Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray, follows the lives of two friends Becky Sharp and Amelia Sedley as they move through British high society. First published as a 19-volume monthly serial from 1847 to 1848, its popularity led to the publishing of a single volume in 1848. Today the book is regarded as a classic…
Category Archives: New Classic Discovery
Harold and Lillian: New Classic Discovery at TCMFF Special Home Edition
At every TCM Film Festival we have had the good fortune to attend, we discover something new about Hollywood behind-the-scenes that sets us on our heads. The documentary Harold and Lillian A Hollywood Love Story stole the show! Every classic film fan – every film fan – needs to watch this incredible film. A truly…
Girls! Girls! Girls! Lady of Burlesque (1943)
Lady of Burlesque (1943) is based on The G-String Murders a 1941 detective novel written by famous burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee. The film, directed by William A. Wellman and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Michael O’Shea, is a faithful and fun-to-watch adaptation of the novel. It’s the story of Dixie Daisy the hot up-and-coming star…
Capra Christmas Noir: Meet John Doe (1941)
Director Frank Capra is perhaps best known for making films about the redemption of the common man and the goodwill of communities. These themes are omnipresent in his most iconic Christmas movies—It’s a Wonderful Life from 1946 and Meet John Doe from 1941. Both films showcase Christmas Capra noir style as the director’s darkest films…
Spooky Spoof: Bela Lugosi in The Gorilla (1939)
The Gorilla (1939) is billed as a horror comedy. When released that may have felt accurate. Eighty years onward, it shows more as a spooky spoof than anything, especially when watched with an eye on Bela Lugosi. The Gorilla is one of Lugosi’s lesser known films, released at a time when his career was in…
Roaring Twenties Sex Symbol Clara Bow: My Lady of Whims (1925)
Clara Bow ruled the box-office in the 1920s, with 1925 the year she appeared in the most films—15 in all. Almost half of her 1925 films are lost, but My Lady of Whims survives. Originally seven reels, the surviving shortened version offers a powerful glimpse of Bow’s star power at the age of 20. My…
Bad Blonde: Seductress You Love to Hate
Bad Blonde (1953), released as The Flanagan Boy in the UK, lives up to the promise of its US title. Bad Blonde delivers the key elements of a classic film noir—a seedy underworld, a blonde seductress, a gullible lover, a scorned husband, and two ruthless murders. Note before reading on—contains plot spoilers. The film opens…
The “Unseen” Three Stooges
Generations of Americans know the comedy of The Three Stooges from the regular airing of their escapades on television since 1958. A slapstick team, they were beloved for their physicality and the distinct characters of the three active stooges appearing in the skit. A working comedy team from 1922 until 1970, six stooges performed over…
Locked-Room Murder: The Mandarin Mystery (1936)
A blonde beauty arrives from China to the port in New York City having arranged to sell a one-of-a-king Chinese postage stamp to a well-known collector. Before disembarking she encounters mystery writer Ellery Queen who, smitten with her, makes her business his business. As Queen woos Miss Josephine Temple, he digs into her plans to…
The Enduring Character of Nancy Drew: Nancy Drew… Reporter (1939)
Nancy Drew, the fictional heroine of The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, first appeared in 1930. For 73 years, until the series ended in 2003, Nancy solved mysteries as a teenage high school graduate living in the town of River Heights with her father, attorney Carson Drew and their housekeeper. Over 70 million copies of The…