Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Hitchcock 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. And this is one of them!
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Category: Streaming
The Seventh Victim (1943) Queer Film C
Gay writer DeWitt Bodeen skillfully creates a queer subtext that is both subtle and present, reflecting themes of isolation and existential despair.
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Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) Queer Film. Minnelli’s Masterpiece. A+
A favorite of gay men since its opening in the Christmas of 1944, it stars Judy Garland in her first adult role, singing three of her best songs.
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Laura (1944) Queer Film 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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Double Indemnity (1944) Queer Film 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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Murder My Sweet (1944) Queer Film. B+
Powell is in excellent company, and he acquits himself admirably. He also gets props for being the first to play Marlowe.
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Mildred Pierce (1945) Queer Film 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 Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Queer Film (A)
Albert Lewin directed his masterpiece, a superb adaptation of Oscar Wild’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” with the beautiful Hurd Hatfield.
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Gilda (1946) Queer Film A-
“Gilda”: Rita Hayworth’s star-making performance, directed by Charles Vidor, with cinematography by Rudolph Mate and Jack Cole’s choreography.
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The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) Queer Film (A)
Stanwyck gives one of her most controlled, lethal performances, and Douglas’s debut is astonishing – he plays Walter as a man who has been dying for years, a man whose entire identity is built around Martha.
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Notorious (1946) Hitchcock A+
The term “MacGuffin” originated with writer Angus MacPhail and was popularized by Alfred Hitchcock. The MacGuffin in “Notorious” is the Uranium.
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Nightmare Alley (1947) Film Noir – Forget About the Remake! (A)
Working with master cinematographer Lee Garmes, director Edmund Goulding produced one of the GREAT film noirs, a genre he had never worked in before and would never work in again.
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Brute Force (1947) Queer Film B+
“Brute Force”: Our homosexual is interested in art and music. Hume Cronyn, a consummate actor, plays him to the hilt.
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Red River (1948) Queer Film A-
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) Queer Film 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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Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Queer Film 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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Adam’s Rib (1949) Queer Film (A).
“Adam’s Rib” boasts marvelous acting by Tracy & Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Jean Hagen, Hope Emerson, Tom Ewell and, as Amanda’s “gay best friend”, David Wayne.
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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Queer Film A-
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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Top Hat (1935) Queer Film A+
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) Queer Film B-
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) Wyler’s Masterpiece A+
“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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Stage Door (1937) Queer Film A-
Director Gregory La Cava, fresh off My Man Godfrey (1936), directs with a light, improvisatory touch, and Hepburn and Rogers play off each other beautifully.
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Bringing Up Baby (1938) Queer Film A-
When Hepburn’s aunt asks him to explain, he replies exasperatedly, “Because I just went gay all of a sudden”
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The Women (1939) Queer Film A-
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) Queer Film A-
Judy Garland captured everyone’s heart with that voice, vulnerable yet confident. Innocent yet knowing.
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