Gilda (Dorothy Mackaill) is a New Orleans prostitute who has just arrived at a hotel to meet with a client. The client turns out to be none other than Piet Van Saal (Ralf Harolde), her former boss and the man responsible for ruining her career. The encounter ends in conflict, with Gilda hitting Piet with a bottle and accidentally starting a fire. Sure that she … Continue reading Safe in Hell (1931)
Corky Jones (Dennis Morgan) and Gil Borden (Don DeFore) are looking for jobs in Burbank, California when they’re plucked from obscurity to champion the war effort at the very respectable Lockheed aircraft factory. Though the U.S. is technically still neutral when they’re hired on, it’s preparing for war, producing large numbers of fighter jets and bombers. While awaiting his first paycheck, Corky stays with his … Continue reading Wings for the Eagle (1942)
“This is a story of the Unconquerable Fortress: the American Home… 1943.” Anne Hilton (Claudette Colbert) is left to keep her family afloat after her husband volunteers for Army service. She and her teen daughters — Jane (Jennifer Jones) and Bridget (Shirley Temple) — do the best they can, rationing their food, planting a victory garden, and taking in a boarder (Monty Wooley) to help … Continue reading Since You Went Away (1944)
October is the spookiest month of the year, but it was also the most successful month of the year for me, in terms of viewing. I finally broke my slump, with 32 films watched! On to the wrap-up… New-to-me viewings: 21 Re-watches: 11 Total for October: 32 Total for 2018, so far: 154 The new-to-me list: Safe in Hell (1931) Seven Doors to Death (1944) … Continue reading October 2018 in Film
The day of spooks and scares has finally arrived! Today, we’re celebrating with what is certainly one of my top five all-time favorite horror films. In case you missed ’em, the rest of 2018’s Horror Half-Week reviews: Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957), The Brain Eaters (1958), and The Living Skeleton (1968) The favorite film: Halloween, an iconic 1978 horror film directed by John Carpenter The … Continue reading Horror Half-Week, Day 4: Favorite things about… Halloween (1978)
On this third day of our spooky celebration, we’ll be taking a look at a classic, ghostly Japanese chiller. Previous Horror Half-Week 2018 posts: Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957) and The Brain Eaters (1958) “Her wounded heart beats within my chest, torn and bleeding. It’s driving me to wreak vengeance on those beasts.” When pirates overtake the Dragon King, they kill all of its passengers … Continue reading Horror Half-Week, Day 3: The Living Skeleton (1968)
Happy Horror Half-Week! TMP is celebrating the spooky season with three film reviews and a special edition of “Favorite Things About…” to be published on Halloween. Yesterday, we took a look at 1957’s Invasion of the Saucer-Men. See below for today’s frightening feature! The gossip mill is set alight in the sleepy town of Riverdale, Illinois after several residents see what they think is a … Continue reading Horror Half-Week, Day 2: The Brain Eaters (1958)
It’s aliiiive! TMP’s Halloween series Horror Half-Week returns for a seventh year. I didn’t choose any themes this year — just did some mood-watching of spooky and strange things. There will be reviews today through Tuesday, with a special “Favorite Things About…” post on Halloween itself. Happy Horror Half-Week! Joan Hayden (Gloria Castillo) and Johnny Carter (Steve Terrell) are a small-town couple getting ready to … Continue reading Horror Half-Week, Day 1: Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957)
When her father and her boyfriend are killed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, pregnant and unwed Jenny Sandoval (Ruth Chatterton) must find a way to survive. She takes up residence in the Chinese district and is able to make ends meet, but not necessarily through legal methods. Mixed up with gamblers and running a brothel, Jenny finds herself in a world of trouble when … Continue reading Frisco Jenny (1932)
Long before Mamma Mia and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again hit the big screen (and entered my constant-rewatch rotation), there was another ABBA film, appropriately titled… ABBA: The Movie. Where the modern musical tales have plots full of complicated personal relationships, family secrets, and romance, ABBA: The Movie doesn’t have much of a plot at all. The musical performances are thinly connected by an … Continue reading ABBA: The Movie (1971)
