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You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
Dealing With Disaster Through Cinematherapy
Backlots Posted by Lara on Apr 16, 2013
As we struggle to make sense of the unthinkable events in Boston yesterday, we find ourselves coming together as a country and a world to participate in collective grieving, as so often happens when a tragedy of this scale occurs. It is a time when people who need to get away from the gruesome foot read more
CLFP: TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Apr 11, 2013
A group of Polish actors infiltrate a Nazi spy plot, wreaking havoc with their impersonations of key Gestapo figures and screwball antics. This is essentially the plot of To Be or Not To Be, a highly complex film ahead of its time in many ways and unlike any other film in Lombard’s filmograp read more
TCM Classic Film Festival Schedule (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Apr 4, 2013
After a long wait, TCM has finally announced its schedule for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival. While there are a few final slots left to fill, this is more or less the final tally of films. I will, of course, keep you updated on any changes. The following list is taken from TCM’s website. read more
Remembering Roger Ebert (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Apr 4, 2013
The film world grieves today. Award-winning journalist, critic, screenwriter, and intellectual Roger Ebert passed away this morning after a very long battle with cancer, leaving behind him a journalistic legacy that spans 45 years. The first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize, he spoke his mind read more
CLFP: The Princess Comes Across (1936) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Mar 28, 2013
Murder mystery meets screwball comedy in this unique yarn, in which Carole Lombard stars as Princess Olga, a rather suspicious-sounding Swedish princess on a boat to the United States, and Fred MacMurray is her love interest with a criminal past. We soon learn that Princess Olga is not a princess read more
Backlots at the TCM Classic Film Festival, April 25-28 in Hollywood, CA (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Mar 26, 2013
I have just received confirmation that Backlots will be attending the TCM Classic Film Festival as an official member of the press. Headquartered at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, this is a huge and important festival, and I wanted to make a post telling readers what they may expect of me and Back read more
The Goodbye Scene in THE GRADUATE (1967) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Mar 19, 2013
The camera zooms away from Mrs. Robinson and away from her relationship with Benjamin in THE GRADUATE (1967) Emotions run high and fast as The Graduate approaches its finish, and nowhere is the gamut of emotions so evident as in the scene in which Mrs. Robinson learns about Ben’s relationship read more
Backlots is 2! (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Mar 16, 2013
In 2011, having received various enthusiastic requests for a blog by which I could impart my passion for classic film to a wider audience, I decided it was time to heed the advice. After a few false starts and WordPress fumbles, that which we now know as Backlots was born in Paris on March 17, 201 read more
CLFP: “True Confession” (1937) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Mar 11, 2013
True Confession (1937) is one of the films marking the twilight of Carole Lombard’s short but illustrious career. By the time this film was made, Carole had shot 71 movies in a career spanning a total of 16 years, and after True Confession she would make 7 more before her sudden and untimely read more
Creative Direction and Editing in the Symphony Scene of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Mar 8, 2013
Doris Day sees the shooter during the Royal Albert Hall scene of “The Man Who Knew Too Much” (1956). Overall, the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is not considered one of Hitchcock’s best endeavors. Of the two versions made (the other was an early success of Hitchcock read more
CLFP: “Virtue” (1932) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Mar 5, 2013
When I learned that Virtue was to be a part of the pre-code festival at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco this evening, I knew I had to go. This is one of Carole Lombard’s more well-known movies, but one which is rarely seen. This was, perhaps, my one chance to see this movie and review it read more
CLFP: “High Voltage” (1929) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Feb 27, 2013
For fans of the sophisticated screwballs that defined the majority of Carole Lombard’s career, it is often difficult to fathom that Carole started off as a dramatic actress. From the late silent era until 1934 when Twentieth Century changed her career, Carole Lombard (or, as she was often bi read more
CLFP: “Twentieth Century” (1934) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Feb 23, 2013
Well, readers, it sure has been a while since my last entry in the Carole Lombard Filmography Project. I watched this film quite some time ago in anticipation of this post, and somehow time slipped out of my hands. Here I am, a shameful number of weeks later, finally giving Carole and this film th read more
FABULOUS FILMS OF THE FORTIES BLOGATHON: “The Clock” (1945) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Feb 20, 2013
One year after Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli fell in love on the set of Meet Me in St. Louis the contemplative wartime drama The Clock came to fruition. Up to this point in Judy Garland’s career, her roles had been limited to girl-next-door types and she always sang at least one song (w read more
A Day of Silents–SILENT WINTER 2013 (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Feb 17, 2013
Buster Keaton and Buster Keaton in drag in “The Playhouse,” shown this afternoon at Silent Winter 2013. The San Francisco Silent Film Festival has lived up to its stellar reputation once again. Featuring a mouth-watering lineup of silent cinema gems, Silent Winter 2013 was a lively and read more
SILENT WINTER 2013 (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Feb 16, 2013
Douglas Fairbanks in “The Thief of Bagdad,” showing today at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s Silent Winter. My dear readers, I apologize profusely that Backlots has been a little dead recently, your author has been having a VERY busy month. But I am back to tell you that read more
NOIR CITY Day 1: “Gun Crazy” and Peggy Cummins Live (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Jan 26, 2013
The opening night of this year’s Noir City can be described, by any standard, as a resounding and spectacular success. Upon my entrance to the theater 15 minutes before showtime, I was greeted with a house that was packed solid. The only seats available were a select few in the upper balcony read more
NOIR CITY Day 2 Matinée: “Hell Drivers” and “Curse of the Demon” (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Jan 26, 2013
Noir City’s tribute to Peggy Cummins continued this afternoon with showings of 2 films she made in 1957. By this time, Peggy was primarily making films in England, and though neither Hell Drivers nor Curse of the Demon is strict film noir, they both showcase Peggy’s marvelous acting an read more
Backlots’ Coverage of Noir City, January 25-February 3, 2013 (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Jan 25, 2013
Backlots will be covering Noir City, beginning tonight! As always, I am enabling live tweets so you may follow the action in real time on the blog. Tonight’s screening is an especially special one–Gun Crazy with Peggy Cummins in person. Ms. Cummins has long lived in London, and her app read more
Scandal On Film: “Illicit” (1931), “Forbidden” (1932) and “Baby Face” (1933) (3)
Backlots Posted by Lara on Jan 15, 2013
Barbara Stanwyck has an affair with married politician Adolphe Menjou, and subsequently has his baby, in “Forbidden” (1932). From her first forays into sound film, Barbara Stanwyck was known for her portrayals of strong, gutsy, and independent women. In Illicit, she sleeps with her boyf read more