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 …
Tag: 1940s
Sullivan’s Travels
Sullivan’s Travels, 1941, Paramount Pictures. Starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake. Directed by Preston Sturges. B&W, 90 minutes. John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is an immensely successful director of lightweight comedies who longs to make films with a social conscience (including …
The Palm Beach Story
The Palm Beach Story, 1942, Paramount Pictures. Starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallee, Mary Astor. Directed by Preston Sturges. B&W, 88 minutes. Tom (Joel McCrea) and Gerry (Claudette Colbert) Jeffers have hit a stalemate in their marriage: they are …
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 …
Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Pride and Prejudice, 1940, Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Starring Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier. Co-starring Maureen O’Sullivan, Mary Boland. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. B&W, 117 minutes. While busily shopping with her daughters Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan) and Elizabeth (Greer Garson), ever-vigiliant Mrs. …
Blithe Spirit
Blithe Spirit, 1945, Two Cities Films. Starring Rex Harrison, Kay Hammond, Constance Cummings. Directed by David Lean. Technicolor, 96 minutes. Novelist Charles Condomine (Rex Harrison) and his wife Ruth (Constance Cummings) hold a seance one evening as part of his …
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 …
