Only Angels Have Wings, 1939, Columbia Pictures. Starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur. Directed by Howard Hawks. B&W, 121 minutes. Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur) has just arrived in Barranca, a port town in South America, on a banana boat and plans …
Tag: Movie Review
Love Affair
Love Affair, 1939, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne. Directed by Leo McCarey. B&W, 87 minutes. Playboy Michel Marnet (Charles Boyer) is on an ocean liner headed for New York and his fiancée, Lois Clarke (Astrid Allwyn) when …
Singin’ in the Rain
Singin’ in the Rain, 1952, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor. Directed by Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen. Technicolor. 103 minutes. In 1920s Hollywood, there is no greater onscreen couple than Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean …
The Gay Divorcee
The Gay Divorcee, 1934, RKO Radio Pictures. Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. Directed by Mark Sandrich. B&W, 107 minutes. Traveling from Paris to London, Guy Holden (Fred Astaire) meets Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers) in a most unfortunate manner. Mimi’s dress …
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939, Columbia Pictures. Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains. Directed by Frank Capra. B&W, 130 minutes. The U.S. Senator of an unnamed state has died, and the pressure is on Governor Hubert “Happy” Hopper …
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Heaven Can Wait, 1943, 20th Century Fox. Starring Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Charles Coburn. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. Technicolor, 114 minutes. An elderly Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) has met his demise, and believing he is not fit for heaven, …
Mrs. Parkington
There is no family wealthier than the Parkingtons, and the clan has gathered together for Christmas. The youngest of the family, Jane, confides in her great-grandmother, Susie Parkington, that she plans to elope with one of her father's employees, Ned. …
The Bells of St. Mary’s
The Bells of St. Mary’s, 1945, RKO Pictures. Starring Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman. Directed by Leo McCarey. B&W, 126 minutes. Father Chuck O’Malley (Bing Crosby, in a reprisal of his role from Going My Way) has been assigned to pastor …
Imitation of Life (1934)
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 …
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins, 1964, Walt Disney Productions. Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke. Directed by Robert Stevenson. Technicolor, 139 minutes. The wind’s in the east and mist’s coming in, causing jack-of-all-trades Bert (Dick Van Dyke) to look to the sky. In …
