I’ll be taking part in a few blogathons next month and in September. First up is the Rule Britannia Blogathon, hosted by A Shroud of Thoughts. I’ll be writing about the British version of Gaslight, a more faithful adaptation of the original play and one MGM notoriously tried to bury. Next, I’ll be heading way, […]
I’ve Received a Blogger Recognition Award
Last week I got a lovely surprise: Sally over at 18 Cinema Lane had nominated me for a Blogger Recognition Award. Thank you, Sally! I really appreciate it. Sally writes about movies and movie news and will soon be hosting her first blogathon, Siskel and Ebert at the Blogathon; I’ve signed up for it and […]
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 […]
A Letter from Groucho Marx, or the Intricacies of Hospitality
I recently rediscovered my copy of The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx, a hilarious volume which contains exactly what it says on the tin. Among the many missives is this gem, addressed to Warner Bros. executive Ben Kalmenson. (Something of a studio major-domo, Kalmenson was a year away from being promoted to […]
A Treasury of George Sanders
George Sanders, the epitome of screen rakes and scoundrels, was born on this day in St. Petersburg, in 1906. Nonchalant, sophisticated and never dull, Sanders didn’t look, sound or act like anyone else on screen. A gifted actor who never took acting seriously, he also had a talent for maths and engineering, could play the piano, […]
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. […]
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