By Movie StarAlfred HitchcockAudrey HepburnAva GardnerBarbara StanwyckBasil RathboneBette DavisBilly WilderBob HopeBoris KarloffBurt LancasterBuster KeatonCarole LombardCary GrantCharlie ChaplinClara BowClark GableClaudette ColbertDana AndrewsDeanna DurbinDebbie ReynoldsDoris DayEleanor ParkerElizabeth 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 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 (3457)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 (869)Cinematically Insane (268)CineMaven's Essays from the Couch (152)Classic Cinema Gold (319)Classic Film & TV Cafe (1249)Classic Film Freak (367)Classic Film Review (14)Classic Horror Campaign (257)Classic Movie Hub Blog (1862)Classic Movie Man (906)Classic Movies (3247)Classic Reel Girl (95)Comet Over Hollywood (1263)Creme de la Creme (31)Criterion Blues (770)Critica Retro (1416)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 (586)Hitchcock Master (130)Hollywood Revue (532)Hometowns to Hollywood (757)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 (2144)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 (894)Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers (1836)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 (1622)The Jeanette MacDonald Blog (94)The Man on the Flying Trapeze (643)The Motion Pictures (791)The Movie Rat (746)The Old Hollywood Garden (437)The Stop Button (3203)The Timothy Carey Experience (1181)The Vintage Cameo (134)The Wonderful World of Cinema (578)Timeless Hollywood (73)True Classics (573)Virtual Virago (1617)Where Danger Lives (136)Wolffianclassicmoviesdigest (634)

For today’s Noirvember post, I thought I’d try something different and, hopefully, a little fun. Here’s a quiz with titles of film noir features, but with one word missing from each. To play, just fill in the missing word. The answers can be found by scrolling past the poster of La read more

It’s become somewhat of a tradition for me during Noirvember to comb through my copies of Confidential magazine for stories on noir vets. Luckily, I added another issue to my collection this past year, so here I go again! If you’re unfamiliar with Confidential, it was a notorious gossip magazine read more

During a recent session of the weekly movie meetup group I’m in, we got on the topic of classic movie stars who’d changed their birth names. It was a practice that was not uncommon – Doris Kappelhoff became Doris Day, Alice Jean Leppert became Alice Faye, and so on. Happened all the time. Today’s read more

For some, actor Vince Edwards is best known as the title character on TV’s Ben Casey, which ran for five years on ABC in the 1960s. Others remember him as Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil’s Brigade, starring William Holden and Cliff Robertson. But I know him for his standout perform read more

There are noirs that I like. There are noirs that I love. And then there are the noirs that I’ve seen the most. Today’s Noirvember post is looking at the top three noirs that I’ve seen more often than any others – the ones that I watch over and over again, the ones that I can turn on at any read more

I can’t get enough of what I like to call “Dame Name” noirs – Mildred Pierce, Laura, Nora Prentiss and, of course, Gilda. And you know what else I can’t get enough of? TRIVIA! So, in today’s Noirvember post, I’m combining these two loves of mine, taking a deep dive into Gilda, and coming read more

How many times have you been watching a noir and spotted a actor that you’ve seen before, but you don’t know his name? In fact, you’ve never heard his name – but that face! You know that face! Today’s Noirvember post is taking a look at one of these actors, and putting a name – Barry Kelley read more

If you love film noir – and, of course, you do! – then I know you love those awesome lines that the characters toss off like so much confetti. Some of my favorite lines are the memorable threats and put-downs, and that’s the focus of today’s Noirvember post. Enjoy! “Joe, the man has reason read more

It’s November 1st, y’all, and you know what that means: it’s the start of Noirvember! The brainchild of Marya Gates, who now blogs via her Substack newslettter, Noirvember is a month-long celebration of all things noir. And here at Shadows and Satin, I celebrate by posting every day of the month. read more

Noirvember is just around the corner (buckle up, y’all!), but TCM is going pre-Code nutty on the first day of the noir season! That’s right – on November 1st, you can settle in front of your television (or tablet, phone, or whatever you watch moving pictures on) and catch a full day of eight back-to read more

I have mixed feelings about Fallen Angel, a 20th Century Fox noir released in 1945 and directed by Otto Preminger. The story centers on Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) a down-on-his-luck slickster who winds up in a small California town where he falls for Stella (Linda Darnell), an alluring waitress at read more

TCM is always overflowing with horror films during October, which normally makes it no small feat for me to select my film noir and pre-Code selections for the 10th month of the year. Let me tell you – I didn’t have a problem in that area this year. Shadowy Pick: The Night of the Hunter (1955 read more

I was fascinated with It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) long, long before I ever saw it. I came across a picture of the film’s poster on the Internet, was immediately drawn to it, and printed out a copy, where it decorated my work cubicle for several years. That was in the mid-2000s. I didn’t get read more

Every year, I look forward with great anticipation to the announcement of the Summer Classic Movie Book Challenge, the brainchild of Raquel Stecher over at the Out of the Past blog. This event was made for people like me who love buying classic movie-themed books, but never seem to get around to rea read more

After enjoying an absolutely stellar Summer Under the Stars on TCM, it was a delight to see that September’s line-up is chock-full of first-rate pre-Code and film noir features. Here are my picks for the month. Shadowy Pick: Frisco Jenny (1932) As much as I love this feature, I was gobsmacked to rea read more

A U.S. District courtroom in Miami, Florida. April 24, 1946. 3:20 pm. This is the setting for the opening scene of Notorious (1946), one of my many favorite Alfred Hitchcock films, starring Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern – and the subject of the Ingrid Bergman blogathon. Sometimes categoriz read more

I’m always in the mood for Marlene Dietrich. I don’t care if she’s speaking English, French, or German, whether the film is a pre-Code, film noir, or western – black and white or in color – or whether she’s the star or playing a supporting role. Whatever it is, I’m there. So when I learned read more

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – August is my favorite month! Why? Because that’s the month that TCM presents Summer Under the Stars, where they feature a different classic film star (or team, in the case of this year’s Nicholas Brothers!) and show their films for 24 hours. This year’s read more

In 1925, writer Theodore Dreiser released An American Tragedy – it was his sixth novel and followed such popular fare as Sister Carrie in 1900 and Jennie Gerhardt in 1911. The novel was, as they say, ripped from the headlines; it was based on the well-known 1906 Gillette murder case, which involved read more

I’ll admit it. I’ve only seen Betty Grable in two films. It’s not because I’m not a fan; I’ve always thought she was lovely, with a gorgeous figure – I’ve even read her biography – but she’s mostly a musical gal, and if you know me, you’ll know I’m not exactly the world’s biggest read more