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Leave Her to Heaven (1945) The mingling of film noir and melodrama can yield strange but beautiful fruit, as it does most memorably in 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, adapted by Jo Swerling from the 1944 novel by Ben Ames Williams and directed by John M. Stahl. Gene Tierney, always exquisite and usua read more

Wini Shaw Wini Shaw Wini Shaw was born Winifred Lei Momi on February 25, 1907, in San Francisco, California, to James Edmonds Shaw and Esther Pua Kinamu Stephenson. She was of Hawaiian and Irish descent, and the youngest of thirteen children. Shaw began her time in the entertainment industr read more

More Western Filmmakers Final Resting Places This month we return to the topic of the final resting places of Western filmmakers, visiting the gravesites of several actors and actresses across the Greater Los Angeles area. Actor Kirk Douglas lived to the venerable age of 103, when he was burie read more

Charley Bowers, The Quirky Genius Of Stop-Motion Animation You’ve heard of Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd. You’ve even heard of Harry Langdon. Roscoe Arbuckle and Mabel Normand? Of course you’re familiar with them! Heck, you’re no stranger to Charley Chase or Marie Dressler–or even Monty read more

Supportive Fellas of Film Noir: Part II More than a year ago, I started a series, “Supportive Fellas of Film Noir,” which focused on  . . . well . . . the supporting male characters in film noir features. It’s been a while since I promised to shine the spotlight on these gents, so I figured read more

A glass of milk – so calming, so pure. Mothers give it to their children. Kids leave glasses for Santa. A husband hands one to his wife to help her relax. Wait. Take go back to that husband. If you’ve seen the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Suspicion, you’re probably feeling a bit uneasy. read more

The Ladykillers (1955) Like most Gen Xers, I grew up associating Sir Alec Guinness with his role as Obi Wan-Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Only as an adult did I discover his earlier work and his tremendous talent for comedy as showcased by his series of films in the 1950s with Ealing read more

Mabel Todd Mabel Todd Mabel Todd was born on August 13, 1907, in Los Angeles, California, to Richard and Helen Todd, and grew up in Glendale, California. Her father worked as a salesman. At an early age, Mabel and her sister, Marcia, performed as a singing duo in vaudeville. Mabel later san read more

TCM Classic Film Festival 15 Over the years the TCM Classic Film Festival has typically included a couple of Westerns on the schedule, such as Winchester ’73 (1950), which I wrote about here back in 2019, or last year’s opening night premiere of the restored Rio Br read more

A Closer Look At: Sherlock Jr. (1924) Buster Keaton, Sherlock Jr 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of one of Buster Keaton’s most beloved films: his third feature, Sherlock Jr. (1924). Still every bit as funny and fresh as it was in the early 20th century, its sophisticated special effects have read more

Marjorie White Marjorie White Marjorie Ann Guthrie was born on July 22, 1904, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to Robert and Nettie Guthrie. Her father worked as a grain merchant. Guthrie entered into the entertainment industry as a child performer, working as one of the dancing and singing read more

Unmistakable Noir One of the most interesting – and challenging – aspects of classic film noir is the fact that it’s not a hard and fast, clear-cut genre. There are countless films that are staunchly considered by some to fall in the category of noir, and just as vehemently believed by others read more

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) When Roger Corman died on May 9, 2024, at the impressive age of 98, his passing marked the end of a brilliant cinematic career that began in the 1950s and continued for more than 70 years. I’ve been a fan of Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe films ever since I first discove read more

It started, appropriately, with Monster from the Ocean Floor in 1954. That was Roger Corman’s first film and everything about it, including that fun title, was a taste of what he would give us during his 60-plus years of filmmaking. When Corman died May 9 at the age of 98, he left behin read more

High Noon I’ve seen High Noon (1952) multiple times over the years, including a memorable theatrical screening at the FilmEx festival when I was in my teens. The FilmEx screening, which took place in Century City, California, was part of a 50-hour movie marathon honoring the 50th read more

A Closer Look At: Metropolis (1927) By the mid-1920s, cinema had reached incredible heights. Lighting and cinematography had evolved into fine art. The camera itself was liberated from the stagnant wooden tripods, made to float along elaborate tracks and swing from ceilings. The screen captur read more

Spring Trivia – Laraine Day, Van Heflin, Robert Taylor and More Classic movie trivia and the budding of spring – two things that go great together . . . at least, they do here at the Noir Nook! This month’s Nook celebrates the new season with some tasty tidbits about six great performers read more

Transformative Drag in Some Like It Hot (1959) Some Like It Hot (1959) is widely celebrated as one of classic Hollywood’s greatest comedies, even though its cross-dressing plot roused conservative ire and caused the movie to be released without Hays Code approval in 1959. Thanks to the brilliant read more

Classic Movie Travels: Beverly Bayne Beverly Gayne Pearl Beverly Bain was born on November 11, 1893, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Augustus and Jessie Bain. When she was six years old, her family moved briefly to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before settling in Chicago, Illinois. There, she atte read more

Returning Robot Monsterto its Comics-Inspired Roots I’m very happy to share that there is a Kickstarter Campaign to help return sci-fi cult classic, Robot Monster, to its comics-inspired roots, spearheaded by film historian Bob Furmanek of the 3D Film Archive. The campaign is ending in abou read more