The Petrified Forest (1936)
I really enjoyed watching this film and looked forward to some scholarly insights on the commentary track by Eric Lax, co-author of a Humphrey Bogart biography and several other books.[…]
Category: American Cinema
Shanghai Express (1932)
A film like this that deals openly with the subject of prostitution and pokes fun at conventional morality would be impossible to make in Hollywood after the Hays Code began to be rigidly enforced in 1934.
Early Film Pioneers: Alfred Clark and the Birth of the Historical Reconstruction Film
Alfred Clark began working for the Edison Manufacturing Company in 1895 and is the first film-maker known to have used the stop-motion technique and very probably the first to have filmed an historical reconstruction.
The Unbeliever (1918)
A wealthy young atheist finds God, love, and loses his sense of class distinction in one the Edison company’s final productions.
Planet of the Apes (1968)
The unanticipated success of 1968’s Planet of the Apes began the longest running English-language film series other than James Bond and helped pave the way for the Hollywood of today where it seems every other movie released is part of a film franchise. Film review by Dan Willard.
Halls of Montezuma (1951)
Film review by Dan Willard. Made with the cooperation of and used as a recruitment film by the U.S. Marine Corps, Halls of Montezuma is nevertheless an anti-war film.
The Honeymoon Killers (1970)
Film review by Dan Willard. The Honeymoon Killers is in a way a response to the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde in that it seeks to de-glamorize crime.
Black Legion (1937)
Film review by Dan Willard. Black Legion is based on the real life murder of Charles Poole which revealed a large secret hate group that terrorized minorities in the Midwest during the 1930s.
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
Film Review by Dan Willard. Four years before he made Lost Horizon Frank Capra questioned the perceived superiority of the Western way of life in The Bitter Tea of General Yen.
The Savage Horde (1950)
Film review by Dan Willard. The best little Western you’ve never seen! Despite the generic title it’s a quality B Western from Republic Pictures.
