Author Allan R. Ellenberger discusses Miriam Hopkins in the interview further below – and in his Hopkins biography Life and Films of a Hollywood Rebel. From pre-Code antiheroine to matronly supporting player, Hopkins stole scenes and/or movies from the likes of Maurice Chevalier (The Smiling…
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The Doll with Ossi Oswalda and Hermann Thimig. Early Ernst Lubitsch satirical fantasy starring “the German Mary Pickford” has similar premise to that of the 1925 Buster Keaton comedy Seven Chances. ‘The Doll’: San Francisco Silent Film Festival presented fast-paced Ernst Lubitsch comedy starring the…
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Ernst Lubitsch movies: Subtle, sophisticated ‘Touch’ all but gone from contemporary filmmaking. Ernst Lubitsch movies: The forgotten, passé ‘Touch’ Ernst Lubitsch and William Cameron Menzies were Turner Classic Movies’ “stars” on Jan. 28, ’16. (This is a fully revised and expanded version of a post…
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Gary Cooper movies. The Hollywood icon can be seen at his best and at his worst in three star vehicles: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Sergeant York, and Love in the Afternoon. Gary Cooper movies on TCM: Iconic star at both his best and his worst Gary Cooper…
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Claudette Colbert and Maurice Chevalier in The Smiling Lieutenant. Claudette Colbert movies: From ‘The Smiling Lieutenant’ to ‘Skylark’ Claudette Colbert, the studio era’s perky, independent-minded – and French-born – “all-American” girlfriend (and later all-American wife and mother), is Turner Classic Movies’ star of the day…
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Antarctic exploration with Sir Ernest Shackleton. Antarctic exploration ‘epic’: ‘South’ It was surprising to see the large crowd waiting to get into the 2012 San Francisco Silent Film Festival screening of South: Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Glorious Epic of the Antarctic (1920). I did not think…
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Royal romance movies: Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer discover sprightly love and excruciating heartbreak in Ernst Lubitsch’s 1927 silent classic The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. As a William & Kate tie-in, Turner Classic Movies is showing several royal weddings, romances, escapades, and heartbreaks this…
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The Merry Widow with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier. The Merry Widow is neither one of Ernst Lubitsch’s most discussed nor best-liked films. Film critics and historians generally tend to focus on a couple of his early, pre-Code Paramount talkies, One Hour with You (co-directed…
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Mexican actors: Durango-born Ramon Novarro, Canadian Norma Shearer, and Dane Jean Hersholt in the German Ernst Lubitsch’s The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. Turner Classic Movies’ Hispanic Heritage Month celebration continues with the showing of one silent film starring Mexican heartthrob Ramon Novarro, The Student…
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The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg with Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer. The theme of a prince who gives up the girl he loves in order to fulfill his royal duty has been tried many times, but Ernst Lubitsch’s The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg…
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Actress Miriam Hopkins: Early image courtesy of Allan Ellenberger. Miriam Hopkins, one of the most underrated performers of the studio era, will have her “Summer Under the Stars” day on Thursday, Aug. 20. Turner Classic Movies will present fourteen Miriam Hopkins films, including one TCM…
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Ninotchka with Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. Ernst Lubitsch’s sparkling Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Hollywood’s Greatest Year: The Best Picture Nominees of 1939” on Monday,…
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Lady Windermere’s Fan. Bert Lytell is the nice husband, May McAvoy the jealous wife, Ronald Colman the other man, and Irene Rich the scene stealer in Ernst Lubitsch’s delightful film version of Oscar Wilde’s play Lady Windermere’s Fan. In the film, Rich plays Mrs. Erlynne,…
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Miriam Hopkins: Becky Sharp star. Remembering Miriam Hopkins Although relatively forgotten and, when remembered, usually dismissed as a second-rate talent (quite possibly by those who have never seen her on film), Miriam Hopkins was actually a highly capable performer who worked with some of the…
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The 2007 San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) will be held at the Castro Theatre on July 13–15. Among the festival’s highlights are: Ernst Lubitsch’s The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (above): Officially an adaptation of Wilhelm Meyer-Förster’s novel Karl Heinrich but clearly inspired by…
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Jessie Matthews in the musical First a Girl: Victor Victoria precursor. The bfi is currently presenting a Jessie Matthews retrospective, which ends on March 11. From Richard Stirling’s bfi article: “Few stories in British show business are more potent than that of high-kicking, saucer-eyed Jessie Matthews. Born…
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