Holiday Classics: “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1953)

1953’s By the Light of the Silvery Moon, a sequel to Warner Brothers’ hit 1951 nostalgic musical On Moonlight Bay (which I wrote about for this column three years ago), isn’t quite as winsome as its predecessor, but with the same cast reprising their roles, and a story set largely between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it […]

Holiday Classics: “Miracle on Main Street” (1939)

There’s something inherently comforting about returning to the same old favorites every holiday season. But it’s just as exciting to discover new films to add to your rotation. That’s how I felt last year, when Turner Classic Movies aired Miracle on Main Street in primetime— a film I had never even heard of before they […]

Home Video Review: “Story of G.I. Joe” (1945)

William “Wild Bill” Wellman is the greatest Hollywood filmmaker that it seems no one ever talks about in the same breath as his contempories: the Fords, the Hustons, the Hawks, the Capras. And 1945’s Story of G.I. Joe is the greatest war movie that no one seems to talk about, or remember. But Wellman— a […]

Berlinale Review: “Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger”

If you know movies, you probably know Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger— if not by name, than by the indelible images they created in their films. The infinite staircase connecting earth with the afterlife in A Matter of Life and Death; the vibrant reds in the ballet at the center of The Red Shoes; the […]

Berlinale Review: “Henry Fonda for President”

He’s tall and thin, and speaks in a tone and cadence that I can only describe as regular— neither too booming, nor too quiet. He can employ these traits in a couple of different directions: for comedy, tripping over his lanky frame, awkward and stuttering (especially when around women— think of his brush-ups with a […]

Holiday Classics: “And So They Were Married” (1936)

Children scheming to bring their divorced parents back together has become a familiar plot for family comedies, especially with the popularity of The Parent Trap and all its subsequent iterations, but 25 years before Hayley Mills played twins, Edith Fellows and Jackie Moran played rivals trying to keep their parents apart in the breezy 1936 […]

Holiday Classics: “Desk Set” (1957)

Desk Set, the 1957 office-set romantic comedy from director Walter Lang, received a middling critical response at the time of its initial release, and while it has become much more well-received decades later, a common criticism from viewers is that it seems “dated.” It’s easy to see why people would reach that conclusion: Desk Set’s […]

Holiday Classics: “Roadblock” (1951)

You’ll rarely see a man fall so hard so fast as the lead in a classic film noir, and insurance investigator Joe Peters (Charles McGraw) in Roadblock is no exception. A taut, 73-minute noir from RKO released in 1951, Roadblock may be helmed by a relatively unknown director (Harold Daniels), but it has a ton […]

Holiday Classics: “Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?” (1972)

When we first meet Rosie Forrest (Shelley Winters), she’s sitting by a child’s bed wearing a lavish burgundy gown and white gloves, rocking it softly as she sings. She appears sweet, maternal. But when she finishes her song, we discover that Rosie hasn’t been singing to a human child, but to the mummified remains of […]

Holiday Classics: “Hell’s Heroes” (1929)

If you like your holiday movies bleak and uncompromising, look no farther than 1929’s Hell’s Heroes. The early talking picture is a western based on the 1931 novel The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne, but it’s actually one of several screen adaptations of the story, whose Christmas setting, religious imagery (look no further than […]