Posts about family history, film studies, and miscellaneous posts that do not fit neatly into a category.
Roland V. West bought the rights and directed The Bat (1926), one of the first “old dark house” mysteries for United Artist in 1926. Arthur Edeson was the cinematographer for both this film and The Old Dark House (1932), which share similar Expressionist elements. Both films are set in large mansions, which have seen better days. The key to the […]
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I’ve been on an Alan Ladd kick lately. When I was still in college, I watched a number of Alan Ladd films one summer. I’ve been watching them over again the last few weeks on Amazon Prime. I’ll share some of these films over the next few months. The first film I watched was Thunder in the East (1951) starring […]
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) released After The Thin Man (1936), the sequel to the popular Thin Man (1934), on Christmas Day 1936. The film (affiliate link) is one of 14 films William Powell and Myrna Loy made together. Powell and Loy play Dashiell Hammet’s characters Nick and Nora Charles respectively. Nick Charles formerly worked as a private detective before marrying the wealthy […]
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In his first time playing the role of Captain Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond, John Howard plays the captain desperately trying to rescue his kidnapped fiance. Paramount Pictures released Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (affiliate link) on September 24, 1937. Prior to John Howard taking over the role, Ronald Coleman and Ralph Richardson both played the fictional British hero. The film begins with […]
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This film was the first Sherlock Holmes film starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes. Sidney Lanfield directed The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) for Twentieth-Century Fox. Nigel Bruce co-stars as Dr. John Watson. Rathbone and Bruce would play Holmes and Watson in thirteen subsequent films, one more for Twentieth-Century Fox and twelve for Universal Pictures. This film (affiliate link) is an accurate retelling of the […]
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Sherlock Holmes in The Pearl of Death (1944) is the ninth of fourteen movies in the series starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. In this film (affiliate link), Holmes is battling archcriminal Giles Conover, played by Miles Mander. Conover is attempting to steal a valuable pearl from the British Museum. Holmes is aided in his crimes by accomplices Naomi Drake and […]
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Being both a fan and film historian, I was aware of Sunset Blvd.‘s reputation in film circles. Billy Wilder’s 1950 film tells the sad story of a forgotten silent film star Norma Desmond. William Holden is a screen writer, who stumbles upon her crumbling mansion and agrees to help fix her screenplay. Norma believes the screenplay will lead to a […]
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On August 2, 1947, Max M. King Productions released Killer Dill (1947), a crime film that professional wrestler Mike Mazurki plays “Little Joe”, a henchman playing both sides of a gang feud. Stuart Erwin stars as Johnny “Killer” Dill, a lingerie designer and salesperson, who people mistake for a gangster. After accidentally involving himself in a gang war, his […]
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The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) is one of the five Sherlock Holmes films starring Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes. Director Leslie S. Hiscott adapted the Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear but added to the story to give Professor Moriarty and Col. Sebastian Moran roles in the story. A significant portion of the movie is the retelling of […]
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RKO Pictures brought the Dick Tracy comic strip character to the big screen on December 1, 1945. While the film is definitely a “B” film meant to be first on the double bill, it still would have been of interest to the many fans of the popular comic strip. Chester Gould created the strip in October 1931 for the Detroit […]
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