The Restless Mary Pickford
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
1w 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
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The James Cagney Movie that Sank a Studio
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
1M 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
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The Perils of Dentistry
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
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
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The “Forgettable” Marilyn Monroe Thriller
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
2M 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
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Unexpected Lives: Ben-Hur & Ramon Novarro
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
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
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What do American War Movies Say About Us?
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
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
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It’s Always Fun in Acapulco
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
4M 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
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Old Yeller: Making the Tough Choices in Life
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
4M 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
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Sugar & Spice, and Accidental Deaths
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
5M ago
When we were in elementary school, there was a boy who was always in trouble. Today, we would assume the poor kid had ADHD, but he wasn’t diagnosed with such Back in the Day. We could only see a boy who Never complied with the Rules. We felt the boy couldn’t help it, but we children often wondered why he ..read more
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This Movie Ain’t Big Enough for the Two of Us
Silver Screenings Blog
by Silver Screenings
5M ago
We just watched a Western parody that’s a lot of fun in spite of itself. My Little Chickadee (1940) stars Mae West and W.C. Fields as two grifters who meet on a train and suddenly decide to marry. West is on the train because she was caught in a romantic embrace with a notorious stagecoach robber, and when she refused ..read more
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