Articles

Hollywood's Great Voices Part II: The Women

Lights of New York was the first '100% talking' feature, arriving in midsummer 1928 in theaters wired for sound. In the space of the following year, every Hollywood studio created a sound department and began releasing talkies.The microphone did not simply add live sound; it dictated camera work, forced the creation of the modern screenplay, and called on film actors to project their personalities in dramatic speech. This piece surveys the accomplishments of actresses in ...

Read more

Ten Valentines for Your Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and below are ten suggestions of favorite romantic films that have just the thing to chase away the winter doldrums.The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) - Ronald Colman and Gary Cooper both love Vilma Banky in this well-told Western romance. This silent movie is a visual masterpiece, with scenes tinted in amber, blue, and red, and there's an exciting flood sequence as well. This is a great film for those uncertain about wat...

Read more

Silent Cinema: American Epics - Silent Film on a Large Scale

We are right in the middle of an age of epics with the biggest films involving superheroes, spaceships and worlds in the balance. There were other ages of epics, of course, most notably the biblical epics of the 1950s and 1960s, but the Hollywood silent movie epic is a special breed with real sets, real casts of thousands and, in some case, real danger. Yes, later films did sometimes have these elements but there is a lovely grit and opulence to the silent versions.Let's talk abou...

Read more

TV TIME: Top-Rated TV Episodes, Part 1

Wesley Hyatt's Television's Top 100: The Most Watched American Broadcasts 1960-2010 is an excellent book exploring television history through an unofficial ranking of sorts. It's no mere list, though, but an entertaining and informative read with write-ups on each of the 100 broadcasts. In this column and the next, we'll examine episodes included in the book belonging to the ClassicFlix era that are available on DVD.A few caveats: To avoid making a book consisting of a bu...

Read more

Hollywood's Great Voices Part I: The Men

'You can dish it out, but you got so you can't take it no more.'Most film buffs can identify the above quote (Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar) and many can hear it in their heads; Robinson’s jeering voice, ripe with false bonhomie and sharp with menace. Stars of the sound era cultivated a vocal style for their roles. Some had natural tone and timbre that provided character.Wallace Beery's slow delivery and casually rolling syllables matched the slove...

Read more

The 2015 Palm Springs Classic Sci-Fi Festival

I was fortunate to enjoy a wonderful weekend at the first-ever Palm Springs Classic Science Fiction Film Festival this year. This inaugural sci-fi event was held at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, where six months previously I had attended the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.Both festivals were expertly produced and hosted by Alan K. Rode, and it's safe to say that, thanks to Alan's great work, I'm a convert to the Palm Springs festival experience! It's a relaxed and congeni...

Read more

Classics 101: Harry Langdon - The Fourth Clown

Our story so far: on September 5, 1949, Life magazine published a cover story entitled Comedy's Greatest Era, by James Agee. Virtually overnight, twenty years after its heyday ended, great silent comedy as a genre was rediscovered and placed on a pedestal that's been revisited by each ensuing generation. Agee's article crowned four Kings of Silent Comedy; we previously looked at Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd; in this concluding article, we'll turn to the one that's frequently cited as a...

Read more

Silent Cinema: Cheery Silent Films to Cure the Winter Doldrums

Winter is coming, which means hot beverages and baked goods, but it can also mean grey, dreary weather. What better way to cure the winter blues than by watching a cheerful movie? I've gathered a small selection of silent films guaranteed to make you feel all warm and gooey inside. Enjoy!That Certain Thing (1928)Director Frank Capra's distinct touch is all over this charming little romantic comedy about a would-be gold-digger (Viola Dana) and the rich ...

Read more

TV TIME: Party Like It's 1959 - Celebrating New Year's with Classic TV

What better way to welcome the future than by revisiting the past? Inspired by some of your favorite classic television shows, we've assembled some tips on how to ring in the New Year the right way.Get your New Year's resolutions squared away: Let's start, as more discussions of vintage TV should, with Davey & Goliath. In addition to producing the 15-minute stop-motion animation shorts we saw in reruns for years, the Lutheran Church of America created...

Read more

Distinguished Achievements in Slapstick

Film buffs take sides over many genres: B-westerns, horror films, the works of Maria Montez or Lum and Abner. Slapstick is another divider, and the division is stark. To the anti's, slapstick is lowbrow, unimaginative, and unfunny. To its fans, slapstick, done by experts, is a comic exaggeration of the extremes of human behavior, fitting the definition of comedy as bad things happening to other people.A buff who scrupulously avoids slapstick must forego the pleasures of Chaplin's ...

Read more

Another Nice 'mas: The Christmas Films of Laurel & Hardy

Oh, in the history of movies, there have been more successful comics, I suppose, than Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, more famous, more popular, and more influential. But has ANYBODY generated as many laughs? Is there any other comedy team that you can say is as beloved?Not that we need a reason to revisit them (or, more accurately, have them revisit us), but the holiday season is as good a time as any to entertain kith and kin with the following films, most of which have...

Read more

Five Unforgettable Christmas Moments

The tree is up, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and it's time to wait for 'ole St. Nick. What can you do in the meantime? Watch a movie, of course! I'm a big fan of Christmas films, and some of my favorites have such iconic moments that make me smile, cry, and remember the reason for the season. Here are the five Christmas moments I enjoy revisiting every year that you should pass along to your family, hot chocolate optional!Christmas in Connecticut

Read more

TV TIME: 'Tis the Season for Classic Family Christmas Specials

When I was a kid, several things signaled the imminent arrival of Christmas. One was the appearance of the giant catalogs from the big retail stores, colorful guides chock full of toys to request from Santa. The other big harbinger of the holiday was the roll-out of the great Christmas specials on the broadcast networks. Sure, the colder weather helped build the mood, and Thanksgiving provided a nice launching pad, but it didn't really feel like Christmas until the likes of Charlie B...

Read more

Dark Cinema: The Noirs of Kirk Douglas

What movies come to mind when you think of Kirk Douglas?Spartacus? Gunfight at the O.K. Corral? The Bad and the Beautiful?For me, without question, it's Douglas's body of film noir work. From 1946 to 1951, Douglas appeared in six film noir features, serving up striking and memorable performances in each. Whether he was playing a ruthless mobster, an inflexible lawman, or a spineless spouse, Douglas used his considerable talents to make an unf...

Read more

Silent Cinema: Forgotten Silent Comedians

The silent era was truly a golden age of cinematic comedy. While the biggest names certainly are fun to watch, it is also pleasant delving a little deeper into the selection of silent funny people and experience comedy from performers who are not necessarily household names, even to classic movie fans.I'm going to share a few of the more obscure comedians of the silent era (and by 'obscure' I don't mean Chaplin, Keaton or Lloyd) who deserve a little bit of attention. This list is ...

Read more

The Gypsy Wildcat: The Films of Maria Montez and Jon Hall

'If I had to name the one series of films that most captured the escapist spirit of the films of the forties, I would unhesitatingly choose the six filmed-in-Technicolor Jon Hall-Maria Montez adventures turned out by Universal between 1942 and 1945.' --Alan Barbour, 'A Thousand and One Delights'Throughout most of its history in the talkie era, Universal struggled to shake its reputation and produce 'A' pictures while keeping within penurious budgets; Deanna Durbin musical...

Read more

Instant Replays: Infinitely Repeatable Movie Moments

We film buffs are defined by our desire to see favorite films over and over. In the studio era, producers capitalized on this by reissuing their blockbusters for additional theatrical runs. In the 1950s, the studios leased or sold thousands of films for TV broadcast. Since the '80s, film buffs have been able to collect their favorite movies and acquire a frame-by-frame familiarity with them. Many buffs know their favorite films, stars, directors, and studios better than the original audience ...

Read more

The 2015 Lone Pine Film Festival: A Trip Report

Last year I attended the 2014 Lone Pine Film Festival. It was my first visit, and I had such a terrific time that I immediately made plans to return this year. I'm glad I did, as I might have had an even better time this year!The 2015 Lone Pine Film Festival was held in early October, giving film fans a wonderful experience enjoying many movies right where they were made.As was the case last year, the Lone Pine Film Festival provides film fans with a multifaceted exper...

Read more

Silent Cinema: Beyond Birth - American Films of 1915

2015 is, of course, the centennial year of the release of The Birth of a Nation, that controversial, pro-KKK blockbuster. Whatever their opinions of the film, one thing all classic movie fans agree on is Birth tends to dominate the conversation when discussing the motion picture industry of 1915. To give some historical context, let's look at some of the films that were released in that pivotal year.While the American film industry had been making feature films f...

Read more

TV TIME: How to Identify the Evil Twin

One thing I loved about TV Guide in its heyday was its frequent description of a performer playing two different characters in the same episode as being in 'a rare dual role.' It seems like it happens all the time. There is a rich history of look-alikes appearing out of nowhere in television, and quite often they are not just twins, but evil twins. Unsuspecting friends, associates, even family members frequently must determine who the real deal is. As a public service, TV Ti...

Read more