Author Archives: John Grant

A Night of Silents

Posted on December 3, 2015 by John Grant

Here is the schedule and the musical guests for “A Day of Silents” at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, CA, USA. Saturday, December 4, 2015 11 AM (84 minutes) THE BLACK PIRATE (with  Douglas Fairbanks) Live musical accompaniment by … Continue reading →

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Silent Film Wrapup

Posted on June 1, 2015 by John Grant

The 2015 San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s (SFSFF) wrapped up this year with an unprecedented 6 days of wonderful silent films, beginning with “All Quiet on the Western Front 1930” and ending with “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ … Continue reading →

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The Rains Came

Posted on December 8, 2014 by John Grant

Returning to the great movie year of 1939, I sat down and watched “The Rains Came,” the Twentieth Century Fox film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power and George Brent. It’s a melodramatic disaster film with … Continue reading →

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Lord Love a Duck

Posted on December 1, 2014 by John Grant

I found quite a surprise last week while watching The Works network on TV. They presented a 1966 film directed by George Axelrod called “Lord Love a Duck.” The movie stars Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowall as a couple of … Continue reading →

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The Battle of Algiers

Posted on November 24, 2014 by John Grant

Among all war films, the 1966 Italian-Algerian production called “The Battle of Algiers” seems to invoke the tensest evocation of the current state of warfare in the world. It’s war taken to a divided city where cultures compete and freedoms … Continue reading →

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Pyaasa

Posted on November 18, 2014 by John Grant

I had the good fortune to see the 1957 Indian film “Pyaasa” the other night. The film tells the story of a poet named Vijay (Guru Dutt) who finds it extremely difficult to get his poems published. A failed college … Continue reading →

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Captain Phillips

Posted on November 10, 2014 by John Grant

Tom Hanks doesn’t seem like the kind of actor who could fly into a convincing rage, but if there was ever a movie to do it in, “Captain Phillips” would be it. However, he does not fly into a rage … Continue reading →

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The Love Parade

Posted on November 1, 2014 by John Grant

Ernst Lubitsch’s 1929 film “The Love Parade,” features romantic comedy at its finest, with playful adult situations and a score full of catchy numbers. The deftly acted and directed film features Maurice Chevalier as Count Alfred Renard, a confirmed ladies … Continue reading →

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Sherlock Holmes Silent Film Discovered

Posted on October 21, 2014 by John Grant

A note from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (SFSFF) tells of the wonderful discovery of “Sherlock Holmes,” a film shot at Essanay Studios and released in 1916. The film, directed by Arthur Berthelet, stars William Gillette as the master … Continue reading →

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Bay of Angels

Posted on October 14, 2014 by John Grant

A couple of interesting things occur in Jacques Demy’s 1963 film “Bay of Angels,” or “La baie des anges (French title).” A man (Claude Mann) gets hooked into a gambling binge by a colleague at work and goes to a … Continue reading →

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