Classic Film Aficionados

Sharing our appreciation and love of movies made prior to 1966. Taking time to stoke the flame of our passion for classic films, sound and silent; attempting not to hurt the feelings of differing genres of movie making. And hoping to spread the love of movies of a particular age to those who as of yet have not seen the flickering-light of cinematic truth that: older is better!

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Edna Maison, at Home in the Rarefied Aria of Opera and Silver Screen

Edna Maison, at Home in the Rarefied Aria of Opera and Silver Screen

Edna Maison; Picture Player Camera Men’s Ball Souvenir Program, 1914

  Maison, Maison

Carmen Edna K. Maisonave[1](Masion, Mason, Masonave, Maysonave, Malsonave) was born on August 17, 1886, (not in 1892 is as so popularly quoted) in San Francisco, California to Peter (Pierre) Maisonave and Mary Ely; Edna’s only sibling, Marie Elise was born 1895. If Edna was not born into a wealthy situation, she…

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Nancy Drew ... Reporter, Happy Anniversary! Premiered February 18th, 1939

Nancy Drew … Reporter, Happy Anniversary! Premiered February 18th, 1939

Nancy Drew Reporter was the second of 4 films produced and distributed by Warner Brothers, starring the vivacious Bonita Granville as the plucky teenage detective, John Litelas Carson Drew her clueless, loving father and Frankie Thomas appeared as her sidekick, Ted Nickerson. Kenneth Gamet wrote the Reporter screenplay based on the Nancy Drew stories, using the novels as source materials,…

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The Big Combo, Happy Anniversary! Premiered February 13th, 1955

The Big Combo, Happy Anniversary! Premiered February 13th, 1955

On Sunday, February 13th, 1955 The Big Combo premiered in Japan and the United States. Directed by the master-of-style Joseph H. Lewis, photography by near-legendary-cinematographer John Alton, written by Philip Yordan (read further on Yordan from The Film Noir Foundation), music by David Raksin and starring: Cornel Wilde (one of my favorite actors), Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean…

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Harold Peary: The Great Gildersleeve and More

Harold Peary: The Great Gildersleeve and More

  Harold Peary

The radio and film character of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve immortalized Harold Peary, whose voice is distinct in entertainment history, an unusual talent, a vocal-genius and facially, unparalleled with his often petulant and mischievous expressions, adding to him a sincere and gracious smile. Others (Willard Waterman, who replaced Harold in the Gildersleeve radio program…

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Metropolis, Happy Anniversary! Premiered in Berlin, Germany at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo Movie Theater on Monday, January 10th, 1927.

Metropolis, Happy Anniversary! Premiered in Berlin, Germany at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo Movie Theater on Monday, January 10th, 1927.

Metropolis changed the way I thought of Silent Film. Up to that point I had viewed the era as darkened, scratchy, unclear, with much over-exaggerated movements of body, face and eyes and to make matters worse there was no dialogue. But, here was a movie that challenged my thinking and my preconceived conceptions of non-talking films. This was movie making at its finest, regardless of decade.…

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The Ultimate New Years Eve Movie! Repeat Performance, 1947

The Ultimate New Years Eve Movie! Repeat Performance, 1947

I guess it is never too early to prepare for the end of the year, yet, oddly enough, this film which finds its plot entangled with and dare I say integral with New Years Eve was released on May 22nd, 1947. Repeat Performance was directed by Alfred Werker, Cinematography by Lew William O’Connell; starring: Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, Richard Basehart and Tom Conway.  This is Fantasy-Film-Noir…

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One Froggy Evening, Happy Anniversary! Opened December 31st, 1955

One Froggy Evening, Happy Anniversary! Opened December 31st, 1955

Lobby Card

Lobby Card

A Chuck Jones masterpiece, a one of kind hilarious comment on human nature, the search for our hopes, the quest for our dreams and the pursuit of the happiness that we find in them; all told in just 7 minutes. I don’t know about you but every time I have a tech look at my PC (or for that matter a mechanic at my car, repairman at my washer or dryer, and so on, and so forth) I…

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Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Happy Anniversary! Premiered in New York City, December 30th, 1925

Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, Happy Anniversary! Premiered in New York City, December 30th, 1925

As we can see from the posters, lobby cards, programs and ads for Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ, every means and all tools were used to promote this film, yet, because of its budget (most expensive of the silent era at 3.9 million) it lost money on its initial run, finally making a little profit in the re-release in 1931 when a score and sound-effects were added. (See our post about another…

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F. W. Murnau, Happy Birthday! Born December 28th; 1888-1931

F. W. Murnau, Happy Birthday! Born December 28th; 1888-1931

F. W. Murnau

Storyteller supreme is an apt title for Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, better known as F. W. Murnau; 21 movies in 12 years, his career stopped short by an automobile accident, just prior to the premier of his last film, Tabu: A Story of the South Seas, in 1931.

What a genius for moving-pictures he had and we are all the more blessed to have what little record we do have.  The space (and…

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The Ultimate New Years Eve Movie! Repeat Performance, 1947

The Ultimate New Years Eve Movie! Repeat Performance, 1947

I guess it is never too early to prepare for the end of the year, yet, oddly enough, this film which finds its plot entangled with and dare I say integral with New Years Eve was released on May 22nd, 1947. Repeat Performance was directed by Alfred Werker, Cinematography by Lew William O’Connell; starring: Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, Richard Basehart and Tom Conway.  This is Fantasy-Film-Noir…

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Elisha Cook Jr., Happy Birthday! Born December 26th; 1903-1995

Elisha Cook Jr., Happy Birthday! Born December 26th; 1903-1995

Elisha Cook Jr.

  Leo DiCaprio from The Great Gatsby

An initial observation: it is remarkable how much DiCaprio looks like Elisha Cook Jr.! But those smooth good looks for Cook Jr. would soon fade into the wrinkled, gnarled features which we now associate with his particularly suited voice for evil and mania.

  Today, I am afforded the opportunity to write about one of the finest of the…

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Humphrey Bogart, Happy Birthday! Born Christmas Day; 1899-1957

Humphrey Bogart, Happy Birthday! Born Christmas Day; 1899-1957

Born Christmas Day of 1899, Humphrey DeForest Bogart made 8 appearances on Broadway before his first role in film came in 1928 in short film called “The Dancing Town”; it would be two years more before Bogart would make his first feature film.  His was a stalwart career, full of envious roles, with many Oscar worthy performances. His one Academy Award for Best Actor, of course, was in…

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John Brascia, Dancing Dynamo, The Expanded Experience

John Brascia, Dancing Dynamo, The Expanded Experience

John Brascia

  John Brascia burst upon the cinematic scene, with good looks, a tremendous smile and most of all his natural born athleticism which imbued his dance steps with vigor and excitement. His talent for dancing was immediately recognized as special and great things were heralded for his career; his name mentioned in the same rarified air of, Astaire and Kelly.[1]His turns in White…

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Old Yeller, Happy Anniversary! Opened Christmas Day, 1957?

Old Yeller, Happy Anniversary! Opened Christmas Day, 1957?

    Old Yeller, did not actually have its world premiere on Christmas Day, 1957, it was seen instead on Tuesday night, December 17, in two different cities. The first venue was the Metropolitan Theater, which was on Main St. (1018) between Lamar St. and McKinney St., in downtown Houston, Texas. This was a particularly unusual opening, for to see the film you had to bring a dog;[1]the Associated…

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Holiday Affair, Happy Anniversary! a Delicious 1949 Christmas Time-Capsule

Holiday Affair, Happy Anniversary! a Delicious 1949 Christmas Time-Capsule

To say that Holiday Affair was a Christmas Eve release (most modern reports state this) is true only from the perspective that it was seen around Christmas at most theaters nationwide; another film added to that always growing list of the soft-roll-out-national-opening.

Post Standard, Syracuse, New York, December 21, 1949

Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, Nebraska, December 22, 1949

Clovis News…

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Portrait of Jennie, a Production Journal, of a Timeless Christmas Gift

Portrait of Jennie, a Production Journal, of a Timeless Christmas Gift

  Glimpses of the Portrait of Jennie in 1948:

Portrait of Jennie had its general public premier on Christmas Day, 1948, at the Carthay Circle Theater, located at 6316 San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles, California; a more than fifteen-hundred seat theater, with nearly one-thousand on the main floor. The opening was seen in the afternoon, with the theater opening its doors at noon.[1]This was far…

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