4th of July Movies: From our dystopian present to John Paul Jones + Benedict Arnold and other complex American Revolutionary War figures.
Carla Laemmle. ‘Dracula’ 1931 actress Carla Laemmle dead at 104 Carla Laemmle, a bit player in a handful of silent movies and at the dawn of the sound era –…
Marta Eggerth ca. 1935: Central Europe’s Jeanette MacDonald. Operetta and film star Marta Eggerth dead at 101: The Jeanette MacDonald of Central European cinema Marta Eggerth, an international star in…
Fay Wray. Fay Wray movies Actress Fay Wray, best remembered for playing the love interest in the 1933 interspecies romance classic King Kong, would have turned 105 on Sep. 15.…
Debbie Reynolds Auction: Marion Davies Monumental Painting by Federico Beltrán Masses. Marilyn Monroe white dress & Audrey Hepburn Ascot gown fetch millions: Debbie Reynolds movie memorabilia auction The Marilyn Monroe…
Rex Ingram. St. Patrick’s Day always reminds me of silent era filmmaker Rex Ingram, among whose silent era efforts are The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Prisoner of Zenda,…
Greed movie: Gibson Gowland and Jean Hersholt in Erich von Stroheim’s masterpiece. Erich von Stroheim’s masterpiece and one of the best silent films ever made, Greed remains a powerful indictment…
Author and photographer Mark A. Vieira (right), who has been a friend for a number of years, has recently written no less than two books on Irving G. Thalberg, the…
National Film Registry: Lesbian Western & Asian-American Musical among entries which also include movies by Erich von Stroheim, Elia Kazan + John Huston.
Silent era veterans Erich von Stroheim and Betty Compson deliver quality performances in James Cruze’s engrossing psychological drama The Great Gabbo.
June Mathis / © Allan Ellenberger Collection June Mathis. The name means nothing to most of today’s filmgoers and to the vast majority of self-proclaimed film historians. Yet, nearly nine…
Essential movies from long ago Film historian Kevin Brownlow re: essential movies from the silent era in the Sunday Times (image: Janet Gaynor and George O’Brien in Sunrise.) “This year is…
How to Sell Your Soul: Must-See Long-Thought-Lost Classic Resurfaces in Restored Print as TCM presents Eleanor Boardman in Hollywood-set comedy-drama.
Jean Gabin was France’s answer to Humphrey Bogart, many (English-language) historians have claimed. Either that, or Gabin was France’s answer to Spencer Tracy. Never mind the fact that Gabin was…
John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in Flesh and the Devil. Just a few days ago I was wondering if Turner Classic Movies would devote a day to the likes of…
The Trespasser movie: Gloria Swanson stars in mother love melodrama with Purnell Pratt and Robert Ames, who would die two years after this film was made. Author Cari Beauchamp will…