Classic and James Bond films unite
As most classic film fans know, Saratoga was, tragically, Jean Harlow's last film. It was her seventh film with her good friend, Clark Gable, with whom she had starred in such classics as Red Dust, Wife vs Secretary and Hold Your Man. Jean had suffered from ill health for much of her life, and had been ill for a fairly protracted… Continue reading Getting Love Back On Track: Jean Harlow in “Saratoga”
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
Swimming Around the Point, Just to do the thing Laura (played by Esther Williams) is a fashion model working in Rome, who has "run away" from her millionaire lover who is actually a married man. Said married man sends a representative, Wally, to come and "fetch" her, which she reluctantly agrees to despite her lover… Continue reading A Not So Island Paradise: Esther Williams in Raw Wind In Eden
Written and directed by actress Bonnie Hunt, Return To Me is a film that my mother adores for two reasons. Firstly because it stars David Duchovny and he is one of her favourite actors. She has watched everything he's starred in from The Red Shoe Diaries to The X-Files (of course) and Californication. Secondly, and most importantly, she loves the film because it… Continue reading How To Mend A Broken Heart: David Duchovny in Return to Me
"I have the face of an ageing choirboy and the build of an undernourished featherweight. If you can figure out my success on the screen you're a better man than I." --Alan Ladd And that was the thing about Alan, despite being a leading man, a sex symbol and star of big money making films,… Continue reading A New Adventure
This Could Be the Night (1957) is probably one of the lesser known films of both Jean Simmons and Anthony Franciosa's varied careers. While it was Anthony's film debut after his incredibly successful Broadway career, Jean already had an established film career having been nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA. Jean would also be… Continue reading The Education of Miss Anne Leeds: Jean Simmons in This Could Be the Night
Based on the hugely successful broadway play of the same name, which was in turn adapted from two short stories by Damon Runyon, Guys and Dolls stars Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine and of course, Jean Simmons. Jean was not the first choice for the part of Sister Sarah Brown, the conscientious, conservative and headstrong leader… Continue reading The Eyes of A Woman in Love: Jean Simmons in Guys and Dolls
Firelight (1997) is a little known gem about how women in the early nineteenth century were often not only robbed of their personality, individual desire and ambition, but also the right to raise their own children, because men had complete control over their destinies. The film brings to mind such feminine bildungsroman as Jane Eyre and Pride and… Continue reading Strange Shapes in the Firelight
Christmas in Connecticut is a lighthearted, lovely holiday film. But upon closer inspection, it has a far more serious cultural resonance. And before you roll your eyes and grumble at the fact that I'm making a serious, real life connection to a romantic comedy, please hear me out. While the film is full of laughs and… Continue reading Christmas in the Countryside: Barbara Stanwyck in Christmas in Connecticut
I will be partaking in The Stewart Granger Blogathon hosted by Maddy Loves Her Classic Films, so please watch this space!
Pale Writer 