Category Archives: The Story Behind the Film
STREAMING SATURDAYS: Celebrating the Armistice Day Centennial with the Anti-War Classic JOURNEY’S END
Welcome to another edition of Streaming Saturdays, where we embed free films for you to watch right here! In honor of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day—which marked the close of was to be The War to End All Wars—we bring you Journey’s End. The most powerful war movie I’ve ever seen, it’s also the least bloody—maybe because …
STREAMING SATURDAYS! Film Noir Meets the French Revolution in THE BLACK BOOK
Welcome to another edition of Streaming Saturdays, where we embed free, fun movies for you to watch right here! “We’ll always have Paris.” In this case, the Paris of powdered wigs and guillotines. The Black Book (also called Reign of Terror) may be the only film noir set during the French Revolution—and if that sounds odd, …
The Theater’s Alive with THE SOUND OF MUSIC! TCM Brings It Back This Month
If The Sound of Music is one of your favorite things, you’re in luck: On September 9 and 12, TCM and Fathom Events return the gloriously restored musical to the big screen. Back in March 2015, when the new print kicked off the TCM Classic Film Festival, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer—who still clearly adore each …
MoMA Presents “Leo McCarey: Seriously Funny,” Covering the Undersung Director from the Silents Onward
“I only know I like my characters to walk in clouds, I like a little bit of the fairy tale. As long as I’m there behind the camera lens, I’ll let somebody else photograph the ugliness of the world.” —Leo McCarey If you’re anywhere near New York this month, prepare to walk in the clouds. …
A Film Noir Feast! TOO LATE FOR TEARS and WOMAN ON THE RUN Are Gorgeously Restored on DVD
A double dose of classic noir has just hit the DVD shelves. Two lost gems, Too Late for Tears and Woman on the Run, have been restored to their dark and gorgeous glory by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The DVD sets—which include standard and Blu-ray discs as well as tons of special features—mark the first of what …
TINTYPE TUESDAY: Dan Duryea — Gardener and Cub Scout Leader!
Welcome to another edition of TINTYPE TUESDAY! A few years ago, between films of a double feature at the Film Forum in New York (Black Angel and Criss Cross), this old guy sitting next to me muttered, to no one in particular, “I wonder if that was really Dan Duryea playing the piano.” And I …
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 …
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