THE CLASSIC ERA FOR EVERY ERA
Manhattan by night is when the newspaper low life prowl in the American film noir Sweet Smell of Success, made by Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists in 1957. … Continue reading Sweet Smell of Success: A Very Memorable Film Noir
Don’t give them what you think they want. Give them what they never thought was possible. — Orson Welles A monumental figure in the development of cinema, George Orson Welles … Continue reading The Essential Films of Orson Welles
The Hammer horror films, especially those made during the late fifties, successfully revived the traditional Universal Monsters and broke ground by setting new levels of acceptable cinematic violence, all shown … Continue reading The Definite Hammer Horror of Dracula
The War of the Worlds Bryon Haskin’s version The War of the Worlds is a loose adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel of the same name. It is an ambitious … Continue reading Classic Hollywood Science Fiction Films from the 50s: Part Two
The rising fears and paranoia created by the Cold War, especially the threat of an atomic attack, manifested itself into parts of the American media and turned the near-moribund science … Continue reading Classic Hollywood Science Fiction Films from the 50s: Part One
The 1965 western classic For a Few Dollars More (Original Italian Title: Per Qualche Dollaro in Più) is the second film of Sergio Leone’s influential Italian-made Dollars trilogy. His first … Continue reading Sergio Leone and For a Few Dollars More
Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood MemoirBook review by Paul J. Bradley Fay Wray and Robert Riskin were major artists during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Fay became the ageless icon … Continue reading A Hollywood Love Story of Fay Wray and Robert Riskin
The silent film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans has often been regarded as one of the great American movies and is continually lauded for its visual expressive style. Released … Continue reading The Sunrise and Sunset of German Expressionist Cinema
One of the most successful and acclaimed screenwriters before and during Hollywood’s Golden Age was Frances Marion, who is cited frequently as one of the most important screenwriters in the … Continue reading The Great Frances Marion: Early Hollywood’s Screenwriting Pioneer (Part One)
Dinner at Eight (1933) David O. Selznick’s first production was the star cast for Dinner at Eight. Based on the 1932 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman … Continue reading The Great Frances Marion: Early Hollywood’s Pioneering Screenwriter (Part Two)
The 1963 comedy-drama film Billy Liar seems mostly forgotten today, but it was one of the most popular and important movies from the British New Wave (Or “Kitchen Sink Drama”) … Continue reading Brilliant and Influential but Often Forgotten Billy Liar
The Beatles are universally regarded as artistically and culturally the greatest rock band of the twentieth century. Their influence on popular music is beyond question and along with Elvis, they … Continue reading A Hard Day’s Night – An Important Picture about an Important Band
