Search Results for essential

Letter The (1940)

Letter The (1940)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Letter The (1940) Bette Davis gives her typical powerhouse (and Best Actress Academy Award nominated) performance in this essential drama as a woman accused of killing a man she claims was in self-defense. Herbert Marshall plays her husband who engages his lawyer (James Stephenson his only Oscar nominated performance Supporting) to defend her. Howard Koch adapted W. Somerset Maugham’s play which takes place on a rubber plantation. The film [...]
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Ninotchka (1939)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Ninotchka (1939) One of my favorite films an Ernst Lubitsch directed comedy featuring Greta Garbo (Garbo laughs!) Melvyn Douglas and some great supporting characters (particularly the three men from Russia: Sig Ruman Felix Bressart and Alexander Granach) like Bela Lugosi as the Commissar. Garbo the picture the story (the only Academy recognition Melchior Lengyel would receive) and its Charles Brackett-Walter Reich-Billy Wilder screenplay (their [...]
THREE COMRADES (1938)

Three Comrades (1938)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Three Comrades (1938) One of the best 10 films of 1938 (according to The New York Times Guide to the Best 1000 Movies Ever Made) and one which I enjoyed thoroughly when I saw it on TCM. Robert Taylor Franchot Tone and Robert Young are the three men who all love Margaret Sullavan (who received her only Oscar nomination) in their own way. Guy Kibbee and Monty Woolley also play roles in this essential drama as do Henry Hull & Charley Grapewin [...]
WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942)

Woman of the Year (1942)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Woman of the Year (1942) This essential romantic comedy won a Best Writing Oscar for Michael Kanin & Ring Larner Jr. (on their first nominations) in part because of a great scene at a baseball game (and some other great repartee) which mark this first pairing of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn (who received a Best Actress nomination as well). Hepburn & Tracy play newspaper writers working for the same paper. When they meet Tracy is [...]
WINCHESTER ’73 (1950)

Winchester ’73 (1950)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Winchester ’73 (1950) The first and arguably the best of the many (director) Anthony Mann – James Stewart (actor) collaborations most of which were Westerns – this one’s an essential (and one of the best from this genre)! With a story by Stuart Lake (The Westerner (1940)) and a screenplay by Borden Chase (Red River (1948)) and Robert Richards the plot revolves around the titled gun. Stewart plays Lin McAdam who wins the [...]
Miracle Worker The (1962)

Miracle Worker The (1962)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Miracle Worker The (1962) This wonderful tear-jerking & eventually heartwarming compelling true story of the early (the breakthrough) years of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan who stubbornly helps the belligerent violent child to overcome the frustration due to her handicaps (blind deaf and dumb) and learned to communicate (e.g. through sign language) is an essential biographical drama which earned Academy Awards for both Anne [...]
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) A powerful essential historical drama from producer-director Stanley Kramer (written by Abby Mann) about the post World War II trials of German officers as war criminals. The cast couldn’t be better headlined by Spencer Tracy as the judge in the case(s) and Burt Lancaster as one of the accused. It features Maximilian Schell’s Academy Award winning performance (on his first nomination) as the defense [...]
STAGE DOOR (1937)

Stage Door (1937)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Stage Door (1937) Katharine Hepburn is the daughter of a wealthy wheat baron (Samuel Hinds) that wants to make it as an actress anonymously. She begins by living in a boarding house with other "starving" actresses including Ginger Rogers Eve Arden Ann Miller Gail Patrick Lucille Ball Constance Collier and Andrea Leeds who received her only Academy recognition with a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination among others. Adolphe Menjou is [...]
BOMBSHELL (1933)

Bombshell (1933)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Bombshell (1933) An essential inside Hollywood comedy about a film star (Jean Harlow) her meddling agent (well played by Lee Tracy) and all the other leaches (including her family – Dad played by Frank Morgan) who live off her. Pat O’Brien plays her director where they are supposedly filming scenes from Red Dust (1932). Recently divorced he has a love hate relationship with her. But it’s Tracy’s agent character that [...]
12 ANGRY MEN (1957)

12 Angry Men (1957)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

12 Angry Men (1957) A fantastic courtroom drama that plays out in real-time which chronicles the deliberations of a jury initially convinced that the accused is guilty; it’s anxious to convict him in time to get home for dinner. However Juror #8 (Henry Fonda AFI’s #28 hero) is not so sure and playing devil’s advocate he plants the seeds of reasonable doubt in his fellow jurors’ minds. An outstanding film by director Sidney [...]
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967)

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) This film is an essential comedy drama about a progressive father and mother who are forced to face their own ideals when their daughter wants to marry a Black doctor. The cast is spectacular from top to bottom including Spencer Tracy receiving his last Best Actor Academy Award nomination (posthumously) for his final role and Katharine Hepburn (her second of four Best Actress Oscar wins) as the married [...]
FEBRUARY 2007 – 31 DAYS OF OSCAR

February 2007 – 31 Days of Oscar

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

February 2007 – 31 Days of Oscar Interiors (1978) – an all new capsule review! Cover Girl (1944) – a TCM premiere and an all new full review! Queen Bee (1955) – a TCM premiere! A Passage to India (1984) – a TCM premiere and all new comments in TCM Picks! Hangmen Also Die (1943) – an all new full review! A Gathering of Eagles (1963) – an all new full review! The Battle of Algiers (1965) – I’m [...]
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949)

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) The best of director John Ford’s (and actor John Wayne‘s) U.S. Cavalry trilogy which includes Fort Apache (1948) & Rio Grande (1950) this essential Western won Cinematographer Winton Hoch his second of three Oscars (on three nominations). Hoch’s sweeping views of Utah’s Monument Valley and beautiful blue cloud dotted skies are unforgettable. It’s based on stories by James Warner [...]
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42nd Street (1933)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

42nd Street (1933) This behind the scenes story of life on Broadway was nominated for a Best Picture (and Sound Recording) Oscar and features all the stars of the day including Ruby Keeler Dick Powell Warner Baxter Bebe Daniels George Brent Guy Kibbee Una Merkel Ned Sparks Allen Jenkins and Ginger Rogers in all their glory. It’s the quintessential film about those who dream of becoming a star on the world’s biggest stage & the [...]
BIG COUNTRY THE (1958)

Big Country The (1958)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Big Country The (1958) An Oscar nominated Score (by Jerome Moross his only Academy recognition) and some terrific imagery mark this story of a sea captain (Gregory Peck) as a "fish out of water" in the West as he follows his fiancee (Carroll Baker) home. Her father (Charles Bickford) who’s family has been feuding with another (headed by Burl Ives) is not sure he approves; the ranch foreman (Charlton Heston) is sure he [...]
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) This essential drama (from Howard Breslin’s story) stars Spencer Tracy as John J. Macreedy a man alone who’s trying to uncover a secret about what happened to an "old friend" in the titled remote Western town. His performance was Oscar nominated; director John Sturges and screenwriter Millard Kaufman (Take the High Ground! (1953)) also received nominations. Robert Ryan plays Reno Smith the [...]
NOVEMBER 2006 – LUCILLE BALL

November 2006 – Lucille Ball

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

November 2006 – Lucille Ball Chatterbox (1936) – an all new full review! Don’t Tell the Wife (1937) – an all new full review! Dick Cavett: Ingmar Bergman – a TCM premiere! Fanny and Alexander (1982) – all new comments in TCM Picks The Omaha Trail (1942) – an all new full review! Sisters (1973) – a TCM premiere! Wild Oranges (1924) – a TCM premiere! Branded to Kill (1967) – a TCM premiere! [...]
SEPTEMBER 2006 – WILLIAM HOLDEN

September 2006 – William Holden

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

September 2006 – William Holden The Mouse That Roared (1959) – a TCM premiere! The Conformist (1970) aka Il Conformista (1970) – an all new capsule review! Married Bachelor (1941) – an all new full review! Tender Mercies (1983) – an all new capsule review! Breaker Morant (1980) – all new comments in TCM Picks Beyond the Rocks (1922) – all new comments in TCM Picks Peeping Tom (1960) – an all new [...]
OCTOBER 2006 – CHILD STARS

October 2006 – Child Stars

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

October 2006 – Child Stars Two for the Road (1967) – a TCM premiere! Goke Body Snatcher from Hell (1968) aka Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro (1968) – a TCM premiere! Private Screenings: Child Stars (2006) – a TCM premiere! The Towering Inferno (1974) – all new comments in TCM Picks Antonio Gaudi (1986) aka Antonio Gaudí (1984) – a TCM premiere! The Dick Cavett Show: Bette Davis (1971) – a TCM premiere! [...]
JANUARY 2007 – JEAN ARTHUR

January 2007 – Jean Arthur

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

January 2007 – Jean Arthur Bikini Beach (1964) – a TCM premiere! Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) – a TCM premiere! Marooned (1969) – a TCM premiere and all new comments in TCM Picks! Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) – an all new capsule review! Harry in Your Pocket (1973) – all new comments in TCM Picks! Crossplot (1969) – a TCM premiere! Coffy (1973) – a TCM premiere! Foxy Brown (1974) – a TCM [...]
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