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You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
Castle on the Hudson (1940)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on May 14, 2010
Ever since watching the Michael Curtiz pre-Code prison movie 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, starring Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis, I’ve been interested in seeing the Anatole Litvak remake with John Garfield and Ann Sheridan taking over their roles. Now at last I’ve had the chance, after the read more
The Public Enemy (1931) (2)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on May 7, 2010
James Cagney, Edward Woods and Beryl Mercer Most of the early William A Wellman movies I’ve written about here are little-known – and the same goes for a lot of the James Cagney movies I’ve written about up to now. I often find it’s easier to find things to say about films read more
The Hatchet Man (1932)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Apr 25, 2010
As a gangster film made only the year after The Public Enemy, directed by William A Wellman and starring Edward G Robinson and Loretta Young, this could have been a masterpiece. Sadly, it isn’t. The big problem is that it is supposedly set in the San Francisco’s Chinatown, but almost all read more
Wild Boys of the Road (1933) (2)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Apr 17, 2010
Frankie Darro and Dorothy Coonan in 'Wild Boys of the Road' All six of the William A Wellman pre-Codes included in the Forbidden Hollywood Collection volume three are great to watch, and am sure I’ll go back to them all in the future. But the last one in the package, Wild Boys of the read more
Lilly Turner (1933)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Apr 6, 2010
Continuing my efforts to watch as many William Wellman pre-Codes as possible, I’ve now seen Lilly Turner a couple of times. This movie sadly isn’t available on DVD as yet – I believe it sometimes turns up on TCM in the US, though, and is well worth looking out for. It strikes me th read more
The 13th British Silent Film Festival
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Mar 27, 2010
Just to say that the website for the 13th British Silent Film Festival is now up - it will run from April 15 to 18 in Leicester, and goodies in store include the chance to see William Wellman’s silent masterpiece Beggars of Life on the big screen, as well as Tol’able David, The Bridal read more
Heroes For Sale (1933) (2)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Mar 14, 2010
Richard Barthelmess might be best known as a star of silent films, but I think he was equally good in early talkies, when his boyish looks were starting to fade. He was great as a tormented wartime aviator in Howard Hawks’ The Dawn Patrol (1930) – and he gives another powerful performan read more
The Star Witness (1931)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Mar 7, 2010
Just when I was starting to think that every William Wellman pre-Code was a masterpiece, I came across one that I don’t like quite so much. For me the uneasy blend of comedy and melodrama in The Star Witness, starring Walter Huston, doesn’t quite work, although I still found it interesti read more
Safe in Hell (1931) (2)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Feb 27, 2010
It seems to me as if 1931 was a great year for William Wellman. He made five films that year, four of which I have now seen and loved – including his masterpiece The Public Enemy. (I hope to write about that one in due course, but am slightly daunted by its fame and the amount which has been read more
Midnight Mary (1933) (3)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Feb 22, 2010
Loretta Young and Una Merkel If you like either William Wellman or Loretta Young, I’m prepared to bet you would love this dazzling pre-Code film. Made at MGM, it blends that studio’s sexy glamour with Warner-style grit, and moves at a cracking pace to cram so much into just 74 minutes, read more
Frisco Jenny (1932) (2)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Feb 18, 2010
Ruth Chatterton and James Murray For a director with a macho reputation, William Wellman made a lot of movies featuring strong female characters. Admittedly, it wasn’t always his choice to make these films – for instance, I have read that Wings was originally supposed to be an all, or ma read more
So Big! (1932) (2)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Feb 15, 2010
Barbara Stanwyck in So Big! After thoroughly enjoying William Wellman’s pre-Code comedy-drama The Purchase Price, I was delighted to get the chance to watch So Big!, another film he made the same year, just a couple of months earlier, also starring Barbara Stanwyck as a farmer’s wife. B read more
The Boob (1926)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Feb 8, 2010
The main thing I have to say about this silent movie directed by William A Wellman is that, while it’s no great classic, it isn’t nearly as bad as Wellman himself made out. It’s also very interesting to watch for fans of his great silent movie Wings, as, even though this is a slaps read more
The Purchase Price (1932)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Jan 16, 2010
In interviews with William Wellman included in the Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 3 box set, he suggests that he sometimes had problems working with actresses, recalling arguments with some of his leading ladies when he refused to let them look glamorous. (To be fair, he also mentions falling read more
Night Nurse (1931) (3)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Jan 4, 2010
It’s often said that William Wellman’s pre-code melodrama Night Nurse takes a long time to get going – and that there is too much about heroine Barbara Stanwyck’s training as a nurse before she gets involved in the film’s main plot. I’d have to say I think just the opposite. For me, much read more
Other Men’s Women (1931)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Dec 27, 2009
I originally wrote this posting a while ago, but have now rewritten it as part of my William Wellman season here. I first watched Other Men’s Women on a dodgy bootleg copy, which was the only way of seeing it at the time, but am now delighted to have a beautifully remastered official DVD, iss read more
Happy Christmas
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Dec 24, 2009
Just to wish everyone who visits my blog a happy and restful break over the holidays. Here are a couple of Christmas stills from films I like but haven’t written about here yet – The Sisters (1938), directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn, and Pride of the Mar read more
Children of Divorce (1927)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Dec 19, 2009
Since I’ve just been starting to get into silent movies, I was pleased to have the chance to see this little-known silent melodrama at the BFI in London, where it was screened as part of their Josef von Sternberg season. I was especially attracted by this film because it stars Clara Bow and Ga read more
Missing Wellman silents – and talkies
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Dec 12, 2009
Now that I’ve seen two great William Wellman silent films, Wings and Beggars of Life, I’d love to see the rest. Sadly, I can’t, and I won’t be able to see all his early talkies either. Some of his early movies have been lost (along with an estimated 90 per cent of all silent read more
Beggars of Life (1928)
Movie Classics Posted by Judy on Dec 6, 2009
After being overwhelmed by William Wellman’s Wings (1927), I wanted to see another of his few surviving silent films. This is a haunting tale of tramps wandering through a shadowy underworld, starring Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen and Wallace Beery. Louise Brooks and Richard Arlen Although this film read more