March 31, 1915: The nascent serial genre has its first true star when Pearl White plays the hazard-plagued heroine of The Perils of Pauline. March 28, 1920: Broadway legend John Barrymore moves to center stage of the film world with…
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Made in Dagenham and Sally Hawkins: Disc Dish Interview
Guest blogger Laurence Lerman of Disc Dish writes: Disc Dish recently had a sit-down with actress Sally Hawkins to talk about her latest film, the lively, up-lifting Made In Dagenham, which opened theatrically last fall and will be released on…
Read more →The Rise of the Hollywood Star
Guest blogger Sophie Stephenson writes: These days it comes as no surprise to associate a film’s merit to its leading actor or actress rather than the director or writer, but a century ago, as the medium of film began its ascent…
Read more →Kidnapping, Prostitution, Racism, Satanism: Those Wonderful Old Movie Musicals
“They just don’t make movies like they used to.” That’s the sort of line you’ll likely hear from older filmgoers who yearn for the days of Saturday matinee twin bills at the local picture house and wouldn’t be caught dead at a…
Read more →Elizabeth Taylor: Reflections in a Violet Eye
A violet-eyed beauty who matured from child stardom into one of cinema’s most glamorous screen presences, the caliber of Elizabeth Taylor‘s body of work has tended to be obscured by the tumult from what has to be the most public private life ever….
Read more →Movie/TV Poll: Who’s Your Favorite TV Doctor?
Singin’ in the Rain: Guest Movie Review
It’s interesting how some of the best Hollywood movies of the early ’50s—thinking specifically of Singin’ in the Rain and 1950’s Sunset Blvd. but several others fit the bill as well—seized the moment to look back acidly on the transition of…
Read more →Charlie Sheen, You’re No Marlon Brando
Everyone’s all a-Twitter (oh, ugh, sorry) over the many colorful turns of phrase we’ll now always associate with the very public meltdown of Charlie Sheen. No doubt you’ve heard some of these repeated already in mixed company. Maybe you have…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 03.20.11
March 25, 1932: Olympic swimming champ Johnny Weissmuller is Tarzan the Ape Man and Maureen O’Sullivan Jane in the first in MGM’s jungle adventure series. March 24, 1939: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce make the first of 14 screen pairings…
Read more →The King of Kongs
The 1930s. The decade of the Great Depression. Music and gangsters dominated the box office. And yet, a giant gorilla saved a major film studio (RKO) from bankruptcy in 1933. It wasn’t music, singing, dancing, or machine guns. I reiterate:…
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