To see my running list of the hundred greatest movie stars in American film history, click here All stars are listed with a single film which is particularly important, though not exclusively so, to understanding what makes them vital to American movies. 40) Jack Lemmon / Key film – The Apartment In American cinema, there are… Read More Better than AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars: 36-40
Dir. Preston Sturges. Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn One assumes that the phrase “head over heels” used to be the much more evocative “heels over head,” seeing as the one we’re using now describes most of us who are not circus performers. Not every strange pratfall which strikes Charlie Pike (Fonda) has him… Read More The Lady Eve (1941)
Dir. Howard Hawks. Starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Haydn Watching Ball of Fire, you get the sense that Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett were just more interested in telling a story about eight men writing an encyclopedia than they were in telling the story of an unlikely romance between a gangster’s moll, Sugarpuss O’Shea (Stanwyck)… Read More Ball of Fire (1941)
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 85-81
The following is part of an overview of the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films, from my perspective. For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of more than 800 films which I considered for the top 450 and my eligibility qualifications, click here.… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: 30-26
The following is part of an overview of the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films, from my perspective. For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of more than 800 films which I considered for the top 450 and my eligibility qualifications, click here.… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: 65-61
Dir. Billy Wilder. Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson MacMurray made a career out of playing nice guys and friendly fellas, but heaven knows he’s a more effective heel than a buddy. Take one of the early scenes in the movie, where his Walter Neff has seen Phyllis (Stanwyck) in a towel from… Read More Double Indemnity (1944)
Seeing Things Secondhand 