Bachelor Mother, 1939, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn. Directed by Garson Kanin. B&W, 82 minutes. Polly Parrish (Ginger Rogers) has just been laid off of her seasonal job at Merlin and Son’s Department Store. It’s …
Category: Classic Comedies
Adam’s Rib
Adam’s Rib, 1949, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn. Directed by George Cukor. B&W, 100 minutes. A distraught wife (Judy Holliday) seeks out her husband (Tom Ewell) as he meets with his paramour (Jean Hagen). With a great lack of …
To Be or Not To Be (1942)
To Be or Not To Be, 1942, United Artists. Starring Jack Benny, Carole Lombard, Robert Stack. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. B&W, 99 minutes. A renowned Polish acting troupe is compelled to take on the performance of their lives with an …
You Can’t Take It With You
You Can’t Take It With You, 1938, Columbia Pictures. Starring Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold. Directed by Frank Capra. B&W, 126 minutes. Martin Vanderhof (Lionel Barrymore) once was a highly successful businessman, but some 35 years before …
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, 1948, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas. Directed by H. C. Potter. B&W, 93 minutes. Tired of life in their crowded Manhattan apartment, Jim Blandings (Cary Grant) and his wife …
Hail the Conquering Hero
Hail the Conquering Hero, 1944, Paramount Pictures. Starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demarast. Directed by Preston Sturges. B&W, 101 minutes. Woodrow Truesmith has a dilemma: as the son of a genuine war hero, who died in action the day …
Ball of Fire
Ball of Fire, 1941, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Dana Andrews. Directed by Howard Hawks. B&W, 112 minutes. Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) and seven esteemed colleagues (six bachelors, one widower) are compiling a new encyclopedia of human …
The Awful Truth
The Awful Truth, 1937, Columbia Pictures. Starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Ralph Bellamy. Directed by Leo McCarey. B&W, 90 minutes. Rapid-fire conversations, a sophisticated script and a cast to match make this one of the definitive screwball comedies of all …
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Here Comes Mr. Jordan, 1941, Columbia Pictures. Starring Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes. Directed by Alexander Hall. B&W, 93 minutes. Death has come about 50 years too soon for boxer Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) when well-meaning but novice Angel …
Easy Living (1937)
Easy Living, 1937, Paramount Pictures. Starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, Ray Milland. Directed by Mitchell Leisen. B&W, 89 minutes. A series of misunderstandings almost lead to a stock crash that could rival that of October 29, 1929, and all because …
Classic for a Reason 