The cherished screen team of William Powell and Myrna Loy met “cute” on their first film together, the gritty 1934 “Manhattan Melodrama.” According to TCM.com, first scene in the film required her to run out a building, maneuver through a crowd of people and jump into a car. The film’s director W.S. “Woody” Van Dyke, who was nicknamed “One Take Woody” because of his efficiency, didn’t bother to introduce the actress to Powell. So, when Van Dyke called “action “Loy recalled jumping into the car and landing “smack on William Powell’s lap. He looked up nonchalantly: Miss Loy, I presume?” I said, Mr. Powell? That’s how I met the man who would be my partner in 14 films.”
It was their next film, the smart screwball comedy/mystery “The Thin Man,” which opened May 25, 1934, transformed the couple into top stars at MGM. Directed by Van Dyke...
It was their next film, the smart screwball comedy/mystery “The Thin Man,” which opened May 25, 1934, transformed the couple into top stars at MGM. Directed by Van Dyke...
- 5/20/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Dashiell Hammett didn't invent detective fiction, he just perfected it — partially because he knew good and goddamn well of what he wrote. The high school dropout landed a gig with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and evidently saw the worst side of the profession when his employer got fat off industrial cash by assigning their operatives to muscle, if not kill labor organizers. Years later, he laced his first published novel, "Red Harvest," with the bitter conscience of a man who witnessed evil but out of self-preservation did nothing.
Much of Hammett's work stings like a day drunk's swallow of rotgut whiskey, a belt they absorb over and over again to escape the awfulness of a world they cannot change in any meaningful way. The Continental Op eradicating a cluster of cold-blooded thugs with the 20-steps-ahead cool of a chess grandmaster in "Red Harvest" is so satisfying it's provided the foundation for several brilliant films.
Much of Hammett's work stings like a day drunk's swallow of rotgut whiskey, a belt they absorb over and over again to escape the awfulness of a world they cannot change in any meaningful way. The Continental Op eradicating a cluster of cold-blooded thugs with the 20-steps-ahead cool of a chess grandmaster in "Red Harvest" is so satisfying it's provided the foundation for several brilliant films.
- 1/15/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
After a dearth of new releases worth discussing in the few months since Barbenheimer, it’s been refreshing to see the response to Martin Scorsese’s epic Killers of the Flower Moon as it enters a wide release. While we’ll have our own extensive discussion coming soon on The Film Stage Show, the director himself has now provided some welcome homework as he’s highlighted six key films to watch that influenced the making of his David Grann adaptation.
Courtesy of TCM and Letterboxd, the director has joined the latter platform and provided nearly 60 companion films that he studied in preparation for making all of his features. While that entire list is well worth checking out, particularly the accompanying notes the director has provided, we’re keying in on the influences for Killers of the Flower Moon. Find the list below, including where to watch each film, as well as Scorsese’s full commentary.
Courtesy of TCM and Letterboxd, the director has joined the latter platform and provided nearly 60 companion films that he studied in preparation for making all of his features. While that entire list is well worth checking out, particularly the accompanying notes the director has provided, we’re keying in on the influences for Killers of the Flower Moon. Find the list below, including where to watch each film, as well as Scorsese’s full commentary.
- 10/27/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Two celebrity-led production companies — Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap and Brad Pitt’s Plan B — are in talks to co-produce a remake of the classic 1934 comedy mystery “The Thin Man.”
LuckyChap and Plan B have not engaged in any discussions yet about casting due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. However, according to sources, both companies have been intent on securing exclusive rights to the significant film series since before the WGA strike, which started in May. The two companies would produce jointly.
The rights to “The Thin Man” series just recently became available. Previously, Rob Marshall and Johnny Depp were set to direct and star, respectively, in a remake. However, Warner Brothers said at the time that the project was never greenlit and was scrapped back in 2012.
Based on the Dashiell Hammett crime novel, “The Thin Man” is a murder mystery about a husband and wife who partner up to find a missing acquaintance,...
LuckyChap and Plan B have not engaged in any discussions yet about casting due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. However, according to sources, both companies have been intent on securing exclusive rights to the significant film series since before the WGA strike, which started in May. The two companies would produce jointly.
The rights to “The Thin Man” series just recently became available. Previously, Rob Marshall and Johnny Depp were set to direct and star, respectively, in a remake. However, Warner Brothers said at the time that the project was never greenlit and was scrapped back in 2012.
Based on the Dashiell Hammett crime novel, “The Thin Man” is a murder mystery about a husband and wife who partner up to find a missing acquaintance,...
- 10/9/2023
- by Valerie Wu
- Variety Film + TV
It was more than a little heartening to see Roger Corman paid tribute by Quentin Tarantino at Cannes’ closing night. By now the director-producer-mogul’s imprint on cinema is understood to eclipse, rough estimate, 99.5% of anybody who’s touched the medium, but on a night for celebrating what’s new, trend-following, and manicured it could’ve hardly been more necessary. Thus I’m further heartened seeing the Criterion Channel will host a retrospective of Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations running eight films and aptly titled “Grindhouse Gothic,” though I might save the selections for October.
Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...
Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...
- 7/19/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
A good franchise is hard to kill. Bad ones, like the seven-film torture device Police Academy, can be even harder to exterminate. But sometimes doomed series are finally put out of their misery. Up on the shelf they go, doomed to a future of languishing on lists like this one.
The murder weapon is usually money. More specifically, the lack thereof. A big enough failure means a franchise won’t get another chance to pull their act together, and the most spectacular bombs get to live on as warnings to future film students. Even more interesting are the ones that aren’t total flops, the movies that maybe made a profit, but one so small or negligible that their studios decided to put that old franchise to bed, anyway. Here are 15 movies that killed their respective franchises for good.
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Nick and Nora Charles are murder mystery elites,...
The murder weapon is usually money. More specifically, the lack thereof. A big enough failure means a franchise won’t get another chance to pull their act together, and the most spectacular bombs get to live on as warnings to future film students. Even more interesting are the ones that aren’t total flops, the movies that maybe made a profit, but one so small or negligible that their studios decided to put that old franchise to bed, anyway. Here are 15 movies that killed their respective franchises for good.
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Nick and Nora Charles are murder mystery elites,...
- 6/19/2023
- by John Saavedra
- Den of Geek
Experience the perfect blend of mystery and comedy in the world of “Thin Man” movies. In this blog post, we will guide you through the franchise chronologically and explain why these films achieved classic status during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers
“The Thin Man” series follows the charming couple Nick Charles and Nora Charles, played by the incomparable William Powell and Myrna Loy, as they solve murders and crimes with a side of hilarity.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer to these films, you’ll soon understand why they’ve remained so beloved. So sit back, grab a martini, and let’s dive into the world of the “Thin Man” franchise.
A List of All ‘Thin Man’ Movies In Order The Thin Man (1934) After the Thin Man (1936) Another Thin Man (1939) Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) The Thin Man Goes Home...
Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers
“The Thin Man” series follows the charming couple Nick Charles and Nora Charles, played by the incomparable William Powell and Myrna Loy, as they solve murders and crimes with a side of hilarity.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer to these films, you’ll soon understand why they’ve remained so beloved. So sit back, grab a martini, and let’s dive into the world of the “Thin Man” franchise.
A List of All ‘Thin Man’ Movies In Order The Thin Man (1934) After the Thin Man (1936) Another Thin Man (1939) Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) The Thin Man Goes Home...
- 6/4/2023
- by Israr Ahmed
- buddytv.com
Film adaptations are often perceived as easier to work with. After all, the book is already written so all a screenwriter has to do is follow what the original author laid out, right? Wrong. In researching the 52 books I assembled for “But Have You Read the Book: 52 Literary Gems That Inspired Our Favorite Films,” out now from Turner Classic Movies and Running Press, a quote from director W.S. Van Dyke — the director behind the popular adapted mystery series “The Thin Man” — was constant, use the book as a foundation, not a guide.
Half of the fun of reading books that are adapted to movies is in how a screenwriter chooses to use them. Some junk the source material entirely, characters are eliminated, some people die on-screen who live on the page. In the case of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, “Jaws,” the story of a hungry shark and the men intent...
Half of the fun of reading books that are adapted to movies is in how a screenwriter chooses to use them. Some junk the source material entirely, characters are eliminated, some people die on-screen who live on the page. In the case of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, “Jaws,” the story of a hungry shark and the men intent...
- 3/7/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Throughout the 1930s, Hollywood studios made multiple acclaimed films about American and British colonists trekking into the wilds of faraway countries in order to hunt the land's game, steal the country's resources, and abuse the locals for their own gain. Films like W.S. Van Dyke's 1931 film "Trader Horn" and Henry Hathaway's 1935 opus "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" were even nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The prevailing attitude in Hollywood appeared to be that distant "exotic" countries were there to be conquered. Even "King Kong" was about attempted mastery over the wild world.
By 1954, however, attitudes had changed, as reflected in Jack Arnold's excellent monster movie "Creature from the Black Lagoon." By then, the jungles of the Amazon had become a forbidding place, a place that was beyond mastery. When trekking deep up the river to the titular Black Lagoon, a team of explorers...
By 1954, however, attitudes had changed, as reflected in Jack Arnold's excellent monster movie "Creature from the Black Lagoon." By then, the jungles of the Amazon had become a forbidding place, a place that was beyond mastery. When trekking deep up the river to the titular Black Lagoon, a team of explorers...
- 11/20/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Look into the series Criterion Channel have programmed for August and this lineup is revealed as (in scientific terms) quite something. “Hollywood Chinese” proves an especially deep bench, spanning “cinema’s first hundred years to explore the ways in which the Chinese people have been imagined in American feature films” and bringing with it the likes of Cronenberg’s M. Butterfly, Cimino’s Year of the Dragon, Griffith’s Broken Blossoms, and Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet—among 20-or-so others. A three-film Marguerite Duras series brings one of the greatest films ever (India Song) and two lesser-screened experiments; films featuring Yaphet Kotto include Blue Collar, Across 110th Street, and Midnight Run; and lest we ignore a Myrna Loy retro that goes no later than 1949.
Criterion editions include The Asphalt Jungle, Husbands, Rouge, and Sweet Smell of Success; streaming premieres for Loznitsa’s Donbass, Béla Tarr’s watershed Damnation, and...
Criterion editions include The Asphalt Jungle, Husbands, Rouge, and Sweet Smell of Success; streaming premieres for Loznitsa’s Donbass, Béla Tarr’s watershed Damnation, and...
- 7/25/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Next month’s lineup at The Criterion Channel has been unveiled, featuring no shortage of excellent offerings. Leading the pack is a massive, 20-film retrospective dedicated to John Huston, featuring a mix of greatest and lesser-appreciated works, including Fat City, The Dead, Wise Blood, The Man Who Would Be King, and Key Largo. (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre will join the series on October 1.)
Also in the lineup is series on the works of Budd Boetticher (specifically his Randolph Scott-starring Ranown westerns), Ephraim Asili, Josephine Baker, Nikos Papatakis, Jean Harlow, Lee Isaac Chung (pre-Minari), Mani Kaul, and Michelle Parkerson.
The sparkling new restoration of La Piscine will also debut, along with Amores perros, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth, Cate Shortland’s Lore, both Oxhide films, Moonstruck, and much more.
See the full list of August titles below and more on The Criterion Channel.
Abigail Harm,...
Also in the lineup is series on the works of Budd Boetticher (specifically his Randolph Scott-starring Ranown westerns), Ephraim Asili, Josephine Baker, Nikos Papatakis, Jean Harlow, Lee Isaac Chung (pre-Minari), Mani Kaul, and Michelle Parkerson.
The sparkling new restoration of La Piscine will also debut, along with Amores perros, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth, Cate Shortland’s Lore, both Oxhide films, Moonstruck, and much more.
See the full list of August titles below and more on The Criterion Channel.
Abigail Harm,...
- 7/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
MGM’s glamour factory hit heights of grandeur with this nostalgic disaster spectacle, which retains its power even as its pious sentimentality runs amuck. We don’t believe the characters but we believe the Stars: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy succeed with sheer personality. Best of all are the sensational special effects featuring the highly cinematic earthquake montage by Slavko Vorkapich and John Hoffman.
San Francisco
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 115 min. / Street Date February 16, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Jessie Ralph, Ted Healy, Shirley Ross, Edgar Kennedy, Warren Hymer, Gertrude Astor, Vince Barnett, Tom Dugan, D.W. Griffith, James Murray, Robert J. Wilke.
Montages: Slavko Vorkapich, John Hoffman
Special Effects: James Basevi, Russell A. Cully, A. Arnold Gillespie, Loyal Griggs
Film Editor: Tom Held
Songs: Bronislau Kaper & Walter Jurmann (music), Gus Kahn (lyrics), Nacio Herb Brown
Written...
San Francisco
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1936 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 115 min. / Street Date February 16, 2021 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Jessie Ralph, Ted Healy, Shirley Ross, Edgar Kennedy, Warren Hymer, Gertrude Astor, Vince Barnett, Tom Dugan, D.W. Griffith, James Murray, Robert J. Wilke.
Montages: Slavko Vorkapich, John Hoffman
Special Effects: James Basevi, Russell A. Cully, A. Arnold Gillespie, Loyal Griggs
Film Editor: Tom Held
Songs: Bronislau Kaper & Walter Jurmann (music), Gus Kahn (lyrics), Nacio Herb Brown
Written...
- 2/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Criterion Channel’s stellar offerings are continuing next month with a selection of new releases, retrospective, series, and more. Leading the pack is, of course, a horror lineup perfectly timed for Halloween, featuring ’70s classics and underseen gems, including Abel Ferrara’s The Driller Killer (pictured above), Tobe Hopper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, early films by David Cronenberg, Wes Craven, and Brian De Palma, Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess, and more.
Also of note is a New Korean Cinema retrospective, featuring a new introduction by critic Grady Hendrix and a conversation between directors Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook, whose Barking Dogs Never Bite, The Host, Mother, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance are part of the lineup, as well as Lee Myung-se’s Nowhere to Hide, and more titles to be announced. Bong’s short Influenza will also arrive, paired with Michael Haneke’s Caché.
Also of note is a New Korean Cinema retrospective, featuring a new introduction by critic Grady Hendrix and a conversation between directors Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook, whose Barking Dogs Never Bite, The Host, Mother, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance are part of the lineup, as well as Lee Myung-se’s Nowhere to Hide, and more titles to be announced. Bong’s short Influenza will also arrive, paired with Michael Haneke’s Caché.
- 9/29/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Rudy Behlmer, author of “Memo From David O. Selznick” and nearly a dozen other film-history books, died Friday at his home in Studio City, Calif. He was 92.
Behlmer was among the most widely respected historians of Golden Age Hollywood, in part because of his insistence upon researching “primary source material” and not relying on faulty memories or exaggerated press accounts of the time.
“Memo From David O. Selznick,” which Behlmer edited from thousands of Selznick’s private letters, telegrams and memoranda, was a best seller in 1972. Behlmer first interviewed the “Gone With the Wind” producer for a 1963 article for “Films in Review,” one of dozens of magazine pieces he wrote over the decades.
Other books followed: “Hollywood’s Hollywood: The Movies About the Movies”, “Inside Warner Bros. 1935-1951” (1985), “Behind the Scenes: The Making Of…” (1989) and “Memo from Darryl F. Zanuck” (1993).
Behlmer’s first book, co-written with fellow film historians Tony Thomas and Clifford McCarty,...
Behlmer was among the most widely respected historians of Golden Age Hollywood, in part because of his insistence upon researching “primary source material” and not relying on faulty memories or exaggerated press accounts of the time.
“Memo From David O. Selznick,” which Behlmer edited from thousands of Selznick’s private letters, telegrams and memoranda, was a best seller in 1972. Behlmer first interviewed the “Gone With the Wind” producer for a 1963 article for “Films in Review,” one of dozens of magazine pieces he wrote over the decades.
Other books followed: “Hollywood’s Hollywood: The Movies About the Movies”, “Inside Warner Bros. 1935-1951” (1985), “Behind the Scenes: The Making Of…” (1989) and “Memo from Darryl F. Zanuck” (1993).
Behlmer’s first book, co-written with fellow film historians Tony Thomas and Clifford McCarty,...
- 9/27/2019
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
<em>On May 4, 1934, MGM unveiled Manhattan Melodrama, starring Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy, in theaters. The film went on to win an Oscar for original story at the 7th Academy Awards ceremony. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below: </em>
Even if <em>Manhattan Melodrama</em> were only half as good as it is, you would have a hit picture in the combination of Gable, Powell and Myrna Loy. But with the sure-fire audience plot contained in the story by Arthur Caesar and screenplay by Garrett and Mankiewicz, plus the powerful direction by W.S. Van Dyke, it has all ...
Even if <em>Manhattan Melodrama</em> were only half as good as it is, you would have a hit picture in the combination of Gable, Powell and Myrna Loy. But with the sure-fire audience plot contained in the story by Arthur Caesar and screenplay by Garrett and Mankiewicz, plus the powerful direction by W.S. Van Dyke, it has all ...
On May 4, 1934, MGM unveiled Manhattan Melodrama, starring Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy, in theaters. The film went on to win an Oscar for original story at the 7th Academy Awards ceremony. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below:
Even if Manhattan Melodrama were only half as good as it is, you would have a hit picture in the combination of Gable, Powell and Myrna Loy. But with the sure-fire audience plot contained in the story by Arthur Caesar and screenplay by Garrett and Mankiewicz, plus the powerful direction by W.S. Van Dyke, it has all the...
Even if Manhattan Melodrama were only half as good as it is, you would have a hit picture in the combination of Gable, Powell and Myrna Loy. But with the sure-fire audience plot contained in the story by Arthur Caesar and screenplay by Garrett and Mankiewicz, plus the powerful direction by W.S. Van Dyke, it has all the...
- 3/22/2018
- by THR Staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Comedy actress Alice Howell on the cover of film historian Anthony Slide's latest book: Pioneering funky-haired performer 'could have been Chaplin' – or at the very least another Louise Fazenda. Rediscovering comedy actress Alice Howell: Female performer in movie field dominated by men Early comedy actress Alice Howell is an obscure entity even for silent film aficionados. With luck, only a handful of them will be able to name one of her more than 100 movies, mostly shorts – among them Sin on the Sabbath, A Busted Honeymoon, How Stars Are Made – released between 1914 and 1920. Yet Alice Howell holds (what should be) an important – or at the very least an interesting – place in film history. After all, she was one of the American cinema's relatively few pioneering “funny actresses,” along with the likes of the better-known Flora Finch, Louise Fazenda, and, a top star in her day, Mabel Normand.[1] Also of note,...
- 4/20/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Woo hoo! The pre-Code marvels return for one last go-round -- tales of sin and moral turpitude but also serious pictures about social issues that the Production Code effectively swept from Hollywood screens -- financial crimes and ethnic bigotry. Forbidden Hollywood Volume 10 Guilty Hands, The Mouthpiece, Secrets of the French Police, The Match King, Ever in My Heart DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1932-1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 63, 62, 78, 85, 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 40.99 Starring Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans; Warren William, Sidney Fox, Aline McMahon; Frank Morgan, Gwili Andre, Gregory Ratoff Rochelle Hudson; Warren William, Lili Damita, Glenda Farrell, Claire Dodd; Barbara Stanwyck, Otto Kruger, Ralph Bellamy, Ruth Donnelly. Cinematography Merritt B. Gerstad, Barney McGill; Alfred Gilks; Robert Kurrie; Written by Bayard Veiller; Joseph Jackson, Earl Baldwin, Frank J. Collins; Samuel Ornitz, Robert Tasker; Houston Branch, Sidney Sutherland, Einar Thorvaldson; Bertram Millhauser, Beulah Marie Dix.
- 6/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hal Roach looks on as technicians install Vitaphone equipment in his studio screening room, ca. 1928. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) 'A Century of Sound': Q&A with former UCLA Preservation Officer Robert Gitt about the evolution of film sound technology Long before multi-track Dolby stereo and digital sound technology, there were the Kinetophone and the Vitaphone systems – not to mention organ and piano players at movie houses. Much of that is discussed in A Century of Sound, which chronicles the evolution of film sound from the late 19th century to the mid-1970s. A Century of Sound has been split into two parts, with a third installment currently in the planning stages. They are: Vol. 1, “The Beginning, 1876-1932,” which came out on DVD in 2007. Vol. 2, “The Sound of Movies: 1933-1975,” which came out on Blu-ray in 2015. The third installment will bring the presentation into the 21st century.
- 1/26/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Norma Shearer films Note: This article is being revised and expanded. Please check back later. Turner Classic Movies' Norma Shearer month comes to a close this evening, Nov. 24, '15, with the presentation of the last six films of Shearer's two-decade-plus career. Two of these are remarkably good; one is schizophrenic, a confused mix of high comedy and low drama; while the other three aren't the greatest. Yet all six are worth a look even if only because of Norma Shearer herself – though, really, they all have more to offer than just their top star. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the no-expense-spared Marie Antoinette (1938) – $2.9 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made up to that time – stars the Canadian-born Queen of MGM as the Austrian-born Queen of France. This was Shearer's first film in two years (following Romeo and Juliet) and her first release following husband Irving G.
- 11/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Norma Shearer films Note: This article is being revised and expanded. Please check back later. Turner Classic Movies' Norma Shearer month comes to a close this evening, Nov. 24, '15, with the presentation of the last six films of Shearer's two-decade-plus career. Two of these are remarkably good; one is schizophrenic, a confused mix of high comedy and low drama; while the other three aren't the greatest. Yet all six are worth a look even if only because of Norma Shearer herself – though, really, they all have more to offer than just their top star. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the no-expense-spared Marie Antoinette (1938) – $2.9 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made up to that time – stars the Canadian-born Queen of MGM as the Austrian-born Queen of France. This was Shearer's first film in two years (following Romeo and Juliet) and her first release following husband Irving G.
- 11/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'Saint Joan': Constance Cummings as the George Bernard Shaw heroine. Constance Cummings on stage: From sex-change farce and Emma Bovary to Juliet and 'Saint Joan' (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Frank Capra, Mae West and Columbia Lawsuit.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband Benn W. Levy's stage adaptations: Levy and Hubert Griffith's Young Madame Conti (1936), starring Cummings as a demimondaine who falls in love with a villainous character. She ends up killing him – or does she? Adapted from Bruno Frank's German-language original, Young Madame Conti was presented on both sides of the Atlantic; on Broadway, it had a brief run in spring 1937 at the Music Box Theatre. Based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, the Theatre Guild-produced Madame Bovary (1937) was staged in late fall at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Referring to the London production of Young Madame Conti, The...
- 11/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ingrid Bergman ca. early 1940s. Ingrid Bergman movies on TCM: From the artificial 'Gaslight' to the magisterial 'Autumn Sonata' Two days ago, Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series highlighted the film career of Greta Garbo. Today, Aug. 28, '15, TCM is focusing on another Swedish actress, three-time Academy Award winner Ingrid Bergman, who would have turned 100 years old tomorrow. TCM has likely aired most of Bergman's Hollywood films, and at least some of her early Swedish work. As a result, today's only premiere is Fielder Cook's little-seen and little-remembered From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), about two bored kids (Sally Prager, Johnny Doran) who run away from home and end up at New York City's Metropolitan Museum. Obviously, this is no A Night at the Museum – and that's a major plus. Bergman plays an elderly art lover who takes an interest in them; her...
- 8/28/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...
- 8/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'San Andreas' movie with Dwayne Johnson. 'San Andreas' movie box office: $100 million domestic milestone today As the old saying (sort of) goes: If you build it, they will come. Warner Bros. built a gigantic video game, called it San Andreas, and They have come to check out Dwayne Johnson perform miraculous deeds not seen since ... George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, released two weeks earlier. Embraced by moviegoers, hungry for quality, original storylines and well-delineated characters – and with the assistance of 3D surcharges – the San Andreas movie debuted with $54.58 million from 3,777 theaters on its first weekend out (May 29-31) in North America. Down a perfectly acceptable 52 percent on its second weekend (June 5-7), the special effects-laden actioner collected an extra $25.83 million, trailing only the Melissa McCarthy-Jason Statham comedy Spy, (with $29.08 million) as found at Box Office Mojo.* And that's how this original movie – it's not officially a remake,...
- 6/9/2015
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
“The murderer is right in this room. Sitting at this table. You may serve the fish.”
The Thin Man plays at The Hi-Pointe Theater ( 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117) Saturday, June 13th at 10:30am as part of their Classic Film Series
W.S. Van Dyke’s 1934 film The Thin Man stars Myrna Loy and William Powell as Nora and Nick Charles, upper class sleuths who unwittingly become caught up in the case of a missing friend and former client. Nick is a former detective who has been in retirement for the last four years, living the high life with Nora when Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O’Sullivan) implores with them to help find her father, who has been missing for three months. Throughout the investigation, Nick and Nora rarely are without a drink in their hands, are forever trading witticisms and getting themselves into comical situations; they even get their terrier Asta in on their investigation.
The Thin Man plays at The Hi-Pointe Theater ( 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117) Saturday, June 13th at 10:30am as part of their Classic Film Series
W.S. Van Dyke’s 1934 film The Thin Man stars Myrna Loy and William Powell as Nora and Nick Charles, upper class sleuths who unwittingly become caught up in the case of a missing friend and former client. Nick is a former detective who has been in retirement for the last four years, living the high life with Nora when Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O’Sullivan) implores with them to help find her father, who has been missing for three months. Throughout the investigation, Nick and Nora rarely are without a drink in their hands, are forever trading witticisms and getting themselves into comical situations; they even get their terrier Asta in on their investigation.
- 6/8/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“There was a man in New York one time,” reminisces Kingsley Amis in his book Everyday Drinking, “who bet he could drink fifteen double Martinis in an hour. He got there all right and collected his money but within another minute fell dead off his bar stool.” It’s a pity Amis never met Nick Charles (William Powell) or his wife, Nora (Myrna Loy), who down a half-dozen martinis apiece within The Thin Man’s opening minutes; they’d have doubtless won the bet and swiftly ordered more. Nick and Nora remain Dashiell Hammett's most enduring pair of private detectives, and The Thin Man, adapted by W.S. Van Dyke from the mystery novel of the same name, is an exemplary film noir. Hammett’s story of a vanishing family patriarch and...
- 12/24/2014
- Village Voice
Hedy Lamarr: 'Invention' and inventor on Turner Classic Movies (photo: Hedy Lamarr publicity shot ca. early '40s) Two Hedy Lamarr movies released during her heyday in the early '40s — Victor Fleming's Tortilla Flat (1942), co-starring Spencer Tracy and John Garfield, and King Vidor's H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), co-starring Robert Young and Ruth Hussey — will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies on Wednesday, November 12, 2014, at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Pt, respectively. Best known as a glamorous Hollywood star (Ziegfeld Girl, White Cargo, Samson and Delilah), the Viennese-born Lamarr (née Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler), who would have turned 100 on November 9, was also an inventor: she co-developed and patented with composer George Antheil the concept of frequency hopping, currently known as spread-spectrum communications (or "spread-spectrum broadcasting"), which ultimately led to the evolution of wireless technology. (More on the George Antheil and Hedy Lamarr invention further below.) Somewhat ironically,...
- 11/2/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Honorary Oscars 2014: Hayao Miyazaki, Jean-Claude Carrière, and Maureen O’Hara; Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award goes to Harry Belafonte One good thing about the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards — an expedient way to remove the time-consuming presentation of the (nearly) annual Honorary Oscar from the TV ratings-obsessed, increasingly youth-oriented Oscar show — is that each year up to four individuals can be named Honorary Oscar recipients, thus giving a better chance for the Academy to honor film industry veterans while they’re still on Planet Earth. (See at the bottom of this post a partial list of those who have gone to the Great Beyond, without having ever received a single Oscar statuette.) In 2014, the Academy’s Board of Governors has selected a formidable trio of honorees: Japanese artist and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, 73; French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, 82; and Irish-born Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara,...
- 8/29/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Over at The Telegraph, Robbie Collin has chosen to take on the impossible, he's set out to create a list of films that tells the story of Hollywood "in terms of how one picture or director led to the next." It's a daunting task that creates an interesting narrative and he prefaces his ten selections saying: ...none of the individual works is "great" or "important" enough to drown out the others. I've avoided films such as Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Singin' in the Rain, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia and The Godfather, not just because we already know they're great, but because their greatness might throw the story off-balance - although I wouldn't hesitate to describe any of the films that are on this list as a masterpiece. So how does his list shape outc Have a look: One Week (1920) - dir. Buster Keaton It Happened One Night (1934) - dir.
- 8/5/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Ramon Novarro and Greta Garbo in ‘Mata Hari’: The wrath of the censors (See previous post: "Ramon Novarro in One of the Best Silent Movies.") George Fitzmaurice’s romantic spy melodrama Mata Hari (1931) was well received by critics and enthusiastically embraced by moviegoers. The Greta Garbo / Ramon Novarro combo — the first time Novarro took second billing since becoming a star — turned Mata Hari into a major worldwide blockbuster, with $2.22 million in worldwide rentals. The film became Garbo’s biggest international success to date, and Novarro’s highest-grossing picture after Ben-Hur. (Photo: Ramon Novarro and Greta Garbo in Mata Hari.) Among MGM’s 1932 releases — Mata Hari opened on December 31, 1931 — only W.S. Van Dyke’s Tarzan, the Ape Man, featuring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, and Edmund Goulding’s all-star Best Picture Academy Award winner Grand Hotel (also with Garbo, in addition to Joan Crawford, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, and...
- 8/9/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ramon Novarro: Silent movie star proves he can talk and sing (See previous post: "Ramon Novarro: Mexican-Born Actor Was First Latin American Hollywood Superstar.") On Ramon Novarro Day, Turner Classic Movies’ first Novarro movie is Rex Ingram’s The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), a stately version of Edward Rose’s play, itself based on Anthony Hope’s 1897 novel: in the Central European kingdom of Ruritania, a traveling Englishman takes the place of the kidnapped local king-to-be-crowned. A pre-Judge Hardy Lewis Stone has the double role, while Novarro plays the scheming Rupert of Hentzau. (Photo: Ramon Novarro ca. 1922.) Despite his stage training, Stone is as interesting to watch as a beach pebble; Novarro, for his part, has a good time hamming it up in his first major break — courtesy of director Rex Ingram, then looking for a replacement for Rudolph Valentino, with whom he’d had a serious falling out...
- 8/8/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
There hasn’t exactly been a fire under the tails of most fans of W.S. Van Dyke‘s classic take on Dashiell Hammett‘s The Thin Man to see a new version of the film starring Johnny Depp, and apparently that attitude has carried over to the actual production. Deadline Bay Ridge reports that they’ve heard tell that Warner Bros. is “pumping the brakes” on the remake, which is set to star Depp, be directed by Rob Marshall (raspberry-blowing noise here), and come with a script by David Koepp. The outlet reports that the production is being put on pause for a number of no-duh factors, including their protracted and so far fruitless search to find a Nora Charles to Depp’s Nick Charles, a budget that apparently has gone over $100m, Depp’s preference for taking some time between films, and the big one – the film hasn’t been greenlit yet (the one fact that...
- 6/22/2012
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Mickey Spillane grabbed his position in the pop culture pantheon much like his iconic creation, private eye Mike Hammer, made his way through a case: through a sort of literary brute force, blasting away with heavy doses of graphic violence, steamy sex, and a style which reviewers often considered the prose version of a blunt object.
As a mystery writer, Spillane wasn’t as clever as Evan Hunter, nor as introspective as late career Ross MacDonald, nor did he have the insider’s street savvy of George V. Higgins, or the prose command of Raymond Chandler. Read today, some of his stuff seems so familiar and stale and excessive it borders on camp. But, whatever one’s qualitative judgment on Spillane and his canon, there’s no doubt his impact on the mystery genre – and the private eye tale in particular – was both massive and indelible, reaching beyond the printed...
As a mystery writer, Spillane wasn’t as clever as Evan Hunter, nor as introspective as late career Ross MacDonald, nor did he have the insider’s street savvy of George V. Higgins, or the prose command of Raymond Chandler. Read today, some of his stuff seems so familiar and stale and excessive it borders on camp. But, whatever one’s qualitative judgment on Spillane and his canon, there’s no doubt his impact on the mystery genre – and the private eye tale in particular – was both massive and indelible, reaching beyond the printed...
- 5/18/2012
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr, Algiers Hedy Lamarr can be seen later this month on Turner Classic Movies: I Take This Woman (1940) will be shown on Saturday, April 28, and The Conspirators (1944) on Monday, April 30. I Take This Woman was a troubled production that took so long to make — W.S. Van Dyke replaced Frank Borzage who had replaced original director Josef von Sternberg — that punsters called it "I Retake This Woman." Spencer Tracy co-stars as a doctor who marries European refugee Lamarr. Jean Negulesco’s The Conspirators has several elements in common with Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca, including an "exotic" World War II setting (in this case, Lisbon), conflicting loyalties, male lead Paul Henreid, and supporting players Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Curiously, at one point Lamarr had been considered for the Casablanca role that eventually went to Ingrid Bergman. Neither I Take This Woman nor The Conspirators did much for Hedy Lamarr’s Hollywood career.
- 4/24/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
My introductory commentary for today's Conversation shall be very short: whether it's a James Bond film, an Alien movie, a Star Wars sequel or prequel, a Twilight or Harry Potter adaptation or any other series continuation (including documentary sequels), I will always side with the idea of letting another director have a shot at helming an installment. Never mind that my favorite all time film series, The Thin Man, only really went sour once W.S. Van Dyke was replaced (because he died), I still will always be curious if not always satisfied with fresh hands and visions on a property. That said, if negotiations between Lionsgate and The Hunger Games director Gary Ross do not work out, as is reportedly a...
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- 4/5/2012
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
John Carter, based on the John Carter of Mars series written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, was released last weekend with underwhelming box-office results in North America. Expect a more enthusiastic reception for the Warner Archive's release of the late '60s television series Tarzan (season one, in two parts) in celebration of the Lord of the Apes' 100th anniversary. Ron Ely stars, while guests include former Tarzan Jock Mahoney, Academy Award nominee Julie Harris (The Member of the Wedding), Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols, Woody Strode, Russ Tamblyn, Maurice Evans, Jack Elam, and Chips Rafferty. Also coming out via the Warner Archive Collection are several lesser-known titles that should definitely be worth a look, especially considering the talent involved. Released in a newly remastered print, the 1941 drama Rage in Heaven was directed by W.S. Van Dyke (aka "One-Take Woody"), and stars Ingrid Bergman, Robert Montgomery, and George Sanders. Christopher Isherwood contributed to the screenplay.
- 3/14/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Myrna Loy biography: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood Many believe that Myrna Loy is the best American actress never to have been nominated for an Academy Award. Despite having played leads and supporting roles in more than 100 movies (in addition to a few dozen bit parts during the silent era), Loy was invariably bypassed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But that's the Oscar and the Academy's loss. For starters, Loy was a delightful light comedienne in movies such as W.S. Van Dyke's The Thin Man and Jack Conway's Libeled Lady. One of the greatest — and most beautifully politically incorrect — dialogue exchanges in movies can be heard in Rouben Mamoulian's 1932 musical Love Me Tonight: Jeanette MacDonald: "Don't you think of anything but men, dear?" Myrna Loy: "Oh yes, schoolboys." Loy could be a remarkable dramatic actress as well, as can...
- 3/12/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, San Francisco Brad Bird's film adaptation of James Dalessandro's novel 1906, about San Francisco at the time of the 1906 earthquake, will definitely not be coming out this year. It's not that the editing or the score isn't ready. The screenplay is yet to be written, according to an interview with Bird posted at ifc.com. Bird explains: “I mean, in a movie like Titanic, there’s a certain amount of healthy limitation in the fact that it’s one ship in the middle of the ocean. With 1906, it’s a city, and it becomes exponentially harder to sort of reign in the storylines and take advantage of all the amazing things that were happening in this place at that particular moment in time. The script and the story is what’s elusive on 1906 more than it is any hesitations with me as a filmmaker.” Starring Tom Cruise,...
- 3/12/2012
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
The Thin Man was a 1934 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke about a ex detective and his wife who solve a murder mystery just for the fun of it. I heard nothing but great things about the film and it even holds an 8.1 rating on IMDb, which is an impressive feat. The film was so successful that it spawned five sequels, all directed by W.S. Van Dyke and a television. And a remake.
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- 8/31/2011
- by Jonathan Silva
- GetTheBigPicture.net
Rob Marshall To Direct Johnny Depp In The Thin Man
The Playlist is reporting that director Rob Marshall has signed on to direct Johnny Depp in The Thin Man. The film will re-unite the two seeing as Marshall just finished directing Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The Thin Man will be a remake of W.S. Van Dyke's 1934 film and will be based on the book by Dashiell Hammett. It will tell the story of Nick Charles, "who marries into money and gives up a career as a hard-boiled gumshoe to become a semi-professional alcoholic and full-time trophy husband.”
Thanks for reading We Got This Covered...
The Playlist is reporting that director Rob Marshall has signed on to direct Johnny Depp in The Thin Man. The film will re-unite the two seeing as Marshall just finished directing Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The Thin Man will be a remake of W.S. Van Dyke's 1934 film and will be based on the book by Dashiell Hammett. It will tell the story of Nick Charles, "who marries into money and gives up a career as a hard-boiled gumshoe to become a semi-professional alcoholic and full-time trophy husband.”
Thanks for reading We Got This Covered...
- 5/9/2011
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
The Thin Man will be helmed by Rob Marshall, starring Johnny Depp in the remake. Marshall just worked with Depp on the eagerly anticipated upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and will produce alongside John DeLuca via their Lucamar company. The 1934 film was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton and Minna Gombell. Pic was based on the 1933 mystery novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is set in Prohibition-era New York City where the main characters consist of Nick Charles, a private detective, and his wife Nora. Since giving up his career after marrying Nora who is a wealthy socialite, Nick, spends most of his time getting wasted in hotel rooms and speakeasies. They have no kids, but own a schnauzer called Asta.
- 5/9/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The Thin Man will be helmed by Rob Marshall, starring Johnny Depp in the remake. Marshall just worked with Depp on the eagerly anticipated upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and will produce alongside John DeLuca via their Lucamar company. The 1934 film was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton and Minna Gombell. Pic was based on the 1933 mystery novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is set in Prohibition-era New York City where the main characters consist of Nick Charles, a private detective, and his wife Nora. Since giving up his career after marrying Nora who is a wealthy socialite, Nick, spends most of his time getting wasted in hotel rooms and speakeasies. They have no kids, but own a schnauzer called Asta.
- 5/9/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The Thin Man will be helmed by Rob Marshall, starring Johnny Depp in the remake. Marshall just worked with Depp on the eagerly anticipated upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and will produce alongside John DeLuca via their Lucamar company. The 1934 film was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton and Minna Gombell. Pic was based on the 1933 mystery novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is set in Prohibition-era New York City where the main characters consist of Nick Charles, a private detective, and his wife Nora. Since giving up his career after marrying Nora who is a wealthy socialite, Nick, spends most of his time getting wasted in hotel rooms and speakeasies. They have no kids, but own a schnauzer called Asta.
- 5/9/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
According to NY Mag, Johnny Depp is trying to convince Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall (Chicago) to direct him in another film, this time a remake of the 1934 classic motion picture, The Thin Man, directed by W.S. Van Dyke.
Now, before some of you proclaim, "The Thin Whazzit…?" and dismiss anything from the 1930s as antediluvian, you should know that The Thin Man remains one of the greatest whodunit detective films ever made—seamlessly blending mystery, romance and comedy in a way that's lost on most of today's contemporary screenwriters. The film was heralded in its day and spawned five sequels at MGM, along with a television series that ran from 1957-59 on NBC.
Based upon the famous detective novel by Dashiell Hammett ("The Maltese Falcon"), the story centers on Nick Charles who — after marrying wealthy, young socialite Norah — gives up a career as a...
Now, before some of you proclaim, "The Thin Whazzit…?" and dismiss anything from the 1930s as antediluvian, you should know that The Thin Man remains one of the greatest whodunit detective films ever made—seamlessly blending mystery, romance and comedy in a way that's lost on most of today's contemporary screenwriters. The film was heralded in its day and spawned five sequels at MGM, along with a television series that ran from 1957-59 on NBC.
Based upon the famous detective novel by Dashiell Hammett ("The Maltese Falcon"), the story centers on Nick Charles who — after marrying wealthy, young socialite Norah — gives up a career as a...
- 10/21/2010
- CinemaSpy
I'm not entirely opposed to remakes. Historically there have been some great ones. And even though "The Thin Man" is one of my all-time favorite films (and franchises), I really don't see the harm in redoing it. The W.S. Van Dyke version is based on a book by Dashiell Hammett, whose work is associated with some of the best examples of worthwhile remakes and reworkings ("The Maltese Falcon" and the many films loosely based on "Red Harvest" and "The Glass Key"--including "Yojimbo" and "Miller's Crossing"--for instance). Plus, it's already spun-off some terrific to so-so sequels (the first, "After the Thin…...
- 10/21/2010
- Spout
Now, I can only hope that Michael Bay will re-release a 3D version of Pearl Harbor just in time for Christmas 2041. And maybe Oliver Stone and Paul Greengrass can have similar (posthumous, probably) anniversary editions of their respective films come September 11, 2101. Of course, by then, it'll be hologram versions of World Trade Center and United 93 -- or whatever hot trend in cinema exists at the time -- that audiences will be lured in for. Too bad W.S. Van Dyke's San Francisco couldn't have been updated in color and 3D and with new CG effects for a centennial re-release four years ago.
But then, not everyone can be as important as James Cameron, who told USA Today that a 3D version of Titanic is set for release in the Spring of 2012, which puts it out on the 100th anniversary of the actual disaster. And hey, if Fox opens the...
But then, not everyone can be as important as James Cameron, who told USA Today that a 3D version of Titanic is set for release in the Spring of 2012, which puts it out on the 100th anniversary of the actual disaster. And hey, if Fox opens the...
- 3/12/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Here's an idea for a remake that'd be a great Valentine's Day release some year in the future. And though it was likely a success back in 1940, it's not so well known today that a redo would upset many people. In fact, there are probably some fans of the film, like myself, who would welcome an updated version so long as it's not anywhere as bad as, say, Mr. Deeds. Featuring a great premise and room for lots of broad comedy, I recommend Hollywood to remake...
I Love You Again
The original film, directed by W.S. Van Dyke, reunites his Thin Man stars William Powell and Myrna Loy for their ninth (of 14) pairing together. Powell plays a con man who, at the start, awakens from a nine-year bout of amnesia. He finds that in all that time he's become another person, grown rich, been married and has been known as...
I Love You Again
The original film, directed by W.S. Van Dyke, reunites his Thin Man stars William Powell and Myrna Loy for their ninth (of 14) pairing together. Powell plays a con man who, at the start, awakens from a nine-year bout of amnesia. He finds that in all that time he's become another person, grown rich, been married and has been known as...
- 2/12/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Parties get a lousy rap in movies. Really, how often do you get to see characters having unfettered fun? More often, they're moping and feeling alienated (see "Garden State") or wasted out of their minds (see "Kids") or feeling let down (see "Swingers") or unearthing dark, long-kept family or friendship secrets (see "The Celebration").
Parties are cinematic shorthand for decadence and overindulgence -- and why does that always have to be so bad? In honor of tonight's celebrations of the year to come, here are a few film parties we'd actually like to attend.
"Dazed and Confused" (1993)
Directed by Richard Linklater
Like, I'm guessing, many of you, I had warm, fuzzy feelings toward Austin long before ever getting to go there (and in the dozen or so trips since, it has yet to disappoint), all thanks to Richard Linklater's landmark high school movie. "All I'm saying is that if...
Parties are cinematic shorthand for decadence and overindulgence -- and why does that always have to be so bad? In honor of tonight's celebrations of the year to come, here are a few film parties we'd actually like to attend.
"Dazed and Confused" (1993)
Directed by Richard Linklater
Like, I'm guessing, many of you, I had warm, fuzzy feelings toward Austin long before ever getting to go there (and in the dozen or so trips since, it has yet to disappoint), all thanks to Richard Linklater's landmark high school movie. "All I'm saying is that if...
- 12/31/2009
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
by Vadim Rizov
Visiting a friend in Omaha this past weekend, I saw The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. at the lovely Film Streams theater. I'd never seen the one-and-only Dr. Seuss-scripted 1953 classic, and the spangly print certainly didn't disappoint. Mostly, though, it got me thinking about everything that's wrong with Where the Wild Things Are. Both are sui generis translations of maverick beloved children's authors to the screen in ways that could be "scary" or "inappropriate" for children. And there the similarities end.
Even among surreal, culty kid's films (Return to Oz is my favorite, but Babe: Pig in the City and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure come to mind as well), The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. is singular. A source of dismay for Dr. Seuss (who compared the reviews to an on-set accident where all the children vomited at once) and a financial calamity (losing over $1 million), this weirdest of...
Visiting a friend in Omaha this past weekend, I saw The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. at the lovely Film Streams theater. I'd never seen the one-and-only Dr. Seuss-scripted 1953 classic, and the spangly print certainly didn't disappoint. Mostly, though, it got me thinking about everything that's wrong with Where the Wild Things Are. Both are sui generis translations of maverick beloved children's authors to the screen in ways that could be "scary" or "inappropriate" for children. And there the similarities end.
Even among surreal, culty kid's films (Return to Oz is my favorite, but Babe: Pig in the City and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure come to mind as well), The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. is singular. A source of dismay for Dr. Seuss (who compared the reviews to an on-set accident where all the children vomited at once) and a financial calamity (losing over $1 million), this weirdest of...
- 10/21/2009
- GreenCine Daily
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