Classic Films

“I killed him for money and a woman. And I didn’t get the money, and I didn’t get the woman.” — Legendary director Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity is widely considered to be one of the first ever “film noir” movies, a genre whose name would only be coined years after the end of WWII. It has all the hallmarks of what would go on to be an incredibly popular genre —…

Who knew a movie could mean so much? — Ours was an unlikely romance. We’d worked together in a bookstore for nearly a year but had barely spoken a dozen words to each other beyond what was necessary to run the business. I didn’t speak because I believed him to be an arrogant misogynist. …

A short series to shine a spotlight on an actor of surprising depth… — Dean never reached the heights of Rio Bravo again. Drifting back to comedy more and more in the early 1960s, he made two more stabs at seriousness: 1961’s Ada (the only one of his dramas I’ve yet to see) — which was not well-received and has practically faded into obscurity…

A short series to shine a spotlight on an actor of surprising depth… — Intrigued by the hints of depth I saw sparkling beneath the surface of this seemingly shallow star in Some Came Running, I dove into more of Dean Martin’s serious films: The Young Lions (his first drama, released just prior to Some Came Running, in which he holds his own alongside…

A short series to shine a spotlight on an actor of surprising depth… — Two summers ago, I discovered Dean Martin. Oh, sure. I was vaguely familiar with the crooning, devil-may-care, playboy half of Martin & Lewis who went on to become Frank Sinatra’s faithful right-hand man. I knew all I wanted to know about this so-called “king of cool” who lazed through nightclub…

Part 5 of the “My Favorite Classic Movie Men” series — Spring is finally here, and with it, the long-awaited finale of this series — featuring my favorite fictional fella from the world of classic film (in a movie that just happens to be particularly perfect for this romantic season)… Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty — Heaven Can Wait, 1978) After a…

Part 4 of the “My Favorite Classic Movie Men” series — Ziegfeld Girl is a splashy MGM melo-musical (if that’s not a thing, like melo-noir in my last post, I’m coining it, too!) about three young women who are thrown headfirst into the lavish world of the Ziegfeld Follies. (Actually, it’s more like a soap opera with music, in the form…

7 Women is a movie that is largely known for being John Ford’s last film, despite the fact that it has its fair share of big cast names. It’s known for being the failed swan song of an illustrious career, released on the bottom of a double bill, a big…

Part 3 of the “My Favorite Classic Movie Men” series — Caught, a 1949 stunner of a forgotten gem, is James Mason’s American film debut — a melo-noir (if that’s not a thing, I’m coining it) starring Barbara Bel Geddes as Leonora (originally Maude — but she changed it) Ames, an ambitious young woman who longs for wealth. She soon finds…