One of the most popular movie genres of the 1930’s was the screwball comedy. There were such gems as It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey and Bringing Up Baby. Nothing Sacred shouldn’t be compared with these. It is a disappointment, from one of the groundbreaking director’s William Wellman. He directed the gangster film Public […]
Many stars have their movie that makes them a star. John Wayne had Stagecoach, Clark Gable had It Happened One Night and Harrison Ford had Raiders of the Lost Ark. Rudolph Valentino had his with The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This film made him America’s first movie star. His star shone brightly and briefly.
Studio executives make major decisions all the time. Some are good, some not so good. A good decision was made by an executive, to pair Bing Crosby with Bob Hope. They were noticed when they were performing onstage together. Crosby appeared in movies and was a radio and recording star. Hope was beginning to start
Scores of movies have been made about World War II. Hell to Eternity stands apart from many. It is about war and its effect on men. The stand alone aspect is its central character, Guy Gabaldon, played by Jeffrey Hunter. He was an Hispanic male raised by a Japanese family, after his mother dies. He
It can be a difficult thing to continue making movies, with the same character. That is the challenge of making Dracula Has Risen From the Grave. The prince of darkness, was given screen immortality, with Bela Lugosi’s portrayal in 1931. The actor was typecast, and died in near obscurity in 1956. The role of the
What do Yankee Doodle Dandy and White Christmas have in Common? They are both movies that are viewed on their respective holidays, of Independence Day and Christmas. They also contain songs from two of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. They were George M. Cohan and Irving Berlin. The chief difference in the two
Alien is the movie Alfred Hitchcock could have directed. That would be if he worked for Hammer Studios. It has suspense and horror. The trait of horror was in the films by the master of suspense. Movies like Psycho and The Birds, are first and foremost horror films. Alien goes to the sub genre of
There cannot be a discussion about silent films, without mentioning Lon Chaney. He was able to do things that were incredible. He could contort his body into unnatural positions. He sketched his characters and applied his own makeup. He endured physical pain for some roles, like Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of NotreDame.
There were countless military movies made during World War II. Many Hollywood stars entered the military. Errol Flynn wasn’t able to join the armed services. He had a number of physical ailments that prevented this. He did the next best thing. He starred in a few war films. One of those movies was Objective Burma.
Betty Davis at the time of this movie, was an a two time academy award winning actress. She could have rested on her laurels and continued to due dramatic roles. She would still have been considered a fine actress. Davis was not content with her status, and decided to branch out. This led to a