For the first time in fifty-eight years, the Brookfield school's opening assembly is lacking one important participant, former headmaster and beloved teacher Mr. Charles Chipping. While he's been ordered to rest in bed, Mr. Chipping manages to sneak out, but …
Category: Classic Dramas
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 …
The Hard Way (1943)
The Hard Way, 1943, Warner Bros. Starring Ida Lupino, Dennis Morgan, Joan Leslie, Jack Carson. Directed by Vincent Sherman. B&W, 109 minutes. In the industrial city of Green Hills, Katie Blaine (Joan Leslie) dreams of wearing an eight-dollar white dress …
Strangers on a Train
Strangers on a Train, 1951, Warner Bros. Starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. B&W, 101 minutes. Tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is on his way home when he meets a stranger on his train, …
Angel Face (1953)
Angel Face, 1953, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons. Directed by Otto Preminger. B&W, 91 minutes. An emergency call late one night brings ambulance driver Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum) to the Treymaine mansion, where the worst seems to …
Old Acquaintance
Old Acquaintance, 1943, Warner Bros. Starring Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins. Directed by Vincent Sherman. B&W, 110 minutes. Kit Marlowe (Bette Davis), a critically successful author, has returned to her hometown to see her closest childhood friend, Millie Drake (Miriam Hopkins). …
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Mildred Pierce, 1945, Warner Bros. Starring Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Ann Blyth. Directed by Michael Curtiz. B&W, 111 minutes. A sharp psychological drama that has had feminists debating the nature of its leading lady’s motivations and decisions from …
People Will Talk (1951)
People Will Talk, 1951, 20th Century Fox. Starring Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain, Hume Cronyn. Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz. B&W, 110 minutes. A movie best enjoyed when you understand the politics of the time, People Will Talk is a meandering film …
Classic for a Reason 