Author Archives: John Grant

Joan Crawford plays a spoiled rich girl (Bonnie Jordan) forced to take a job as a cub reporter in a 1931 movie called “Dance, Fools, Dance.”  After enjoying the party life on yachts and galavanting around town with abandon, Bonnie’s … Continue reading →

MGM could put some incredible casts together, but I find it especially odd that they teamed Clark Gable, Greer Garson and Joan Blondell in a screwball comedy.  For one thing, Gable’s brand of swagger and bravado would seem to be … Continue reading →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →