The Lusty Men (1952)

The Lusty Men (1952)

“In any case, this film isn’t a Western. It’s really about people who want nothing more than a home of their own. That was actually the great American dream at the time, and in all the statistical questionnaires that ask what Americans aim for, 90% always gave the answer: ‘Owning a home of my own.’…

Warner Archive: Arrowsmith (1931)

Warner Archive: Arrowsmith (1931)

In 1931, producer Samuel Goldwyn was in a real bind. His film The Unholy Garden had been a complete disaster from start to finish, enraging Ronald Colman, Goldwyn Pictures’ star actor, who never quite got over having been contractually forced to appear in the film. A horrifying production, terrible reviews and even worse box office…

Another Dawn (1937)

Another Dawn (1937)

By the time Kay Francis began filming Another Dawn in the fall of 1936, she was exhausted. She was the most popular, profitable actress at Warner Bros., and the studio took full advantage, putting her in one film after another without break in between. Another Dawn had originally been intended as a Bette Davis vehicle…

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Based on Neil Simon’s Broadway play of the same name, The Sunshine Boys (1975) follows the acrimonious reunion of two former Vaudevillian comedians whose 43-year run as Lewis and Clark — the Sunshine Boys — ended abruptly a decade prior when Clark (George Burns) decided to retire. The cantankerous Lewis (Walter Matthau) is still getting…

King David (1985)

King David (1985)

There is no shame in watching a movie because it’s aesthetically beautiful. King David, the 1985 Biblical epic directed by Bruce Beresford, is just such a beautiful film, exciting and epic in scope. But, as Vincent Canby wrote in the New York Times, it is not a good film. The Australian Beresford, whose Breaker Morant…

The Rose and the Jackal (1990)

The Rose and the Jackal (1990)

Beginning in the late 1980s, the newly-launched TNT network, owned by Ted Turner, began to produce their own original programming. Early examples included several documentaries of actors and directors, frequently using clips from the thousands of films Turner owned after his enormous, $1.5  billion purchase of numerous archives and film libraries in 1986. TNT, in…