Classic and James Bond films unite
The Brontë Sisters are incredibly famous. I don’t think this point can be overstated. Their contribution to the English literary canon, especially Gothic literature, has influenced countless authors, filmmakers and musicians (I’m looking at you, Kate Bush.) They revolutionised a genre that had been seen as low brow, melodramatic trash for almost a century, and… Continue reading Jane, Jane: Timothy Dalton in Jane Eyre (1983)
Wikipedia calls The Crow an American superhero film, but for me, it's more a gothic horror/romance film. The Crow isn't really a superhero, he's an antihero who becomes like that because of circumstances. He reminds me more Darkman than Clark Kent. The Crow is largely famous because it was Brandon Lee's final motion picture due to his tragic… Continue reading Rain and Revenge: The Crow (1994)
O.S.S is a war film of a different sort, as it tells the story of both civilians and those on the front lines, but not through the story of uniformed soldiers or by focusing on families back home. It explores the agency that was the predecessor to the know famous (and sometimes infamous) CIA. The Office… Continue reading Don’t Come Back: O.S.S. (1946)
Mrs Miniver (1942) was one of the many films my grandmother took my mother and her brother to see when they were children. In those days, little independent theatres still showed classic films regularly. I wonder how my grandmother felt watching the film in that little darkened cinema, her two small children beside her. She had… Continue reading This Too Shall Pass: Mrs Miniver (1942)
When I was a teenager, I watched the 1999 adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, and fell in love with it. It had such a wonderful balance of romance, tragedy and theological inquiry. Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore had such incredible chemistry and intensity as the doomed wartime and post war lovers. And so I felt… Continue reading God, can you hear me? Van Johnson in “The End of the Affair” (1955)
The Reckless Moment (1949) is a Christmas film as Batman Returns or Die Hard is. It takes place during the holidays, but this happy time is marred by strife and tragedy. A coal in one's stocking for sure. For Lucia Harper (played by Joan Bennett) the coal comes in the form of borderline child sexual… Continue reading Unlikely kindred spirits: Joan Bennett in “The Reckless Moment” (1949)
Love will see you through Larry Nevins (played by Arthur Kennedy) is shot in the head by a German sniper in West Africa whilst in a landmine riddled zone. At first, none of the medical practitioners at the first military hospital he is taken to are sure about the condition of his eyes, and Larry… Continue reading Seeing with the Heart: Arthur Kennedy in Bright Victory
Pale Writer 