Archive for March, 2011
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
One Foggy Night
You wouldn’t normally think of John Ford as directing a low-budget art film, but that’s the best way to think of The Informer (1935). According to Joseph McBride’s excellent book Searching for John Ford, the project was rejected by Columbia, Fox, MGM, Paramount, and Warner Bros. before RKO agreed to let Ford make it on [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cable and DVD by DavidE
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
A Comedy of Thrills
It’s one of the most enduring images from silent comedy — Harold Lloyd grasps the hand of a massive clock as he hangs perilously over a busy street. The image became an emblem for the daredevil stunts that were popular during the era, in part because Lloyd appears so ordinary and out-of-place. The source for [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cable and DVD by DavidE
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Lost Cause?
The Birth of a Nation (1915) is a difficult film to wrap your mind around. Clearly racist in its intent, it’s also a perceptive and ground-breaking film. You may not be accustomed to dealing with propaganda and art in the same package, though there are other examples, mostly notably Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cable and DVD by DavidE
Sunday, March 13th, 2011
Beyond Intellect
Many of today’s teenagers have never seen a classic foreign film. So what would be the best one to show a teenager if you wanted to pique his or her interest in foreign films? The best choice might be Seven Samurai (1954). Because Kurosawa was so strongly influenced by Hollywood films (especially the Western genre), [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cable and DVD by DavidE
Sunday, March 13th, 2011
Best Film Ever Made?
If you’re going to write about classic films, you have to stick your neck out — and take the chance others will stick their tongues out in response. OK, here goes. As much as I love Citizen Kane (1941), I think Sunrise (1927) is the better film. In fact, it may be the best film [...]