Kay Francis made a lot of movies that should have been mediocre, but Kay’s presence and her influence at the studio meant she often had great costars and a decent director at her disposal, elevating what was supposed to be a woman’s weepy into a classic film. Unfortunately, neither of the two Kay movies I…
All posts in review
Camille (1921)
“Camille” is ridiculous, melodramatic, unbelievable, silly, amazing, wonderful, beautiful, and mesmerizing. This 1921 film is a thin version of the Dumas classic, mildly modified for a modern audience, used only as a means to showcase glamour, style, and expression. I first heard about “Camille” when shahn at sixmartinis mentioned it a couple of years ago.…
Marie Prevost Project: The Racket (1928)
This post contains spoilers for “The Racket” (1928), so if you want to wait until you see the movie for yourself, don’t read any further! Marie Prevost and Bette Davis are the objects of my two current movie projects, but unfortunately I’ve learned a tough lesson while trying to watch all of their films: Some…
Recently Watched: The World Is Yours Edition
There are a lot of classic and must-see films I haven’t seen yet. Time and life has its limits, and that’s the excuse I’m going to stand by when I’m asked why it took me until 2010 to watch “Scarface” (1983). I am quite chagrined by this fact, don’t get me wrong. As I was…
Recently Watched: The Civilization of Maxwell Bright (2005)
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 $10M studio film for all…
Recently Watched: The Blackbird (1926)
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 my favorite films are Chaney-Browning…
Marie Prevost Project: Sporting Blood (1931)
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 little weird. Our story: After…
Recently Watched: The Light Touch (1951) & The Whole Truth (1958)
“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 one part “Maltese Falcon”. Sam…
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)
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, my friends’ parents would reminisce…
Recently Watched: The All-Corpse Edition
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 it wrong, right? Right? I’ll…