Occupied French Morocco. Stolen letters of transit. A smoky café. An airport shrouded in fog. Everybody comes to Rick’s. This Valentine’s Day, curl up with Casablanca, one of the most beloved and (mis)quoted films of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Its plot is deceptively simple. Relentlessly cynical Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) presides over ‘Rick’s Café Americain’, Casablanca’s […]
In Celebration of John Williams
Film music lovers, rejoice: John Williams, one of cinema’s greatest composers, turns 85 today. Born in Floral Park, New York, in 1932, Williams served in the Air Force, studied music at Juilliard and played jazz in New York City night clubs before moving to Los Angeles to work in film. He soon got a job […]
Anything Goes: ‘The Front Page’ on Broadway
As anyone who’s been following the news knows, the fourth estate has taken quite a beating lately: fake news, accusations of bias, trial by Twitter and the arrival of ‘alternative facts’. Seen in this climate, the magnificent Broadway revival of The Front Page, now in its last week at the Broadhurst Theatre, is more than […]
Biography of a Hit: The Success of ‘My Man Godfrey’ (1936)
This essay was originally published on ArtsandCrit.com (now sadly defunct) and has been dusted off and spruced up for its Retro Movie Buff debut. In 1936, the Great Depression was in its fifth year, the average movie ticket cost $0.25 and a film review in trade magazine Variety made history by christening a new genre: […]
Phantasmagoria: ‘Spirits of the Dead’ (1968)
If you’re obsessed with films and potter about Twitter, you might have seen director Edgar Wright’s list of his 1000 favourite movies, an inventory both admirable in scope and staggering in content. I’ve seen only about 40 percent of the films on the list (predictably, most of them made before 1970) and since I adore […]
The Man in the Purple Suit: ‘The Phantom’ (1996)
This post was written as part of The Spirit of ’96, a yearlong celebration of the 300+ films that were released on American screens in 1996, written by some of the film buffs who love them best. See all the contributions here. Stop me when this sounds too ridiculous. Deep in the jungles of south-east […]
Once upon a midnight dreary: How to tell if you’re in a Poe cycle film
It’s Friday the 13th, day of dread, when mirrors shatter, all ladders are left suspiciously unattended and black cats leap from dark corners to startle the unwary. What better day to curl up with a little Edgar Allan Poe, courtesy of the good people at American International Pictures? Starting with House of Usher in 1960, […]
A Few Words on Robert Donat
He was one of the biggest stars in British cinema, but only made 19 films. He was celebrated for his beautiful speaking voice, but suffered from crippling asthma. He made his name playing dashing heroes, but is now best remembered for his performance as a shy schoolteacher. He might be the finest actor Britain ever […]
A Spot of Murder: ‘Evil Under the Sun’ (1982)
Take an all-star cast, stick them in an exotic location and have one of them drop dead. Voila, you have the basic ingredients of the Lavish Agatha Christie Production, a peculiarly English brand of murder-mystery that in the seventies and early eighties brought us death on a train in Murder on the Orient Express, death […]
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: Femme Fatales
“She was bad. She was dangerous. I wouldn’t trust her any further than I could throw her. But, she was my kind of woman.” -Rod Riley (Fred Astaire) in the ‘Girl Hunt’ ballet, The Band Wagon Happy Valentine’s Day! And what better day to celebrate femme fatales, those sinuous, cold-hearted, duplicitous sirens who lead hardboiled […]
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