Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about feature films.
William Powell’s fifth turn as S.S. Van Dine’s detective Philo Vance may have been his best. The Kennel Murder Case (1933) finds Philo Vance trying to solve the murder of Archer Coe. Coe had many enemies but the greatest mystery for Vance is how Coe was murdered in a locked room. Vance attended a dog show with Coe and his
On September 16, 1932, RKO Pictures released The Most Dangerous Game (1932), a film about a big game hunter becoming the hunted. Joel McCrea plays big game hunter Bob Rainsford. Rainsford is on a yacht off the South American coast discussing his latest hunt, when another guest asks him, “Do you ever think how the tiger felt?” Rainsford laughs at
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
Also known at The Sleeping Cardinal, Sherlock Holmes’ Fatal Hour (1931) is the first Sherlock Holmes film starring Arthur Wontner in the title role. The film concerns a young man, who has been cheating at bridge to regain his lost wealth. Professor Moriarty uses the information in an attempt to blackmail the young man Ronald Adair, portrayed by Leslie Perrins.
On March 4, 1922, F.W. Murnau released Nosferatu (1922). Nosferatu was Murnau’s adaptation of the Dracula novel by Bram Stoker. Murnau neglected to purchase the rights to film the story from Stoker’s estate, which almost led to this film being lost to film viewers. Stoker’s widow successfully sued Murnau and the German film company that produced the motion picture. The
Arthur Wontner is arguably the best film portrayer of Sherlock Holmes. His fifth and final outing as Holmes in Murder at the Baskervilles (1937). The film was released in the United Kingdom in 1937 but was not released in America until January 15, 1941. Wontner was excellent as usual but Murder at the Baskervilles is the weakest offering in the
I wanted to write about one of my favorite movies, The Scarlet Pimpernel (1935). It is an adaptation of the novel by the same name, written by Baroness Orczy. The film (affiliate link) concerns an English peer, who risks his life by saving French aristocrats from the guillotine. The story is complicated by the fact the peer is married to
On January 10, 1927, Universum Film (UFA) released Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927). The German film company produced a science fiction class, which still holds up today. On the Internet Movie Database website (IMDB), users rate it 8.3 out of 10 stars. It is #104 on the Top 250. In a theme society has wrestled with since the beginning of the
On September 27, 1941, Warner Brothers Film Corporation released Sergeant York (1941). The film (affiliate link) tells the story of Sergeant Alvin C. York, a reluctant World War I hero from the small town of Pall Mall, Tennessee. Western film veteran Gary Cooper stars as Sergeant York. The film begins with the contrast of a Sunday church service and the
The Canary Murder Case (1929) was originally shot as a silent film. However, the Paramount Studio executive thought it would be better as a talking picture. The studio delayed the release until they could add sound to the film. The addition of sound was not without its challenges. Unfortunately, one of the main stars of the film, Louise Brooks, had