Author Archives: John Grant

Anyone who doubts the acting ability and beauty of Vivien Leigh should watch “That Hamilton Woman,” a 1941 movie directed by Alexander Korda. Leigh plays Lady Emma Hamilton, a historical figure from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Lady … Continue reading →

I’m not sure what the great notion is in Paul Newman’s 1970 film “Sometimes a Great Notion,” but the movie offers a gritty portrait of a stubborn and determined family business battling labor strife. Newman plays Hank Stamper, the devoted … Continue reading →

“Raw Deal,” a 1949 movie directed by Anthony Mann, starts off at a prison and then becomes fast-paced chase film with interesting scenery, good visual effects and suspicious characters. It stars Dennis O’Keefe as Joe Sullivan, a man in prison … Continue reading →

In the documentary, “Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten,” released in 2007, we learn that Joe Strummer of The Clash rock group liked having conversations around a camp fire. That explains why almost all of the interviews in this movie, … Continue reading →

“Penny Serenade,” made by Columbia Pictures and released in 1941, tells the story of Julie (Irene Dunne) and Roger Adams (Cary Grant), a couple unable to bear children but decide to adopt one.  The child changes their relationship in profound … Continue reading →

The greatness of Francois Truffaut’s “Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le pianiste)” comes the fondness it shows for several genres of cinema, while simultaneously offering the characterization, pacing and imagination to propel the story forward. Such a blend of … Continue reading →

Fritz Lang’s 1945 movie, “Scarlet Street,” features a very naive old man and a couple of con artists so dumb it amazes me that it doesn’t play more like a comedy. But the innocent story of an older man infatuated … Continue reading →

I expected “The Woman in the Window,” the 1944 thriller directed by Fritz Lang, to be almost the same as “Scarlet Street,” Lang’s 1944 movie with the same cast. But I found Scarlet Street to be much darker because Joan … Continue reading →

A documentary with the rather lengthy title “Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)” came out in 2010. It explores the rise and fall of one of America’s greatest singer/songwriters and the influence his music and … Continue reading →

Sometimes a movie can have everything going for but it just doesn’t work. “Carousel,” a 1956 movie directed by Henry King, has music by Rodgers and Hammerstein and a couple of exuberant lead characters in Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow, … Continue reading →