Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? review: Oscar nominee Barbara Harris steals Dustin Hoffman film.
Doug Johnson
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Hatter’s Castle (Movie 1942): Minor British Classic
2 minutes readHatter’s Castle with James Mason and Deborah Kerr. A 1942 adaptation of A.J. Cronin’s first novel, Hatter’s Castle, strips away multiple characters and subplots, thus streamlining the film into melodrama. …
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The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (movie 2008) review: Flawed drama, but Tennessee Williams’ screenplay is mostly satisfying. Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Evans star.
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Remember the Night (Movie 1940): Love Corrupts
4 minutes readRemember the Night: Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray learn about love’s corruptive and redemptive power of in Mitchell Leisen’s Christmas Classic.
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The Goddess (Movie 1958): Daring Kim Stanley
3 minutes readThe Goddess with Kim Stanley. Paddy Chayefsky evokes a cynical Tennessee Williams in his screenplay for The Goddess, a Hollywood cautionary tale directed by veteran John Cromwell. Episodic in progression …
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Hold Back the Dawn (movie 1941) review: Olivia de Havilland showcase is also a solid romantic melodrama. Charles Boyer and Paulette Goddard costar; Mitchell Leisen directed.
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To Each His Own (Movie 1946): Shrewd de Havilland Star Turn
6 minutes readTo Each His Own (movie 1946) review: Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland creates a shrewd portrayal in Mitchell Leisen’s heartfelt melodrama. John Lund costars.
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Crips and Bloods: Made in America. In the 1980s and into the first half of the 1990s, gang violence in American urban centers grabbed nightly news headlines with a distant …
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Sitting Pretty with Clifton Webb. In the late 1940s, the bucolic suburb of Hummingbird Hill is shaken in its tranquil complacency by the scandalous actions of two middle-aged, unmarried men. Each of …
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The Masseurs and a Woman. The usual 1930s Japanese film preoccupations with societal roles are explored in writer-director Hiroshi Shimizu’s moving Anma to onna / The Masseurs and a Woman …
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Leatherheads (Movie 2008): Uneven George Clooney Dramedy
4 minutes readLeatherheads (movie 2008) review: Uneven George Clooney football comedy offers romance mixed with social and political commentary. Renée Zellweger and John Krasinski costar.
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Sisters of the Gion (movie 1936) review: Set (and filmed) in pre-World War II Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi’s female-centered melodrama weaves a fine ‘feminist’ tale. Isuzu Yamada stars.
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Rififi (Movie 1955): 1 of Best Non-Hollywood Noirs
4 minutes readRififi (movie 1955) review: American political refugee Jules Dassin’s heist thriller remains one of the greatest films noirs made away from Hollywood. Jean Servais an Carl Möhner star.
Somers Town (Movie 2008): ‘Minor’ Worthwhile Effort
Shane Meadows’ Somers Town movie is a minor but worthwhile portrayal of an unlikely friendship. Tribeca and London Film Critics winner Thomas Turgoose stars.
A Cottage on Dartmoor / Escape from Dartmoor with Uno Henning. Very little in a career overview of filmmaker Anthony Asquith prepares a viewer for the brilliant thriller A Cottage …
America the Beautiful (movie 2007) review: Overextended documentary tackles the reasons for American women’s obsession with physical beauty.