Archive for September, 2009
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
A Tangible Presence
The Wind (1928) is a high watermark (if you’ll excuse the pun) for both its star and director. Lillian Gish had played mostly innocent waifs in D. W. Griffith’s films. Those performances are among her best, but she hadn’t been given a chance to take on a wide range of roles. When she signed with [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cable by DavidE
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
The Forgotten Man
While the screwball comedy is a byproduct of the Great Depression, not every screwball comedy reflects the era head-on. My Man Godfrey (1936) is both a spoof of — and a commentary on — the financial inequities at the time. The movie-going public was well aware the Depression was hitting the poor much harder than [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cable and DVD by DavidE
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Deep-Dish Movie
Many comedies include dramatic elements that tag along for the ride, just as many dramas provide comic relief to sweeten an otherwise hard-to-swallow message. Yet only a few films blend comedy and drama as effortlessly as Sullivan’s Travels (1941). Preston Sturges, the film’s writer and director, was the best comedy writer of the 1940s. He [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cable and DVD by DavidE
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
Watch the Skies
Just who was responsible for The Thing from Another World (1951)? If you look at the credits, you can see it was directed by Christian Nyby. But if you ask any Howard Hawks fan, you’ll probably be told it’s pure Hawks. The promotional materials of the time have Hawks’ name in big letters above the [...]