By John H. Foote With the release of his extraordinary new crime epic The Irishman, once again the legendary Martin Scorsese flexes his artistic muscles to show why he might be the greatest American director in movies. Listing 10 of his greatest films proved impossible so I pushed it to 15. Let me be clear,…
By Alan Hurst Peyton Place was a big deal in the fifties and sixties, first as a best-selling and scandalous novel, then as a hit motion picture (followed by a sequel), and finally as a must-watch prime-time TV series. When Grace Metalious’ novel was first published in 1956 the book shocked readers with its depiction…
By Nick Maylor This fantasy-comedy starring and co-directed by Warren Beatty was adapted from Harry Segall’s play of the same name, which had already been made into a film once with Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). The story involves life, death, second chances and the fallibility of guardian Angels (particularly ones new on the job).…
By John H. Foote (****) Perhaps the most acutely aware film of the decade about the future of television, Sidney Lumet’s lacerating film Network foreshadowed what TV has become, which is a series of reality programs. Incredibly, it was predicted thirty years before reality programming took over the major three networks. Written by Academy Award…
By Nick Maylor Charles Chaplin was a Master of Physical comedy. Countless hours of footage of him in character as “The Tramp” serve as testimony to the notion that he was perhaps the greatest slapstick performer in history. Chaplin was also a writer, director, producer and composer for much of his famous works. In his first…
By Craig Leask Many may not know this, but the play The Philadelphia Story (and it’s subsequent film adapation in 1940 and musical remake entitled High Society in 1956) was inspired by the true-life Helen Hope Montgomery Scott (1904–1995), a Philadelphia socialite known for her mischievousness shenanigans and high-spirited flirtations. She was the daughter of…
By Alan Hurst For someone whose early film and TV influences included Mary Poppins (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), Lucille Ball, MGM musicals with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and Doris Day comedies, gangster films – oddly enough – are right up there as one of my favourite film genres. No real logic as…
By Alan Hurst A near perfect movie recipe: atmospheric black and white cinematography combined with a big old house, a troubled heroine, a troubling hero, a quirky cast of supporting characters, and all set in a bygone era. If a filmmaker and screenwriter can get those things right, then for me that’s movie bliss. Two…
By Alan Hurst It has not been a good couple of years for Faye Dunaway. In 2017 she got caught in the maelstrom of confusion during the presentation of the Best Picture award at that year’s Oscars, ultimately awarding the Oscar to Moonlight – the true winner – after having already announced La La Land…
By Craig Leask It all started with a simple one panel comic in 1938 where Charles Addams introduced a wealthy, but ghoulish, extended family who delight in the macabre. This was the first of some 150 single panel cartoons originally published in The New Yorker magazine continuing to 1988 when Charles Addams passed away. Interestingly,…