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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Category: TV / Streaming
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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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 Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) Film Review A-
Monty Wooley delights as the impossibly pompous Sheridan Whiteside in William Keighley’s wonderful adaptation of the Kauffman/Hart play.
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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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The Wizard of Oz (1939) Film Review A-
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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The Women (1939) Film Review 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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Bringing Up Baby (1938) Film review A-
When Hepburn’s aunt asks him to explain, he replies exasperatedly, “Because I just went gay all of a sudden” (leaping into the air at the word gay).
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Dodsworth (1936) Film Review 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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Sylvia Scarlet (1935) Film Review 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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Top Hat (1935) Film Review 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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The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Film Review 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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Haulout (2022) is a Masterpiece A+
A “haulout” is a place where walruses mate. Thanks to global warming, over 100,000 are packed into one tiny beach. The result is death on a horrific scale.
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