This post is part of the 6th Annual Rule Britannia Blogathon, hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts. See the other posts here. In Gaslight, objects have a peculiar habit of going missing. A picture, a pocket-watch, a brooch—all seem to disappear into the bowels of the house and reappear where they ought not to be. […]
Rocket Men: ‘From the Earth to the Moon’ (1958) and ‘First Men in the Moon’ (1964)
Fifty years ago today, humanity first set foot on the moon. TCM has been celebrating with a month-long sci-fi festival, beginning with George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon: one of the first science-fiction films ever made and over a century later, still one of the best. Alongside the robots, metropolises and things from another […]
No People Like Show People: ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan’ (1984)
Part of my ‘New York State of Mind’ series. Since he first appeared on screen in 1955, Kermit the Frog has had a prolific career. Discovered playing banjo in the swamp, Kermit (created and voiced by Jim Henson) has been a reporter on Sesame Street, the long-suffering MC and stage manager of the Muppet Theatre, the […]
Cat’s-paw: ‘My Cousin Rachel’ (1952)
This post is part of The Calls of Cornwall: The Daphne du Maurier blogathon, hosted by Pale Writer. See the other posts here. Poor Philip Ashley. He falls in love, suddenly and irrevocably, with a woman beyond compare. He makes no secret of his devotion, defends his lady’s honour, worships her beauty and grace, and […]
Boiling Point: Thoughts on ‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)
Back after a brief hiatus: my ‘New York State of Mind’ series. When it was released in July 1989, Do the Right Thing was a grenade thrown from the front line: the system isn’t working; America is a pressure cooker, not a melting pot. Spike Lee’s film, about two days in the life of a […]
Love and Larceny: ‘Jewel Robbery’ (1932)
Jewel Robbery is like a lattice of spun sugar: intricate, elegant, beautiful to look at and delicious when devoured. It’s morning in Vienna and a high-end jeweller’s is opening its doors. The grill goes up, the safe opens and reverent hands extract dozens of necklaces and bracelets, the camera closing in to caress each glistening […]
Unmade Movies: ‘The Blind Man’ and ‘The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula’
There are films I long to see and know I never will: Michael Powell’s Prospero; Orson Welles’ Heart of Darkness; Martin Scorsese’s Gershwin; Max Opühl’s The Duchess of Langeais. Film history is haunted by the spectres of unmade movies, films which for whatever reason—cast reshuffles, vagaries of financing—never saw the light of a projection booth. […]
The World of W. Somerset Maugham: ‘Quartet’ (1948), ‘Trio’ (1950) and ‘Encore’ (1951)
“In my twenties the critics said I was brutal, in my thirties they said I was flippant, in my forties they said I was cynical, in my fifties they said I was incompetent and then in my sixties they said I was superficial.” So speaks W. Somerset Maugham in his wry introduction to Quartet, an […]
Five Riffs on ‘Paris Blues’ (1961)
Paul Newman has been TCM’s star of the month this May; presumably because the programmers knew just how many of his films I hadn’t seen and decided to make me happy. On my must-watch list, Paris Blues, a film I’ve longed to see, if only to further appreciate the origins of this gif: Directed by […]
The Circus is a Wacky World: ‘Inside Daisy Clover’ (1965)
Inside Daisy Clover has urgent news to impart: Hollywood is full of phoneys. Beneath its sparkling veneer, Tinseltown is a snake pit filled with sycophants and fiends who pay millions for your smile, while also stealing your soul. This revelation isn’t particularly shocking, or much of a revelation, but the film repeats it endlessly and […]
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