Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Sheik

Rudolph Valentino first appeared on the silver screen in an uncredited role in a lost D. W. Griffith film called “The Battle of the Sexes” in 1914.  Several other films followed in which he played exotic and villainous roles.  But after he … Continue reading

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Harry Langdon

Just before he made Frank Capra’s “The Strong Man” in 1926, Harry Langdon starred in “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,” an engaging and very funny story about a little man who enters a cross-country walking race for a $50,000 purse that will … Continue reading

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A Free Soul

Norma Shearer, Clark Gable and Lionel Barrymore star in “A Free Soul,” a 1931 film directed by Clarence Brown.  Shearer plays Jan Ashe, a modern and free-spirited woman who carries on an open affair with Ace Wilfong, a notorious gambler. … Continue reading

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Eternally Yours

Glorious 1939 featured so many good Hollywood movies that I always pay attention when a film from that year shows up on the Turner Classic Movies channel.  In that year, United Artists came out with “Stagecoach,” “Of Mice and Men,” … Continue reading

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Thieves’ Highway

I enjoy watching movies that feature San Francisco, especially ones that show authentic scenes from a former era.  I recently watched “Thieves’ Highway,” a 1949 film directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb and Valentina Cortez. … Continue reading

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The Mating Call

Thomas Meighan shines in “The Mating Call,” a 1928 silent film that casts him as Leslie Hatten, a World War 1 vet who returns home to find his marriage annulled and his town ruled by a KKK-style group called “The … Continue reading

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The Marrying Kind

Right after “Born Yesterday,” Judy Holiday made a film called “The Marrying Kind” in 1952.  George Cukor directed both films and although Holiday definitely plays a New Yorker in both movies, she’s more of a working class heroine in The … Continue reading

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Before the Thin Man

Before MGM filmed “The Thin Man” in 1934, the studio made a similar film written by the same screenwriters (Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett) called “Penthouse” in 1933.  Instead of Dashiell Hammett’s Nick and Nora Charles, Penthouse gives us Warner … Continue reading

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The Overcoat

Russian stories often involve a character’s relationship with the authorities, including “The Overcoat,” made by an avant-garde film group called “FEKS” in the Soviet Union in 1926.  The FEKS group, which stands for the “Factory of the Experimental Actor,” wished … Continue reading

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The Canadian

William Beaudine’s “The Canadian,” a film from 1926, stars Thomas Meighan and Mona Palma as reluctant newlyweds on an Alberta ranch.  Meighan plays Frank Taylor, a friendly but unsophisticated ranch hand who’s looked down upon by the newly-arrived Nora March … Continue reading

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