The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Film Review
Director James Whale’s masterpiece is as close to Susan Sontag’s definition of high camp as the movies can deliver.
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Category: 30s | 40s
Top Hat (1935) Film Review
The Best of the Astaire-Rogers movies. Cinematography: David Abel. Production Design: Carroll Clark/Van Nest Polglase. Songs: Irving Berlin.
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Sylvia Scarlet (1935) Film Review
Both gay and trans, Sylvia/Sylvester set the bar impossibly high for years to come. One of the great financial disasters of the 1930s, it resulted in Hepburn being labelled box office poison.
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Dodsworth (1936) Film Review
“Dodsworth”: William Wyler’s masterpiece, the best movie ever made about the fear of growing old. It was Wyler’s first Oscar nomination.
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The Women (1939) Film Review
Every character in the movie, and every animal featured, was female. Great work by Crawford, Russell, Shearer and Mary Boland.
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The Wizard of Oz (1939) Film Review
She captured everyone’s heart, gay or straight. There is something vulnerable yet confident about her. And then there is that incredible voice!
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Rebecca (1940) Film Review
“Rebecca”, marked the arrival in Hollywood of the man who was, or would eventually become, the greatest director in the history of cinema.
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The Maltese Falcon (1941) Film Review
The performances are there to savor with the great Mary Astor doing a superb turn as Bridget O’ Shaughnessy and the gay triumvirate bringing up the rear!
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The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) Film Review
Monty Wooley delights as the impossibly pompous Sheridan Whiteside in William Keighley’s wonderful adaptation of the Kauffman/Hart play.
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Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Film Review
Alfred Hitchcock, the cinema’s greatest director, made seven perfect films in which every shot, every camera move, every editing sequence is, well, perfect.
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Double Indemnity (1944) Film Review
“Double Indemnity” is the best of the three great film noirs of 1944, the others being “Laura” and “The Woman in the Window”. The three leads are superb as is Wilder’s direction.
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Laura (1944) Film Review
“Laura” is one of the classic film noirs. Gene Tierney is born and Clifton Webb becomes a star in his fifties. Haunting Raksin score.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Film Review
Albert Lewin directed his masterpiece, a superb adaptation of Oscar Wild’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” with a beautiful Hurd Hatfield.
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Gilda (1946) Film Review
Feast your eyes on Vidor’s stylish direction, Rudolph Mate lush black-and-white cinematography the Jean Louis gowns and, of course, Rita Hayworth as Gilda.
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Notorious (1946) Film Review
The term “MacGuffin” originated by Angus MacPhail for film, adopted by Alfred Hitchcock, and later extended to a similar device in other fiction. The MacGuffin here is the Uranium in the cellar.
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Red River (1948) Film Review
1948 was the year of Montgomery Clift. In addition to Hawkes “Red River” there was Fred Zinnemann’s “The Search” and William Wyler’s “The Heiress”.
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Rope (1948) Film Review
The story, which is based on the Leopold and Loeb case is irresistible. Granger and Dall are perfection and Jimmy Stewart is also amazing.
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Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Film Review
In “Kind Hearts and Coronets”: Alec Guinness has fun playing all eight (or nine) of the unfortunate D’Ascoynes, including Lady Agatha D’Ascoyne. The photograph shows Dennis Price with Joan Greenwood who plays that little minx Sibella.
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Adam’s Rib (1949) Film Review
Marvelous acting by Judy Holliday, Jean Hagen, Hope Emerson, Tom Ewell and, as Amanda’s “gay best friend”, David Wayne.
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