Shadows of Russia: Communism on TCM

Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas in Ninotchka (top); Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford in The Way We Were (bottom)

From the Romanovs’ last stand to Warren Beatty’s first solo directorial effort: On every Wednesday in January 2010, Turner Classic Movies will present the 20-film festival "Shadows of Russia," a showcase of Hollywood movies portraying Russia (and/or the Soviet Union) and the sociopolitical reverberations of Communism throughout the 20th century.
Among the scheduled films are classics such as Ninotchka, The Manchurian Candidate, and Reds, in addition to lesser-known fare like Counter-Attack, I Was a Communist for the FBI, and The Strawberry Statement. Get ready for some laughs and a few tears — mostly laughs. And mostly of the unintended kind.
I must red-facedly [...]

Best Films – 1936

Sacha Guitry in The Story of a Cheat
FILM
Follow the Fleet
d: Mark Sandrich; scr: Dwight Taylor
Fury
d: Fritz Lang; scr: Bartlett Cormack, Fritz Lang
Libeled Lady
d: Jack Conway; scr: Maurine Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, George Oppenheimer
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
d: Frank Capra; scr: Robert Riskin
My Man Godfrey
d: Gregory La Cava; scr: Morrie Ryskind, Eric Hatch
Le Roman d’un tricheur / The Story of a Cheat
d, scr: Sacha Guitry
Show Boat
d: James Whale; scr: Oscar Hammerstein II
Theodora Goes Wild
d: Richard Boleslawsky; scr: Sidney Buchman
These Three
d: William Wyler; scr: Lillian Hellman
 

Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton in Dodsworth
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César
d, scr: Marcel Pagnol
Club de femmes
d, scr: Jacques Deval
Desire
d: Frank Borzage; scr: Edwin Justus Mayer, Waldemar Young, Samuel Hoffenstein
Dodsworth
d: William [...]

Griffith Masterworks 2: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE STRUGGLE

Walter Huston in Abraham Lincoln

Griffith Masterworks 2: WAY DOWN EAST, THE AVENGING CONSCIENCE
The most anticipated (by me anyway) part of this set is the twofer disc of Abraham Lincoln and The Struggle. Long overshadowed by Griffith’s earlier work, these have the distinction of being his final two films (from 1930 and 1931, respectively), and his only attempts at talkies. By this point, Griffith’s career had been in decline for several years, as newer and, frankly, greater talents eclipsed his trailblazing innovations of a decade earlier. These two films were his last shots at securing a place in the emerging film industry.
For the son of a Confederate soldier, Griffith was surprisingly [...]

William Wyler’s Oscar Nominated Actors

William Wyler
36 Acting Nominations
(s) supporting category
(*) Academy Award winner
William Wyler: Top Oscar Directors for Actors
 
1936

Walter Huston (above, with Ruth Chatterton) Dodsworth
Walter Brennan (s) Come and Get It * (Wyler replaced Howard Hawks, who received co-directing credit)
Bonita Granville (s) These Three
Maria Ouspenskaya (s) Dodsworth
 
1937
Claire Trevor (s) Dead End
 
1938

Bette Davis Jezebel *
Fay Bainter (s) Jezebel *
 
1939

Laurence Olivier (above, with Merle Oberon) Wuthering Heights
Geraldine Fitzgerald (s) Wuthering Heights
 
1940
Bette Davis The Letter
Walter Brennan (s) The Westerner *
James Stephenson (s) The Letter
 
1941
Bette Davis The Little Foxes
Patricia Collinge (s) The Little Foxes
Teresa Wright (s) The Little Foxes
 
1942

Walter Pidgeon Mrs. Miniver
Greer Garson Mrs. Miniver *
Henry Travers (s) Mrs. Miniver
Teresa Wright (s) Mrs. Miniver *
Dame May Whitty (s) Mrs. Miniver
 
1946
Fredric March The Best Years of Our [...]

Best Films – 1948

Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan in Letter from an Unknown Woman
FILM
Anna Karenina
d: Julien Duvivier; scr: Jean Anouilh, Guy Morgan, Julien Duvivier
Cry of the City
d: Robert Siodmak; scr: Richard Murphy
Johnny Belinda
d: Jean Negulesco; scr: Irmgard von Cube, Allen Vincent
Key Largo
d: John Huston; scr: Richard Brooks, John Huston
Ladri di biciclette / The Bicycle Thief
d: Vittorio De Sica; scr: Oreste Biancoli, Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Vittorio De Sica, Adolfo Franci, Gherardo Gherardi, Gerardo Guerrieri, Cesare Zavattini
Letter from an Unknown Woman
d: Max Ophüls; scr: Howard Koch
Portrait of Jennie
d: William Dieterle; scr: Peter Berneis, Paul Osborn, Leonard Berrovici
State of the Union
d: Frank Capra; scr: Anthony Veiller, Myles Connolly
The Winslow Boy
d: Anthony Asquith; scr: Terence Rattigan, Anatole de Grunwald
 

Joan [...]

Best Films – 1946

Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford in Gilda
FILM
Anna and the King of Siam
d: John Cromwell; scr: Talbot Jennings, Sally Benson
The Best Years of Our Lives
d: William Wyler; scr: Robert E. Sherwood
Cloak and Dagger
d: Fritz Lang; scr: Albert Maltz, Ring Lardner Jr.
From This Day Forward
d: John Berry; scr: Hugo Butler, Garson Kanin
Gilda
d: Charles Vidor; scr: Marion Parsonnet
Margie
d: Henry King; scr: F. Hugh Herbert
A Night in Casablanca
d: Archie Mayo; scr: Joseph Fields, Roland Kibbee, Frank Tashlin
Le Père tranquille / Mr. Orchid
d: René Clément; scr: Noël-Noël
Sciuscià / Shoeshine
d: Vittorio De Sica; scr: Cesare Zavattini, Sergio Amidei, Adolfo Franci, Cesare Giulio Viola
The Spiral Staircase
d: Robert Siodmak; scr: Mel Dinelli
 
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My Darling Clementine
d: John Ford; scr: [...]