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Boris Ingster’s 1940 STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR is often cited as the first film noir. While this can be debated three figures involved in this RKO B movie helped to define the genre over the years: Production designer Van Nest Polglase, composer Roy Webb, and especially cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca. The influence of German Expressionism with canted camera angles and shadowy lighting is ev...

1932’s THE BLUE LIGHT was the directorial debut of Leni Riefenstahl. She also played the lead character. Essentially an old folk tale the plot and acting are secondary to the breathtaking visuals. Much of the film was shot in spectacular—and probably very dangerous—mountainous locations. Though there is post synchronized music and dialog, it operates pretty much as a silent film. This is some...

THE VERDICT (1946) was the first full length feature directed by Don Siegel. Frequently paired as supporting players Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre are the leads and essentially the good guys here. Set in 1890 London the film has plush production values. The byplay of the two stars is delightful. Newly released on a Warner Archive blu ray which include two Warner Brother cartoons which par...

Russ Meyer’s 1965 FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! Is a wild exploitation film. Three go go girls cause trouble in the desert. As typical of Meyer the main women have huge breasts though there is no nudity nor explicit sex. There is a fair amount of violence. Hard to imagine that the director took any of this seriously—bad acting, bad dialog, and weird situations almost seem intentionally funny. ...

It has been a decade since I last watched Charles Vidor's GILDA (1946). It is generally remembered as the peak of Rita Hayworth's career, especially due to her sultry "Put the Blame on Mame" number. There is a lot of kinky stuff going just under the surface which could not be directly depicted at this time of heavy censorship and the viewer’s imagination is given free rein to fill in the gaps. Th...

I am reading Scott Eyman’s excellent biography of John Ford. I decided to watch Ford’s 1940 film of Steinbeck’s GRAPES OF WRATH. As usual with directors who started their career in the silent era a lot of storytelling is done visually. Few scenes are as moving as the one where Ma Joad (Jane Darwell) burns old letters and cards and looks in the mirror with a pair of ear bobs as she prepares to b...

Ernst Lubitsch considered his 1932 comedy TROUBLE IN PARADISE to be his most perfect creation. That is impossible to argue. This is a masterpiece of construction, comic timing, and sly wicked innuendo. None of the cast was ever better. Han Drier’s elegant art deco settings enhance the proceedings. I have seen this several times over the years and it never fails to delight me. Required viewing...

Claude LeLouche’s 1966 A MAN AND A WOMAN is a simple story about a widow (Anouk Aimée) and a widower (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who fall in love. While the plot and characters are not in and of themselves that profound the two charming and extremely photogenic leads shot in gorgeous settings is more than enough. There is a lot of music and songs including a fine samba sung by Pierre Barouh. Fran...

In Gore Verbinski’s GOOD LUCK HAVE FUN DON’T DIE a man from the future (Sam Rockwell) arrives at a diner in Los Angeles where he must recruit the precise combination of disgruntled patrons to join him on a one-night quest to save humanity. This truly unhinged sci fi satire is overlong and far from flawless but gets lots of points for originality. Along the way we get some odd takes of the casu...

Edward Sutherland’s 1933 INTERNATIONAL HOUSE is 68 minutes of sublime silliness. The plot involves a variety of people descending on Wu Hu, China to bid on a television device. W.C.Fields and Franklin Panghorn have some memorable exchanges. George Burns and Gracie Allen bend logic and the English language. Cab Calloway sings “The Reefer Man” and there are also songs by Rudy Vallee and Baby Rose ...