Articles

Silent Cinema: Silent Movies 101

You've decided to bite the bullet and give silent movies a try. Maybe you are taking some film history courses. Maybe you realized your knowledge of film started post-1930. Maybe you're just curious. Whatever your reason may be, you are going to have an exciting journey of discovery.If you are like most viewers, there will be a learning curve. Silent movies are not just sound movies with title cards added. They are a completely separate visual art and deserve to be treated as such...

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Traveling to the 2015 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival

I recently had the pleasure of attending the 2015 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival, held annually at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, California.The Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival is an intimate, relaxed setting providing an opportunity to chat with festival guests as well as fellow attendees. The movies were typically 75-95 minutes in length and spaced every three hours, beginning at 10:00 a.m., so unlike some other festivals, there was ample time to eat meals in between mov...

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The Old Corral: A Tribute to George Sherman

Many of cinema's greatest directors worked in Westerns over the years (particularly in the '50s) -- Ford, Hawks, Daves, Mann, Wellman, Ray, etc. With such names turning out great, often epic films at a steady pace, it makes sense that some talented, lesser-known people, making smaller Westerns, would get lost in the shuffle of cinematic history. It's a real shame, because as fans of these things know, the smaller pictures are where a lot of the real treasure is found.Some of those...

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Inspired by Film Noir at TCM Classic Film Festival

Though there were only three films noir programmed at the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival: Too Late For Tears (1949), Reign of Terror (1949) and Nightmare Alley (1947), they were among the most popular choices of festivalgoers. The first two played to full capacity houses, with many in line turned away. These played a second time, once again to packed houses, as TBA (To Be Announced) selections on the final day of the festival. Hopefully TCM will note this audience p...

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Strange Science Serials, Part II: Bring on the Bad Guys

An interesting thing about science-fiction serials of the 1930s is that, with the world poised on the brink of war yet again and scrupulously evil dictators presiding over much of the globe's territory, scenario writers and chapterplay directors really had to work hard to invent fictional villains who measured up to their real-life counterparts. The mid-1930s through the early 1940s gave matinee-goers some of the greatest evil-doers in the history of movies, thwarted week by week by square-ja...

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Dark Cinema - Una Merkel: Saucy Sidekick

In her 1930s features, Una Merkel portrayed a variety of standout roles, including the shrill and frequently sobbing Sibyl in Private Lives (1931), the wronged girlfriend of David Manners in Man Wanted (1931), Jean Harlow's scheming secretary in Bombshell (1932), and a wisecracking chorus girl in 42nd Street (1933).She also portrayed some of the best pals a pre-Code gal could ask for -- characters who were not only loyal, dependable, and wise, b...

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Jeanne Eagels: A Life on Film

Even the most learned scholars of classic film consider Jeanne Eagels a mystery. Although she was one of America's leading actresses during the early twentieth century, her first love was the stage, and only a handful of film performances survive today. After her untimely death, a controversial biography was published, and later adapted into an equally contentious movie.And there the trail ended -- until now. For too long, Jeanne Eagels has languished in the shadows of rumor and m...

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Fasten Your Seat Belts: Cars and the Movies

Mobile. Motion. MOVE. From the start, films showed people moving at maximum speed, leading to the golden age of the railroad picture (teens and '20s), the aviation picture (late '20s through mid-50's), and the motorcycle picture ('60s and early '70s.) But cars have never gone out of style in the movies. No matter what Hollywood decade you explore, you'll find car races, car chases, car crashes, souped-up luxury cars, and comic junkers.Mack Sennett's Keystone Kops shorts (1912-1917...

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TV TIME: To Be Continued - Two-Part Episodes

Before serialized drama became the norm in prime time television, it was a big deal to come across a two-part episode. You'd enjoy the program right up until some gripping cliffhanger unfolded, and then those momentous words 'TO BE CONTINUED...' would appear on screen.Of course, some classic programs regularly feature continuing stories; for example, every episode of Batman was a multi-parter. Perhaps the most famous two-part episode in television history is 'The...

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Old Corral: Fightin' Mad, Rebel Lad...Nick Adams

Nicholas Aloysious Adamshock was the son of a Nanticoke, PA, coal miner. At 5'8' he wasn't tall enough or handsome enough to be a leading man, but his stubborn determination as Nick Adams and his personal refusal to recognize anything as impossible eventually paid off. With no experience, only a desire 'to be somebody'...an actor...a chance meeting with Jack Palance led to a role in a New York stage presentation of Tom Sawyer. From there he hitch-hiked to Hollywood in January 1950 an...

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Silent Cinema - Four Intriguing Silent Film Actors

Of the hundreds of stars who won the public's heart during the silent era, only a tiny fraction is remembered today. It's time to shine the spotlight back on a few of them. Last time, we discussed five enchanting actresses of the silent era. This time, we will be sharing four intriguing actors.This isn't a list of the 'best' actors of the silent era or the ones who are famous today. Rather, it's a collection of four actors whose work deserves a closer look by modern movie fans. We...

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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...

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Honoring the Heroes: 12 Memorial Day Movies

As Memorial Day approaches and thoughts turn to those who sacrificed so much on behalf of our nation, it's an opportune time to take a look at some of Hollywood's best war movies. These fictionalized stories fill a valuable purpose, reminding audiences of those who gave their all for our freedom.With the recent commemoration of the 70th-anniversary of VE Day, it seems particularly appropriate for this list to focus on films about World War II. There are countless cinematic depicti...

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Dark Cinema: Pre-Codes at the TCM Classic Film Festival

While I was only able to attend half of the six pre-code films scheduled during the TCM Classic Film Festival 2015, I was delighted so many were on the program. The selections were diverse, and included a musical, horror, drama and comedy selections. In a year where there was some controversy over the inclusion of newer films such as Out of Sight (1998) and Apollo 13 (1995), TCM showed its loyalty to good old-fashioned black and white with this line-up.I have my ...

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Baby Boomers in the Black and White Universe

If you are a baby boomer, you are not alone. Boomers rent and collect bushels of black and white classics. They also swarm to vintage film festivals and swell the ranks of TCM viewers. We boomers made a seemingly odd entertainment choice: we've leapfrogged back several generations to savor the popular entertainment of the WWI, Depression, and WWII eras. Some of us know more about old films and their production than the original audiences.Television brought the glories of old Holly...

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TV TIME: Salute to the Mother-in-Law

This Mother's Day, while we salute our own moms, wives, and friends who are mothers to their own children, let's show appreciation for the oft-neglected mothers-in-law by taking a look at some memorable classic television episodes featuring these noble women. After all, the medium has a tradition of portraying a wide range of mother-in-law types from mean to downright evil.Gilligan's Island, 'Gilligan's Mother in Law': OK, so not all of the TV in-laws are...

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A Trip Through the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival

The 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival took place over four wonderful days in March where, once again, classic film fans from around the country, not to mention places like Canada, Scotland, and Japan, came together to celebrate wonderful movies.Though Robert Osborne was greatly missed this year, the festival carried on in fine style without him, with pros like Leonard Maltin, Eddie Muller, and Illeana Douglas introducing many of the movies.Again this year the schedule was...

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Silent Cinema: Five Enchanting Silent Film Actresses

One of the great pleasures of being a silent film fan is the feeling of digging for buried treasure. Many of the era's stars have not been discussed in decades and some have been forgotten for more than a century.We're going to look at a tiny sample of the talent on display during the silent era. This isn't a list of the 'best' actresses of the silent era or the ones who are the most famous today. Rather, it's a collection of five talented women ranging from the famous to the forg...

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The Old Corral: Appreciating The Dakotas

Why has Warner Bros.' The Dakotas been overlooked for so long? Finally released on DVD this exceedingly underrated series is finally getting the recognition it deserves.The Dakotas was the most adult, hard-edged, high-energy, in-your-face, man's western ever aired, crammed with tense, explosive action. Beginning with the stirring William Lava theme music, The Dakotas detailed the efforts of U. S. Marshal Frank Ragan and his three very diverse...

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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...

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