Suspicion, 1941, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. B&W, 99 minutes. Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine), crushed after hearing her parents describe her as “spinterish,” allows herself to fall for the charms of roguish playboy …
My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year, 1982, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Peter O’Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna. Directed by Richard Benjamin. Color, 92 minutes. It’s 1954, and live television rules the airways, much in the same way Hollywood legends ruled the movie screens …
Sitting Pretty
Sitting Pretty, 1948, 20th Century Fox. Starring Clifton Webb, Robert Young, Maureen O’Hara. Directed by Walter Lang. B&W, 84 minutes. Harry (Robert Young) and Tacey (Maureen O’Hara) King have a day-to-day challenge in keeping a nanny for their three rambunctious …
Camille
Camille, 1936, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Greta Garbo, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore. Directed by George Cukor. B&W, 109 minutes. Marguerite Gautier (Greta Garbo) is a French courtesan living a sumptuous life in mid-19th century Paris. Her extravagent lifestyle is maintained by the …
I Was a Male War Bride
I Was a Male War Bride, 1949, 20th Century Fox. Starring Cary Grant, Ann Sheridan. Directed by Howard Hawks. B&W, 105 minutes. In post-WWII Germany, French Army Captain Henri Rochard (Cary Grant) is given the assignment of tracking down a …
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn. Directed by Tay Garnett. B&W, 113 minutes. Frank Chambers (John Garfield) is a drifter who chances on a rural diner, owned by Nick Smith …
Wife vs. Secretary
Wife vs. Secretary, 1936, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow. Directed by Clarence Brown. B&W, 87 minutes. It’s the Stanhope’s third anniversary, and husband Jake (Clark Gable), known to his colleagues as Van, has given his loving wife …
The Letter (1940)
The Letter, 1940, Warner Bros. Starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson. Directed by William Wyler. B&W, 95 minutes. On a Singapore rubber plantation, shots ring out on a languid moonlit night. Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) has coolly shot a …
The Feminine Touch (1941)
The Feminine Touch, 1941, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Don Ameche, Rosalind Russell, Kay Francis, Van Heflin. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, B&W, 97 minutes. Professor John Hathaway (Don Ameche) is exasperated by his students, in particular the star football player, who …
A Place in the Sun
A Place in the Sun, 1951, Paramount Pictures. Starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters. Directed by George Stevens. B&W, 122 minutes. The poor relation of one of the town’s wealthiest families, George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) is put to work …
