A genuine classic, Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby, with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, is just as funny now as it was in 1938.
Bringing Up Baby is a wonderful example of screwball comedy. Released in 1938, this 70-year-old movie is as witty, charming, and appealing as it has always been.
Stuart Heisler’s adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s novel still influences Hollywood, with a tale of dubious alliances and loyalty.
In The Glass Key, Alan Ladd plays Ed Beaumont, right-hand man to Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy), a boorish, ambitious player with political aspirations. When the murder of a reckless playboy casts suspicion on his boss, Ed works to protect Madvig. Matters are further complicated when Madvig falls for the daughter of a wealthy industrialist (Veronica Lake) – especially when Ed falls under the spell of the same girl.
This 1941 classic is among the most romantic films of Hollywood’s Golden Era, a fantasy perhaps hokey by today’s standards, yet charming, heartwarming, and funny as hell.
The film pretty much pioneered the guardian angel sub-genre, and outside of It’s a Wonderful Life, may be the best of the lot. As prizefighter Joe Pendleton, Oscar-nominated Robert Montgomery (real-life father of Elizabeth Montgomery, “Samantha” of TV’s Bewitched) affects a dese-dems-and-dose, blue collar voice at odds with both his usual urbane screen image and real-life reputation as a wealthy, conservative Republican.
The ambitious light leading man Robert Montgomery fought his own typecasting — eventually proving himself a creative force in movies, on stage, and in television.
Too often these days, Robert Montgomery is remembered primarily as the father of Elizabeth Montgomery, the glamorous actress who played Samantha Stevens on TV’s Bewitched for nine seasons.
In fact, Robert Montgomery may be the most accomplished Hollywood star you’ve never heard of. He started out playing rich boys, but fought for diverse roles, eventually winning acclaim behind the camera and as a Tony-winning Broadway director.
A giant of the movies’ first half-century, James Cagney threw off the early shackles of typecasting to emerge as one of the screen’s most versatile and beloved actors.
He was the toughest of movie tough guys, bringing a maniacal menace and kinetic energy to performances that seemed to jump right off the screen.
Quite often referred to as the quintessential film-noir, The Big Sleep stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in a gripping, feisty murder mystery.
PI Phillip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) is called in to investigate the bribery and blackmail of a young rich girl, Carmen Starkwood (Vickers) – and the actions of both her and her sister Vivian (Lauren Bacall) lead Marlowe’s investigative mind to discover a far bigger and more complex series of manipulations beneath the surface.
The Maltese Falcon marked the auspicious directing debut of John Huston, who also wrote the screenplay and was blessed with an exceptional cast of superb players.
Huston’s film was actually Warner Bros.’ third adaptation of the 1930 Dashiell Hammett novel. The first, in 1931, starred Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels in the lead roles of detective Sam Spade and femme fatale Brigid O’Shaughnessy (called Ruth Wonderly throughout). In 1936 came a poor (and thinly disguised) remake called Satan Met a Lady with the hammy, unreal Warren William and a comedic Bette Davis.
Murder, My Sweet is a masterful early film noir, a brilliant mix of convoluted plot, hard-boiled dialogue, nightmarish atmosphere, and comically cynical narration.
This is the 1944 movie in which Dick Powell reinvented himself. With it, Powell forever buried his screen image of an overgrown crooner — one built in frothy Warners musicals of the 1930s.
Dick Powell did it by convincing a dubious world he could play a hardened, complex tough-guy detective.
Dames is not a great film but easily attains classic status because of a trio of remarkable fantasy sequences shot by gifted choreographer Busby Berkeley.
Much of this slight 1934 musical comedy is a backstage copycat story of little significance. The enduring legacy is found in the last 34 minutes – in back-to-back-to-back musical numbers that are visually stunning and musically witty.
Joan Blondell personified the sassy, smart gold digger in 1930s Warner Bros. movies — but proved herself versatile and adaptable in a six-decade career.
When Judy Garland sang Born in a Trunk, she could have been referring to Rose Joan Blondell, who literally grew up on the road. Blondell was born in 1906 to vaudevillians and her cradle really was a trunk. At four months of age, Joan was onstage in a play; she joined the family act at age three.
Here are the most famous Peruvians from film and television – famous people from Peru and Peruvian celebrities who are internationally known as actors and actresses.
Best Action Movies of All Time is a list of my top ten action movies. Like any true top ten list, I have included films that I have a personal connection with.
I grew up during the ’80s which was dominated by action films. As a child, my initial love for cinema bloomed through films such as ’Bloodsport’, ‘Commando’, ‘Predator’, ‘Aliens’, and a host of others.
This list of 10 Good Horror Movies is like any true top ten list. It is of personal taste as opposed to critical acclaim.
Some of the films to follow, would not feature on many top 10 lists or perhaps be classed as horror at all. For me, a ‘good horror film’, taps into the viewer’s psyche by delving into the primal fears that lie within us all. This may include a sense of isolation, knowing, but not seeing, unable to escape what awaits or makes us question life after death.
I compare Braveheart to that first look into the eyes of the one who will become the love of your life. It’s the moment when your eyes meet and you know that that person will play one of the most important parts of your life. “Braveheart” is the equivalent of that look in my relationship with film music. Braveheart is one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s one of the movies I get the most emotional while watching and every scene is like an open wound that gets reopened every time I hear the music or thinking of the movie. I turn into a heavy, overloaded sack of water that starts leaking very soon.
As with every other superhero score where Hans Zimmer has been involved in the past few years, opinions flew in all directions; haters hated even more, while the Zimmer camp rejoiced in this masterpiece. For me, it’s simple. This is one of the best movies of all time, and it didn’t get the score it needed, but the score it deserved.
