newly arrived in New Mexico. His cheerful generosity is disdained by the stern, demanding Mother Superior (Lilia Skala) until he...
The Sidney Poitier Tribute Film Festival kicks off this Thursday night (February 6th) with two Poitier classics; Lilies Of The Field and Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner
Lilies Of The Field (1963) is the story of Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier), an itinerant jack-of-all-trades, who stops to help a group of German nuns newly arrived in New Mexico. His cheerful generosity is disdained by the stern, demanding Mother Superior (Lilia Skala) until he...
- 2/3/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Lana Turner movies: Scandal and more scandal Lana Turner is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" star today, Saturday, August 10, 2013. I’m a little — or rather, a lot — late in the game posting this article, but there are still three Lana Turner movies left. You can see Turner get herself embroiled in scandal right now, in Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life (1959), both the director and the star’s biggest box-office hit. More scandal follows in Mark Robson’s Peyton Place (1957), the movie that earned Lana Turner her one and only Academy Award nomination. And wrapping things up is George Sidney’s lively The Three Musketeers (1948), with Turner as the ruthless, heartless, remorseless — but quite elegant — Lady de Winter. Based on Fannie Hurst’s novel and a remake of John M. Stahl’s 1934 melodrama about mother love, class disparities, racism, and good cooking, Imitation of Life was shown on...
- 8/11/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Fontaine movies: ‘This Above All,’ ‘Letter from an Unknown Woman’ (photo: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine in ‘Suspicion’ publicity image) (See previous post: “Joan Fontaine Today.”) Also tonight on Turner Classic Movies, Joan Fontaine can be seen in today’s lone TCM premiere, the flag-waving 20th Century Fox release The Above All (1942), with Fontaine as an aristocratic (but socially conscious) English Rose named Prudence Cathaway (Fontaine was born to British parents in Japan) and Fox’s top male star, Tyrone Power, as her Awol romantic interest. This Above All was directed by Anatole Litvak, who would guide Olivia de Havilland in the major box-office hit The Snake Pit (1948), which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nod. In Max Ophüls’ darkly romantic Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Fontaine delivers not only what is probably the greatest performance of her career, but also one of the greatest movie performances ever. Letter from an Unknown Woman...
- 8/6/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Eleanor Parker today: Beautiful as ever in Scaramouche, Interrupted Melody Eleanor Parker, who turns 91 in ten days (June 26, 2013), can be seen at her most radiantly beautiful in several films Turner Classic Movies is showing this evening and tomorrow morning as part of their Star of the Month Eleanor Parker "tribute." Among them are the classic Scaramouche, the politically delicate Above and Beyond, and the biopic Interrupted Melody, which earned Parker her third and final Best Actress Academy Award nomination. (Photo: publicity shot of Eleanor Parker in Scaramouche.) The best of the lot is probably George Sidney’s balletic Scaramouche (1952), in which Eleanor Parker plays one of Stewart Granger’s love interests — the other one is Janet Leigh. A loose remake of Rex Ingram’s 1923 blockbuster, the George Sidney version features plenty of humor, romance, and adventure; vibrant colors (cinematography by Charles Rosher); an elaborately staged climactic swordfight; and tough dudes...
- 6/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Mummy’s Hand
Directed by Christy Cabanne
Written by Griffin Jay
Starring Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, and Tom Tyler
USA, 67 min – 1940.
“You are very beautiful…so beautiful I’m going to make you immortal. Like Kharis, you will live forever. What I can do for you I can do for myself. Neither time nor death can touch us. You and I together for eternity here in the Temple of Karnak. You shall be my high priestess.”
In The Mummy’s Hand, the first sequel to the 1933 Mummy film, two out of work archaeologists in Cairo, Steve Banning and Babe Jenson (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) are sold an ancient vase that they believe will lead them to the tomb of Princess Ananka. The two embark on a mission to uncover her final resting place. Helped financially by the magician ‘The Great Solvani’ (Cecil Kellaway) and his beautiful daughter, Marta...
Directed by Christy Cabanne
Written by Griffin Jay
Starring Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, and Tom Tyler
USA, 67 min – 1940.
“You are very beautiful…so beautiful I’m going to make you immortal. Like Kharis, you will live forever. What I can do for you I can do for myself. Neither time nor death can touch us. You and I together for eternity here in the Temple of Karnak. You shall be my high priestess.”
In The Mummy’s Hand, the first sequel to the 1933 Mummy film, two out of work archaeologists in Cairo, Steve Banning and Babe Jenson (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) are sold an ancient vase that they believe will lead them to the tomb of Princess Ananka. The two embark on a mission to uncover her final resting place. Helped financially by the magician ‘The Great Solvani’ (Cecil Kellaway) and his beautiful daughter, Marta...
- 4/12/2013
- by Karen Bacellar
- SoundOnSight
John Garfield on TCM: Humoresque, Four Daughters, We Were Strangers Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Four Daughters (1938) A small-town family's peaceful life is shattered when one daughter falls for a rebellious musician. Dir: Michael Curtiz. Cast: Priscilla Lane, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, John Garfield. Bw-90 mins. 7:45 Am Blackwell's Island (1939) A reporter gets himself sent to prison to expose a mobster. Dir: William McGann. Cast: John Garfield, Rosemary Lane, Dick Purcell. Bw-71 mins. 9:00 Am They Made Me A Criminal (1939) A young boxer flees to farming country when he thinks he's killed an opponent in the ring. Dir: Busby Berkeley. Cast: John Garfield, Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson. Bw-92 mins. 10:45 Am Dangerously They Live (1942) A doctor tries to rescue a young innocent from Nazi agents. Dir: Robert Florey. Cast: John Garfield, Nancy Coleman, Raymond Massey. Bw-77 mins. 12:15 Pm Pride Of The Marines (1945) A blinded...
- 8/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
John Garfield, Joan Crawford, Humoresque John Garfield is Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" star on Friday, August 5. TCM will be presenting twelve John Garfield movies, in addition to the 2003 documentary The John Garfield Story. There will be no TCM premieres — but don't blame TCM for that. Garfield was a Warner Bros. star and Warners' movies belong to the Time Warner library; in other words, his films are always available. In fact, I believe the only John Garfield movie that has never been shown on TCM is 20th Century Fox's 1950 drama Under My Skin. [John Garfield Movie Schedule.] Much like Warners' James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and Errol Flynn, Garfield was a tough guy at a tough studio. Come to think of it, even Warners' women were tough: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Glenda Farrell, and, off screen, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Leslie (both of...
- 8/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
No 78: Edmund Gwenn 1877-1959
He was born Edmund Kellaway in Wandsworth, London (or possibly the Vale of Glamorgan), grew to be 5ft 4in, was described over the years as "endearing", "cherubic", "portly", "elfin", with "a twinkle in his eye" and a seductively "soothing voice". All these attributes contributed to his appearance as Kris Kringle, the New York department store Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street (1947) who believes he's Father Christmas and convinces a Manhattan court to agree with him.
This brought him an Oscar as best supporting actor and a kind of immortality. In 1951, he was nominated for a similar role in Mister 880 as a sweet-natured counterfeiter who only forges dollar bills when he needs them. But there's much more to Gwenn than this.
Gwenn's stern Victorian father kicked him out of the house for wanting to go on the stage and he travelled around England and...
He was born Edmund Kellaway in Wandsworth, London (or possibly the Vale of Glamorgan), grew to be 5ft 4in, was described over the years as "endearing", "cherubic", "portly", "elfin", with "a twinkle in his eye" and a seductively "soothing voice". All these attributes contributed to his appearance as Kris Kringle, the New York department store Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street (1947) who believes he's Father Christmas and convinces a Manhattan court to agree with him.
This brought him an Oscar as best supporting actor and a kind of immortality. In 1951, he was nominated for a similar role in Mister 880 as a sweet-natured counterfeiter who only forges dollar bills when he needs them. But there's much more to Gwenn than this.
Gwenn's stern Victorian father kicked him out of the house for wanting to go on the stage and he travelled around England and...
- 12/20/2009
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
The William Castle Film Collection (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $80.95) includes eight pictures produced and directed by master showman Castle. In Part One of this lengthy DVD review, I dissected four of them—13 Ghosts, Homicidal and the two best, The Tingler and Mr. Sardonicus. Believe you me, it was a ghastly business! As Sardonicus would say, “I have known a ghoul—a disgusting creature that opens graves and feeds on corpses.” Like a DVD reviewer. See here.
In this epic conclusion, I am fitted out with a Strait-jacket (about time!) and also chronicle Zotz!, 13 Frightened Girls and The Old Dark House, the three Castle entries new to DVD (which lack the short, individual “making of” documentaries accompanying the other five). Only two of these eight flicks were shot in color (Girls, House); theatrical trailers are included with all of the movies. And that’s all you need to know as we continue—in amazing Screamarama,...
In this epic conclusion, I am fitted out with a Strait-jacket (about time!) and also chronicle Zotz!, 13 Frightened Girls and The Old Dark House, the three Castle entries new to DVD (which lack the short, individual “making of” documentaries accompanying the other five). Only two of these eight flicks were shot in color (Girls, House); theatrical trailers are included with all of the movies. And that’s all you need to know as we continue—in amazing Screamarama,...
- 10/21/2009
- by no-reply@starlog.com (David McDonnell)
- Starlog
Tyrone Power, who died 50 years ago at 44, has more of his movies available on DVD than practically any of his peers from Hollywood's Golden Age.
Partly, it's because he worked almost exclusively from 1937 to 1952 for 20th Century Fox, which has already released his classics, including "The Mark of Zorro," "Jesse James," "The Black Swan" and "In Old Chicago."
It's also because Power is more respected today - because of more ambitious roles in darker films like "Nightmare Alley" and "The Razor's Edge" -...
Partly, it's because he worked almost exclusively from 1937 to 1952 for 20th Century Fox, which has already released his classics, including "The Mark of Zorro," "Jesse James," "The Black Swan" and "In Old Chicago."
It's also because Power is more respected today - because of more ambitious roles in darker films like "Nightmare Alley" and "The Razor's Edge" -...
- 7/22/2008
- by By LOU LUMENICK
- NYPost.com
Travolta holding rabbit's foot for 'Harvey' redo
John Travolta is in negotiations to step into the shoes of Jimmy Stewart in the update of the 1950 film Harvey, a co-production between MGM and Miramax Films, sources confirmed. Based on the Pulitzer-winning Mary Chase play and updated by scribe Craig Mazin, the project will see Travolta star in the story of Elwood P. Dowd and the relationship he has with his best friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit. The project does not have a start date. In addition to Stewart, the original Harvey, directed by Henry Koster, also starred Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake and Cecil Kellaway. The film landed Stewart an Oscar nomination for best actor, while Hill walked home with the statuette for supporting actress at the 1951 Academy Awards.
- 3/12/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Travolta holding rabbit's foot for 'Harvey' redo
John Travolta is in negotiations to step into the shoes of Jimmy Stewart in the update of the 1950 film Harvey, a co-production between MGM and Miramax Films, sources confirmed. Based on the Pulitzer-winning Mary Chase play and updated by scribe Craig Mazin, the project will see Travolta star in the story of Elwood P. Dowd and the relationship he has with his best friend, an invisible 6-foot-tall rabbit. The project does not have a start date. In addition to Stewart, the original Harvey, directed by Henry Koster, also starred Josephine Hull, Peggy Dow, Charles Drake and Cecil Kellaway. The film landed Stewart an Oscar nomination for best actor, while Hull walked home with the statuette for supporting actress at the 1951 Academy Awards.
- 3/12/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.