Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Movies reviewed by John Grant.

Seven Thieves

Posted on June 4, 2013 by John Grant

A Monte Carlo caper movie with Edward G. Robinson, Rod Steiger and Joan Collins sounds like a winner, so I was happy to watch “Seven Thieves.”  Robinson plays a disgraced professor (Theo Wilkins) who wants to do something big before … Continue reading →

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How Green Was My Valley

Posted on June 1, 2013 by John Grant

“How Green Was My Valley,” the 1941 film directed by John Ford, tells the story in flashback of a Welsh coal mining village and how the Morgan family adjusts and changes through trials of economic uncertainty, dangerous working conditions, labor … Continue reading →

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The Last Command

Posted on May 31, 2013 by John Grant

Josef von Sternberg, who directed “The Blue Angel” in 1930, is responsible for a number of excellent silent films, including “The Last Command (1928).”  The Last Command stars Emil Jannings as a Russian emigre in 1920s Hollywood.  As a general … Continue reading →

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Ballad of a Soldier

Posted on May 28, 2013 by John Grant

Grigorly Chukhray’s “Ballad of a Soldier,” a 1959 Soviet film, manages to perfectly blend an effective love story, a road picture, and an antiwar message into a poetic and moving visual and emotional experience.  The Russian language movie stars Vladimir … Continue reading →

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Rose of Washington Square

Posted on May 22, 2013 by John Grant

With a cast of Alice Faye, Tyrone Power and Al Jolson, I expected “Rose of Washington Square,” released in 1939, to offer superior entertainment.  Although it succeeds on various levels, including its numerous musical numbers, it fails to elevate itself … Continue reading →

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Spellbound

Posted on May 19, 2013 by John Grant

Alfred Hitchcock’s “Spellbound,” which came out in 1945, explores the psychological effects of guilt amidst a murder mystery.  Dr. Constance Peterson (Ingrid Bergman), an up and coming psychologist, wants to make a name for herself by curing patients at a rural mental … Continue reading →

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The Prisoner of Zenda (1922)

Posted on May 16, 2013 by John Grant

The 1922 silent version of “The Prisoner of Zenda,” made by Metro Pictures Corporation, stars Lewis Stone in a dual role as Rudolf Rassendyll and King Rudolf.  Evil plans in the kingdom of Ruritania by Black Michael (Ramon Navarro) results … Continue reading →

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Jack Reacher

Posted on May 13, 2013 by John Grant

I looked forward to seeing “Jack Reacher, a film released in 2012, because the producers filmed it in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Since Pittsburgh is my home town, I hoped to see a good combination of exterior shots that utilizes the topography … Continue reading →

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The Letter

Posted on May 10, 2013 by John Grant

“The Letter,” a 1940 Warner Brothers film, stars Bette Davis as a woman (Leslie Crosbie) who shoots a man several times in the opening nighttime scene.  Leslie takes aim as the man stumbles down the porch steps of a bungalow, … Continue reading →

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Roberta

Posted on May 7, 2013 by John Grant

The 1935 film “Robert” stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott and takes place in a fashion house and a nightclub in Paris.  Astaire, as Huck Haines, arrives in Paris with his band, Huck Haines and the … Continue reading →

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