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 KellyGinger 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 HustonJohn 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 (3463)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 (878)Cinematically Insane (268)CineMaven's Essays from the Couch (152)Classic Cinema Gold (319)Classic Film & TV Cafe (1252)Classic Film Freak (367)Classic Film Review (14)Classic Horror Campaign (257)Classic Movie Hub Blog (1870)Classic Movie Man (909)Classic Movies (3247)Classic Reel Girl (95)Comet Over Hollywood (1268)Creme de la Creme (31)Criterion Blues (770)Critica Retro (1419)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 (587)Hitchcock Master (130)Hollywood Revue (532)Hometowns to Hollywood (760)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 (2147)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 (908)Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers (1842)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 (1631)The Jeanette MacDonald Blog (94)The Man on the Flying Trapeze (643)The Motion Pictures (791)The Movie Rat (746)The Old Hollywood Garden (438)The Stop Button (3203)The Timothy Carey Experience (1181)The Vintage Cameo (134)The Wonderful World of Cinema (580)Timeless Hollywood (73)True Classics (573)Virtual Virago (1617)Where Danger Lives (136)Wolffianclassicmoviesdigest (636)

I don’t know how I got decades into classic film fandom without seeing The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945). Yes, I thought it seemed like it could be excessively sentimental or cutesy (two things which happen to not be true), but I also love Ingrid Bergman in anything and Bing Crosby has grow read more

The Bells at Cockaigne plays it very safe. It’s an inspirational “play for television” about lovable old Irishman in the U.S. Gene Lockhart daydreaming about winning an apparently still legal in 1953 numbers racket the newspapers run. Lockhart’s going to use the money to go home to Ireland and read more

The Bells at Cockaigne plays it very safe. It’s an inspirational “play for television” about lovable old Irishman in the U.S. Gene Lockhart daydreaming about winning an apparently still legal in 1953 numbers racket the newspapers run. Lockhart’s going to use the money to go home to Ireland and read more

The Bells at Cockaigne plays it very safe. It’s an inspirational “play for television” about lovable old Irishman in the U.S. Gene Lockhart daydreaming about winning an apparently still legal in 1953 numbers racket the newspapers run. Lockhart’s going to use the money to go home to Ireland and read more

The Bells at Cockaigne plays it very safe. It’s an inspirational “play for television” about lovable old Irishman in the U.S. Gene Lockhart daydreaming about winning an apparently still legal in 1953 numbers racket the newspapers run. Lockhart’s going to use the money to go home to Ireland and read more

Penelope Lively's ghostly children's novel "Astercote" ( 1970 ) was brought to the small screen in 1980 as a one-hour television movie that aired the evening of December 23, following in the BBC tradition of airing ghost stories for the Yuletide season. The Bells of Astercote, as it was renamed, wa read more

I'm currently reading TOME OF THE TERROR: HORROR FILMS OF THE SILENT ERA, the latest entry in Chris Workman & Troy Howarth's series of books on the history of horror films. Many of the films covered in this volume are unavailable in any form, which is frustrating, particularly since it seems the read more

Today, I'm celebrating Ingrid Bergman's 100th birthday with an article about her wonderful performance in The Bells of St. Mary's (1945). Here she is with Bing Crosby in a publicity still for this family drama. This article is part of The Wonderful Ingrid Bergman Blogathon hosted by The Wonderful read more

The Bells of St. Mary’s Directed by Leo McCarey Written by Dudley Nichols from a story by Leo McCarey 1945/USA Rainbow Productions Repeat viewing/Netflix Instant   I seem to be building up some Christmas-themed viewing without even trying. My favorite part of this movie is the first-gr read more

By Fritzi Kramer on March 20, 2014 in Blog, Fun Size Review Not based on any work by Edgar Allan Poe (despite what DVD cases may tell you) but a suspenseful tale of madness and murder. Heavily influenced by German cinema. Lionel Barrymore is a tormented murderer while a pre-fame Boris Karloff is on read more

Lionel Barrymore is Mathias, a kindly Alsatian innkeeper who is being crushed by debt. Unable to deny his friends loans or his loving daughter small luxuries, Mathias is on the edge of destitution. When a rich man stops briefly at the inn (with a fortune in gold on his person), Mathias drunkenly ro read more

You know when you are going along minding your own business, thinking of cake or butterflies or something, and someone tells you this: It takes more muscles to frown than to smile. This annoys me. I’m sorry but I don’t like my emotions and facial expressions dictated by strangers. And, read more

I didn’t know anything about The Bells (1926) until I was browsing the catalogue at reelclassicdvd.com. But when I see silent + Lionel Barrymore + Boris Karloff – well, sign me up! Directed by James Young and based on the stage play Le Juif Polonaise (The Polish Jew), the movie is a kin read more

There’s always been a soft spot in my heart for nuns and Catholic schools.  All those stereotypes about nuns being the strictest teachers armed with rulers was just a myth in my experience.  And though my Catholic school of the early ‘90s had no air conditioning at the time, which my mother fretted read more

 Here's a holiday treat! Listen to the latest episode of The Movie Palace Podcast where host Carl Sweeney and I discuss two classics: Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945).Happy holidays! Listen to "Going My Way/The Bells of St. Mary's" on Spreaker. read more

 Here's a holiday treat! Listen to the latest episode of The Movie Palace Podcast where host Carl Sweeney and I discuss two classics: Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945).Happy holidays! Listen to "Going My Way/The Bells of St. Mary's" on Spreaker. read more

Timing is everything. My father passed away in August and since that time I have been in charge of his settling his affairs. Recently I took a day off to get a few errands done including delivering my parents' tax forms and paperwork to their lawyer. He's been in the business for 52 years and still read more

Timing is everything. My father passed away in August and since that time I have been in charge of his settling his affairs. Recently I took a day off to get a few errands done including delivering my parents' tax forms and paperwork to their lawyer. He's been in the business for 52 years and still read more