Niagara (1953) Film Review A-
The buildup to Monroe’s superstardom started here. The magnificent widescreen technicolor cinematography if by Joseph MacDonald.
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Category: Thriller
Strangers on a Train (1951) Film Review A-
Hitchcock reverses himself here, having gay actor Farley Granger play the straight character and straight actor Robert Walker play the gay character.
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Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Film Review A+
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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Rope (1948) Film Review A-
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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Brute Force (1947) Film Review B+
He is interested in art and music. He is a raving homosexual and a very nasty one at that! Hume Cronyn, a consummate actor, plays him to the hilt.
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Notorious (1946) Film Review A+
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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Gilda (1946) Film Review A-
Feast your eyes on Vidor’s stylish direction, Rudolph Mate’s cinematography, Jean Louis’ gowns, and Jack Cole’s choreography for Rita as Gilda.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Film Review A
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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Mildred Pierce (1945) Film Review A+
Brilliantly filmed in high Germanic style by a wondrously talented bunch of ex-pat Viennese uber talents: Curtiz, Anton Grot and Max Steiner.
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The Uninvited (1944) Film Review B-
The movie from 1944, with four lesbian characters, still entertains. Victor Young’s haunting theme was made into a song “Stella by Starlight.”
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Murder My Sweet (1944) Film Review. B+
Powell is in very good company, and he acquits himself admirably. He also gets props for being the first to play Marlowe.
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Double Indemnity (1944) Film Review A+
“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 A+
“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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Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Film Review A+
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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The Maltese Falcon (1941) Film Review A-
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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Rebecca (1940) Film Review A+
“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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