Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Movies reviewed by John Grant.

The Savage Girl

Posted on September 11, 2012 by John Grant

“The Savage Girl,” an interesting pre-code film made by Monarch Film Corporation in 1932, tells the story of an eccentric and drunk millionaire (Amos P. Stitch) who hires a professor to travel to Africa, catch wild animals, and stock Stitch’s private zoo. … Continue reading →

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Sparrows

Posted on September 5, 2012 by John Grant

A local gardener, Charlie, told me that, at the age of 5, he met Mary Pickford in 1927 in Anaheim, California.  He still remembers that day well; any five-year old who met Pickford at that time must have thought of … Continue reading →

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Night and the City

Posted on September 2, 2012 by John Grant

The remarkable Richard Widmark and Jules Dassin team up in the 1950 thriller called “Night and the City,” which also stars Gene Tierney and Googie Withers.  Widmark plays Harry Fabian, a con man who always looks for a bigger score. … Continue reading →

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The Sheik

Posted on August 30, 2012 by John Grant

Rudolph Valentino first appeared on the silver screen in an uncredited role in a lost D. W. Griffith film called “The Battle of the Sexes” in 1914.  Several other films followed in which he played exotic and villainous roles.  But after he … Continue reading →

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Harry Langdon

Posted on August 27, 2012 by John Grant

Just before he made Frank Capra’s “The Strong Man” in 1926, Harry Langdon starred in “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,” an engaging and very funny story about a little man who enters a cross-country walking race for a $50,000 purse that will … Continue reading →

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A Free Soul

Posted on August 24, 2012 by John Grant

Norma Shearer, Clark Gable and Lionel Barrymore star in “A Free Soul,” a 1931 film directed by Clarence Brown.  Shearer plays Jan Ashe, a modern and free-spirited woman who carries on an open affair with Ace Wilfong, a notorious gambler. … Continue reading →

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Eternally Yours

Posted on August 21, 2012 by John Grant

Glorious 1939 featured so many good Hollywood movies that I always pay attention when a film from that year shows up on the Turner Classic Movies channel.  In that year, United Artists came out with “Stagecoach,” “Of Mice and Men,” … Continue reading →

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Thieves’ Highway

Posted on August 18, 2012 by John Grant

I enjoy watching movies that feature San Francisco, especially ones that show authentic scenes from a former era.  I recently watched “Thieves’ Highway,” a 1949 film directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb and Valentina Cortez. … Continue reading →

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The Mating Call

Posted on August 15, 2012 by John Grant

Thomas Meighan shines in “The Mating Call,” a 1928 silent film that casts him as Leslie Hatten, a World War 1 vet who returns home to find his marriage annulled and his town ruled by a KKK-style group called “The … Continue reading →

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The Marrying Kind

Posted on August 12, 2012 by John Grant

Right after “Born Yesterday,” Judy Holiday made a film called “The Marrying Kind” in 1952.  George Cukor directed both films and although Holiday definitely plays a New Yorker in both movies, she’s more of a working class heroine in The … Continue reading →

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