The Great Cinematographers of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Hal Mohr** is the only person to have won a competitive Academy Award without being nominated for it. Mohr was allowed to keep his Oscar and won a second.
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Category: Classic Film Noir
Classic Film Noir At Twentieth Century Fox
Fox Noir: Welcome to the world of the femme fatale and multiple flashbacks. Otto Preminger’s “Laura” with Clifton Webb is the crown jewel. And Gene Tierney.
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Chinatown (1974) Polanski’s Noir Masterpiece A+
Polanski captured the FEEL of LA better than anyone before or sense. Jack Nicholson gives his greatest performance as private dick J. J. ” Jake” Gittes.
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Psycho (1960) Film Review A+
Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates made him immortal while, at the same, time, ending his career in Hollywood. A masterpiece.
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North by Northwest (1959) Film Review A+
Eva Marie Saint gives Grace Kelly in “Rear Window” a run for her money as Hitchcock’s most elegant leading lady and the chemistry between the two leads is more palpable than in any Hollywood picture before or since.
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A Touch of Evil (1958) Film Review A
Yes, that is Mercedes McCambridge as the unnamed lesbian gang leader getting her kicks while watching Janet Leigh getting roughed up in Welles’ other masterwork.
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Vertigo (1958) Film Review A+
Anchored by an incredible performance by James Stewart as Scotty Ferguson a private detective and ex-cop who suffers from vertigo (fear of heights) after a coworker fell to his death, and Kim Novak is spectacular in the dual role of Judy/Madeleine.
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The Big Combo (1955) Film Review B-
The gay couple’s (played by Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef) chosen profession also adds to their fascination and their sexiness.
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Rear Window (1954) Film Review A+
Stewart, Kelly, and Ritter are all magnificent. Kelly, looking radiant, gets to deliver one of the big screen’s all-time sexy lines.
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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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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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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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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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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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