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American Soldiers vs. an Aristocratic Ghost | Silver Screenings
Margaret O'Brien with the ghostly Charles Laughton. Image: Cinema for all Tastes In 1944, before the D-Day landing and while WWII was still grinding on, MGM made a heartwarming movie about American soldiers successfully diffusing a notorious British ghost. The Canterville Ghost (1944) stars Robert Young, as an affable US soldier, and Charles Laughton as…
Pitts & Todd: 1930s Female Comedy Team | Silver Screenings
ZaSu Pitts (L) and Thelma Todd in a publicity still for Asleep in the Feet (1933). Image: Films in Review Our latest binge-watching obsession is a female comedy team from the early 1930s. Comedic actresses ZaSu* Pitts and Thelma Todd made 17 comedic shorts between 1931-1933, drawing on a popular theme of the day: Women…
Love & Finance in “The Rage of Paris” (1938) | Silver Screenings
Helen Broderick (L) tells Danielle Darrieux to find a husband. Image: Alamy Here's a line you don't often hear in a classic movie. A man greets a friend with, "How's everything in Winnipeg?" You heard that right: Winnipeg. And why not? There was a time when Winnipeg was touted as the "Chicago of the North"…
Films That Should be Black & White: Black Widow (1954) | Silver Screenings
Ginger Rogers (L) offers fake sympathy to Gene Tierney. Image IMDb We're here to make a case for black and white movies. We know our position makes us sound like a Luddite, which we are, let's face it. The whole thing started when we saw Black Widow (1954), a mystery/thriller filmed in sumptuous DeLuxe Color.…
American Mobsters vs. German Nazis | Silver Screenings
Humphrey Bogart with mysterious Kaaren Verne. Image: IMDb All Through the Night (1942) is a comedy-gangster flick about a turf war in New York City. The war is between fast-talking mobsters, who are used to getting their way in New York, and German Nazis, who are used to getting their way everywhere else. Humphrey Bogart…
The Legendary Twister Flick of 1939 | Silver Screenings
Dorothy and the Gang. Image: The Sunday Times We just re-watched the classic twister flick, The Wizard of Oz (1939), but! We saw it on the big screen for the first time, and it was a revelation. We were struck by the Technicolor landscape of Oz, with its highlighter-yellow brick road and saturated green of…
Starring Bette Davis as Joan Crawford | Silver Screenings
Celebrity life for sale. Image: Wayne's World of Cinema The Star (1952) has a delicious meta scene. Like all great meta scenes, it's done Without a Trace of Irony. The movie stars Bette Davis, in an Oscar-nominated role, as a former Hollywood Superstar whose career has come to a Screeching Halt. She's broke and, even…
Shakespeare for the 1950s | Silver Screenings
Howard Keel (L) and Kathryn Grayson duke it out off stage. Image: RareFilm What is your opinion of the Shakespearean play, The Taming of the Shrew? Do you see it as satire, poking fun at the roles of men and women? Or do you think it's barely-disguised misogyny? We ask because we've just seen Kiss…
Bob Hope: Accidental Genius | Silver Screenings
Insurance salesman meets outlaw Jesse James. Image: avxhm.se Have you ever had an accidental stroke of genius? This normally doesn't happen to us (yours truly), because "genius" is not our defining quality, although we've had moments of extraordinary good fortune. This is why we admire Bob Hope, one of the legendary comedians of the 20th…
The Last Movie of Douglas Fairbanks’ Legendary Career | Silver Screenings
Douglas Fairbanks has saucy stories for the boys. Image: Doctor Macro Every film actor has a last movie, whether intentional or not. For silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks, the last entry in his swashbuckling, grand-adventure film career was a cheeky British production, The Private Life of Don Juan (1934). Although it wasn't a smashing box…
Ginger Rogers and Relationship Jewellery | Silver Screenings
Working stiff Ginger Rogers with roommates. Image: IMDb On the face of it, Kitty Foyle (1940) is an old-fashioned melodrama about a woman Torn Between two men. Ginger Rogers stars as the titular Foyle, a Philadelphia woman who treasures independence and self-resourcefulness above all, including wealth and prominence. Early in the film, we find Rogers-as-Foyle…
Why You Should Never Star in a Movie with Carmen Miranda | Silver Screenings
Carmen Miranda gives financé Groucho Marx the Death Stare. Image: IMDb Poor Groucho Marx. The famous comedian and member of the Marx Brothers once made the unfortunate decision to star in a musical comedy with the über-charismatic Brazilian actress and dancer, Carmen Miranda. Copacabana (1947) is a musical extravaganza with a thin but amusing storyline…
A Tragedy of Self Obsession | Silver Screenings
Phillip Holmes manipulates Sylvia Sidney. Image: IMDb If you've seen the 1931 drama, An American Tragedy, you've no doubt noticed it looks like a relic from a forgotten civilization. First, it can be a bit stilted at times, coming as it does from early in the Hollywood Sound era. Secondly, the 1930s' tech and dialogue…
A Domestic Film Noir | Silver Screenings
Loretta Young with a fateful letter. Image: TCM Serious Question: Is there such a thing as a domestic film noir? And: Can a film noir take place in the bright California sunshine? Here's our query: In the 1951 "B" movie, Cause for Alarm! (exclamation point included), there are many noir-ish elements, such as a situation…
Joan Crawford’s Fierce Ambition | Silver Screenings
The popular Joan Crawford in 1933. Photo: Reddit We (yours truly) adore the on-screen Joan Crawford. Was she the single greatest actress of her generation? Nope. Was she remarkable? You bet. With a 47-year Hollywood career, she understood what it took to become a Movie Legend. It is Crawford's film career that is the subject…
Buddy Road Movie 1949: Smart Convict vs. Dense Cop | Silver Screenings
Dan Duryea (L) agrees to help agent Howard Duff. Image: IMDb Here's an underrated "B" Crime Drama/Buddy Road Movie you might like: Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949). The film stars Howard Duff as a U.S. Treasury agent, and Dan Duryea as the criminal who Hates his Guts. You'll not be surprised to learn Duff was the…
The Restless Mary Pickford | Silver Screenings
Mary Pickford does some analog banking. Image: BBC/Getty Actress Mary Pickford, wildly famous during the silent era, developed a pattern early in her career. The pattern first became evident at the Biograph studio in 1909, when a 17-year-old Pickford worked with director D.W. Griffith, pushing the boundaries and conventions of film. Even though Pickford was…
Buster Keaton: Organic Chaos | Silver Screenings
A fool and his money. Image: IMDb Civilization is a funny thing. When citizens cooperate and follow the Rules, society has a turbulence-free sheen. Even when a nation is embroiled in a foreign war, its society can, more or less, function as expected when norms are Adhered To. Yet, it's surprising how quickly societies Fall…
So Bad it’s Good: Earth vs. The Spider (1958) | Silver Screenings
"Teenagers" Gene Persson and June Kenney caught in a giant spider web. Image: IMDb The misleading thing about the title of Earth vs. The Spider (1958) is this: A giant spider does not attack the entire planet. It attacks one American town. Naturally, it's a relief to discover one spider can't tackle the whole planet…
The James Cagney Movie that Sank a Studio | Silver Screenings
James Cagney (centre, plaid jacket) meets Hollywood image consultants. Image: IMDb Well, just look at the things you find when you reorganize your movie collection. We (yours truly) had a burst of Organizational Efficiency last week and, as we sorted our DVDs – don't laugh – we discovered a musical comedy starring James Cagney. Something…
The Perils of Dentistry | Silver Screenings
How to instill confidence in your patients. Image: WalterFilm We should all have a career like W.C. Fields in The Dentist (1932). Of course, dentistry has its share of challenges, but we like the Set-Up that Fields' character has created for himself in this film. Fields plays a dentist forced to deal with many Unpleasant…
The “Forgettable” Marilyn Monroe Thriller | Silver Screenings
The babysitter's here. Image: avhxm.se Sometimes we think movie audiences in the early 1950s were a little spoiled. Hear us out. The early 1950s were a time of remarkable cinematic innovation, such as CinemaScope and 3-D, and filmmakers seemed interested in compelling stories. Even "forgettable" films from this era can be thoughtful and engaging. For…
Unexpected Lives: Ben-Hur & Ramon Novarro | Silver Screenings
Francis X. Bushman (L) and Ramon Novarro as friends turned enemies. Image: allofcinema.com Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) is a monumental film. It's a production that moves on its own Steam, where characters' decisions seem to matter very little. A character may find himself in this or that situation, but the movie feels…
Fred Astaire: Dancing with Firecrackers & Bourbon | Silver Screenings
Marjorie Reynolds and Bing Crosby are not happy to see Fred Astaire. Image: IMDb Well, we were going to share a frivolous, end-of-the-year post about the musical comedy, Holiday Inn (1942), starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. But then Astaire stole the movie, like he always does, and now we're gushing over his performance, like…
What do American War Movies Say About Us? | Silver Screenings
Robert Mitchum in the reenactment film, The Longest Day (1962). Image: FanPop Has a Hollywood war movie left its thumbprint on you? For us, one such film was Apocalypse Now (1979), a haunting dreamscape in an exotic war zone. It confronted us with the reminder the world isn't always the place we wish it to…
It’s Always Fun in Acapulco | Silver Screenings
A concert breaks out wherever Elvis goes. Image: Elvis Echoes of the Past Sometimes the world feels different when an influential person dies, and you grieve even though you never met said person. That was the case for millions on November 22, 1963. Two influential men died that day, within an hour of each other,…
Old Yeller: Making the Tough Choices in Life | Silver Screenings
Best pals Kevin Corcoran and Spike (Old Yeller). Image: CNN Warning: Contains Spoilers Sometimes, in a movie, you can spot the Set-Up in the first few scenes. But a good filmmaker knows this, and uses it to build tension. That's what we thought when we watched the family drama, Old Yeller (1957). This film, from…
Sugar & Spice, and Accidental Deaths | Silver Screenings
Mother and daughter take some "medicine". Image: The Mind Reels When we were in elementary school, there was a boy who was always in trouble. Today, we would assume the poor kid had ADHD, but he wasn't diagnosed with such Back in the Day. We could only see a boy who Never complied with the…
This Movie Ain’t Big Enough for the Two of Us | Silver Screenings
Comedy legends Mae West and W.C. Fields. Image: IMDb We just watched a Western parody that's a lot of fun in spite of itself. My Little Chickadee (1940) stars Mae West and W.C. Fields as two grifters who meet on a train and suddenly decide to marry. West is on the train because she was…
The Life and Times of Director Cecil B. DeMille | Silver Screenings
Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille. Image: The American Academy of Dramatic Arts A few weeks ago, we visited an antique shop in the middle of Nowhere and, among low-tech housewares and sewing machines, we found a biography of classic Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille: Yes, Mr. DeMille by Phil Koury. DeMille was a film director…
The Fine Art of Gaslighting | Silver Screenings
Welcome to the Nightmare. Image: TCM We could not believe how unsettled we became when we saw the original version of the Victorian thriller, Gaslight (1940), from British National Films. Now, we've seen the more luxurious MGM version of Gaslight (1944), starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, which is a superb film. Yet, it didn't…
From Extortionist to Monk: Brother Orchid (1940) | Silver Screenings
Edward G. Robinson (centre) meets with the boys. Image: Album Online Depression-era Warner Bros. gangster movies are as much about reformation as they are about crime. You know the drill: A ruthless gangster/criminal is hammered with bad luck, and these circumstances force him to become a Better Person. We (yours truly) have a soft spot…
How to Ruin Everyone’s Reputation | Silver Screenings
A happy Hollywood family. Image: TCM Against our better judgment, we watched the ultimate campy biopic: Mommie Dearest (1981). This movie explores the troubled relationship between Classic Hollywood actress, Joan Crawford, and her daughter, Christina. The film is based on Christina's memoirs, and it is a pretty severe look at Crawford's parenting techniques. We want…
When Quiet People Lose It | Silver Screenings
James Stewart and the sparkly Marlene Dietrich. Image: bozzavampir.com Once upon a time we worked with a soft-spoken fellow who was calm in demeanor and unflappable in a crisis. He took things In Stride, especially when it came to the boss who had a tendency to make demanding, poorly-timed requests. However, there was that one…
How to Perpetrate a Fraud | Silver Screenings
There's one born every minute. Image: Moviezine We recently saw Anastasia (1956), an engaging story loosely based on actual events. Ingrid Bergman plays Anna Anderson, a troubled woman who claims to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. (As you know, Nicholas II was the last Tsar of Russia, the…
Movies about Unfaithful Spouses | Silver Screenings
Kirk Douglas and Kim Novak in Strangers When We Meet (1960). Image: IMDb “Adulterous passion...often had dark consequences. The adultery film is, in this way, a horror film.” So writes film historian Anthony Balducci in the introduction to his newly-published book, Unfaithful: The History of the Adultery Film (Slingshot Books, 2023). Filmmakers have made a…
Another Thin Man: When Things Go Wrong, and Right | Silver Screenings
Domestic crime-solving bliss. Image: tmdb.org Perhaps you've heard of Nick and Nora Charles, the husband-and-wife sleuthing team of The Thin Man movies. On the face of it, they're an unlikely pair. Nick (William Powell) is a retired gumshoe, a sleek, witty man with an unparalleled track record of putting criminals in the Clink. He's married…
How to Adapt an 800-Page Novel to the Screen | Silver Screenings
Vivien Leigh fights with husband Ralph Richardson. Image: IMDB Get this: Leo Tolstoy's classic novel, Anna Karenina, has been adapted to the screen over 20(!) times. Tolstoy's novel, depending on the publisher, usually runs 800+ pages, with lots of interesting goings-on which make for a fine movie. This hefty Russian novel, dubbed one of the…
When Biopics Tell Half the Truth | Silver Screenings
Betty Grable (l) with June Haver and S.Z. Sakall. Image: IMDb Four years after Jenny Dolly died, Twentieth Century-Fox released a musical based on her life with her sister, Rosie. The pair, identical twins born in 1892, emigrated to the United States from Hungary as children. As youngsters, they toured with a vaudeville company, singing…
The American Civil War and Van Johnson’s Pants | Silver Screenings
Van Johnson (centre) and his newfangled technology. Image: IMDb On the face of it, The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947) is a film about Thomas Mitchell's obsession with the colour of Van Johnson's pants. Seriously. In the first two acts of this film, Mitchell tries to discover whether Johnson has grey or blue pants. The…