Classic and James Bond films unite
This post contains graphic, mature content. Please read with caution. Vampire Circus is not your standard Hammer Horror Film. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are nowhere to be seen. The heroes of the film know little about their enemy, but this is not shown in a campy way. There is real danger here, real death,… Continue reading Beware… the circus has come to town
The Barrymores are entertainment royalty. Their influence in the world of entertainment is almost incalculable. If you are familiar with their work, you will come to realise how many homages have been paid to them, how many performers have affectionately imitated them (like Douglas Fairbanks Jr in Our Modern Maidens (1929), and how their legacy has inspired… Continue reading Announcing the Fifth Annual Barrymore Trilogy Blogathon
It may seem strange to choose a nun as the subject for a post written for The Reel Infatuation Blogathon. But, it is not strange when you think of the tremendous courage of both the character, based on a real woman of this marrow, and the actress who played her, who had these same traits.… Continue reading Obedience, that impossible thing: Audrey Hepburn as Sister Luke in “The Nun’s Story” (1959)
His Girl Friday (1940) is a stone cold screwball comedy classic, starring two juggernauts of the genre: Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. This film is up there with such masterpieces as It Happened One Night and Midnight, among many others in this golden echelon of the Golden Age. It has all the wonderful hallmarks of the genre, which include an… Continue reading Pressed for Time: Rosalind Russell in “His Girl Friday” (1940)
De-Lovely (2004) is one of the best and most underrated biopics I have ever seen. It has everything you'd want in such a film, awesome music, a fascinating, but very flawed central figure, which the filmmakers do not shy away from, a brilliant actor play that figure, and great supporting performances. Why people are not singing this film's… Continue reading In The Still of the Night: De-lovely (2004)
How many cosmetic ads feature women looking into mirrors? And how do those women always look? Young, wide eyed, nubile, with perfect lips and unlined faces. That is the beauty standard for women right down the line: eternal youth and beauty. Some women rebel, but many spend most of their lives trying to live up… Continue reading The Death of Beauty: The Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Jeanne Craine has always been a classic film actress who I knew of, but who always flew under the radar for me. I've always mostly associated her with the part of evil Gene Tierney's sweet cousin in Leave Her To Heaven. I remember liking her in that, and thinking how lovely she was, which is… Continue reading Always integrity: Jeanne Craine In People Will Talk (1951)
Heathers (1988) is undoubtedly one of the greatest teen films ever made. If you don't think so, stop reading now, honey pie, because that statement is a fact. Like Rebel Without A Cause, Foxes and The Breakfast Club, it shows that being a teenager is much like being in purgatory or limbo. You are no longer a child where you needed constant… Continue reading Que Que Sera Sera: Heathers (1988)
Last year November I took part in Noirvember's delightfully dark shadows and winding back alley plots. And I discovered a myriad of wonderful films that I had never heard of or had the opportunity to see, and one of these was The Big Combo (1955). I knew absolutely nothing about the film except that Cornel… Continue reading A Dark Web: Cornel Wilde as Lt. Leonard Diamond
Joan always adored her fans. They were her life and the reason she carried on acting and producing memorable, touching and brilliant performances for her entire career. For Joan, improving her craft was for her audience, as she knew they would be there long after she had gone, different audiences over different periods. And because… Continue reading The Queen Rests: A Wrap up of the Joan Crawford: Queen of the Silver Screen Blogathon
Pale Writer 