Category: Film Classic

Principal Cast : James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, Kathryn Grant, George C Scott, Orson Bean, Russ Brown, Murray Hamilton, Brooks West, Ken Lynch, John Qualen, Howard McNear, Alexander Campbell, Ned Wever, Jimmy Conlin, Royal Beal. Synopsis:  A hometown lawyer takes on the high profile case of an army man who murders his wife’s rapist. ******** It’s often said that truth is stranger than fiction. Never has that been more prescient than Otto Preminger’s Best Picture-nominated crime drama, Anatomy Of A Murder, a film based on a…

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Principal Cast : Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly, Ward Crane, Ford West.Synopsis:  A yound cinema projectionist dreams of becoming a world-famous detective.  ******** You might be surprised to learn, as I was, that Buster Keaton’s 1924 comedic short film Sherlock Jr, in which its star daydreams of becoming a great detective in the mould of Conan Doyle’s eponymous Sherlock Holmes, was met with mediocre critical and popular success. It certainly wasn’t considered the masterpiece status it is afforded today, which goes a long way to understanding more how…

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Principal Cast : John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, Ken Murray, John Carradine, Jeanette Nolan, John Qualen, Willis Bouchey, Carleton Young, Woody Strode, Denver Pyle, Strother Martin, Lee Van Cleef, Robert F Simon, OZ Whitehead, Paul Birch, Joseph Hoover, Shug Fisher.Synopsis:  A senator, who became famous for killing a notorious outlaw, returns for the funeral of an old friend and tells the truth about his deed. ******** There’s a famous quote, often overused by Hollywood, which says: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph…

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Principal Cast : Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Jerome Cowan, Ketti Gillian, William Brisbane, Harriet Hoctor, Dudley Dickerson, Charles Coleman.Synopsis:  A budding romance between a ballet master and a tap dancer becomes complicated when rumors surface that they’re already married. ******** Screwball comedies don’t come with much higher pedigree than that of Astaire and Rogers, the Hollywood duo famous for their song and dance pairings that, thanks to no fewer than ten features as a partnership, cemented their status as screen superstars and industry icons. Shall We…

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Principal Cast : Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby, Steven Ford, Lisa Jane Persky, Michelle Nicastro, Kevin Rooney, Harley Kozak.Synopsis:  Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship. ******** The granddaddy of the 80’s romantic comedy genre, Rob Reiner’s iconic classic set in New York and starring two of the 80’s biggest names, When Harry Met Sally is as pertinently romantic now as it was at the time it was released. It’s unashamedly cheesy at…

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Principal Cast : Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore, Kent Smith, Gordon Oliver, Rhonda Fleming, Elsa Lanchester, Sara Allgood, Rhys Williams, James Bell. Synopsis:  In 1906, a shadowy serial killer is targeting women with “afflictions”; one night during a thunderstorm, the mute Helen is terrorised by the killer lurking somewhere inside an enormous mansion. **** Warning: this review may contain spoilers for a 70+ year-old film.  There are probably a million hours worth of dissection and discussion to be had about the construction of Richard Siodmak’s gloriously gothic The Spiral Staircase, but sadly…

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Principal Cast : Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter, Clifton Webb, Herbert Marshall, Lucile Watson, Frank Latimore, Elsa Lanchester, Cecil Humphreys, Fritz Kortner, Eugene Borden. Synopsis:  An adventuresome young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. But when he returns 10 years later, she will stop at nothing to get him back, even though she is already married. **** For a film based on a story by acclaimed 30’s author W Somerset Maugham, of which not a word of the original text was…

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Principal Cast : Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander, Douglass Dumbrille, Raymond Walburn, HB Warner, Ruth Donnelly, Walter Catlett, John Wray, Margaret Seddon, Margaret McWade, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Emma Dunn. Synopsis:  A simple, small town man inherits a massive fortune, making him the target for scammers and publicity-seekers. Overwhelmed by the turn his life has taken, and awoken to another use for his new-found fortune, he makes a momentous decision. ***** Gee-whizz homespun mythmaking and Capra’s continued pursuit of the great American Dream are personified in this classic Gary Cooper…

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Principal Cast : Richard Dix, Fay Wray, Victor Kilian, Franklin Pangborn, Charles Arnt, Granville Bates, William B Davidson, Arthur Loft, Edgar Dearing, James Donian, Bill Burrud, Zeffie Tilbury, Harold Goodwin, Charles Brinley, Zeni Vatori, Wade Boteler, Helen Brown. Synopsis:  While hospitalised young Billy meets his silent movie idol Tim Bart, but then the talkies came, destroying Bart’s career. Now Bart must convince his young friend he is still a star. **** Brisk, fluffy Hollywood comedy delivers charm and cheese in equal measure: It Happened In Hollywood is the exact kind of film…

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Principal Cast : Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Adolphe Menjou, Ullrich Haupt, Francis McDonald, Eve Southern, Paul Porcase, Emil Chautard, Juliette Compton, Albert Conti. Synopsis:  A cabaret singer and a Legionnaire fall in love, but their relationship is complicated by the results of his womanizing and due to the appearance of a rich man who wants her for himself. ***** Nominated for four Academy Awards (including Best Director and Best Actress), Josef von Sternberg’s 1930 romantic drama Morocco made actress Marlene Dietrich a breakout star and household name, and solidified the rising…

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