He was usually a kindly grandfather or loyal sidekick, but he played memorable real-life villains in two classic frontier dramas. For the Great Villain Blogathon, we salute Walter Brennan’s menacing turns in The Westerner and My Darling Clementine.
Read more →1940s Movies
Classic 1940s movie reviews, movie articles and information. Movie reviews from classic movies from 1940 to 1949, the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Edward G. Robinson Goes from Mobster to Monk as Brother Orchid
Betrayed by ex-pal Humphrey Bogart and left for dead, gangster Edward G. Robinson is saved by monks from a nearby monastery and learns a new way of life as Brother Orchid. Guest writer Aurora reviews the light-hearted 1940 Warner Bros. crime drama.
Read more →The Bank Dick: Don’t Be a Jabbernowl, Watch This Comedy Classic!
Henpecked family man Egbert Sousè (W.C. Fields) gets a new lease on life when he’s hired as The Bank Dick. Guest writer Steve Bailey reviews the bulbous-nosed funnyman’s comic gem, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.
Read more →Olivia de Havilland Is the Government Girl (1943)
Auto engineer Sonny Tufts is schooled in Washington politics by–and falls for–savvy D.C. secretary Olivia de Havilland in Government Girl. Guest writer Rachel Stecher reviews the 1943 mix of screwball comedy and WWII homefront commentary.
Read more →Grander Than Life: Citizen Kane at the Orpheum
Filmmaker and old-time radio enthusiast Michael James Kacey shares his memories of screening “A Mercury Production by Orson Welles” at the beautifully restored Los Angeles movie palace.
Read more →Remember the Night (1940): A Movie Too Good to Show Only at Christmas
New York City D.A. Fred MacMurray heads home to Indiana for the holidays–with shoplifter Barbara Stanwyck in tow–in the charming Yuletide tale Remember the Night. As this classic review explains, the 1940 comedy is truly a year-round treat.
Read more →Happy Black Friday (1940) with Boris and Bela!
Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi went shopping for scares in the 1940 Universal thriller Black Friday, an odd tale of mad doctors, mobsters and brain transplants. Read on to see if the terror titans’ final team-up for the studio was a bargain or a bust.
Read more →Tyrone Power Makes the Mark of Zorro (1940)
Was Tyrone Power ever more dashing than as the masked swordsman of Old California in 1940’s The Mark of Zorro? Guest writer Laura Grieve offers her mark on the swashbuckler gem, which also starred Linda Darnell and Basil Rathbone.
Read more →The Clock: Judy Garland and Robert Walker Find Time for Love
With only 48 hours’ furlough in New York before he returns to combat, soldier Robert Walker meets and falls for secretary Judy Garland in The Clock. Guest writer Kristen Lopez takes a few minutes to review this 1945 MGM romance, directed by Vincente Minnelli.
Read more →Pitfall (1948): Suburban, Middle-Class Film Noir
Film Noir’s dark shadows weren’t confined to dim city streets, as suburban family man Dick Powell found out to his regret in Pitfall. Rick29 shines a light on the 1948 United Artists thriller, which co-starred Jane Wyman, Lizabeth Scott and Raymond Burr.
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