Category: article

  • Silent Cinema: From Russia to Paris

    Russian film enjoys a reputation among fans of silent cinema that is on par with the best works of France and Germany. Casual fans would be forgiven for thinking the Russian film industry did not exist at all before the Revolution since most of the famous films were created after the rise of the Soviet Union.Nothing could be further from the truth. For a full decade before the collapse of the monarchy, Russian actors and directors were creating films of intelligence and beauty. An...

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  • TV TIME: When TV Characters Go on TV

    Before there were hundreds of channels and thousands of reality programs filling them, it was kind of a big deal to be on television. Sure, there were plenty of opportunities for starry-eyed amateurs to appear on the small screen, but it was still enough of a special experience that those who made TV shows could create fun stories by putting their characters on programs in their own fictional universes. How do our favorite characters respond to opportunities to be on the tube? Let's ...

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  • Be My Valentine: Ten Films for Your Post-Valentine's Viewing

    As Valentine's Day comes to a close, thoughts turn to left-over chocolates, flowers...and perhaps, in the case of classic film fans, romantic movies.Everyone has their favorite romantic classics, from Gone With the Wind (1939) to Now, Voyager (1942) to Casablanca (1942). Beyond those familiar films, there are many lesser-known romantic movies which are worth checking out. Below are ten suggestions of favorite lesser-known romantic films. They...

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  • 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...

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  • Dark Cinema: Breaking the Typecasting Mold

    During the studio age, stars were all about persona. They'd find their type, whatever thrilled audiences, and for the most part they'd stick to it throughout their careers. Call it typecasting, or playing to strengths, but very few performers were able to completely break away from the images that brought them fame.One big exception is Dick Powell. He started his screen career as a boyish crooner, and he was wildly popular as the lead in a series of kaleidoscopic Busby Berkeley mu...

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  • 'It Only Cost a Dime:' Seniors Remember the Golden Age of Movies

    When senior citizens (I like the phrase 'seasoned citizens') remember the movies of their youth, they focus on the dime it cost to enter the dream palace.I've been quizzing my elders about their movie memories since the late 60s, when the one o'clock matinee movie on TV got me hooked on the black and white era. Here are some of the stories they told me.One man who grew up in Lima, Ohio, in the Depression, told me how he saw three shows for fifteen cents. 'On Saturday, ...

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  • Silent Cinema: Films for the Silent Novice

    So, you want to try out these crazy silent movies but you don't know where to start. Never fear, help is on the way! Here is a small list of field-tested movies I have successfully used to introduce people to the exciting world of silent film.First, a quick explanation: Thanks in part to the 2011 motion picture Hugo, Georges Melies has returned to the consciousness of viewers who may not even like classic or silent films in general. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton never...

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  • TV TIME: More Joan and Margie From VCI

    Following the enormous success of I Love Lucy after its premiere in 1951, television viewers saw a batch of other sitcoms driven by female characters that got into equally wacky situations each week. Unfortunately, most of these women aren't nearly as well remembered as Lucy is today. VCI Entertainment's recent DVD releases of two of these programs, I Married Joan Collection 3 and My Little Margie Collection 3, are welcome additions to all classic television enthusi...

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  • Claudette Colbert: Star and Mentor

    Claudette Colbert, an elegant star adept at both comedy and drama, was born in France on September 3, 1903.Colbert's family moved to the U.S. when she was young. By her early 20s she was acting on Broadway, where she found particular success in the 1927 production The Barker, costarring Walter Huston and her future first husband, Norman Foster.Colbert's film career began that same year, and by the early '30s she was the star of such films as Ernst Lubitsch's

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  • 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...

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