Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Written by George Wells, based on a story suggested by (two-time Oscar winner) Helen Rose (who also served as the film’s costume designer). (Speaking of awards – it additionally seems wise to note that George Wells was also an Oscar winner…for this movie.) (Baha! How about them apples?) This is a re-watch, […]
Directed by George Tillman Jr. Screenplay by Audrey Wells, based on the novel by Angie Thomas. The opening scene – in which we’re a fly on the wall to the conversation Maverick Carter (Russell Hornsby) has with his children about the inevitable, targeted danger their race puts them in with the police & other white […]
Directed by John G. Adolfi. Adaptation & dialogue by Maude T. Howell, Julien Josephson, & Austin Parker, from the play by Clare Kummer. Henry Wilton (George Arliss) is one of the world’s top financiers, and he’s been on a year’s sojourn to Europe, helping with…I don’t know, European money problems. (When he returns, the president […]
This is a re-watch. Directed by Vincente Minnelli. Screenplay by Robert Nathan & Joseph Schrank, story by Paul & Pauline (yes, you’re reading that right) Gallico. Robert Walker does such an excellent job playing Joe’s spirited brightness & irrepressible state of wonder. During his first several interactions in Penn Station, he’s so inexplicably cheery that you […]
Directed by Delmer Daves. Screenplay by Edmund H. North & (an originally uncredited) (thanks, Blacklist) Dalton Trumbo. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel “My Reminiscences as a Cowboy” by Frank Harris. (Totally badass) Opening title sequence by the great Saul Bass. Glenn Ford is Tom Reece, an experienced cattle rustler who is well-known & well-respected at […]
Directed by Ted Wilde. From the play by Sam Janney. To begin the movie, an old woman dies, and her large group of relatives gathers for the reading of her will. Various estates & wine cellars & money portions get divided up among various aunts, uncles, & cousins…but by far the largest haul is bequeathed […]
This movie, like PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003) and BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961) is impossible for me to watch with fresh, objective eyes, because – along with those two – it was in my ‘I feel sad and this is the only thing I know will cheer me up’ […]
Directed by William Wellman. Screenplay by Lamar Trotti, based on the novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. A from-the-top oddity: this film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards…and nothing else. (If you’re thinking, ‘Hm…is that really that odd?’ Yes. Since this film achieved this “feat,” exactly…oh, right – ZERO other films have […]
Directed by Edward H. Griffith. Screenplay by Anita Loos, with additional dialogue by Horace Jackson. Based on the play “Biography” by S.N. Behrman. It’s also worth mentioning that the rest of the crew on this movie reads like a list of all-stars – shot by James Wong Howe, gowns designed by Adrian, art-directed by the […]
Directed by Ronald Neame. Screenplay by Jack Davies & Alvin Sargent, story by Sidney Carroll. This film was nominated for 3 Oscars – Best Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, & Best Sound – but lost in all three categories. Speaking of the set decoration – the bar/club in which we meet Nicole (Shirley MacLaine), dancing […]
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