Note: unlike most of my reviews, this one contains a spoiler. Imitation of Life, 1934, Universal Pictures. Starring Claudette Colbert, Louise Beavers. Directed by John M. Stahl. B&W, 111 minutes. Bea Pullman (Claudette Colbert) is a widow struggling to make …
Category: Classic Dramas
Notorious
Notorious, 1946, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. B&W, 101 minutes. After her father is convicted of being a Nazi spy, Alicia Hubermann (Ingrid Bergman) is drinking and ignoring the mysterious guest …
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946. Samuel Goldwyn Productions, released by RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Harold Russell, Myrna Loy. Directed by William Wyler. B&W, 172 minutes. A wonderfully crafted film that explores the plight of …
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Robert Donat, Greer Garson. Directed by Sam Wood. B&W, 114 minutes. For the first time in 58 years, the Brookfield school’s opening assembly is lacking one important participant, former headmaster and beloved teacher Mr. …
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Magnificent Ambersons, 1942, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorhead. Directed by Orson Welles. B&W, 88 minutes. In late-19th century Indiana, there is no family so revered as the Ambersons. Socially and financially …
All About Eve
All About Eve, 1950, 20th Century Fox, Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. B&W, 138 minutes. Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is a brilliant, yet aging, Broadway …
Going My Way
Going My Way, 1944, Paramount Pictures. Starring Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Risë Stevens. Directed by Leo McCarey. B&W, 126 minutes. Father Fitzgibbons (Barry Fitzgerald), the aging priest of St. Dominic’s parish, is facing hard times. The church is five months …
