Silver Screenings Blog
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We adore old movies and believe they are good for you, like expensive chocolate and the spa. Fashionably filmy movie blogger.
Silver Screenings Blog
4d ago
Serious Question: Is there such a thing as a domestic film noir? And: Can a film noir take place in the bright California sunshine? Here’s our query: In the 1951 “B” movie, Cause for Alarm! (exclamation point included), there are many noir-ish elements, such as a situation that quickly Spirals out of control, a reluctance to call law enforcement, and ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
1w ago
We (yours truly) adore the on-screen Joan Crawford. Was she the single greatest actress of her generation? Nope. Was she remarkable? You bet. With a 47-year Hollywood career, she understood what it took to become a Movie Legend. It is Crawford’s film career that is the subject of a new biography, Ferocious Ambition: Joan Crawford’s March to Stardom (University of ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
1M ago
Actress Mary Pickford, wildly famous during the silent era, developed a pattern early in her career. The pattern first became evident at the Biograph studio in 1909, when a 17-year-old Pickford worked with director D.W. Griffith, pushing the boundaries and conventions of film. Even though Pickford was fast gaining fame and recognition at Biograph – and the pay to go ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
2M ago
Well, just look at the things you find when you reorganize your movie collection. We (yours truly) had a burst of Organizational Efficiency last week and, as we sorted our DVDs – don’t laugh – we discovered a musical comedy starring James Cagney. Something to Sing About (1937), despite the corny name, is a delightful spoof of the Hollywood movie ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
2M ago
We should all have a career like W.C. Fields in The Dentist (1932). Of course, dentistry has its share of challenges, but we like the Set-Up that Fields’ character has created for himself in this film. Fields plays a dentist forced to deal with many Unpleasant Scenarios: a daughter in love with the ice delivery man; a smart-aleck assistant; an ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
3M ago
Sometimes we think movie audiences in the early 1950s were a little spoiled. Hear us out. The early 1950s were a time of remarkable cinematic innovation, such as CinemaScope and 3-D, and filmmakers seemed interested in compelling stories. Even “forgettable” films from this era can be thoughtful and engaging. For example, look at the psychological thriller, Don’t Bother to Knock ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
3M ago
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) is a monumental film. It’s a production that moves on its own Steam, where characters’ decisions seem to matter very little. A character may find himself in this or that situation, but the movie feels like everything is a set-up for the Prime Directive. That is not a complaint. Sometimes you want a ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
4M ago
Has a Hollywood war movie left its thumbprint on you? For us, one such film was Apocalypse Now (1979), a haunting dreamscape in an exotic war zone. It confronted us with the reminder the world isn’t always the place we wish it to be. We were mulling this over after seeing a new five-part documentary, released by Cantilever Films, that ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
5M ago
Sometimes the world feels different when an influential person dies, and you grieve even though you never met said person. That was the case for millions on November 22, 1963. Two influential men died that day, within an hour of each other, and both, curiously, were nicknamed “Jack”. You’ve already guessed the first, the 35th president of the United States ..read more
Silver Screenings Blog
5M ago
Warning: Contains Spoilers Sometimes, in a movie, you can spot the Set-Up in the first few scenes. But a good filmmaker knows this, and uses it to build tension. That’s what we thought when we watched the family drama, Old Yeller (1957). This film, from Walt Disney Productions, is an endearing tale of a family struggling to scratch a livelihood ..read more