By Movie StarAlfred HitchcockAudrey HepburnAva GardnerBarbara StanwyckBasil RathboneBette DavisBilly WilderBob HopeBoris KarloffBurt LancasterBuster KeatonCarole LombardCary GrantCharlie ChaplinClara BowClark GableClaudette ColbertDana AndrewsDeanna DurbinDebbie ReynoldsDoris DayElizabeth TaylorErnst LubitschErrol FlynnEsther WilliamsFranchot ToneFred AstaireFred MacMurrayGary CooperGene KellyGeorge CukorGinger RogersGloria SwansonGrace KellyGreer GarsonGregory PeckGreta GarboHarold LloydHedy LamarrHenry FondaHoward HawksHumphrey BogartIda LupinoIngrid BergmanIrene DunneJack BennyJack LemmonJames CagneyJames StewartJane RussellJean ArthurJean HarlowJeanette MacDonaldJeanne CrainJoan CrawfordJoan FontaineJohn FordJohn WayneJudy GarlandKatharine HepburnKay FrancisKirk DouglasLana TurnerLauren BacallLillian GishLon ChaneyLoretta YoungLouise BrooksLucille BallMae WestMarilyn MonroeMarion DaviesMarlene DietrichMary AstorMary PickfordMickey RooneyMiriam HopkinsMyrna LoyNatalie WoodNorma ShearerOlivia de HavillandOrson WellesPaul NewmanPreston SturgesRichard WidmarkRita HayworthRobert MitchumRudolph ValentinoShirley TempleSidney PoitierSpencer TracySteve McQueenTeresa WrightTyrone PowerVincent PriceVivien LeighWilliam HoldenWilliam PowellWilliam WylerWoody Allen By HolidayNew Year's DayPresident's DayValentine's DayEasterMother's DayFather's DayMemorial DayJuly 4thLabor DayColumbus DayHalloweenThanksgivingChristmasBlack History MonthWomen's History Month All Blogs4 Star Films (3457)50 Most Influential Disney Animators (58)A Person in the Dark (364)All Good Things (815)Backlots (412)Caf? Muscato (572)Caftan Woman (904)Carole & Co. (3081)Cary Grant Won't Eat You (484)Christy Putnam (77)Cinema Crossroads (42)Cinematic Catharsis (870)Cinematically Insane (268)CineMaven's Essays from the Couch (152)Classic Cinema Gold (319)Classic Film & TV Cafe (1250)Classic Film Freak (367)Classic Film Review (14)Classic Horror Campaign (257)Classic Movie Hub Blog (1863)Classic Movie Man (906)Classic Movies (3247)Classic Reel Girl (95)Comet Over Hollywood (1264)Creme de la Creme (31)Criterion Blues (770)Critica Retro (1416)Curtains (58)Durnmoose Movie Musings (1105)Film Reviews and Anything Else I Get Inspired by (5)Finding Franchot: Exploring the Life and Career of Franchot Tone (161)Flickers in Time (2221)GlamAmor (586)Hitchcock Master (130)Hollywood Revue (532)Hometowns to Hollywood (757)How Sweet It Was (86)In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood (154)Journeys in Classic Film (1765)Lady Eve's Reel Life (733)Le Mot du Cinephiliaque (945)Love Letters to Old Hollywood (150)MacGuffin Movies (362)Margaret Perry (165)Mildred's Fatburgers (201)Movie Classics (287)Movies Silently (1029)Noir and Chick Flicks (1998)Noirish (1273)Old Hollywood Films (651)Once Upon a Screen (420)Out of the Past - A Classic Film Blog (2144)Outspoken and Freckled (140)Phantom Empires (60)Please Go Away: A Katharine Hepburn Blog (456)Pop Culture ImagineMDD (103)Pretty Clever Films (1413)Reel Distracted (20)ScribeHard on Film (162)Serendipitous Anachronisms (82)Shadows and Satin (895)Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers (1836)Smitten Kitten Vintage (48)Smum County (115)Stardust and Shadows (120)Studies in Cinema (118)Sunset Blvd (39)The Baz (158)The Best Picture Project (905)The Blonde At The Film (319)The Bogie Film Blog (147)The Cinema Dilettante (110)The Giddy Blog (152)The Great Katharine Hepburn (240)The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog (1622)The Jeanette MacDonald Blog (94)The Man on the Flying Trapeze (643)The Motion Pictures (791)The Movie Rat (746)The Old Hollywood Garden (437)The Stop Button (3203)The Timothy Carey Experience (1181)The Vintage Cameo (134)The Wonderful World of Cinema (578)Timeless Hollywood (73)True Classics (573)Virtual Virago (1617)Where Danger Lives (136)Wolffianclassicmoviesdigest (634)

Lots of links to great reviews of science fiction movies, both classic and obscure. And they’re all in a good cause! Wonders in the Dark by Sam Juliano For the first time ever, the much admired and successful Film Preservation Blogathon -the brainchild of Ferdy-on-Film’s Marilyn Ferdinand- h read more

—–My own contribution to this blogathon will be appearing tomorrow night. This Island Rod‘s relevant post is here. Wonders in the Dark The Film Preservation blogathon is in full throttle, and after two gloriously successful days at Ferdy on Films has moved over to Roderick Heath’s read more

Click the image for more info on this exciting project. Aye, John, great to see this banner here! And the project is running full throttle!! :) Glad to hear the blogathon’s going well! I’m planning to post my own contribution to it tomorrow night. Fill in your details below or click a read more

One year, one film: 1932 The film: Love Me Tonight, dir. Rouben Mamoulian starring Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier Rating: Recommended | Highly Recommended | MUST-SEE (Image via Bob’s Movies) Music and romance meet in this lovely film, starring the very talented Maurice Chevalier an read more

Hello dear readers, my goodness, it has been a long time since I’ve posted. I’ve been so busy with various projects that I feel that Backlots has been relegated to the back burner. I still owe you the post about my final day at the TCMFF, but I’m here to announce another festival read more

YouTube Film Noir Series "The Port of San Pedro" A new YouTube series, The Port of San Pedro, captures the look and feel of film noir movies of the 1940s and 50s. Created by Cleo Valente and shot in black and white, the series takes place in the Port of San Pedro in California. Cast and crew read more

YouTube Film Noir Series "The Port of San Pedro" A new YouTube series, The Port of San Pedro, captures the look and feel of film noir movies of the 1940s and 50s. Created by Cleo Valente and shot in black and white, the series takes place in the Port of San Pedro in California. Cast and crew read more

The Seattle International Film Festival announced its 2015 line-up today, and it is going to be a fantastic year for classic film fans. SIFF has long offered a bold and fascinating program of archival movies, but as I enter my third year of covering the festival, now in its 41st year, I have never b read more

Eyes of the Underworld began production on May 1, 1928 at Universal Studios, under the direction of Leigh Jason; filming was completed by the middle of August of ‘28.[1] One month later, Eyes, was assigned the opening date of April 28, 1929, by Universal; this date remained the same in all Hollywoo read more

Eyes of the Underworld began production on May 1, 1928 at Universal Studios, under the direction of Leigh Jason; filming was completed by the middle of August of ‘28.[1] One month later, Eyes, was assigned the opening date of April 28, 1929, by Universal; this date remained the same in all Hollywoo read more

Eyes of the Underworld began production on May 1, 1928 at Universal Studios, under the direction of Leigh Jason; filming was completed by the middle of August of ‘28.[1] One month later, Eyes, was assigned the opening date of April 28, 1929, by Universal; this date remained the same in all Hollywoo read more

read more

One year, one film: 1931 The film: Dracula, dir. Tod Browning starring Bela Lugosi Rating: Recommended | Highly Recommended | MUST-SEE (Image via Wikimedia Commons) Bela Lugosi gives an iconic performance in the title role of this early-’30s Universal horror flick. Tod Browning, best-known f read more

For those who live in Los Angeles and are going through a bit of withdrawal from our time at the recent TCM Classic Film Festival, I hope you'll join me next Saturday for a talk on the influential style of film noir at the historic Egyptian Theatre!    Saturday, April 25th FEMME read more

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival: Tips for next year and beyond As noted in previous posts, Turner Classic Movies Film Festival was a wonderful experience, beyond this first-timers expectation. There were so many things going on at one time that it was difficult to decide what to do. In read more

2015 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival: Tips for next year and beyond As noted in previous posts, Turner Classic Movies Film Festival was a wonderful experience, beyond this first-timers expectation. There were so many things going on at one time that it was difficult to decide what to do. In read more

I couldn't think of a better way to start day four of TCMFF than with the rousing opening number of Calamity Jane (1953). Doris Day standing on top of a speeding stagecoach singing at the top of her lungs was quite the eye-opener. Though I knew it was ridiculous, there was a part of me that hop read more

Image Source Saturday was one of the most purely enjoyable days of the festival. All I did was watch movies and I think the simplicity of it all appealed to me. My energy started to flag a little, partly because I hadn't had a sit down meal for too long, and because I attempted another midnight mo read more

I  went light on the movies the second day of TCMFF. Only at a film festival can you say that seeing four flicks in a day is a "light" viewing schedule. After the Christopher Plummer hand/foot print ceremony (which I wrote about here), I had planned to see The Proud Rebel (1958) with Ala read more

CLOSING NIGHT I wind up this year’s 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival by seeing two of Hollywood’s biggest stars in person, confirming once and for all, in my mind…they actually EXIST. And I also got to hang out at a pretty cool after-party. The first movie I ever saw with a bunch of kids, ( read more