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Every talented artist needs to look at their work from time to time and say, “Damn! I’m good.” Well, Alfred Hitchcock did that. The legendary British director — known as the “Master of Suspense” — made over 50 films in his career and loved most of them. Why wouldn’t he adore them? His movies garnered a whopping 46 Oscar nominations, making him the true symbol of excellence. And at the box office, they brought in more hundreds of millions. On top of that, Hitchcock invented (or popularized) many filmmaking techniques, including the “Dolly Zoom,” and the “MacGuffin,” leaving a true mark on cinema.

In a 1969 interview with the BBC, the Master of Suspense named Rear Window and Shadow of a Doubt as two of his cherished works from his catalog. He also had good things to say about many of his other films. However, he hated Suspicion, a lavishly photographed, first-rate romantic...

The horror films produced by Val Lewton for Rko Studios throughout the 1940s all share DNA, though the third and fourth films in the cycle, Jacques Tournier’s I Walked with a Zombie and Mark Robson’s The Seventh Victim, seem to be especially connected. Both were released in 1943 and concern protagonists who enter hidden worlds beyond their understanding, worlds that allude to rot existing in conventional society should one care to acknowledge it. The protagonists’ growing awareness parallels our own, though in each case the viewer is left with little hope for reform or closure. They have glimpsed nightmare realms and are humbled by what they discover about their societies as well as themselves.

Notions of reform are particularly relevant to I Walked with a Zombie, which offers an unusually nuanced portrait of the legacy of colonialism. Betsy Connell (Frances Dee), a nurse from snowy Ottawa, is hired to...

Directed by horror master George A. Romero, the box office smash, Night of the Living Dead, arrives on 4K Uhd on 7th October. Shot on a shoestring budget the movie is a great story of independent cinema and became one of the most influential films of all time.

Following on 14th October comes I Walked with a Zombie and The Seventh Victim on 4K Uhd and Blu-ray™ . Terror lives in the shadows in a pair of mesmerizingly moody horror milestones conjured from the imagination of Val Lewton, the visionary producer-auteur who turned our fears of the unseen and the unknown into haunting excursions into existential dread.

To celebrate this release we have a chance for 2 lucky winers to win a copy of all 3 movies.

Criterion Collection Halloween Giveaway

Night of the Living Dead

New 4K Restoration

Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget, by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark,...

A pair of moody horror milestones from producer Val Lewton, I Walked with a Zombie and The Seventh Victim are being paired up for a new release from The Criterion Collection.

The double feature is getting a 4K Uhd + Blu-ray combo edition as well as a Blu-ray edition and a DVD edition, with the release date for all three versions set for October 8, 2024.

Terror lives in the shadows in a pair of mesmerizingly moody horror milestones conjured from the imagination of Val Lewton, the visionary producer-auteur who turned our fears of the unseen and the unknown into haunting excursions into existential dread.

As head of Rko’s B-horror-movie unit during the 1940s, Lewton, working with directors such as Jacques Tourneur and Mark Robson, brought a new sophistication to the genre by wringing chills not from conventional movie monsters but from brooding atmosphere, suggestion, and psychosexual unease.

Suffused with ritual, mysticism,...

Has any young actress ever had a year Katharine Hepburn experienced in 1933? After making her film debut in 1932’s “Bill of Divorcement” with John Barrymore, the 26-year-old with the preternatural cheekbones demonstrated her versatility in three exceptional motion pictures 90 years ago. The great Kate soared high as famed aviatrix who has a tragic affair with a married member of Parliament in Dorothy Arzner’s daring pre-code romantic drama “Christopher Strong.” Next up was “Morning Glory,” for which she won her first of four best actress Oscars-and of course was a no-show at the ceremony- as an eager young actress. And Hepburn ended the year with “Little Women,” the acclaimed box office hit which made $100,000 during its first week at Radio City Music Hall, based on Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel.

Most “little women” have read Alcott’s autobiographical coming-of-age novel that was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. Set...

It’s a nearly perfect tale of identity swaps and royal intrigues: Ronald Colman’s voice is velvet smooth as the poet-rogue François Villon, who uses his wits when dealing with Basil Rathbone’s (very strangely played) Louis XI. The real charm comes with lady-in-waiting Frances Dee (swoon) and the peasant firebrand Ellen Drew (double swoon). And don’t forget the sophisticated, semi-satirical screenplay by Preston Sturges. The refreshing Blu-ray discovery comes with a commentary by Julie Kirgo.

If I Were King

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1938 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 101 min. / Street Date February 7, 2023 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Frances Dee, Ellen Drew, C.V. France, Henry Wilcoxon, Heather Thatcher, Stanley Ridges, Alma Lloyd, Sidney Toler, John Miljan, Montagu Love, May Beatty, Henry Brandon, Darryl Hickman.

Cinematography: Theodore Sparkuhl

Costumer: Edith Head

Art Directors: Hans Drier, John Goodman

Film Editor: Hugh Bennett

Visual Effects: Gordon Jennings

Original Music:...

In film history, the anthology genre is the most challenging. Episodic films often have several directors and screenwriters which gives them an inconsistent tone and quality. But the genre’s pitfalls haven’t stopped such filmmakers including Akira Kurosawa (“Dreams”), the Coens (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City”); Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese (“New York Stories”); and Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller and Steven Spielberg (“Twilight Zone: The Movie”).

Wes Anderson joined them with his latest film “The French Dispatch,” which received a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The comedy brings to life three stories from an American magazine published in a fictional French city and features his stock company of actors including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.

If you are a fan of the genre, here are the best anthology movies that...

From retrospective screening series celebrating everything from Hammer films to the movies of Jean Rollin and Mario Bava, New York's Quad Cinema has always featured an eclectic lineup of classic horror films, and this month is certainly no exception. To celebrate the January 24th opening night screening of Bertrand Bonello's Zombi Child, Quad Cinema is featuring a bunch of 35mm screenings of movies that inspired Bonello's latest film, including Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow, Brian De Palma's Carrie, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and more.

You can view the full lineup of Quad Cinema's "Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child" screenings below, and to learn more, visit their official website.

"Origin Stories:

Bertrand Bonello’s Footnotes to Zombi Child

Starts Fri January 17

French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello selects films that inspired and informed his upcoming Zombi Child, opening January 24

Titles include 35mm prints of Carrie, I Walked with a Zombie,...

Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig’s take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her own terms — is both timeless and timely.

Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

There have been other adaptations of the book. Most famously Little Women (1933) – Directed by George Cukor, stars Katharine Hepburn (Jo), Joan Bennett (Amy), Jean Parker (Beth), and Frances Dee (Meg). Little Women (1949) – Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, stars June Allyson (Jo), Elizabeth Taylor (Amy), Margaret O...

Some show had to be the first — back in 1935, this was the first movie to be produced entirely in full 3 strip Technicolor. Just like any revolutionary filmic development, it came from outside the studio system, which says something about how Hollywood works — studios will spend millions of dollars to take advantage of a striking innovation, but let somebody else do the painful R&D. Pioneer Pictures’ project began filming started with one director but then restarted with Rouben Mamoulian, who a little earlier had already shown the town a thing or two about the possibilities of sound. A stage play of the classic novel becomes almost a pageant of color, led by the reliable Miriam Hopkins. Is the movie any good? That’s debatable. But it needs to be seen, to fully appreciate the movie miracle created by chemists, not artists.

Becky Sharp

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1935 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 84 min.

Emma Watson is taking a step back in time for her upcoming film Little Women.

The 28-year-old actress was photographed on the set of her latest film, an adaptation of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel of the same name.

Watson wore a long blue gown with a light pink cape and her hair in a low bun.

The film centers around the four March sisters who confront growing pains, financial woes, tragedies and romantic rivalries.

Here’s everything we know about the latest adaptation of the film.

It Has an A-List Cast

Watson isn’t the only big name...

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...

Ronald Colman: Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in two major 1930s classics Updated: Turner Classic Movies' July 2017 Star of the Month is Ronald Colman, one of the finest performers of the studio era. On Thursday night, TCM presented five Colman star vehicles that should be popping up again in the not-too-distant future: A Tale of Two Cities, The Prisoner of Zenda, Kismet, Lucky Partners, and My Life with Caroline. The first two movies are among not only Colman's best, but also among Hollywood's best during its so-called Golden Age. Based on Charles Dickens' classic novel, Jack Conway's Academy Award-nominated A Tale of Two Cities (1936) is a rare Hollywood production indeed: it manages to effectively condense its sprawling source, it boasts first-rate production values, and it features a phenomenal central performance. Ah, it also shows its star without his trademark mustache – about as famous at the time as Clark Gable's. Perhaps...

Turner Classic Movies continues with its Gay Hollywood presentations tonight and tomorrow morning, June 8–9. Seven movies will be shown about, featuring, directed, or produced by the following: Cole Porter, Lorenz Hart, Farley Granger, John Dall, Edmund Goulding, W. Somerset Maughan, Clifton Webb, Montgomery Clift, Raymond Burr, Charles Walters, DeWitt Bodeen, and Harriet Parsons. (One assumes that it's a mere coincidence that gay rumor subjects Cary Grant and Tyrone Power are also featured.) Night and Day (1946), which could also be considered part of TCM's homage to birthday girl Alexis Smith, who would have turned 96 today, is a Cole Porter biopic starring Cary Grant as a posh, heterosexualized version of Porter. As the warning goes, any similaries to real-life people and/or events found in Night and Day are a mere coincidence. The same goes for Words and Music (1948), a highly fictionalized version of the Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musical partnership.

Frances Dee movies: From 'An American Tragedy' to 'Four Faces West' Frances Dee began her film career at the dawn of the sound era, going from extra to leading lady within a matter of months. Her rapid ascencion came about thanks to Maurice Chevalier, who got her as his romantic interested in Ludwig Berger's 1930 romantic comedy Playboy of Paris. Despite her dark(-haired) good looks and pleasant personality, Dee's Hollywood career never quite progressed to major – or even moderate – stardom. But she was to remain a busy leading lady for about 15 years. Tonight, Turner Classic Movies is showing seven Frances Dee films, ranging from heavy dramas to Westerns. Unfortunately missing is one of Dee's most curious efforts, the raunchy pre-Coder Blood Money, which possibly features her most unusual – and most effective – performance. Having said that, William A. Wellman's Love Is a Racket is a worthwhile subsitute, though the...

Before he became the flag bearer for cinema violence, Sam Peckinpah made his reputation with this unique western, a marvelous rumination on ethics, morality and personal responsibility. MGM all but threw it away in the summer of 1962 but it immediately became a critical favorite.

Ride the High Country

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1962 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date April 4, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr, Edgar Buchanan, R.G. Armstrong, Jenie Jackson, James Drury, L.Q. Jones, John Anderson, John Davis Chandler, Warren Oates.

Cinematography Lucien Ballard

Art Direction Leroy Coleman, George W. Davis

Film Editor Frank Santillo

Original Music George Bassman

Written by N.B. Stone Jr.

Produced by Richard E. Lyons

Directed by Sam Peckinpah

MGM’s western Ride the High Country put Sam Peckinpah on the map with critics and the foreign cinema literati — although it didn’t do big box office when new,...

Cad, bounder, dastard... look those words up in an old casting directory and you'll probably find a picture of George Sanders. Albert Lewin's best movie is a class-act period piece with terrific acting from Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine, Warren William and many more, and a powerful '40s picture that most people haven't discovered, now handsomely restored. The Private Affairs of Bel Ami Blu-ray Olive Films 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date May 24, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95 Starring George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine, Warren William, Susan Douglas, Albert Bassermann, Frances Dee, Marie Wilson, Katherine Emery, Richard Fraser. Cinematography Russell Metty Film Editor Joseph Albrecht Original Music Darius Milhaud Assistant Director Robert Aldrich Production Design Gordon Wiles Written by from the novel by Guy de Maupassant Produced by David L. Loew Written Directed by Albert Lewin

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...

Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.

Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films – in about 15 of which as a leading lady or star – in a movie career spanning three decades. Good for the relatively few who saw her on stage; bad for all those who have access to only a few performances of one of the most remarkable acting talents of the 20th century. This evening, TCM is showing three Vivien Leigh movies: Gone with the Wind (1939), 21 Days Together (1940), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Leigh won Best Actress Academy Awards for the first and the third title. The little-remembered film in-between is a TCM premiere. 'Gone with the Wind' Seemingly all...

Katharine Hepburn movies. Katharine Hepburn movies: Woman in drag, in love, in danger In case you're suffering from insomnia, you might want to spend your night and early morning watching Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" series. Four-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Katharine Hepburn is TCM's star today, Aug. 7, '15. (See TCM's Katharine Hepburn movie schedule further below.) Whether you find Hepburn's voice as melodious as a singing nightingale or as grating as nails on a chalkboard, you may want to check out the 1933 version of Little Women. Directed by George Cukor, this cozy – and more than a bit schmaltzy – version of Louisa May Alcott's novel was a major box office success, helping to solidify Hepburn's Hollywood stardom the year after her film debut opposite John Barrymore and David Manners in Cukor's A Bill of Divorcement. They don't make 'em like they used to Also, the 1933 Little Women...

Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt': Alfred Hitchcock heroine (image: Joseph Cotten about to strangle Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt') (See preceding article: "Teresa Wright Movies: Actress Made Oscar History.") After scoring with The Little Foxes, Mrs. Miniver, and The Pride of the Yankees, Teresa Wright was loaned to Universal – once initial choices Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland became unavailable – to play the small-town heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. (Check out video below: Teresa Wright reminiscing about the making of Shadow of a Doubt.) Co-written by Thornton Wilder, whose Our Town had provided Wright with her first chance on Broadway and who had suggested her to Hitchcock; Meet Me in St. Louis and Junior Miss author Sally Benson; and Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, Shadow of a Doubt was based on "Uncle Charlie," a story outline by Gordon McDonell – itself based on actual events.

Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine' 1938: Jean Renoir's film noir (photo: Jean Gabin and Simone Simon in 'La Bête Humaine') (See previous post: "'Cat People' 1942 Actress Simone Simon Remembered.") In the late 1930s, with her Hollywood career stalled while facing competition at 20th Century-Fox from another French import, Annabella (later Tyrone Power's wife), Simone Simon returned to France. Once there, she reestablished herself as an actress to be reckoned with in Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine. An updated version of Émile Zola's 1890 novel, La Bête Humaine is enveloped in a dark, brooding atmosphere not uncommon in pre-World War II French films. Known for their "poetic realism," examples from that era include Renoir's own The Lower Depths (1936), Julien Duvivier's La Belle Équipe (1936) and Pépé le Moko (1937), and particularly Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows (1938) and Daybreak (1939).[11] This thematic and...

Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...

Vivien Leigh: Legendary ‘Gone with the Wind’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ star would have turned 100 today Vivien Leigh was perhaps the greatest film star that hardly ever was. What I mean is that following her starring role in the 1939 Civil War blockbuster Gone with the Wind, Leigh was featured in a mere eight* movies over the course of the next 25 years. The theater world’s gain — she was kept busy on the London stage — was the film world’s loss. But even if Leigh had starred in only two movies — Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire — that would have been enough to make her a screen legend; one who would have turned 100 years old today, November 5, 2013. (Photo: Vivien Leigh ca. 1940.) Vivien Leigh (born Vivian Mary Hartley to British parents in Darjeeling, India) began her film career in the mid-’30s, playing bit roles in British...

On this day in 1904 horror actor Tom Conway was born. The son of English expatriates the Conways returned to Britain after the Russian Revolution in 1917. Known for his leading roles in Rko productions Conways legacy amongst genre fans is due to his memorable performances in Val Lewtons psychological horror films of the early 1940s. He starred as Doctor Louis Judd in the Cat People (1942) and the same character in the lesser known The Seventh Victim (1943). Yet he also played the lead alongside James Ellison and Frances Dee in I Walked With a Zombie (1943).

Bette Davis movies: TCM schedule on August 14 (photo: Bette Davis in ‘Dangerous,’ with Franchot Tone) See previous post: “Bette Davis Eyes: They’re Watching You Tonight.” 3:00 Am Parachute Jumper (1933). Director: Alfred E. Green. Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Bette Davis, Frank McHugh, Claire Dodd, Harold Huber, Leo Carrillo, Thomas E. Jackson, Lyle Talbot, Leon Ames, Stanley Blystone, Reginald Barlow, George Chandler, Walter Brennan, Pat O’Malley, Paul Panzer, Nat Pendleton, Dewey Robinson, Tom Wilson, Sheila Terry. Bw-72 mins. 4:30 Am The Girl From 10th Avenue (1935). Director: Alfred E. Green. Cast: Bette Davis, Ian Hunter, Colin Clive, Alison Skipworth, John Eldredge, Phillip Reed, Katharine Alexander, Helen Jerome Eddy, Bill Elliott, Edward McWade, André Cheron, Wedgwood Nowell, John Quillan, Mary Treen. Bw-69 mins. 6:00 Am Dangerous (1935). Director: Alfred E. Green. Cast: Bette Davis, Franchot Tone, Margaret Lindsay, Alison Skipworth, John Eldredge, Dick Foran, Walter Walker, Richard Carle, George Irving, Pierre Watkin, Douglas Wood,...

William Wyler was one of the greatest film directors Hollywood — or any other film industry — has ever produced. Today, Wyler lacks the following of Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Frank Capra, or even Howard Hawks most likely because, unlike Hitchcock, Ford, or Capra (and to a lesser extent Hawks), Wyler never focused on a particular genre, while his films were hardly as male-centered as those of the aforementioned four directors. Dumb but true: Films about women and their issues tend to be perceived as inferior to those about men — especially tough men — and their issues. The German-born Wyler (1902, in Alsace, now part of France) immigrated to the United States in his late teens. Following a stint at Universal's New York office, he moved to Hollywood and by the mid-'20s was directing Western shorts. His ascent was quick; by 1929 Wyler was directing Universal's top female star, Laura La Plante in the...

Bel Ami movie: Robert Pattinson The Bel Ami movie trailer was released a week ago. Now comes the Brazilian Bel Ami trailer (scroll down), which happens to be the (classy) English-language trailer with Portuguese subtitles. The text below is an expanded version of the article posted at the time of the original trailer's release. In the trailer, we get to watch Robert Pattinson play a radically different character from his lovestruck vampire in the Twilight movies. Instead of having sex with Breaking Dawn's virginal Kristen Stewart, in Bel Ami Pattinson keeps himself busy with the more mature Kristin Scott Thomas and a whole array of other females of varying ages, shapes, and civil and social statuses. Two veterans of the British stage, Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, directed this latest film adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's novel about Georges Duroy, an impoverished but ambitious ex-soldier who uses his drive,...

Director of a string of successful TV series, including 44 episodes of M*A*S*H

There is an episode in the television series M*A*S*H in which a congressional aide comes to Korea to expose Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) as a communist sympathiser. Under pressure to reveal the names of those she knew as communists, she refuses. The episode, called Are You Now, Margaret?, broadcast in 1979, was directed by Charles Dubin, who has died aged 92.

This would not be especially significant but for the fact that Dubin had found himself in a similar position in 1958, when he was subpoenaed to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Dubin denied that he was a communist and refused 22 times to say whether he had ever been one, citing constitutional protections against self-incrimination. As a result, he was blacklisted for four years, during which time he was forced to take work directing commercials.

Ralph Bellamy on TCM: Sunrise At Campobello, The Awful Truth Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Carefree (1938) A psychiatrist falls in love with the woman he's supposed to be nudging into marriage with someone else. Dir: Mark Sandrich. Cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Ralph Bellamy. Bw-83 mins. 7:30 Am The Secret Six (1931) A secret society funds the investigation of a bootlegging gang. Dir: George Hill. Cast: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown. Bw-84 mins. 9:00 Am Headline Shooter (1933) A newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot. Dir: Otto Brower. Cast: William Gargan, Frances Dee, Ralph Bellamy. Bw-61 mins. 10:15 Am Picture Snatcher (1933) An ex-con brings his crooked ways to a job as a news photographer. Dir: Lloyd Bacon. Cast: James Cagney, Ralph Bellamy, Patricia Ellis. Bw-77 mins. 11:45 Am The Wedding Night (1935) A married author falls for the beautiful farm girl...

Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, Sunrise at Campobello Ralph Bellamy was what many would call a "dependable" player: always there (nearly 100 movies), always capable, (almost) always losing the girl. Why Bellamy never became a major movie star is beyond me — especially considering that guys like James Stewart, Fred MacMurray, Dick Powell, Don Ameche, Joseph Cotten, etc. were top leading men of that era. Perhaps Bellamy was just both too good-looking and too intelligent-looking to keep Ginger Rogers from Fred Astaire (Carefree), Irene Dunne and Rosalind Russell from Cary Grant (The Awful Truth and His Girl Friday, respectively), and Anna Sten from Gary Cooper (The Wedding Night). All four films — in addition to 11 other Ralph Bellamy movies — will be presented on Turner Classic Movies on Sunday, August 14, as part of TCM's "Summer Under the Stars" film series. [Ralph Bellamy Movie Schedule.] Unfortunately, there are no TCM premieres, but included are a few lesser-known titles, e.g.

Each year New York residents can look forward to two essential series programmed at the Film Forum, noirs and pre-Coders (that is, films made before the strict enforcing of the Motion Picture Production Code). These near-annual retrospective traditions are refreshed and re-varied and re-repeated for neophytes and cinephiles alike, giving all the chance to see and see again great film on film. Many titles in this year's Essential Pre-Code series, running an epic July 15 - August 11, are old favorites and some ache to be new discoveries; all in all there are far too many racy, slipshod, patter-filled celluloid splendors to be covered by one critic alone. Faced with such a bounty, I've enlisted the kind help of some friends and colleagues, asking them to sent in short pieces on their favorites in an incomplete but also in-progress survey and guide to one of the summer's most sought-after series. In this entry: what's playing Friday,...

Rex Bell Jr, son of silent-film superstar Clara Bow (right) and cowboy actor Rex Bell, died of cancer on Saturday, July 9. He was 76. A former Republican Lieutenant Governor and Clark County (Las Vegas and surrounding areas) district attorney who believed in long sentences and more and bigger prisons, Bell Jr didn't have much of a career in films. He appeared in only a couple of run-of-the-mill A. C. Lyles Westerns in the mid-'60s, Stage to Thunder Rock (1964) and Young Fury (1965). At that time, Paramount producer Lyles used faded stars — and children of faded stars — in his series of B Westerns: Stage to Thunder Rock features Barry Sullivan, Marilyn Maxwell, Lon Chaney Jr, Wanda Hendrix, and John Agar; in addition to Chaney and Agar, Young Fury has Virginia Mayo, Rory Calhoun, Richard Arlen, Merry Anders, and Jody McCrea, son of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee. Clara Bow died at the...

Right up until the end of the Production Code era of filmmaking in 1930’s Hollywood, the various studios churned out stories that pushed the boundaries of transgression for audiences everywhere. These films may seem more than a little tame today, but what these films did for the time cannot be overstated. Women were allowed to have fun, without having to be punished afterwards for it. They could be unashamedly free with their sexuality. These films looked at their promiscuity as a concrete normality; not as something that in any way needed to be fixed. The early thirties in studio filmmaking is a special and thoroughly fun era. In another Warner Archives DVD release, Finishing School, released in 1934, mere months before the Code began to be enforced, is just one example of the many forgotten or overlooked films from that era.

With such an extraordinarily large number of films being released by studios each year,...

Your weekly fix of great movies made before you were born that you should check out before you die. All this month, Old Ass Movies will be celebrating the 103rd anniversary of Bette Davis‘s birthday. The iconic film star acted in far too many movies to care to count, but it seems as though she’s been reduced to a pair of eyes in popular culture. She’s the subject of a 80s pop tune, not the star that she should be recognized for being, and that needs fixing. She had been in over twenty films before appearing in Of Human Bondage, but it was that film that really launched her career as a leading lady. In it, she plays a cruel, vile, deceitful woman who destroys the life of a young man while destroying her own. So, naturally, she emerged being loved by audiences everywhere. Of Human Bondage (1934) Directed By: John Cromwell Written By: Lester Cohen...

Finishing School might be one of the most tepid stories of youthful rebellion in the name of love that you’ll ever see. A stodgy, overly strict head matron is defied, a love connection is made, and we learn that sometimes you have to fight authority while listening to it. Alright, the film’s take on authority is shaky at best, but it has a firm position on the pursuit of love: love is something to be pursued. Well, that is, if it has good job prospects. Your love interest is a blue collar man paying his way through school as a waiter? Stay away. Oh, he’s paying his way through med school? He’s going to be a respectable doctor? Well, still no, he’s a waiter first and foremost. Apparently.

Finishing School wants to tell the love story between a girl from a rich family training for...

Lamberto Maggiorani in Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves Some good and/or unusual offerings tonight on Turner Classic Movies. Silent Sundays will feature the 1925 version of The Wizard of Oz. Directed by and starring silent-film comedian Larry Semon, The Wizard of Oz features Dorothy Dwan in the role that would become associated with Judy Garland, especially in the minds of some gay men — and that's one mystery I've never been able to fathom. I mean, why Judy's Dorothy? Why Dorothy to begin with? Why not Barbara Stanwyck in Baby Face? Or Norma Shearer in Let Us Be Gay? Or Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs? Or Tyrone Power in The Mark of Zorro? Or Ramon Novarro in Ben-Hur? Or Frances Dee in Blood Money (or The Gay Deception or I Walked with a Zombie)? Why not Toto or Asta? It's a mystery. Albert Lamorisse's Academy Award-winning...

What better way to start the New Year than by remembering the past? No, not war and assorted catastrophes, but beauty and romance. The clip above features a montage of about two dozen actresses from the studio era. See how many you can recognize. Here’s some assistance: Anne Baxter, Anne Shirley, Claire Bloom, Constance Bennett, Eleanor Parker, Frances Dee, Gail Russell, Janet Gaynor, Jean Arthur, Jean Peters, Joan Bennett, Kathryn Grayson, Laraine Day, Lilli Palmer, Linda Darnell, Lupe Velez, Madeleine Carroll, Margaret Sullavan, Maureen O’Sullivan, Miiko Taka, Norma Shearer, Patricia Neal, Paulette Goddard, Priscilla Lane, Sally Eilers, Teresa Wright. There’s also one I didn’t recognize, wearing a veil over her head. Colleen Gray? Among the included films are — some of those are [...]...

Joan Bennett, Spring Buyington, Frances Dee, Jean Parker, Katharine Hepburn in Little Women (top); Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck in Remember the Night (bottom) The digitally remastered Remember the Night (1940), written by Preston Sturges, directed by Mitchell Leisen, and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, is the highlight of Turner Classic Movies‘ Christmas movie series this month. But there are other goodies — or potential goodies — as well. One such is It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), a minor Allied Artists (ex-Monogram) comedy directed by former WB contractee Roy Del Ruth, and featuring Don DeFore, former Rko star Ann Harding, and Gale Storm. The story centers on a hobo and his buddies who take over a mansion while the [...]...

Rich Man’s Folly (1931) Direction: John Cromwell Screenplay: Grover Jones and Edward E. Paramore Jr.; from Charles Dickens’ novel Dombey and Son Cast: George Bancroft, Frances Dee, Robert Ames, David Durand, Juliette Compton, Dorothy Peterson Directed by the respected John Cromwell and based on Charles Dickens‘ Dombey and Son, Rich Man’s Folly features George Bancroft as a ruthless, egotistical shipping tycoon whose only concern is his work, all the while grooming his young son so he’ll one day take over the family business. In the meantime, the rest of family is completely ignored. That is the kind of role Bancroft did best: Larger-than life, driven, and arrogant men who usually meet a towering, humbling defeat in the final reel. Also in the [...]...

It’s time for out Top Ten of the week and this time we’re doing things a bit differently here at Wamg. Zombies in the movies are a much-loved genre favorite of fans, held close to their hearts since George Romero first introduced us to the concept on a whole new level back in 1968. Then again, they’ve also spawned some controversy amongst some fans as the genre has split into two basic categories recently… slow-moving zombies and fast-moving, even raging psychotic zombies. Which is right? Which is best? Well, that’s for you to decide. With that in mind, we’ve decided to compile a two-part list, laying out our five favorite slow-moving and five favorite fast-moving zombie flicks. The list also embraces the new ultra-fun zombie comedy from Ruben Fleischer that opens this Friday, October 2, 2009. In addition, its rare that a film not out in theaters yet...

Every week, Film School Rejects presents a movie that was made before you were born and tells you why you should like it. This week, Old Ass Movies presents: I Walked With a Zombie (1943) I realize it's been a few weeks since Oam has been in hiding, waiting around the corner to pounce on its latest victim, so I figured it was a great idea to come back from the break by taking a look at a fantastic example of 40s era suspense while Halloween 2: The Second 2 and The Final Destination are in theaters. If anything, it should give you a solid alternative. In 1942, the team of producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur released the horror film Cat People - one of the most famous horror films to date. The next year they would deliver I Walked with a Zombie, a gripping tale told in the similar trademark suspenseful style which used light and...

American actor Jody McCrea has died of cardiac arrest. He was 74.

McCrea, who appeared in over 90 films during his career, died on 4 April in New Mexico - where he worked as a cattle rancher.

The son of movie stars Joel McCrea and Frances Dee, he began acting on the 1960 TV western Wichita Town with his father.

He became best-known for acting in the Beach Party movies of the decade, in which he co-starred with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.

McCrea also acted in numerous film and television productions before his retirement in 1970 - including 1962 movie The Broken Land, co-starring Jack Nicholson, and small screen appearances on Wagon Train, Vacation Playhouse and The Greatest Show on Earth.

His wife, Dusty, died in 1996.

By Wrap Staff

Jody McCrea, best known for his roles as a muscle-bound surfer in the "Beach Party" movies in the 1960s, died on April 4 in New Mexico, of cardiac arrest. He was 74.

McCrea was the son of movie stars Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.

In addition to the "Beach Party" comedies "Muscle Beach Party," "Bikini Beach," "Beach Blanket Bingo" and "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini," he appeared in a variety of Western-themed movies and...

Jody McCrea, the son of Joel McCrea, passed away earlier this month. He was primarily known for his roles in cult films. In this excerpt from his book, Cinema Retro columnist pays tribute to McCrea's career.

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Tall, strapping, square-jawed Jody McCrea who became a favorite of teenage audiences during the Sixties for his amusing performances as “Deadhead” in the series of Beach Party (1963) movies starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello passed away on April 4 of this year. As the dumb surfer in the bunch, Deadhead could be counted on to say something idiotic in his slow drawl. Though McCrea was always assured a laugh based on how the role was written, it is to his credit that Deadhead came off as sweetly naïve rather than a complete moron.

Jody McCrea was born on September 6, 1934 in Los Angeles. His father was western star...

According to his official website, Jody McCrea, the actor-son of Frances Dee and Joel McCrea, died in in Roswell, New Mexico, of cardiac arrest on April 4. He was 74. Born on Sept. 6, 1934, in Los Angeles, Jody McCrea was the oldest of McCrea and Dee’s three sons. Frances Dee was best known for playing sweet young things in the 1930s, e.g., Little Women and The Gay Deception (though her most remarkable performance at that time was the nymphomaniac in Blood Money), and for the atmospheric I Walked with a Zombie in 1943. Joel McCrea starred in dozens of dramas and comedies in the 1930s and 1940s, including the classics The Palm Beach Story (1942) and The More the Merrier (1943), but in the 1950s spent most of his on-screen time riding horses and wearing cowboy hats, usually in B+ productions. Jody McCrea began his acting career in the short-lived 1959 television series Wichita Town,...