Spoilers, adult concepts, and bad language abound. The Civilization of Maxwell Bright is a movie that tries hard to do the right thing, but it falls back on the old, lazy, entrenched bigotries so prevalent in Hollywood that, despite being an indie film, it might as well have been a …
Lon Chaney and Tod Browning collaborated ten times in their too-brief careers, beginning with The Wicked Darling in 1919 and ending in 1929 with Where East is East. Lon Chaney died in 1930, and Tod Browning’s career effectively died just two years after that with his film Freaks. Two of …
Sporting Blood is about a horse named Tommy Boy, his breeder Jim Rellence (Ernest Torrence), the flighty dame who wants him as a toy (Marie Prevost), and a bunch of vague mobsters. According to some promo material and archive info, this was originally called Horseflesh, which is creepy and a …
A few things, then some pretty pretty pictures. Do you love flappers? Sure, we all do! That’s why I want to direct you to Flapperdoodle Kate’s sale at Etsy: Until January 21, she is selling her mini-prints for $1 each. One. Dollar. Her art is amazing and her flappers are …
“You can’t smell a rose through somebody else’s nose.” George Sanders being given all the best lines in The Light Touch (1951) “The Light Touch” is a nice little film but not very original. Set mostly in Sicily and Tunis, it’s a crime caper that’s one part “Casablanca” and …
This is the movie that made me a Jack Benny fan. My path to being a Benny fan was a weird one, and for years I honestly loathed the man. Actually, there was nothing honest about it, as all I knew about Benny came from my parents. As a kid, …
Let’s just get this out of the way: George Arliss is damned creepy. His face looks like a naked skull, and the over-dark lipstick, eyeliner, and what I think is makeup around his nostrils freak me the hell out. In “The Man Who Played God” (1932), Arliss — who was …
Before I forget, I want to mention I am now posting to my Twitter when I update the blog. I’m not very wise in the ways of Twitter, so the hashtag #sbbn I automatically add to the tweets may or may not be appropriate. You’ll tell me if I’m doing …
