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Every holiday season, millions of people look forward to revisiting some of their favorite Christmas-related movies, whether it’s a comedy like A Christmas Story or Christmas Vacation, something wholesome and uplifting like Miracle on 34th Street or The Bishop’s Wife, or something less conventional, like the noir classics Lady in the Lake or Blast of [ ]
In less than a week, I ll be heading out to Hollywood for the annual TCM Classic Film Festival. It s hard to believe I ve already been going to the festival for over ten years, but I still always look forward to the full schedule to be announced so that I can have fun trying to plan [ ]
By the late 1930s, Ernst Lubitsch had firmly cemented his status as one of the top directors working in Hollywood. After starting his career making silent films in Europe, he came to the United States to direct Mary Pickford in 1923’s Rosita. From there, he built a reputation for his distinctive brand of sophistication and [ ]
Lillian Gish is, unquestionably, one of the most significant stars of the silent film era. But one of her greatest performances from the era was in the last silent film she appeared in: The Wind, released in 1928. The Wind was an adaptation of Dorothy Scarborough s novel by the same name, first published in 1925. [ ]
There s no doubt that Greta Garbo and John Gilbert had two of the most remarkable acting careers of the 1920s. Individually and as an on-screen duo, they starred in some of the most significant movies of the era and 1928 s A Woman of Affairs stands out as a highlight of both of their silent filmographies. [ ]
In just a few days, the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival will be getting underway. Which means I ve spent the past couple of weeks obsessing over the schedule, trying to figure out my plans. As always, there are lots of scheduling conflicts to work out, and even though I mostly have my plans figured out, [ ]
Out of all the stars dubbed “box office poison” by the Independent Theater Owners Association in May 1938, the label has become most strongly associated with Joan Crawford. For the most part, being called “box office poison” ultimately became a footnote in the careers of the stars included on the list. Some moved on from [ ]
If you were a movie fan in late 1941 and early 1942, heading out to the local theater had to feel like a gift from Hollywood particularly if you were fond of comedies. Between December 1941 and January 1942, Ball of Fire and Sullivan s Travels both hit the big screen for the first time. [ ]
Shortly after Little Caesar made a star out of Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney had his own star-making turn in another gangster classic: The Public Enemy. There s much to say about The Public Enemy in terms of its place in the gangster genre, James Cagney s performance as Tom Powers, and its importance to Warner Brothers [ ]
The gangster film genre has roots dating back to the silent era, but in 1931, Warner Brothers brought it to new heights with the release of two movies: Little Caesar and The Public Enemy. Of the two, Little Caesar was released first, making a star of Edward G. Robinson and turning him into a gangster [ ]