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Silver Screen Standards: The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Despite the icy cold shade of Rita Hayworth’s hair, The Lady from Shanghai (1947) plays like a fever dream, confusing and sweat-soaked, long before it reaches its famous funhouse climax. It’s a favorite among classic noir fans even though read more

No, this isn’t an alternate universe. There really was a film from the 1930s starring both Anna May Wong and Phillip Ahn. They’re not just supporting players or bit parts to fill in a few stereotypical roles, either, but actual leads. More amazing still, they both speak English without read more

It’s immaterial to the film overall but I want to talk about how Welles compensates for projection composites looking like projection composites. He changes up his focus, sometimes focusing on the person in the foreground, sometimes not. Is it intentional? Is he really trying to compensate? Well, read more

It’s immaterial to the film overall but I want to talk about how Welles compensates for projection composites looking like projection composites. He changes up his focus, sometimes focusing on the person in the foreground, sometimes not. Is it intentional? Is he really trying to compensate? Well, read more

It’s immaterial to the film overall but I want to talk about how Welles compensates for projection composites looking like projection composites. He changes up his focus, sometimes focusing on the person in the foreground, sometimes not. Is it intentional? Is he really trying to compensate? Well, read more

It’s immaterial to the film overall but I want to talk about how Welles compensates for projection composites looking like projection composites. He changes up his focus, sometimes focusing on the person in the foreground, sometimes not. Is it intentional? Is he really trying to compensate? Well, read more

Before I knew the word “auteur” I think subconsciously I began to realize Orson Welles was gifted with this kind of innate artistic force that cemented all his pictures together. It’s part of what made him such a terror to work with and simultaneously a genius of such mammoth acco read more

Josef Von Sternberg always seemed preoccupied with telling stories involving places that he indubitably knew little about but therein lies the allure. He could develop the Moroccos, the Shanghais, the Macaos into places imbued with far more meaning than they probably ever could have in real life. B read more

Considering the popularity of "Swing High, Swing Low" -- this Carole Lombard-Fred MacMurray collaboration was Paramount's biggest money-maker for all of 1937 -- it's strange that no complete 35 mm print of the film exists. But that's another story for another time.In the 1930s, Hollywood product ha read more

From March 2015 to April 2017, I was writing the monthly Teen Scene column for the website ClassicFlix. My objective was to promote classic films among teenagers and young adults. Due to the establishing of a new version of the website, it’s now more difficult to access to the old version and read read more

  Originally published in May of 2012 It always surprises me when I discover films I’ve missed out on; case in point, I’ve officially seen The Lady from Shanghai!  Yes, a seminal classic not just in the world of film noir but in director Orson Welles’ oeuvre!  As with all film read more

A Dama de Xangai / The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Era a noite de Natal de 2009. A única fonte de luz na sala escura era a tela da televisão. Foi então que eu vi um filme que me marcou profundamente, cujos diálogos e imagens continuam vivos, perfeitos, em minha mente, mesmo eu nunca mais tendo read more

A Dama de Xangai / The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Era a noite de Natal de 2009. A única fonte de luz na sala escura era a tela da televisão. Foi então que eu vi um filme que me marcou profundamente, cujos diálogos e imagens continuam vivos, perfeitos, em minha mente, mesmo eu nunca mais tendo read more

The final day of the TCM Classic Film Festival was by far the lightest in terms of screenings, but I also found it to be among the most enjoyable. One of the wonderful things about this festival, speaking for those of us who write about classic film, is that there is never any shortage of communit read more

Jack Hunter made a name for himself as “Action Jack,” star of a series of adventure flicks in the 1930s. But by 1942, the world is at war, he’s retired from the screen, and he’s living on a ranch with his fellow survivors from a previous jungle adventure: his wife, Max; her n read more

The Elephants of Shanghai Stephen Jared Solstice Publishing, 2013 Actor/writer Stephen Jared has long been a friend of Classic Movies. His fiction debut, the rousing adventure story Jack and the Jungle Lion, was one of the first books I reviewed for the blog. Stephen has also distinguished himself read more

Starring Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, the film is narrated by an Irish sailor (Welles) who meets a beautiful but unhappily married woman (Hayworth). Michael is given a job on the yacht of the wealthy lawyer Arthur Bannister and he is near the alluring Elsa once again. While he is aboard the yacht read more

Starring Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, the film is narrated by an Irish sailor (Welles) who meets a beautiful but unhappily married woman (Hayworth). Michael is given a job on the yacht of the wealthy lawyer Arthur Bannister and he is near the alluring Elsa once again. While he is aboard the yacht read more

Charlie Chan in Shanghai Directed by James Tinling 1935/USA Fox Film Corporation First viewing   Master-detective Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) travels to Shanghai ostensibly to visit the land of his ancestors but really to assist in a secret investigation.  But the British agent he was to assist read more

Clive Brook and Marlene Dietrich Between 1930 and 1935, Josef von Sternberg filmed six wondrous and surreal flights of imagination for Paramount starring Marlene Dietrich with costumes by Travis Banton. The director and Dietrich had already made their first film together, The Blue Angel (1930), fo read more