The podcast devoted to Old Hollywood
Director Robert Siodmak, known for noir masterpieces like The Spiral Staircase (1946) and The Killers (1946), reteams stars Burt Lancaster and De Carlo – last seen in Jules Dassin’s Brute Force … Continue Reading Criss Cross (1949)
Though it gave Debbie Reynolds her greatest performance to date, Singin’ in the Rain (1952) wasn’t a monster hit upon release and the quality of the films she made in its … Continue Reading Fridays With Debbie Reynolds: Susan Slept Here (1954)
Our farewell to the month of all things Miranda sees a few other exits as well. After starting out with The Gang’s All Here (1943) which had lost its prime … Continue Reading Fridays With Carmen Miranda: That Night in Rio (1941)
Looking at Twitter this week someone asked if people honestly watched musicals for the plot, and whether complaining about a lack of narrative is appropriate since audiences are lying in wait … Continue Reading Fridays With Carmen Miranda: Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
In just two years Carmen Miranda became a mainstay at 20th Century-Fox, mainly working in programmers, the cinematic equivalent of a paint-by-numbers coloring book. Her appearances extended to having a different name … Continue Reading Fridays With Carmen Miranda: Doll Face (1945)
The final Fridays With recipient until fall is the “lady in the tutti frutti hat,” Carmen Miranda! The Portuguese chanteuse best remembered for her fruit-inspired headgear popped up in several … Continue Reading Fridays With Carmen Miranda: The Gang’s All Here (1943)
Robert Taylor returns in this old-fashioned tale of forbidden love, miscegenation and fabulous fashions! Lady of the Tropics saw Taylor as a Hollywood star, paired up with actress Hedy Lamarr … Continue Reading Fridays With Robert Taylor: Lady of the Tropics (1939)
The TCM Classic Film Festival left me behind on my Fridays With… series. The crop of Taylor films this month aren’t his best, but they’re a start. We kick off … Continue Reading Fridays With Robert Taylor: Times Square Lady (1935)
We conclude Fridays With Mary Pickford and….I can’t say I ended up with a positive impression of her. As one of my friends said, Pickford was a trailblazer but her … Continue Reading Fridays With Mary Pickford: Stella Maris (1918)
Hollywood loves the simplicity of recycling. What works for one star will surely work for another, and so it was when the studio discovered another pint-sized sprite with sausage curls: … Continue Reading Fridays With Mary Pickford: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917)
Originally published June 1st, 2012 I know a fair bit about Mary Pickford. My first semester of college I took a film class and Eileen Whitfield‘s book Pickford: The Woman … Continue Reading Fridays With Mary Pickford: Cinderella (1914)
After buckling swash with Errol Flynn last month I figured it was high time to return to this series’ true intentions: spotlighting actors whose work I’ve seen nothing of With that … Continue Reading Fridays With Mary Pickford: The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917)
Originally published February 12th, 2014 Comedy Wednesday continues after a week’s absence with Michael Curtiz’s 1938 action/adventure romp, The Adventures of Robin Hood. My professor appears to have good taste … Continue Reading Fridays With Errol Flynn: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
After watching Errol Flynn corral the Old West in Dodge City (1939) and sail the seven seas as The Sea Hawk (1940s) it’s simultaneously refreshing and bizarre watching him play … Continue Reading Fridays With Errol Flynn: Gentleman Jim (1942)
Fridays with Flynn moves from the plains of the heartland to the high seas with a retread of a film Flynn made five years earlier. Swashbucklers don’t necessarily thrill me, … Continue Reading Fridays With Errol Flynn: The Sea Hawk (1940)
The Western isn’t my go-to genre, but I have been surprised by a few in my film reviewing career as I was with Dodge City, recently released on Blu-ray through … Continue Reading Fridays With Errol Flynn: Dodge City (1939)
Ticklish Business 