Category Archives: The Story Behind the Film
TINTYPE TUESDAY: Judy Garland Is Trapped in a “Summer Stocky” Wardrobe
Welcome to a special venting edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY! I just need to get something off my chest, okay? Or rather, something off Judy Garland’s… I watched Summer Stock again last night—so much fun, so underrated, and one of Judy’s most difficult films to complete, though, as usual, you’d never know it from her performance. And …
Ginger and Jimmy in VIVACIOUS LADY: The Backstory Was Even Crazier and Sexier Than the Movie
Vivacious Lady may be a fabulous screwball comedy, but what went on behind the scenes was even loopier. A year before the film was made, Ginger Rogers and director George Stevens had an affair while filming Swing Time, which, as these things tend to do, wrapped when the picture did. Then she started dating an up-and-comer named …
Beatrice Lillie Lets Her Farce Flag Fly in Clive Brook’s ON APPROVAL
Work, family, social obligations… we’ve all got pressures. But they’re weak tea compared with what Beatrice Lillie was up against. She was dubbed the funniest woman in the world. Fortunately for her, she pretty much was. But sadly for us, she made just a handful of films. Why leave the stage when Noel Coward and …
STREAMING SATURDAY! Melvyn Douglas and Burgess Meredith Give Merle Oberon THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING
Welcome to another edition of Streaming Saturdays, where we embed a free, fabulous film for you to watch right here every week! Settling in to watch That Uncertain Feeling, there are some things you can be certain of. With Ernst Lubitsch at the helm, you know it’ll be witty and sophisticated. And you assume Melvyn Douglas will elegantly knock your socks …
TINTYPE TUESDAY: Teresa Wright, the Anti-Pin-Up Girl
Welcome to another edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY! We’ve all heard of unusual clauses in actors’ contracts. But Teresa Wright’s—written when she was just starting out at 23—takes the cake. (And that cake does not have a scantily clad starlet popping out of it): The aforementioned Teresa Wright shall not be required to pose for photographs in …
TINTYPE TUESDAY: Coop, Clark, Claudette and Other Classic Stars Go Shushing Through the Snow in Sun Valley!
Happy Holidays, my dears! And welcome to another edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY! Okay, kids, pull on your best winter woolies—we’re heading to chic and trendy… Idaho! Sun Valley, to be precise. Where classic film stars showed us just how fabulous they could look in ski togs. And where some of them actually skied. No really. I have proof. …
STREAMING SATURDAY! THE HOLLY AND THE IVY Make for a Prickly Christmas
Welcome to another edition of Streaming Saturdays, where we bring you a free, fabulous movie to watch right here every week! How can you help but love a Christmas movie where a brother and sister duck out on the family festivities to get roaring drunk? They have their reasons. But then just about everyone has cause to knock back a few in The …
From Laurel & Hardy to James Dean and Beyond: A Love Letter to George Stevens
You know how with some people, you say “I love their work!” but really, let’s face it, you’re actually in love with them? That’s me with George Stevens. Today is his birthday, and yet it’s not even a national holiday. That’s just wrong. But we’re celebrating here at Sister Celluloid, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of the man at work. (And at …
Joel McCrea and Jean Arthur “Stoop” to Conquer in THE MORE THE MERRIER
In Sullivan’s Travels, Preston Sturges made a convincing case that comedy is often the best balm for tragedy. But for his friend and colleague George Stevens, the horrors of World War II left him with little capacity for comedy when he returned home from the front lines. From 1943 to 1946, Stevens covered the war in Europe for the Army …
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