MGM sends James Stewart and Anthony Mann to Colorado high country locations for their third big-ticket western, a tight & tense psychological drama with a select cast: Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker and Millard Mitchell. Stewart’s anguished bounty hunter is a sick man on a mission he knows is self-destructive and just plain wrong; it’s the actor’s most fraught western performance. The landscape itself is psychological, with treacherous rocky outcroppings and a dangerous river. Even more impressive is the new restoration from Technicolor elements: this is one of the most beautiful westerns yet out on disc.
The Naked Spur
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 91 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown
Film Editor: George White
Production Illustrator: Mentor Heubner
Stunt Performers: Virginia Bougas, Ted Mapes,...
The Naked Spur
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 91 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown
Film Editor: George White
Production Illustrator: Mentor Heubner
Stunt Performers: Virginia Bougas, Ted Mapes,...
- 11/6/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A bona fide film classic, George Stevens’ movie is less revered as an excellent adaptation of Theodore Dreiser than for its intense, almost hallucinatory romantic scenes between Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. A guileless poor boy tries to succeed above his economic background and entangles himself between two very different women. I guess the Academy wasn’t ready to take the glamorous young MGM beauty seriously: both Clift and their co-star Shelley Winters received acting nominations, but not Liz. Stevens’ first ‘fifties picture is perhaps the most balanced of his ‘heavy’ and ‘important’ works, a tragedy that’s too deeply felt to be merely ponderous.
A Place in the Sun
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 8
1951 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 122 min. / Street Date August, 2020 /
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle, Fred Clark, Raymond Burr, Walter Sande, Ted de Corsia, Kathleen Freeman, Kasey Rogers, Douglas Spencer, Ian Wolfe.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor...
A Place in the Sun
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 8
1951 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 122 min. / Street Date August, 2020 /
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle, Fred Clark, Raymond Burr, Walter Sande, Ted de Corsia, Kathleen Freeman, Kasey Rogers, Douglas Spencer, Ian Wolfe.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor...
- 10/6/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Kino Lorber has released three Barbara Stanwyck films in a boxed set collection. Here is the official announcement:
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
This collection feature three classic films starring screen legend Barbara Stanwyck:
Internes Can’T Take Money (1937) – Young Dr. James Kildare, interning at a clinic, falls for his patient Janet Haley. The feeling is mutual, but Janet has a secret she will not divulge: She’s the widow of a bank robber who hid their daughter before he died and she is desperately trying to find the little girl. She will use anyone—including Dr. Kildare—to get her child back. The doctor’s association with gangster Hanlon, whose injuries Kildare secretly patched up, and Janet’s connection with gangster Innes (Stanley Ridges, Black Friday), who’s helping her find her daughter, bring it all to a rousing head filled with action, suspense and the unexpected!
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
This collection feature three classic films starring screen legend Barbara Stanwyck:
Internes Can’T Take Money (1937) – Young Dr. James Kildare, interning at a clinic, falls for his patient Janet Haley. The feeling is mutual, but Janet has a secret she will not divulge: She’s the widow of a bank robber who hid their daughter before he died and she is desperately trying to find the little girl. She will use anyone—including Dr. Kildare—to get her child back. The doctor’s association with gangster Hanlon, whose injuries Kildare secretly patched up, and Janet’s connection with gangster Innes (Stanley Ridges, Black Friday), who’s helping her find her daughter, bring it all to a rousing head filled with action, suspense and the unexpected!
- 8/12/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Never heard of Wake Island? Its fall terrified Americans at Christmas of 1941. The war’s just begun, we’re definitely not winning, and the assignment was to make a movie about a tragic defeat that might be the first of many tragic defeats for the U.S.A.. Paramount’s careful morale-builder doesn’t exaggerate or sentimentalize the brutal fall of a tiny atoll in the Pacific, and stands as an example of filmmaking reaching for hope in the face of disaster.
Wake Island
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1942 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 88 min. / Street Date August 18, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston, Macdonald Carey, William Bendix, Albert Dekker, Walter Abel, Mikhail Rasumny, Rod Cameron, Bill Goodwin, Damian O’Flynn, Frank Albertson, Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Britton, Hillary Brooke, Dane Clark, Frank Faylen, Mary Field, Alan Hale Jr., Richard Loo, James Millican, Jack Mulhall, Keith Richards, Phillip Terry, Mary Thomas,...
Wake Island
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1942 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 88 min. / Street Date August 18, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston, Macdonald Carey, William Bendix, Albert Dekker, Walter Abel, Mikhail Rasumny, Rod Cameron, Bill Goodwin, Damian O’Flynn, Frank Albertson, Hugh Beaumont, Barbara Britton, Hillary Brooke, Dane Clark, Frank Faylen, Mary Field, Alan Hale Jr., Richard Loo, James Millican, Jack Mulhall, Keith Richards, Phillip Terry, Mary Thomas,...
- 8/4/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Great McGinty
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940/ 1:33:1 / 82 min.
Starring Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff
Cinematography by William C. Mellor
Written and Directed by Preston Sturges
If the story of a unscrupulous crook who rises to great political power hits a little too close to home these days, consider that in 1940’s The Great McGinty the mobster in question is a fundamentally decent gent who sacrifices his career to do the right thing. When the jig is up he high-tails it to the border, penniless but with a clean conscience. Current events require that Preston Sturges’ bittersweet political satire be filed under Fairy Tales.
The movie opens in a rowdy little dive in South America where the once and future lowlife Dan McGinty has made his new home, lording over the bar while dispensing equal amounts booze and wisdom. One poor fellow wanders in who could use a little of both.
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940/ 1:33:1 / 82 min.
Starring Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff
Cinematography by William C. Mellor
Written and Directed by Preston Sturges
If the story of a unscrupulous crook who rises to great political power hits a little too close to home these days, consider that in 1940’s The Great McGinty the mobster in question is a fundamentally decent gent who sacrifices his career to do the right thing. When the jig is up he high-tails it to the border, penniless but with a clean conscience. Current events require that Preston Sturges’ bittersweet political satire be filed under Fairy Tales.
The movie opens in a rowdy little dive in South America where the once and future lowlife Dan McGinty has made his new home, lording over the bar while dispensing equal amounts booze and wisdom. One poor fellow wanders in who could use a little of both.
- 2/15/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Elvis fans laud this high-end drama, an attempt by the superstar to lock into a mainstream acting career. Presley has fine dramatic support, especially from his three leading ladies, but the requirement that an Elvis movie be all things to all people — especially marketers — really takes its toll. It’s a soap where almost nothing is believable, except to true believers for whom Presley can do no wrong.
Wild in the Country
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1961 / Color / 2:35 widescreen 1:37 academy / 114 min. / Street Date August 20, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95
Starring: Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins, Rafer Johnson, John Ireland, Gary Lockwood, William Mims, Raymond Greenleaf, Christina Crawford, Pat Buttram, Doreen Lang, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr..
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Editor : Dorothy Spencer
Original Music: Kenyon Hopkins
Written by Clifford Odets from a novel by J. R. Salamanca
Produced by Jerry Wald
Directed by Philip Dunne...
Wild in the Country
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1961 / Color / 2:35 widescreen 1:37 academy / 114 min. / Street Date August 20, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95
Starring: Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, Millie Perkins, Rafer Johnson, John Ireland, Gary Lockwood, William Mims, Raymond Greenleaf, Christina Crawford, Pat Buttram, Doreen Lang, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr..
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Editor : Dorothy Spencer
Original Music: Kenyon Hopkins
Written by Clifford Odets from a novel by J. R. Salamanca
Produced by Jerry Wald
Directed by Philip Dunne...
- 8/20/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Road to Singapore, Zanzibar,
Morocco and Utopia
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940, 41, 42, 43, 46 / 1:33:1 / 85, 91, 82, 90 Min. / Street Date – March 26, 2019
Starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour
Written by Frank Butler, Don Hartman, Melvin Frank
Cinematography by William C. Mellor, Ted Tetzlaff
Directed by Victor Schertzinger, David Butler, Hal Walker
Between 1940 and 1962, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby starred in seven “Road” pictures directed by such distinct talents as David Butler, Norman McLeod and Hope’s own gag-writer Norman Panama who would lead the comedian kicking and screaming into the sixties with How to Commit Marriage, a poison pen letter to the counterculture released in 1969.
Though produced during a World War, the first four Road films avoided the cynicism of that late 60’s farce – instead they were the essence of disposable fun – populist entertainments peppered with topical wisecracks, potshots at company brass and the occasional talking fish. Beginning with Road to Singapore, a...
Morocco and Utopia
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940, 41, 42, 43, 46 / 1:33:1 / 85, 91, 82, 90 Min. / Street Date – March 26, 2019
Starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour
Written by Frank Butler, Don Hartman, Melvin Frank
Cinematography by William C. Mellor, Ted Tetzlaff
Directed by Victor Schertzinger, David Butler, Hal Walker
Between 1940 and 1962, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby starred in seven “Road” pictures directed by such distinct talents as David Butler, Norman McLeod and Hope’s own gag-writer Norman Panama who would lead the comedian kicking and screaming into the sixties with How to Commit Marriage, a poison pen letter to the counterculture released in 1969.
Though produced during a World War, the first four Road films avoided the cynicism of that late 60’s farce – instead they were the essence of disposable fun – populist entertainments peppered with topical wisecracks, potshots at company brass and the occasional talking fish. Beginning with Road to Singapore, a...
- 3/30/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Many of MGM’s productions were scraping bottom in 1958, yet the studio found one more acceptable western vehicle for their last big star still on contract. Only-slightly corrupt marshal Robert Taylor edges toward a showdown with the thoroughly corrupt Richard Widmark in an economy item given impressive locations and the sound direction of John Sturges.
The Law and Jake Wade
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens, Robert Middleton, Henry Silva, DeForest Kelley, Henry Silva, Burt Douglas, Eddie Firestone.
Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Film Editor: Ferris Webster
Written by William Bowers from a novel by Marvin H. Albert
Produced by William B. Hawks
Directed by John Sturges
As the 1950s wore down, MGM was finding it more difficult to properly use its last remaining big-ticket stars on the steady payroll, Cyd Charisse and Robert Taylor. Cyd...
The Law and Jake Wade
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens, Robert Middleton, Henry Silva, DeForest Kelley, Henry Silva, Burt Douglas, Eddie Firestone.
Cinematography: Robert Surtees
Film Editor: Ferris Webster
Written by William Bowers from a novel by Marvin H. Albert
Produced by William B. Hawks
Directed by John Sturges
As the 1950s wore down, MGM was finding it more difficult to properly use its last remaining big-ticket stars on the steady payroll, Cyd Charisse and Robert Taylor. Cyd...
- 9/2/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The book was raw & dirty, and did you read what that girl did with that guy on page 167? Racking up a stack of Oscar nominations, Peyton Place became one of the big hits of its year, launched the careers of several young actors, and proved that Hollywood could pasteurize most any so-called un-filmable book. Lana Turner is the nominal star but the leading actress is Diane Varsi, in her film debut.
Peyton Place
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 157 min. / Street Date March 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Lana Turner, Hope Lange, Arthur Kennedy, Lloyd Nolan, Lee Philips, Terry Moore, Russ Tamblyn, Betty Field, David Nelson, Leon Ames, Mildred Dunnock.
Cinematography William Mellor
Art Direction Jack Martin Smith, Lyle R. Wheeler
Film Editor David Bretherton
Original Music Franz Waxman
Written by John Michael Hayes from the book by Grace Metalious
Produced by Jerry Wald
Directed by Mark Robson
What’s this,...
Peyton Place
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 157 min. / Street Date March 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Lana Turner, Hope Lange, Arthur Kennedy, Lloyd Nolan, Lee Philips, Terry Moore, Russ Tamblyn, Betty Field, David Nelson, Leon Ames, Mildred Dunnock.
Cinematography William Mellor
Art Direction Jack Martin Smith, Lyle R. Wheeler
Film Editor David Bretherton
Original Music Franz Waxman
Written by John Michael Hayes from the book by Grace Metalious
Produced by Jerry Wald
Directed by Mark Robson
What’s this,...
- 3/28/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This classy Fox production was considered the epitome of sick film subject matter in the pre- Psycho year of 1959, the true story of jazz-age thrill killers Leopold & Loeb. Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman are the nihilistic child murderers; Orson Welles stops the show with his portrayal of Clarence Darrow, going under a different name.
Compulsion
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell, Diane Varsi, Bradford Dillman, E.G. Marshall, Richard Anderson, Robert F. Simon, Edward Binns, Gavid McLeod, Russ Bender, Peter Brocco.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Film Editor: William Reynolds
Original Music: Lionel Newman
Written by Richard Murphy from a novel by Meyer Levin
Produced by Richard D. Zanuck
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Movies about serial killers and psychos with exotic agendas were much different before Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, which hit America in 1960 like a thrown brick.
Compulsion
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell, Diane Varsi, Bradford Dillman, E.G. Marshall, Richard Anderson, Robert F. Simon, Edward Binns, Gavid McLeod, Russ Bender, Peter Brocco.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Film Editor: William Reynolds
Original Music: Lionel Newman
Written by Richard Murphy from a novel by Meyer Levin
Produced by Richard D. Zanuck
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Movies about serial killers and psychos with exotic agendas were much different before Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, which hit America in 1960 like a thrown brick.
- 3/12/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This past weekend, the American Society of Cinematographers awarded Greig Fraser for his contribution to Lion as last year’s greatest accomplishment in the field. Of course, his achievement was just a small sampling of the fantastic work from directors of photography, but it did give us a stronger hint at what may be the winner on Oscar night. Ahead of the ceremony, we have a new video compilation that honors all the past winners in the category at the Academy Awards
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
- 2/6/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Love in the Afternoon
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver, Van Doude, Lise Bourdin, Louis Jourdan, Betty Schneider.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Film Editor: Leonid Azar
Art Direction: Alexandre Trauner
Adapted Music: Franz Waxman
Written by: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from a novel by Claude Anet
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
A favorite of Billy Wilder-philes, Love in the Afternoon is a strong expression of the ‘romantic-Lubitsch’ vein in Wilder’s work. It’s essentially a return to the early ’30s Lubitsch comedies with Maurice Chevalier, but played in a more bittersweet Viennese register. It’s also Wilder’s first collaboration with the comedy screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond. Together they fashion the predominantly verbal comedy machine that will carry them through three or four big hits, and a few losers that have become classics anyway.
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver, Van Doude, Lise Bourdin, Louis Jourdan, Betty Schneider.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Film Editor: Leonid Azar
Art Direction: Alexandre Trauner
Adapted Music: Franz Waxman
Written by: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from a novel by Claude Anet
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
A favorite of Billy Wilder-philes, Love in the Afternoon is a strong expression of the ‘romantic-Lubitsch’ vein in Wilder’s work. It’s essentially a return to the early ’30s Lubitsch comedies with Maurice Chevalier, but played in a more bittersweet Viennese register. It’s also Wilder’s first collaboration with the comedy screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond. Together they fashion the predominantly verbal comedy machine that will carry them through three or four big hits, and a few losers that have become classics anyway.
- 1/31/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Don’t mess with the one-armed man — did you know that at 56 years, Spencer Tracy could whup Ernest Borgnine to a frazzle? John Sturges knocked this one out of the ballpark and booted his career into high gear. It’s well remembered… but does anyone remember that the subject is the murder of a Japanese-American? It’s a combo social issue film And a tough guy western.
Bad Day at Black Rock
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:40:1 widescreen / 81 min. / Street Date January 17, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Russell Collins, Walter Sande, Robert Griffin, Harry Harvey.
Cinematography William C. Mellor
Film Editor Newell P. Kimlin
Original Music André Previn
Written by Millard Kaufman, Don McGuire story by Howard Breslin
Produced by Dore Schary
Directed by John Sturges
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Warning to...
Bad Day at Black Rock
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:40:1 widescreen / 81 min. / Street Date January 17, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Russell Collins, Walter Sande, Robert Griffin, Harry Harvey.
Cinematography William C. Mellor
Film Editor Newell P. Kimlin
Original Music André Previn
Written by Millard Kaufman, Don McGuire story by Howard Breslin
Produced by Dore Schary
Directed by John Sturges
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Warning to...
- 12/24/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Noir if I can help it! Sultry Lizabeth Scott out-'fatals' every femme we know in this wickedly ruthless tale of unadulterated female venality. Rough creep Dan Duryea meets his match, as do other unfortunate males that get between Liz and a plump bag of blackmail loot. The Film Noir Foundation's restoration is a valiant rescue job, for a worthy 'annihilating melodrama.' Too Late for Tears Blu-ray + DVD Flicker Alley / FIlm Noir Foundation 1949 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date May 17, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea, Arthur Kennedy, Kristine Miller, Barry Kelley Cinematography William Mellor Art Direction James Sullivan Film Editor Harry Keller Original Music Dale Butts Written by Roy Huggins from his story Produced by Hunt Stromberg Directed by Byron Haskin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Who's doing good work for film preservation? The Film Noir Foundation has racked up some impressive rescues and restorations in the last fifteen years or so,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Who's doing good work for film preservation? The Film Noir Foundation has racked up some impressive rescues and restorations in the last fifteen years or so,...
- 5/21/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As a supplement to our Recommended Discs weekly feature, Peter Labuza regularly highlights notable recent home-video releases with expanded reviews. See this week’s selections below.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Two new restorations from the UCLA Film and Television Archive, in conjunction with the Film Noir Foundation, certainly speak to that ethos. First up, the piercing eyes of Lisabeth Scott explain everything one might need to know about this woman who wants it all. In Byron Haskin‘s Too Late for Tears, writer Roy Huggins stages a flipped gender perspective of Double Indemnity. Driving along with her dull husband (Arthur Kennedy at his most subdued), Scott’s Jane Palmer has a bag of $60,000 literally drop in her lap. Goody two-shoes husband wants to hand it to the authorities, but she sees this as the opportunity to finally lean in. Dp William C. Mellor lights Scott’s...
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Two new restorations from the UCLA Film and Television Archive, in conjunction with the Film Noir Foundation, certainly speak to that ethos. First up, the piercing eyes of Lisabeth Scott explain everything one might need to know about this woman who wants it all. In Byron Haskin‘s Too Late for Tears, writer Roy Huggins stages a flipped gender perspective of Double Indemnity. Driving along with her dull husband (Arthur Kennedy at his most subdued), Scott’s Jane Palmer has a bag of $60,000 literally drop in her lap. Goody two-shoes husband wants to hand it to the authorities, but she sees this as the opportunity to finally lean in. Dp William C. Mellor lights Scott’s...
- 5/19/2016
- by Peter Labuza
- The Film Stage
One can’t ignore a certain irony that Leo McCarey, director of one of the most irrefutably sorrowful motion pictures with 1937’s Make Way For Tomorrow, was actually well renowned for his comedic ventures, like that same year’s The Awful Truth or the most beloved of the Marx Brothers films with Duck Soup (1933). In the decades since its release, the film has recently come to be recognized for its influence on several filmmakers, including Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story (1953) and Ira Sachs’ Love is Strange (2014). Filmed during the Great Depression, yet without specific references to the significant economic downturn, the film has a timeless resonance that feels particularly fitting for our contemporary existence.
Though not cemented in Western culture, there’s a particular tendency for this depiction to transpire within the landscape of white, capitalistic peoples and their insistence on stuffing their elders into nursing home facilities. The film...
Though not cemented in Western culture, there’s a particular tendency for this depiction to transpire within the landscape of white, capitalistic peoples and their insistence on stuffing their elders into nursing home facilities. The film...
- 5/12/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
By winning the Best Cinematography Oscar for a second year in a row, "Birdman" director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki has joined a truly elite club whose ranks haven't been breached in nearly two decades. Only four other cinematographers have won the prize in two consecutive years. The last time it happened was in 1994 and 1995, when John Toll won for Edward Zwick's "Legends of the Fall" and Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" respectively. Before that you have to go all the way back to the late '40s, when Winton Hoch won in 1948 (Victor Fleming's "Joan of Arc" with Ingrid Bergman) and 1949 (John Ford's western "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"). Both victories came in the color category, as the Academy awarded prizes separately for black-and-white and color photography from 1939 to 1956. Leon Shamroy also won back-to-back color cinematography Oscars, for Henry King's 1944 Woodrow Wilson biopic "Wilson" and John M. Stahl...
- 2/23/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Cyclops Observes the Celestial Bodies
Dear Adam,
I want to quibble with you on a point you made about an art installation in the Forum Expanded section. Discussing the simple but strangely transfixing Je proclame la destruction, you wrote to me of the order of its two shots, of first the radical speaker coming to the microphone and then the young student hero pushing through the crowd. But this installation was on loop—couldn't it be the other way around, that the hero enters, we see an empty stage, and then the radical steps up to declare destruction? I don't recall Robert Bresson's original film (from which these two shots are taken) enough to know the order, but one of the shifting pleasures of this installation was how sometimes one shot seemed to precede the other, only for the continual repetition to shift that sense of time and causality.
Dear Adam,
I want to quibble with you on a point you made about an art installation in the Forum Expanded section. Discussing the simple but strangely transfixing Je proclame la destruction, you wrote to me of the order of its two shots, of first the radical speaker coming to the microphone and then the young student hero pushing through the crowd. But this installation was on loop—couldn't it be the other way around, that the hero enters, we see an empty stage, and then the radical steps up to declare destruction? I don't recall Robert Bresson's original film (from which these two shots are taken) enough to know the order, but one of the shifting pleasures of this installation was how sometimes one shot seemed to precede the other, only for the continual repetition to shift that sense of time and causality.
- 2/16/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.