ClassicFlix - Only the Classics

Classics 101 - The Four Clowns: The Great Stone Face

In the first part of this series, we discussed how Universal-International deliberately destroyed their treasure trove of silent films in 1948, and the disregard most 'modern film-goers' had for 'old-time silent movies.' That all changed on September 5, 1949, when Life magazine, one of the most popular publications in the nation, published a cover story entitled Comedy's Greatest Era, by James Agee. This installment of Classics 101 will take a look at the second of Agee's Fo...

Strange Science Serials, Part 1: Lost Worlds!

We've previously offered a two-part series on motion pictures serials at Classics 101, (see part one and part two here) and this month, we're turning to some of the science-fiction serials that ranked near the top of the genre's offerings.With some notable exceptions, including Metropolis (1927) and Things to Come (1936), mainstream cinema didn't embrace science-fiction themes until the 1950s. A battery of mad scientists invented (or stole) a plethora of super-sc...

Classics 101 - Presenting Alfred Hitchcock, Part 5: The Transatlantic Years

1947: Mr. Hitchcock and his partner, Sidney Bernstein, have a deal with Warner Bros. for distribution of product from their independent unit, Transatlantic Pictures. To produce the films, though, they needed ample financing, and to make this endeavor work they also needed (a) big stars, and (b) inexpensive story properties. They took care of (a) with verbal commitments from Hitchcock friends Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman; floating their names around got bankers' attention. For (b), a variety ...

Classics 101: The Four Clowns - Chaplin

It's hard to believe, especially amongst us movie lovers, but once upon a time in America, silent films were considered to be worthless as entertainment, useless as history, and of little or no interest to film fans. Nitrate stock is highly flammable and expensive to store safely, and studios felt they were worth more for the silver in their nitrate then they were for theatrical (or later television) sales.As early as 1931, studios were already destroying prints, including negativ...

Classics 101 - Must-See Cinema: Foreign Films

Classicflix boasts a beautiful array of excellent foreign-language films in its library, but they don't get talked about much. That's a shame because an understanding and appreciation of world cinema should be a part of every movie lover's experience.Growing up in Ohio, I didn't see a lot of foreign films; my impression of the ones I did see was that they were bleak, dark, dull and depressing, filled with poverty-stricken characters who drone on and on in voiceover while going thr...

Classics 101 - Presenting Alfred Hitchcock, Part 3: The Selznick Years

On March 4, 1939, with Jamaica Inn finished, Hitch loaded Alma, Pat, and assistant Joan Harrison on the ship bound for New York, leaving England and establishing permanent residence in the U.S. After a brief tour of the country and a stop in Cuba, the Hitchcock's arrived in California in April and Selznick advised Hitch that his proposed Titanic film was temporarily shelved and his first U.S. film would be Rebecca. The making of the Daphne du Maurier adaptation i...

Classics 101 - Presenting Alfred Hitchcock: Part 2, the British Masterpieces

In the first part of this retrospective; we tracked young Alfred Hitchcock through his earliest films. In 1934, he purchased the rights to Bulldog Drummond's Baby (but not the Bulldog Drummond character) and began fashioning one of his most famous thrillers.'I think you'll find the real start of my career was The Man who Knew too Much.' - Alfred Hitchcock Non-stop fun and much closer to what the director would give us from now on than what he'd given ...

Classics 101 - Presenting Alfred Hitchcock: Part 1, The Silent Years

The name Hitchcock has become synonymous with motion-picture suspense. From the silent era through the mid-1970s, Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock directed more than 50 films, and although his resume includes a handful of non-thrillers, it's for such films as North by Northwest, Rear Window, Rebecca, Vertigo and Psycho that he's become a household word and cinematic legend...as The Master of Suspense. It's not that Hitchcock ('Hitch...

Classics 101: Bad Films Gone Good - A Stroll Down Poverty Row

Roger Corman: 'My work in low-budget exploitation films would eventually earn me some notoriety as 'The King of the B's', which is ironic ... I never made a B movie in my life. The B movie dated from the Depression and was a phenomenon only up through the early 1950s... Bs had died out by the time I began directing. The term was never used in connection with any of my films within the industry, where the precise meaning of the term was always known.' You may well be askin...

Classics 101: Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy

Arthur 'Stan Laurel' Jefferson (1890-1965), from Ulverston, Lancashire, England, was the thin one who mucked things up and cried about it. Oliver Hardy (1892-1957), from Harlem, Georgia, was the fat one who mucked things up and blamed Stan. Together, they were the greatest comedy team in the history of movies, and the names of Laurel & Hardy -- or 'Dick und Doof' -- are known and loved around the world. This month, Classicflix presents a handy guide to Stan & Ollie and their best work...

Author: Cliff Weimer