British Archives * Spellbound with Beth Ann

Before They Were Stars: Audrey Hepburn’s Revue Days

In Audrey Hepburn‘s third film, the British comedy LAUGHTER IN PARADISE (1951), she played the part of “Cigarette Girl” She was cute and memorable in a role that gave her multiple scenes and lines. Costuming showed less faith than casting. They treated her body as something to be made more stereotypically sexy, so they padded and…

San Francisco Silent Film Festival Preview, Part 1

Beth Ann Gallagher
Film Festivals, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Silent Film
May 25, 2015
0 Comments

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is almost here! Its first film fills the Castro Theatre’s screen on Thursday night. We’ll rewind our scene to before its audience sits, before they pile into the picture palace, before they stand in a line snaking down Castro and stretching around the corner down 17th, and stop where they chat with anticipation about…

The Silent Film Fanatic TCM Film Festival Preview!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Film Festivals, Silent Film, TCM Film Festival
Feb 21, 2015
4 Comments

Classic film circles are abuzz about March’s Turner Classic Movies Film Festival. This year’s theme is History According to Hollywood, and many movie buffs are guessing what film favorites fitting that theme will screen. While the festival is only about a month away, its full schedule has not been announced yet. I’ve gone over what titles…

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…

Elsa Lanchester, What A Character!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Classic Hollywood, Elsa Lanchester
Sep 2, 2012
2 Comments

This month I’m participating in the What A Character! Blogathon. Organized by Paula of Paula’s Cinema Club, Kellee of Outspoken & Freckled, and Aurora of Once Upon a Screen, the blogathon celebrates those character actors and actresses whose impact on classic film warrants as much attention and discussion as any star’s. My subject is Elsa…

Browsing Category

Spellbound with Beth Ann