Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Movies reviewed by John Grant.

Silent Huckleberry Finn

Posted on July 26, 2011 by John Grant

This month, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival screened the 1920 version of “Huckleberry Finn.”  Directed by William Desmond Taylor, the film presents a grittier version of Mark Twain’s story.  Huckleberry Finn, played by Lewis Sargent, projects the rough and … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Silent Film | Leave a comment

“Upstream” by John Ford

Posted on July 23, 2011 by John Grant

The 2011 San Francisco Silent Film Festival featured a number of films from well-known directors showing their early expertise in films not seen for many decades.  The festival began with John Ford’s 1927 comedy “Upstream.”  The plot includes a group … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Silent Film | Leave a comment

The Music Man

Posted on July 14, 2011 by John Grant

Shirley Jones is so wonderful in “The Music Man” (1962) as Marion the Librarian that I wondered who played the character in the Broadway show.  Barbara Cook played the role of Marion Paroo alongside Robert Preston, who also starred in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Secret Six

Posted on March 29, 2011 by John Grant

Jean Harlow stars in “The Secret Six” from 1931, her first credited feature role.  This violent gangster film features Wallace Beery, Clark Gable and Lewis Stone.  Although Beery was a major star playing tough guys for 4 decades in Hollywood … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

An Earlier Maltese Falcon

Posted on March 15, 2011 by John Grant

I watched the 1931 version of the Maltese Falcon, starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, and Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly.  This one features a nicer, friendlier version of Sam Spade, who seems genuinely capable of falling in love with the Wonderly … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Norman Wisdom

Posted on March 9, 2011 by John Grant

Because of my interest in the Rank Organisation, I watched a service comedy tonight from 1958 called “The Square Peg,” starring Norman Wisdom and Honor Blackman.  Wisdom stars as Norman Pitman, a British council road builder during World War II … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Westerner

Posted on March 3, 2011 by John Grant

William Wyler’s “The Westerner,” made by the Samuel Goldwyn Company in 1940, stars Walter Brennan as hanging Judge Roy Bean, who was based on a real person that idolized British actress Lily Langtry.  Brennan’s Bean hangs horse thieves in a desolate … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Jean-Luc Godard

Posted on February 25, 2011 by John Grant

“Masculin Feminin,” a 1966 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, plays around with the documentary style so much that I find it surprising that the film does not seem like a documentary at all.  Godard films young people in long static … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Mexican Cinema

Posted on February 22, 2011 by John Grant

Ninon Sevilla stars as Elena in “Aventurera,” a 1950 Mexican film that remains a fascinating example of Mexican cinema.  Sevilla reminds me of a Cuban Alice Faye, who famously played in the movie “Weekend in Havana,” which also stars Carman … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Silent Opera

Posted on February 18, 2011 by John Grant

“La Boheme,” the final film shown at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s Winter Event, tells the story of a group of impoverished artists who share an apartment building in Paris.  The 1926 MGM movie stars Lillian Gish and John … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews, Silent Film | Leave a comment