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Celebrating National Classic Movie Day with the 5 Movies on an Island Blogathon

Beth Ann Gallagher
5 Movies on an Island, Blogathons, Classic Film, Holidays, National Classic Movie Day
May 15, 2016
16 Comments

Monday, May 16 is National Classic Movie Day. As part of its festivities, I’ve joined other classic film bloggers in promoting the holiday with the 5 Movies on an Island Blogathon. I’ve selected five classic movies that would entertain and sustain me on this miraculous deserted island having screening capabilities. I explain my choices below!…

Criterion Blogathon: Judex (1963)

Beth Ann Gallagher
1960s, Blogathons, Channing Pollock, Criterion, Directors, Édith Scob, Era, Foreign, Francine Bergé, French, Georges Franju, Michel Vitold, Remakes
Nov 22, 2015
4 Comments

Why the fervor over the Criterion Collection? When DVD technology was new, I read in Movieline and other magazines filmmakers and actors praising the technology and claiming watching DVDs was like taking a film class. DVDs offered extras that most VHS tapes did not. Today the content on DVDs and Blu-rays varies. They might contain…

The William Wellman Blogathon: Maybe It’s Love (1930)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Collegiate, Comedians & Comediennes, Comedies, Directors, Joan Bennett, Joe E. Brown, Pre-Code, William Wellman, William Wellman
Sep 13, 2015
5 Comments

After William Wellman got sick of his treatment at Paramount Pictures, he showed why his nickname “Wild Bill” stuck. He covered Producer B.P. Schulberg‘s desk in manure and left a note on top of the pile reading: “Here’s what I think of your lousy script!” Despite his bad boy behavior, Wellman was in demand. He could make any…

For the Love of Film Blogathon: The Tin Man (1935)

Beth Ann Gallagher
1930s, Blogathons, Comedies, Era, For the Love of Film, Patsy Kelly, Pre-Code, Slapstick, Thelma Todd
May 17, 2015
10 Comments

I’ve been planning a post on The Tin Man for a while, and the For Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon has provided the perfect push to write about this odd comedy short. Every year the blogathon has a theme, and this year’s theme is science fiction. The Tin Man fits the theme like Frankenstein…

For the Love of Film Blogathon 2015

Beth Ann Gallagher
1910s, Blogathons, Era, Film Preservation, For the Love of Film, Science Fiction, Silent Film
May 12, 2015
9 Comments

Yesterday I wanted some background noise TV, but when I turned it on an error message popped up on my screen, and that led me to contacting cable support, who worked me through a series of steps only to tell me that my receiver/DVR combo unit had died. I thought I had lost all my…

The Pre-Code Blogathon: Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Available on DVD, Blogathons, Herbert Marshall, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins, Pre-Code, Pre-Code, Uncategorized
Apr 4, 2015
2 Comments

It’s hard not to get seduced into enjoying Trouble in Paradise. Ernst Lubitsch‘s 1932 pre-code delights on all levels. Leads Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, and Herbert Marshall look their best while giving career high performances. The dialogue they speak with ease is witty, naughty, and quotable. They move about in gorgeous art deco sets. The…

Fairy Tale Blogathon: Claire (2001)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Fairy Tale, Fairy Tales, Silent Film
Nov 11, 2014
12 Comments

Contemporary silent film Claire frames a story of longings once impossible inside a loose adaptation of a Japanese fairy tale. The movie quietly champions the themes of acceptance, fatherhood, and families of choice. The methods used to depict this tale are strictly early twentieth century, and the images they make are a dream-like mix of the quotidian and the mystical. All…

CMBA Forgotten Stars Blogathon: The Time Bebe Daniels Couldn’t Get Out of a Speeding Ticket

Beth Ann Gallagher
Bebe Daniels, Blogathons, CMBA, Forgotten Stars
Oct 31, 2014
25 Comments

It reads like a publicity stunt out of the movie Bombshell. Silent film sweetheart Bebe Daniels was ticketed for speeding, tried, convicted, sentenced to jail, and forced to serve time. Rather than being planned like the stunts in that movie, Bebe did like to speed, and she had gotten caught. Her press agent helped her spin a potentially…

World War One in Classic Film Blogathon: Dark Journey (1937)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Conrad Veidt, Spy Films, Vivien Leigh, War Films, World War One in Classic Film
Sep 7, 2014
16 Comments

Vivien Leigh viewed Dark Journey as a “personal failure.” It was her sixth film, but “her first true leading role,” and her lack of confidence during the production made her overly critical of her performance. She might not have counted it among her best, but she plays the part of Madeleine Goddard better than she thought. A double agent during World…

World War One in Classic Film Blogathon

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Documentaries, Drama, Mexico, Movie Streams & Downloads, Must Watch List, Old Time Radio, Trailers, Tune in or DVR, World War One in Classic Film
Aug 2, 2014
0 Comments

“Art is a wound turned into light,” said painter Georges Braque. It’s only fitting then that the place of light and shadows, the cinema, was where those early generations turned to make sense of The Great War. As soon as it was over, the first films featuring it as a subject came out. They still come…

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