Movie Diary 2023 (6/1-6/30): Great Caesar’s Ghost I Still Have a Lot of These Left
Okay, two sentences each, let’s make this happen, ready, hike.
Tag: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Movie Diary 2023 (4/6-5/31): Let’s Just Get Through May to Start
Two sentences per movie. The last time I did a retro movie diary, I had three weeks to catch up on. Now I have…more than that. No sweat!
100 American Films to Save: Mirrors (1946-1952)
You can find the introduction and index for this series here. Film Director Year Type Dragonwyck Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1946 Narrative feature Nightmare Alley Edmund Goulding 1947 Narrative feature I Remember Mama George Stevens 1948 Narrative feature “Goodbye, Miss Turlock” Edward L. Cahn 1948 Short Strange Victory Leo Hurwitz 1948 Documentary The Secret Land Orville O.… Read More 100 American Films to Save: Mirrors (1946-1952)
“We Can Begin to Live Again” – Portraits of Adjustment in Post-World War II American Cinema
Main Street on the March!, a short movie by Edward Cahn, is a forerunner for what has become, beyond the postwar years, a significant mode in World War II filmmaking. Cahn’s picture depicts an American public which is blissfully unaware that war will come to their territorial borders, and that they will send out so… Read More “We Can Begin to Live Again” – Portraits of Adjustment in Post-World War II American Cinema
Cleopatra (1963)
Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton The most famous scene of Cleopatra is one that unfolds slowly, but in a sense it’s what we came for or, at least, what we knew we’d be getting when we saw Hermes Pan’s name pop up in the opening credits. Caesar (Harrison) has… Read More Cleopatra (1963)
2018 Year-End Review: Fifty Movies
I’m joining in the spirit of the year-in-review post, even though the way I watch movies isn’t really conducive to the kind of list that one usually sees at the end of the year. (Incidentally, if you happen to be a recent music aficionado, friend of the blog Matt will have his year-end list of… Read More 2018 Year-End Review: Fifty Movies
Better than the Oscars: 20-16
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: 20-16
Better than the Oscars: 50-46
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: 50-46
A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Starring Ann Sothern, Linda Darnell, Jeanne Crain Dir. Vincente Minnelli. Starring Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon In the wake of film noir, which used voiceovers and flashbacks to greater effect than ever before, A Letter to Three Wives and The Bad and the Beautiful are logical conclusions outside the genre. A Letter to Three… Read More A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
All About Eve (1950)
Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm I wonder what Noel Coward would have made of All About Eve, which has much of the same species of charm that his own work has but with a major improvement: All About Eve thinks that women are perhaps even more interesting than men,… Read More All About Eve (1950)
Seeing Things Secondhand 