Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is the daughter of Sir John Lindsay, a captain of the British Royal Navy. Her mother is an African woman enslaved in the West Indies. When her mother dies, Dido is brought to England by her father. He asks his aunt and uncle, Lady (Emily Watson) and Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), to… Read More Period film: Belle (2013)
In April of 1945, US Army sergeant “Wardaddy” (Brad Pitt) and his crew (Shia LeBouf, Jon Bernthal, Michael Peña) are fighting on the European front. After the death of the gunner/assistant driver of the crew’s Sherman tank, a rookie named Norman (Logan Lerman) is brought in. Norman is completely unprepared for battle, having previously been… Read More Period film: Fury (2014)
Four months after the end of the Civil War in 1865, the town of Rosy Ridge, Missouri remains in turmoil. Allegiances are held to both the Union and the Confederacy within the community, and to make matters worse, someone is burning barns in the area. Gill MacBean (Thomas Mitchell), a man of Confederate loyalty and… Read More The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
Mrs. Flax (Cher) is an eccentric mother who uproots her family every time one of her relationships goes sour. She raises two young girls on her own, gets work wherever she can find it, and every now and then decides that she wants to start over completely, packing up the family and moving to a… Read More Period film: Mermaids (1990)
J.C. (Billy Crudup) and Doug Holt (Joaquin Phoenix) are from the “wrong side of the tracks.” Outcasts in a town full of people living the “American Dream” in the late 1950s, the boys have been raised by a working, single mother (Kathy Baker). Their father lost his life during a period of conflict with his… Read More Period film: Inventing the Abbotts (1997)
After her husband passes away, 70-year-old Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) decides that it’s time to find some hobbies to keep herself occupied. Ever the eccentric, when a friend tells her to “buy things,” she buys an old theater instead of jewelery or clothes. Needing someone to oversee the productions at the theater, Laura hires Vivian… Read More Period film: Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)
My favorite journalism professor from my undergraduate years always told his classes, “Every great story has a Detroit connection.” This is true of the tale of Frankie Valli’s rise to fame, which has now been chronicled on the big screen in Jersey Boys, adapted from the hit Broadway musical. From his beginnings as barber shop… Read More Period film: Jersey Boys (2014)
Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall) is famous throughout England for her skepticism. For a living she exposes scams, debunks hoaxes and generally shoots down anything remotely paranormal by finding evidence that it’s all the work of con artists. Robert Mallory (Dominic West) comes to Florence one day, telling her that a headmaster of a school in the country… Read More Period film: The Awakening (2011)
“Every man carries a badge. Some symbol of his allegiance. His were the scars of a boxer who’d used his fists to climb the social ladder of the mob. A Jew who’d gained the respect of wops through a homicidal lust. He’d sworn an oath of violence. And his master? His own insatiable will to power. He wanted to own this town.… Read More Period film: Gangster Squad (2013)
The tale of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow has been told many times, most recently in a two-part 2013 TV movie. Both parts of the film open with a flashy title sequence that makes nice use of historic images. Gunfire foreshadows the couple’s grim end at the opening of Part I. My attention was immediately… Read More Period film: Bonnie and Clyde (TV, 2013)
