Frank Morgan in The Vanishing Virginian: A Fable Agreed Upon
Spring Byington and Frank MorganThe Vanishing Virginian is currently available via Warner Archive, and it's well worth seeing not just for the marvelous performances, but because it raises so many...
View ArticleWhy Bette Changed Her Mind: Davis and Flynn as Elizabeth and Essex
Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth I Errol Flynn and Bette Davis made two films together, The Sisters and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. She resented his casting and considered him a...
View ArticleA Gallant Gentleman — Tyrone Power
Marine Private Tyrone PowerWhen World War Two broke out, Hollywood studios faced a dilemma -- it was a public relations problem if their handsome, athletic male stars didn't serve in the military. But...
View ArticleJoan Crawford Portrays An Heiress Who’s Not So Madcap
(NOTE: This is a repost from 2016. This film will be shown on TCM on 10/2/2018 at 5:15 A.M. EST)I Live My Life is a mid-MGM Joan Crawford vehicle that some people love to hate; I’ve heard it called...
View ArticleGarbo’s Artistry on Display in an Old-Fashioned Romance
Garbo as Madame CavalliniAmidst the new content recently added to the Warner Archive streaming channel is a 1930 vehicle for MGM's biggest star, Greta Garbo, entitled Romance, based on a play that was...
View ArticleWarnings From the Past: Stewart and Sullavan in The Mortal Storm
A Nazi book-burningIn The Mortal Storm, we see a country ruled by a "leader" whose world view is based largely on self- aggrandizing fantasy, establishment of one religious group as a scapegoat for...
View ArticleStanwyck and Morgan Triumph Over Tepid Material in A Lost Lady
Stanwyck as Marian, the Lady of the titleA Lost Lady is an interesting failure, if only because expectations for it were so high. It is based on an award-winning novel by the great American author...
View ArticleErrol Flynn as Soames Forsyte: A Thoughtful, Intelligent Performance
(NOTE: PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD) Janet Leigh, Robert Young, Errol Flynn, Greer Garson MGM’s That Forsyte Woman was an ambitious project, seeking to somehow condense about four long novels into the length...
View ArticleBoys Headed for Hollywood: Do You Recognize Them?
These handsome youngsters all became household names at some point in their lives. Even as children they all look like strong personalities, don’t they? Here’s the key: Top row, left to right, William...
View ArticleDefiance Flung in the Teeth of Nazism: George Arliss in The House of Rothschild
Even today it would be it would be remarkable for a major movie studio to make a film about a prominent family of Jewish bankers. Imagine the buzz that went around Hollywood in 1934 when news came out...
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