Experience the perfect blend of mystery and comedy in the world of “Thin Man” movies. In this blog post, we will guide you through the franchise chronologically and explain why these films achieved classic status during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers
“The Thin Man” series follows the charming couple Nick Charles and Nora Charles, played by the incomparable William Powell and Myrna Loy, as they solve murders and crimes with a side of hilarity.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer to these films, you’ll soon understand why they’ve remained so beloved. So sit back, grab a martini, and let’s dive into the world of the “Thin Man” franchise.
A List of All ‘Thin Man’ Movies In Order The Thin Man (1934) After the Thin Man (1936) Another Thin Man (1939) Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) The Thin Man Goes Home...
Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers
“The Thin Man” series follows the charming couple Nick Charles and Nora Charles, played by the incomparable William Powell and Myrna Loy, as they solve murders and crimes with a side of hilarity.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer to these films, you’ll soon understand why they’ve remained so beloved. So sit back, grab a martini, and let’s dive into the world of the “Thin Man” franchise.
A List of All ‘Thin Man’ Movies In Order The Thin Man (1934) After the Thin Man (1936) Another Thin Man (1939) Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) The Thin Man Goes Home...
- 6/4/2023
- by Israr Ahmed
- buddytv.com
What is it about the game of golf that makes good cinema? We can barely keep our eyes open during the PGA Tour. Its tranquil vibes are more relaxing than a glass of warm milk. And we can't name but a handful of players: Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, er... Is there a famous "Dave" in there? Still, we could pop in and enjoy at least a dozen films about the sport at a moment's notice on a lazy Saturday afternoon. There's something majestic about the luscious greens, the stillness of the crowd, the whispered play-by-play, and the distant thwack of a ball that translates to the big screen.
Or maybe it's the class struggle, as golf is seen as a gentleman's sport designed for the wealthy. A round of golf at Pebble Beach will set you back nearly 600! Or perhaps we're intoxicated by the psychology of the game,...
Or maybe it's the class struggle, as golf is seen as a gentleman's sport designed for the wealthy. A round of golf at Pebble Beach will set you back nearly 600! Or perhaps we're intoxicated by the psychology of the game,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Jeff Ames
- Slash Film
One of Orson Welles’ best has arrived in 4K! Kino Lorber has revived Universal’s 3-version study of the bordertown crime & corruption drama, that knocks us out with Welles’ colorful, weird characters, intricate scene blocking and infinitely creative camera work. Almost all of the extras from the earlier DVD and Blu-ray editions are here, with added expert commentary (the tally of tracks is now five). The performances are superb — Welles won’t lay off the candy bars, Janet Leigh wisely avoids the motel shower and Charlton Heston is actually fine as a ‘pretty unlikely’ Mexican. We’ve seen this show ten times — it’s so dense that each viewing brings new revelations.
Touch of Evil 4K
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1958-1998 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 96, 109, 111 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Ray Collins, Joanna Moore,...
Touch of Evil 4K
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1958-1998 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 96, 109, 111 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Ray Collins, Joanna Moore,...
- 6/28/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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“More Sleuthing, More Drinking”
By Raymond Benson
The Thin Man, released in 1934, was such a success (and Oscar nominee) that Hollywood decided to make a sequel. After the Thin Man, released in 1936, reunited stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, the Wire Fox Terrier-actor Skippy as “Asta,” director W. S. Van Dyke, writer Dashiell Hammett (who wrote the original novel and supplied story ideas for the sequels), and screenwriters Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable follow-up, if not quite as brilliant as the original (sequels seldom are).
One of the more striking elements of After the Thin Man is the presence of a young James Stewart in a supporting role. It is one of his earliest screen appearances, and he displays the charisma that would suit him well for the next several decades.
The...
“More Sleuthing, More Drinking”
By Raymond Benson
The Thin Man, released in 1934, was such a success (and Oscar nominee) that Hollywood decided to make a sequel. After the Thin Man, released in 1936, reunited stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, the Wire Fox Terrier-actor Skippy as “Asta,” director W. S. Van Dyke, writer Dashiell Hammett (who wrote the original novel and supplied story ideas for the sequels), and screenwriters Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable follow-up, if not quite as brilliant as the original (sequels seldom are).
One of the more striking elements of After the Thin Man is the presence of a young James Stewart in a supporting role. It is one of his earliest screen appearances, and he displays the charisma that would suit him well for the next several decades.
The...
- 1/21/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Jane Russell in Underwater! is now available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives. Order info can be found Here
Master director John Sturges lends his talents as the helmsman of “Men’s Adventure” movies to this Howard Hughes production starring Hughes’s favorite muse, Jane Russell. While diving off the coast of Cuba, Dominic Quesada (Gilbert Roland) discovers a long-lost fortune but needs help to raise his find from the depths bringing Johnny (Richard Egan) and Theresa Gray (Russell) into his scheme. Now, as the trio fights to lift the decaying hull from its precarious resting spot on the brink of a bottomless undersea chasm, they are attacked by sharks and modern-day pirates (Joseph Calleia). Roland and Egan may bring the beefcake, while Russell and Lori Nelson provide the cheesecake, but the real meal is Sturges’ sweeping undersea spectacle. 16×9 Letterbox . New 2020 1080p HD Master From 4K Scan of the Original Camera...
Master director John Sturges lends his talents as the helmsman of “Men’s Adventure” movies to this Howard Hughes production starring Hughes’s favorite muse, Jane Russell. While diving off the coast of Cuba, Dominic Quesada (Gilbert Roland) discovers a long-lost fortune but needs help to raise his find from the depths bringing Johnny (Richard Egan) and Theresa Gray (Russell) into his scheme. Now, as the trio fights to lift the decaying hull from its precarious resting spot on the brink of a bottomless undersea chasm, they are attacked by sharks and modern-day pirates (Joseph Calleia). Roland and Egan may bring the beefcake, while Russell and Lori Nelson provide the cheesecake, but the real meal is Sturges’ sweeping undersea spectacle. 16×9 Letterbox . New 2020 1080p HD Master From 4K Scan of the Original Camera...
- 1/28/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
No, this isn’t a documentary about the sorry situation faced by too many American homeowners. Howard Hughes takes Rko into SuperScope and color for this attractive, somewhat tame sunken treasure adventure starring his captive glamour star Jane Russell. No off-color advertising slogans this time around, but the show shapes up as a swimsuit catalog for Jane as well as her handsome co-stars Richard Egan and Gilbert Roland. Plus, the Latin rhythms of the incomparable Pérez Prado!
Underwater!
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:1 widescreen (SuperScope) / 99 min. / Street Date January 29, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jane Russell, Richard Egan, Gilbert Roland, Lori Nelson, Robert Keith, Joseph Calleia, Eugene Iglesias, Ric Roman, Dámaso Pérez Prado, Max Wagner.
Cinematography: Harry J. Wild
Film Editors: Stuart Gilmore, Frederic Knudtson
Original Music: Roy Webb
Second Unit Director: William Dorfman
Underwater photography: Lamar Boren
Written by Walter Newman story by Hugh King, Robert B. Bailey
Produced by Harry Tatelman,...
Underwater!
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:1 widescreen (SuperScope) / 99 min. / Street Date January 29, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jane Russell, Richard Egan, Gilbert Roland, Lori Nelson, Robert Keith, Joseph Calleia, Eugene Iglesias, Ric Roman, Dámaso Pérez Prado, Max Wagner.
Cinematography: Harry J. Wild
Film Editors: Stuart Gilmore, Frederic Knudtson
Original Music: Roy Webb
Second Unit Director: William Dorfman
Underwater photography: Lamar Boren
Written by Walter Newman story by Hugh King, Robert B. Bailey
Produced by Harry Tatelman,...
- 1/28/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Westerns are all about values: good and bad, law and lawlessness, etc. Joel McCrea and Frances Dee’s ‘bad man’ saga isn’t faith based, exactly, but it’s great for humanitarian values, the simple notion that the good in people should be encouraged. And one important detail may make it unique. Hint: John Milius might be strongly prejudiced against this picture.
Four Faces West
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 89 min. / Street Date December 19, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Joel McCrea, Frances Dee, Charles Bickford, Joseph Calleia, William Conrad.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: Edward Mann
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by C. Graham Baker, Teddi Sherman, William & Milarde Brent from the novel Pasó por aquí by Eugene Manlove Rhodes
Produced by Vernon E. Clark, Harry Sherman
Directed by Alfred E. Green
Faith-based westerns exist, but much more numerous are lightly inspirational sagebrush pictures that deal...
Four Faces West
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 89 min. / Street Date December 19, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Joel McCrea, Frances Dee, Charles Bickford, Joseph Calleia, William Conrad.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: Edward Mann
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by C. Graham Baker, Teddi Sherman, William & Milarde Brent from the novel Pasó por aquí by Eugene Manlove Rhodes
Produced by Vernon E. Clark, Harry Sherman
Directed by Alfred E. Green
Faith-based westerns exist, but much more numerous are lightly inspirational sagebrush pictures that deal...
- 12/12/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Even lesser Abbott & Costello movies are still comedy gravy to the avid fans of the fast-talking duo. Their first film deal away from Universal yields a so-so production graced with a string of their patented old-time comedy routines. And the transfer beats anything we’ve yet seen.
The Noose Hangs High
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1948 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through ClassicFlix / 24.99
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Joseph Calleia, Leon Errol, Cathy Downs, Mike Mazurki, Fritz Feld, Murray Leonard, Ellen Corby, Russell Hicks, James Flavin, Minerva Urecal, Fred Kelsey.
Cinematography: Charles Van Enger
Film Editor: Harry Reynolds
Assistant Director: Howard W. Koch
Original Music: Walter Schumann
Written by John Grant, Howard Harris from an earlier screenplay by Charles Grayson, Arthur T. Horman story by Julian Blaustein, Daniel Taradash, Bernard Feins
Produced and Directed by Charles Barton
A few famous movie comedy teams prospered with good will and parted with hugs,...
The Noose Hangs High
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1948 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date August 15, 2017 / available through ClassicFlix / 24.99
Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Joseph Calleia, Leon Errol, Cathy Downs, Mike Mazurki, Fritz Feld, Murray Leonard, Ellen Corby, Russell Hicks, James Flavin, Minerva Urecal, Fred Kelsey.
Cinematography: Charles Van Enger
Film Editor: Harry Reynolds
Assistant Director: Howard W. Koch
Original Music: Walter Schumann
Written by John Grant, Howard Harris from an earlier screenplay by Charles Grayson, Arthur T. Horman story by Julian Blaustein, Daniel Taradash, Bernard Feins
Produced and Directed by Charles Barton
A few famous movie comedy teams prospered with good will and parted with hugs,...
- 8/26/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“This isn’t the real Mexico. You know that. All border towns bring out the worst in a country. I can just imagine your mother’s face if she could see our honeymoon hotel.”
Touch Of Evil screens Wednesday May 10th at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar in ‘The Loop’) as part of their new ‘Classics in the Loop’ Crime & Noir film series. The movie starts at 7pm and admission is $7. It will be on The Tivoli’s big screen.
Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) is a Mexican detective who gets caught up in the strange case of a car being blown up in an America-Mexico border town. Not only does the ethical Vargas have to deal with criminal factions in the area, he must butt heads with the domineering Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), a celebrated police detective. Vargas must prove that Quinlan isn’t the hero that others make him out to be,...
Touch Of Evil screens Wednesday May 10th at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar in ‘The Loop’) as part of their new ‘Classics in the Loop’ Crime & Noir film series. The movie starts at 7pm and admission is $7. It will be on The Tivoli’s big screen.
Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) is a Mexican detective who gets caught up in the strange case of a car being blown up in an America-Mexico border town. Not only does the ethical Vargas have to deal with criminal factions in the area, he must butt heads with the domineering Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), a celebrated police detective. Vargas must prove that Quinlan isn’t the hero that others make him out to be,...
- 5/8/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
There’s nothing more fun than getting to watch classic movies the way they were intended–on the big screen!
Now, I understand plenty of people don’t want to go to a theater, spend a fortune on tickets, popcorn, and a drink just to see the glow of cell phones and hear people rudely talking while someone kicks your seat from behind, but that’s not the experience you’ll get at Landmark theaters affordable ‘Crime & Noir’ film series. St. Louis movie buffs are in for a treat as Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater will return with it’s ‘Classics on the Loop’ every Wednesday beginning April 5th at 7pm. This season, the Tivoli will screen, on their big screen (which seats 320 btw), eight crime and noir masterpiece that need to be seen in a theater with an audience. Admission is only $7.
One benefits of the big screen is...
Now, I understand plenty of people don’t want to go to a theater, spend a fortune on tickets, popcorn, and a drink just to see the glow of cell phones and hear people rudely talking while someone kicks your seat from behind, but that’s not the experience you’ll get at Landmark theaters affordable ‘Crime & Noir’ film series. St. Louis movie buffs are in for a treat as Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater will return with it’s ‘Classics on the Loop’ every Wednesday beginning April 5th at 7pm. This season, the Tivoli will screen, on their big screen (which seats 320 btw), eight crime and noir masterpiece that need to be seen in a theater with an audience. Admission is only $7.
One benefits of the big screen is...
- 3/22/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This adult film noir masterpiece showcases the most glamorous pin-up dream girl of the 1940s. Rita Hayworth, a young Glenn Ford and a sinister George Macready form a sophisticated, poisonous love triangle. Criminal intrigues and killer striptease fill out the bill. Gilda Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 795 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 19, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray, Joe Sawyer, Gerald Mohr, Ludwig Donath, Argentina Brunetti, Eduardo Ciannelli, Ruth Roman. Cinematography Rudolph Maté Film Editor Charles Nelson Music underscore Hugo Friedhofer Written by Marion Parsonnet, Jo Eisinger, E.A. Ellington Produced by Virginia Van Upp Directed by Charles Vidor
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some of the best 'movie' times I remember were seeing classic pictures cold, with no knowledge beforehand. Back at film school they'd show us things we'd never heard of, often in prints of incredible good quality.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some of the best 'movie' times I remember were seeing classic pictures cold, with no knowledge beforehand. Back at film school they'd show us things we'd never heard of, often in prints of incredible good quality.
- 1/30/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
William Cameron Menzies. William Cameron Menzies movies on TCM: Murderous Joan Fontaine, deadly Nazi Communists Best known as an art director/production designer, William Cameron Menzies was a jack-of-all-trades. It seems like the only things Menzies didn't do was act and tap dance in front of the camera. He designed and/or wrote, directed, produced, etc., dozens of films – titles ranged from The Thief of Bagdad to Invaders from Mars – from the late 1910s all the way to the mid-1950s. Among Menzies' most notable efforts as an art director/production designer are: Ernst Lubitsch's first Hollywood movie, the Mary Pickford star vehicle Rosita (1923). Herbert Brenon's British-set father-son drama Sorrell and Son (1927). David O. Selznick's mammoth production of Gone with the Wind, which earned Menzies an Honorary Oscar. The Sam Wood movies Our Town (1940), Kings Row (1942), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). H.C. Potter's Mr. Lucky...
- 1/28/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Stop! Don't touch that dial... if you like your atom-age propaganda straight up, MGM has the movie for you, an expensive 1946 docu-drama that became 'the official story' for the making of the bomb. The huge cast includes Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, and Joseph Calleia. How trustworthy is the movie? It begins by showing footage of a time capsule being buried -- that supposedly contains the film we are watching. Think about that. Mom, Apple Pie, the Flag and God are enlisted to argume that we should stop worrying and love the fact that bombs are just peachy-keen dandy. The Beginning or the End DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date September 22, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, Joseph Calleia, Godfrey Tearle, Victor Francen,...
- 1/4/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Dalton Trumbo and Nathanael West contributed to the screenplay for John Farrow's suspense adventure about a plane crash in the Amazon jungle -- who will survive? Lucille Ball is the ranking castaway in a glossy Rko thriller that's been restored to a fine polish. Five Came Back DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1939 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 75 min. / Street Date June 30, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Wendy Barrie, John Carradine, Allen Jenkins, Joseph Calleia, C. Aubrey Smith, Kent Taylor, Patric Knowles, Elisabeth Risdon, Casey Johnson, Frank Faylen. Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca Original Music Roy Webb Written by Jerome Cady, Dalton Trumbo, Nathanael West story by Richard Carroll Produced by Robert Sisk Directed by John Farrow
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When they list the 'big' pictures of 1939, the ones that we're told made that year Hollywood's best ever, there are some winning titles that don't get mentioned.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When they list the 'big' pictures of 1939, the ones that we're told made that year Hollywood's best ever, there are some winning titles that don't get mentioned.
- 12/5/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Norma Shearer films Note: This article is being revised and expanded. Please check back later. Turner Classic Movies' Norma Shearer month comes to a close this evening, Nov. 24, '15, with the presentation of the last six films of Shearer's two-decade-plus career. Two of these are remarkably good; one is schizophrenic, a confused mix of high comedy and low drama; while the other three aren't the greatest. Yet all six are worth a look even if only because of Norma Shearer herself – though, really, they all have more to offer than just their top star. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the no-expense-spared Marie Antoinette (1938) – $2.9 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made up to that time – stars the Canadian-born Queen of MGM as the Austrian-born Queen of France. This was Shearer's first film in two years (following Romeo and Juliet) and her first release following husband Irving G.
- 11/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Norma Shearer films Note: This article is being revised and expanded. Please check back later. Turner Classic Movies' Norma Shearer month comes to a close this evening, Nov. 24, '15, with the presentation of the last six films of Shearer's two-decade-plus career. Two of these are remarkably good; one is schizophrenic, a confused mix of high comedy and low drama; while the other three aren't the greatest. Yet all six are worth a look even if only because of Norma Shearer herself – though, really, they all have more to offer than just their top star. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the no-expense-spared Marie Antoinette (1938) – $2.9 million, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made up to that time – stars the Canadian-born Queen of MGM as the Austrian-born Queen of France. This was Shearer's first film in two years (following Romeo and Juliet) and her first release following husband Irving G.
- 11/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Viewers expecting to see a lighthearted 'Cisco Kid' swashbuckler got a surprise with William Wellman's movie: it's a tragedy about a genuine historical California bandit who may have been an outlaw terrorist, avenging murderous discrimination against Mexican-Americans in the Gold Rush days. Hangings, rape and massacres -- not your average popcorn matinee fare for 1936. The Robin Hood of El Dorado DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1936 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 85 min. / Street Date May 26, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 18.49 Starring Warner Baxter, Ann Loring, Bruce Cabot, Margo, J. Carrol Naish, Soledad Jimenez, Carlos De Valdez, Eric Linden, Edgar Kennedy, Charles Trowbridge, Harvey Stephens, Marc Lawrence. Cinematography Chester Lyons Film Editor Robert J. Kern Original Music Herbert Stothart Written by William A. Wellman, Joseph Calleia, Melvin Levy, from a book by Walter Noble Burns Produced by John W. Considine Jr. Directed by William A. Wellman
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I'm always...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I'm always...
- 9/1/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Touch of Evil - Universal - Blu-ray Director: Orson Welles Cast: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff. Citizen Kane is the movie people most readily associate with Orson Welles, but if that's the only of Welles' films you've seen, then you absolutely must grab this new Blu-ray release of his 1958 crime noir Touch of Evil. It's an all-around smart, intense, twisty story about murder and corruption featuring a dynamite cast and a flawless command of so many of the elements that make noir such a beloved genre. Plus, it has one of the best tracking shots of all time. If you're the type of modern film fan who instinctively avoids most older movies, especially if they're in black and white...
Read More...
Read More...
- 4/16/2014
- by Peter Hall
- Movies.com
Paul Henreid in ‘Casablanca’: Freedom Fighter on screen, Blacklisted ‘Subversive’ off screen Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013, Paul Henreid, bids you farewell this evening. TCM left the most popular, if not exactly the best, for last: Casablanca, Michael Curtiz’s 1943 Best Picture Oscar-winning drama, is showing at 7 p.m. Pt tonight. (Photo: Paul Henreid sings "La Marseillaise" in Casablanca.) One of the best-remembered movies of the studio era, Casablanca — not set in a Spanish or Mexican White House — features Paul Henreid as Czechoslovakian underground leader Victor Laszlo, Ingrid Bergman’s husband but not her True Love. That’s Humphrey Bogart, owner of a cafe in the titular Moroccan city. Henreid’s anti-Nazi hero is generally considered one of least interesting elements in Casablanca, but Alt Film Guide contributor Dan Schneider thinks otherwise. In any case, Victor Laszlo feels like a character made to order for Paul Henreid,...
- 7/31/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Eleanor Parker 2013 movie series continues today (photo: Eleanor Parker in Detective Story) Palm Springs resident Eleanor Parker is Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of June 2013. Thus, eight more Eleanor Parker movies will be shown this evening on TCM. Parker turns 91 on Wednesday, June 26. (See also: “Eleanor Parker Today.”) Eleanor Parker received her second Best Actress Academy Award nomination for William Wyler’s crime drama Detective Story (1951). The movie itself feels dated, partly because of several melodramatic plot developments, and partly because of Kirk Douglas’ excessive theatricality as the detective whose story is told. Parker, however, is excellent as Douglas’ wife, though her role is subordinate to his. Just about as good is Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Lee Grant, whose career would be derailed by the anti-Red hysteria of the ’50s. Grant would make her comeback in the ’70s, eventually winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her...
- 6/25/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Over my time authoring Top 10 Tuesdays (or Thursdays if your editor is slow!) for Owf, I’ve submitted a couple of articles chronicling the best full-length films available to watch online (Part I and Part II). My attention focused on YouTube’s offerings in these previous lists, but today I turn to the Internet Archive. This site is dedicated to offering the general public as much content as possible – whether it’s live concerts, television shows or indeed feature films – for free viewing/listening or download. As I’ve previously mentioned, this content is in the Public Domain, which means the reproduction and offers of free viewings or downloads is entirely legal.
As a relentless fan and tireless advocate for classical Hollywood fare, The Internet Archive is one of my favourite sites out in the stratosphere of the interweb! Read on to find 10 classic films that you really have no excuse not to watch…...
As a relentless fan and tireless advocate for classical Hollywood fare, The Internet Archive is one of my favourite sites out in the stratosphere of the interweb! Read on to find 10 classic films that you really have no excuse not to watch…...
- 4/21/2011
- by Stuart Cummins
- Obsessed with Film
Film Noir Classic Collection: Vol. 5, has dusted off eight films of the celebrated genre and adapted them to DVD format. Collections like these, which bring older films to newer light, are godsends regardless (to a degree) of which films are selected, because as timeless as some of these stories and performances might be, the barrier of being stuck in an old format can bury them forever. And these stories deserve to be told. If you watch a few well made noir thrillers you will no doubt see the seeds that were planted in the heads of crime-thriller filmmakers the likes of Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann. Though there are better films in the noir genre that this collection could have culminated, there are also a lot worse. Any fan of noir films or old mysteries and thrillers will be pleased at what this box set has to offer.
Desperate (1947)
Directed...
Desperate (1947)
Directed...
- 7/20/2010
- by Ryan Katona
- JustPressPlay.net
Night at the Golden Eagle
A swan dive into the dangerous human flotsam of an L.A. skid row hotel, with an ensemble cast of non-stars playing losers and psychos, the indie production "Night at the Golden Eagle" is both admirable -- for attempting to show everyday violence (usually against women) in all its sickening unavoidableness -- and a trial to sit through because of its unevenness and half-realized literary ambitions. Produced and released by Shangri-La Entertainment, "Night" is strictly art house fare, with potential post-theatrical buzz coming from critics and enthusiastic fans.
Writer-director Adam Rifkin ("The Chase", "Detroit Rock City") was inspired by the two most memorable male characters, who are played by newcomer (and real-life ex-mafioso) Donnie Montemarano and Vinny Argiro ("Molly"). Longtime friends in real life, the former is an oppressively menacing presence as just-out-of-prison Tommy, while Argiro, as longtime best friend Mic, deftly handles all the shifts of his character. One is reminded at times of Orson Welles and Joseph Calleia in "Touch of Evil", and it's natural to predict that bad things will happen in the end.
But for all the authentic-sounding patter and dingy atmosphere, "Night" veers into territory that Rifkin and crew struggle to make completely convincing. There's also not much of a theme or sense of justice. This amoral, cold universe can have its brief moments of warmth between characters, but through the impatient filmmaking and stark tone in general, one just waits grimly for the next shock without developing much attachment to the characters.
Natasha Lyonne and Ann Magnuson are thoroughly immersed in their roles as hard-living hookers who make use of the Golden Eagle Hotel, where aging small-time criminals Tommy and Vinny agree to stay one night and then leave on the bus for legitimate jobs and normal lives in Las Vegas. Dream on, boys. They'll get away only if Tommy can control his urges to be bad and the environment doesn't get them first.
Rifkin's take on human nature is bleaker than the surroundings, while fate is cruel to just about everyone. Condensed into a single day, the omnitragic story includes two cold-blooded murders and a fatal heart attack. There's also the brutal introduction to prostitution of a young runaway (Nicole Jacobs), with the help of Magnuson and Lyonne's abusive pimp (Vinnie Jones). James Caan appears for mere seconds at the beginning as a prison warden, while other auspicious supporting actors include singer Sam Moore, tap dancer Fayard Nicholas (of The Nicholas Brothers) and Kitten Natividad.
After her solid work as a working girl, Lyonne makes the most out of impersonating a corpse through half the film. Likewise, there's much to praise in the performances of Magnuson, Jacobs and secondary players like Miles Dougal, as the sleazy desk clerk. Nonetheless, too much rides on one embracing the performance of Montemarano, whose Tommy is pathologically unthinking in his struggle to survive. And overall "Night" can seem endless, while it's trying to give one nightmares.
NIGHT AT THE GOLDEN EAGLE
Shangri-La Entertainment
Credits:
Writer-director: Adam Rifkin
Producer: Steve Bing
Executive producers: Mindy Marin, Morgan Sackett
Director of photography: Francesco Varese
Editor: Peter Schink
Music: Tyler Bates
Casting: Mindy Marin
Cast:
Tommy: Donnie Montemarano
Mic: Vinny Argiro
Amber: Natasha Lyonne
Sally: Ann Magnuson
Loriann: Nicole Jacobs
Rodan: Vinnie Jones
Mr. Maynard: Fayard Nicholas.
Running time -- 91 minutes
MPAA rating R...
Writer-director Adam Rifkin ("The Chase", "Detroit Rock City") was inspired by the two most memorable male characters, who are played by newcomer (and real-life ex-mafioso) Donnie Montemarano and Vinny Argiro ("Molly"). Longtime friends in real life, the former is an oppressively menacing presence as just-out-of-prison Tommy, while Argiro, as longtime best friend Mic, deftly handles all the shifts of his character. One is reminded at times of Orson Welles and Joseph Calleia in "Touch of Evil", and it's natural to predict that bad things will happen in the end.
But for all the authentic-sounding patter and dingy atmosphere, "Night" veers into territory that Rifkin and crew struggle to make completely convincing. There's also not much of a theme or sense of justice. This amoral, cold universe can have its brief moments of warmth between characters, but through the impatient filmmaking and stark tone in general, one just waits grimly for the next shock without developing much attachment to the characters.
Natasha Lyonne and Ann Magnuson are thoroughly immersed in their roles as hard-living hookers who make use of the Golden Eagle Hotel, where aging small-time criminals Tommy and Vinny agree to stay one night and then leave on the bus for legitimate jobs and normal lives in Las Vegas. Dream on, boys. They'll get away only if Tommy can control his urges to be bad and the environment doesn't get them first.
Rifkin's take on human nature is bleaker than the surroundings, while fate is cruel to just about everyone. Condensed into a single day, the omnitragic story includes two cold-blooded murders and a fatal heart attack. There's also the brutal introduction to prostitution of a young runaway (Nicole Jacobs), with the help of Magnuson and Lyonne's abusive pimp (Vinnie Jones). James Caan appears for mere seconds at the beginning as a prison warden, while other auspicious supporting actors include singer Sam Moore, tap dancer Fayard Nicholas (of The Nicholas Brothers) and Kitten Natividad.
After her solid work as a working girl, Lyonne makes the most out of impersonating a corpse through half the film. Likewise, there's much to praise in the performances of Magnuson, Jacobs and secondary players like Miles Dougal, as the sleazy desk clerk. Nonetheless, too much rides on one embracing the performance of Montemarano, whose Tommy is pathologically unthinking in his struggle to survive. And overall "Night" can seem endless, while it's trying to give one nightmares.
NIGHT AT THE GOLDEN EAGLE
Shangri-La Entertainment
Credits:
Writer-director: Adam Rifkin
Producer: Steve Bing
Executive producers: Mindy Marin, Morgan Sackett
Director of photography: Francesco Varese
Editor: Peter Schink
Music: Tyler Bates
Casting: Mindy Marin
Cast:
Tommy: Donnie Montemarano
Mic: Vinny Argiro
Amber: Natasha Lyonne
Sally: Ann Magnuson
Loriann: Nicole Jacobs
Rodan: Vinnie Jones
Mr. Maynard: Fayard Nicholas.
Running time -- 91 minutes
MPAA rating R...
- 5/1/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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