It takes a lot of skill to make a movie look easy, and when Billy Wilder’s at his best, his films can appear almost effortless, moving forward so naturally that I’m often surprised, and a bit disappointed, when they’re over. One stunning example of his prowess in that regard is Witness for the Prosecution, the …
The late 1960s were a turbulent time of new cultures, changing norms, and shifting values, and one place that was immediately obvious was in Hollywood. With the downfall of the studio system, the impending doom of the Code, and the radical growth of political cinema around the world, the American movie industry was working hard to alter its …
Dogs have been significant players in motion picture industry right from the beginning, and their important contributions are highlighted in Adrienne L. McLean’s collection, Cinematic Canines: Dogs and Their Work in the Fiction Film, published by the Rutgers University Press. The book is a compilation of essays from various authors that cover a range of canine performances, from stars like Asta, Rin Tin Tin, and Lassie, to the anonymous dogs who served as little more than extras, but who were nevertheless, and importantly, present in the frame alongside humans.
Though most people today may remember Ricardo Montalbán for his work on television—Star Trek and Fantasy Island, to name a few—he first came to fame under contract at MGM in the 1940s and ’50s in roles that touted him as a handsome “exotic” type, a kind of Ramon Novarro or Rudy Valentino for the postwar set. Throughout his film career, he starred in a variety of romances, comedies, noirs, and westerns, and that section of his life is the subject of a new classic film screening series at the historic Hollywood theater that now bears his name: The Montalbán, at Hollywood and Vine.
Some interesting pics this month, thanks to some fun theme days and nights over on TCM—including a couple selections that exist in my archives, which always makes me feel productive. Not a ton of must-sees for me this month, which is probably good as I’m still catching up from the salute to MGM last month and a few remaining not-on-DVD Gene Kelly dramas from the month before. But let me know if there are any favorites in here that I should be taping!
The Manchurian Candidate is a heady, political thriller from a heady, political time. Released in 1962, the film is set a decade prior, in 1952, yet still manages to tell a tale that rings recognizable for the past, present, and future; often prophetically ahead of its time, it dealt with political anxiety, conflicting ideologies, individual free-will, assassination, and conspiracy, creating a lasting …