Category Archives: Movies

By Robert J. Avrech | April 18, 2013

Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s: Some Like It Hot

Tweet We continue our survey of the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s. For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1940s, click here. For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1930s click here. For the Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1920s click here. 19. Some Like It Hot, 1959. “Look at that!” Jack Lemmon tells [...]

Also posted in Billy Wilder, Greatest Movies of the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis, Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s | Tagged , , , | 10 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | February 28, 2013

Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s: Night of the Hunter

Tweet We continue our survey of the twenty greatest movies of the 1950s. For a complete listing of the greatest movies of the 20, 30s and 40s, click here. 13. Night of the Hunter, 1955 Night of the Hunter, more than any other movie I have ever seen, succeeds brilliantly in evoking the terrors of [...]

Also posted in Great Movies, Greatest Movies of the 1950s, Lillian Gish | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | February 21, 2013

Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s: Rear Window, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Seven Samurai

Tweet We continue our survey of the twenty greatest movies of the 1950s. For a complete listing of the greatest movies of the 20, 30s and 40s, click here. 10. Rear Window, 1954 Photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies (James Stewart) breaks his legs while photographing a car racing accident. Now, he is confined in his Greenwich [...]

Also posted in Alfred Hitchcock, Great Movies, Greatest Movies of the 1950s, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 27 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | February 14, 2013

Twenty Greatest Movies of the 1950s: Shane, The Big Heat, Ugetsu

Tweet We continue our survey of the twenty greatest movies of the 1950s. For a complete listing of the greatest movies of the 20, 30s and 40s, click here. 7. Shane, 1953. The gunshots in Shane are unlike any other gunshots in Hollywood history. They are heart-stopping thunderbolts, from either heaven or hell. Shane, a [...]

Also posted in Great Movies, Greatest Movies of the 1950s, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 34 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | November 22, 2012

Thanksgiving: The Children of Israel and the Children of the Children of Israel

Tweet As far as I know, there are only two countries in the world that were founded on the idea of hope. America and Israel. And what was the hope? The hope of achieving religious freedom, and freedom from the tyranny of centralized government. The Children of Israel, fleeing Egyptian slavery and religious persecution, settled [...]

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By Robert J. Avrech | November 8, 2012

Fay Wray: Beauty and the Beasts, Part I

Tweet Actress Fay Wray achieved screen immortality as Ann Darrow, the girl in King Kong’s paw, the beauty who tamed, at least for a while, the raging beast. For most of us growing up after Hollywood’s Golden Age, Fay Wray (born Vina Fay Wray; September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was nothing more than [...]

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By Robert J. Avrech | November 5, 2012

Days of Heaven

Tweet There was a moment on my walk this morning, at about 5:30 a.m., when I just stopped dead in my tracks and watched the horizon change from blue-black to blushing violet. In the movie industry, this stretch of time is known as magic hour. Cinematographers who shoot in these few precious moments, if they [...]

Also posted in 2012 Election, Mitt Romney, Obama Watch, Screenwriting | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | September 3, 2012

Mary Pickford: She Built It

Tweet Being a Conservative means conserving the wisdom of our ancestors, preserving what is best of our cultural heritage. Too often, modern man plunges headlong into the future and never looks back. Nowhere is this more evident than with the history and preservation of silent films.  Last week I spoke with a  group of high [...]

Also posted in 2012 Election, Hollywood, Mary Pickford, Silent Movies | Tagged , , | 18 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | August 23, 2012

2016: Obama’s America, Plus a Mild Digression About Bette Davis

Tweet Into the San Fernando Valley we rode, 10.2 miles from Casa Avrech, to see Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary 2016: Obama’s America. Karen ordered our tickets in advance through Fandango. There are no theater listings for 2016 in the LA Times. They claim there was a computer glitch, but I think we all know what’s really [...]

Also posted in 2012 Election, 2016: Obama's America, Obama Watch, Remembering Ariel | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | August 16, 2012

Mae Clarke, Jimmy Cagney: The Tricks of the Trade

Tweet In Lady Killer (1933) Dan Quigley (Jimmy Cagney) a movie theater usher, gets fired and drifts into a life of petty crime with a gang of con men and their slinky, hardboiled gun moll, Myra, played by the incomparable Mae Clarke. On the lam from the police and the gang who betrays him, Dan [...]

Also posted in Hollywood, Jimmy Cagney, Mae Clarke | Tagged , , , , | 19 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | July 12, 2012

Joan Bennett Wants You To Be Attractive

Tweet Besides starring in several noir classics, The Woman in the Window ( 1944), Scarlet Street (1945), Hollow Triumph (1948) and our favorite, The Reckless Moment (1949),  Joan Bennett delivered the most famous adulterer’s line of dialogue in Hollywood history. In 1951, Bennet’s marriage to producer Walter Wanger was on the rocks. Wanger’s distinguished career [...]

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By Robert J. Avrech | May 31, 2012

Three Notable War Movies from Britain, Russia, & Finland

Tweet After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, a close friend who commanded a tank in the Sinai and killed at least 35 Egyptian tanks—“You forget to count after a while”—in a drunken moment said to yours truly: “You know what’s great about desert warfare? No civilians. No cities. No nothing. Just you and the enemy. [...]

Also posted in Great Movies, Hollywood, War Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | May 24, 2012

Movie Posters: Hollywood’s Golden Age

Tweet The major studios had a staff of artists who designed posters and lobby cards. These talented men and women toiled in relative obscurity, but the sophistication of their graphic designs are simply jaw dropping. Major films usually had several versions of posters that went out to theaters.

Also posted in Hollywood, Movie Posters, Silent Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 19 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | May 23, 2012

The Religious Wisdom of Preston Sturges

Tweet The Great McGinty (1940) charts the rise and fall of a Depression era hobo to mayor of a city, then Governor, and finally exile in a banana republic. Though a satire, Preston Sturges, certainly the greatest writer-director in Hollywood history, was a keen observer of American political life. McGinty, played by Brian Donlevy, finds [...]

Also posted in Hollywood, Preston Sturges, Screenwriting, Wisdom of Hollywood Screenwriters | Tagged | 12 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | May 22, 2012

The Political Wisdom of Preston Sturges

Tweet Preston Sturges wrote and directed The Great McGinty, 1940, a political satire that, seen today, is astonishingly accurate in its depiction of big city politics and the corruption and self-interest of politicians who claim to serve the interests of “the little people.” Though the film is carefully non-partisan, depicting all politicians as crooked, one [...]

Also posted in Hollywood, Obama Watch, Preston Sturges, The Wit and Wisdom of Hollywood | Tagged , , | 15 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | May 3, 2012

When Ingrid Bergman Shattered Ingrid Bergman’s Image

Tweet Movies, specifically Hollywood movies, are the greatest machinery of propaganda the world has ever known. So powerful is Hollywood and its ability to convey a message that in modern times America has never achieved victory in war without Hollywood’s support. When the Hollywood community turns against an American conflict, defeat is assured. Witness Vietnam, [...]

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By Robert J. Avrech | April 12, 2012

Notable War Movies, Russian and Finnish

Tweet Seraphic Secret watches movies in thematic clusters. Last year I concentrated on the work of specific actors, among them: Clara Bow, John Gilbert, Mary Nolan, Lon Chaney, Esther Ralston and, adolescent sigh, Brigitte Bardot. For the past few  weeks I’ve been screening war movies, with an emphasis on films from Russia and Finland. World [...]

Also posted in War, War Movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | March 23, 2012

Friday Flickers: Mrs. Miniver

Tweet In 1942, MGM released Mrs. Miniver, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pigeon. The movie was a great boost to morale and helped strengthen America’s commitment to defeating the genocidal fascists of Germany and Japan. The film emphasizes chin-up devotion to duty: Mr. Miniver, an architect, sails to Dunkirk, Mrs. Miniver confronts a wounded German [...]

Also posted in Friday Flickers, Islamic Terror | Tagged , , , | 8 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | March 16, 2012

Friday Flickers: Three Notable Films About Terrorism

Tweet Faye Dunaway once told me that to play a role she had to commit to the character with all her heart and soul. She needed, she explained, to love the character. In terms of performance this means the actor has to empathize and identify with the fictional character. The danger lies in a character [...]

Also posted in Friday Flickers, Notable Movies About Terrorism | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Responses
By Robert J. Avrech | February 14, 2012

It’s Not Fair… It’s Not Fair… It’s Not Fair…

Tweet   In 2001, I wrote a film for Showtime called Brotherhood of Murder, based on a book of the same name by Tom Martinez and John Guinther. The film stars William Baldwin, Peter Gallagher and Kelly Lynch. Director Martin Bell did a superb job of translating script to screen. “Brotherhood” is the the true [...]

Also posted in Brotherhood of Murder, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Responses