Yearly Archives: 2013

The Hurricane

One cannot mention John Ford’s 1937 movie, “The Hurricane,” without expressing admiration for its incredible special effects.  Naturally, the hurricane that comes towards the end of the film takes center stage, but the film also contains a compelling story about … Continue reading

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The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

A troubled actor attempts to redeem himself for his famous father in “The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum,” directed by Kenji Mizoguchi and released in 1939.  Mizoguchi, a prolific silent film director who presided over more than 90 films, is … Continue reading

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Duel in the Sun

The full-color “Duel in the Sun,” released in 1946, offers the unbeatable combination of King Vidor as the Director and David O. Selznick as the producer. Made at the Selznick Studio for a massive $8,000,000, the film does not skimp … Continue reading

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Wild Boys of the Road

A hard-hitting movie from Warner Brothers came out in 1933 that depicts the ravages of the Great Depression on adolescents.  “Wild Boys of the Road,” directed by William Wellman, tells the story of an honest boy named Eddie (Frankie Darro) … Continue reading

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Monsieur Verdoux

I always thought there was a dark underpinning to much of Charles Chaplin’s comedy, but some people that I meet at silent film festivals tend to dismiss him for being too light.  However, their complaints about his sentimentality will be … Continue reading

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Ruggles of Red Gap

Before TV, jet planes and cell phones, there used to be a big difference between the city and the country.  Just look at the countless Hollywood movies that play on the misunderstandings between the sophisticated city dweller and the rube. … Continue reading

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The Kid With a Bike

From Belgium and released in 2011, “The Kid With a Bike,” written and directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, gives us a slice of life about a boy abandoned by his father.  The boy, Cyril, played with unrelenting sternness … Continue reading

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The Last Edition

Years ago, when I went to an interview to work for The Memphis Commercial Appeal, a large daily newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, I walked through the room where a giant machine puts the newspapers together and shoots them out on … Continue reading

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The Outlaw and His Wife

I love it when filmmakers during the silent era took their cameras into the wilderness, away from creeping civilization, to tell stories of hardship and survival against significant odds.  Victor Sjöström, an early pioneer of Swedish cinema, tells such a … Continue reading

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The Joyless Street

Few films capture a time and a place like “The Joyless Street (Die Freudlose Gasse),” the 1925 silent film directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst and starring Greta Garbo and Asta Nielsen. The movie presents the human misery of poverty and … Continue reading

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