A Pre-Code romantic crime drama from Columbia Pictures, 1932's Virtue, directed by Edward Buzzell, got off to a bit of a bumpy start... for when star Carole Lombard (on loan from Paramount) met studio president Harry Cohn (known to be blunt, opinionated, and rather colourful with his language), he told her that her hair was too white – making her look like ‘a whore’. Lombard, no shrinking violet, promptly responded with: “if anyone would know a whore it would be you”. Though the two would soon earn each other’s respect (something that would last for the rest of their lives), this really is a perfect story that exemplifies the edgy themes and style found in these Pre-Code movies. Opening with a black screen that hides the visuals of a criminal sentence, a Judge rather kindly orders several prostitutes to vacate the city, but if they return, they shall be punished to the full extent of the law.
Dealing with the unnerving and dangerously disturbing topic of the Stockholm Syndrome, Pedro Almodóvar uses deft humour, rich engaging (as well as flawed) characters and a solid story to concoct one of the more unusual romances in film history. The title of said motion picture is Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, released in 1989 to much fanfare and equally as much controversy. The winner of several festival awards (as well as being lauded as a superb film in Spain), it received an X rating in the United States (equal to that of a hardcore pornography film) – with the MPAA disliking two scenes as well as the crime aspect of the story (which they thought could influence young males to commit kidnapping much like the main character). To paraphrase Almodóvar, he humourously exclaimed that he does not make movies expecting that the entire audience will be psychopaths. In the end, it was this movie that led the MPAA to create the new rating of NC-17, which still exists today, and if given, usually kills a movie’s box office chances much like the X rating.
The saying ‘they don’t make films like that anymore' is often bandied about when it comes to classic movies. It is something that is difficult to quantify or describe as to why it is so, but when you see it, it seems self evident. One motion picture that has this unusual quality is the 1948 film I Remember Mama. I recently spoke to Louise Sorel at CAPE Cornwall. You may recognize the actress if you are a fan of soap operas;
With the steamy heat of summer upon us, it is time to revisit one of my favourite genres – the dark, seductive, hard-boiled stories of film noir (from the 1940's and 50's). Billy Wilder, one of the great directors of the twentieth century, created three classics that fall within this genre: 1944's Double Indemnity (which I have already reviewed), 1951's Ace In the Hole and the 1950 iconic motion picture Sunset Blvd. – which will be reviewed here today.
When one thinks about Marilyn Monroe’s acting career, they would likely imagine her performing in a light musical comedy in the vein of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch or Some Like It Hot. Yet, an early Monroe performance that may catch some off guard is when she plays Nell Forbes in the 1952 film-noirish drama Don’t Bother to Knock. Set entirely in a posh New York City hotel, bar singer Lyn Lesley (Anne Bancroft) has broken it off, by letter, with her beau Jed Towers (Richard Widmark), reasoning that he is too cold and does not have the heart for a long term relationship. The man arrives, booking a room in the hotel, hoping that he will win her back.
On the 8th of July, 2016, I had the privilege of golfing with NHL Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk at Upper Canada Golf Course in Morrisburg, Ontario. For those of us who have played hockey, we understand how difficult it is to put up a point per game, whether we were playing house league, travelling team, or in the professionals. Hawerchuk impressively put up 1409 points in only 1188 games during his career, which spanned from 1981-1997. He spent most of his time with the Winnipeg Jets, but also played for the Buffalo Sabres for five years, the St. Louis Blues for a year, and wrapped up his career playing two years with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 classic Bicycle Thieves is a prime example of Italian Neo-Realism. The genre, which spanned a short ten or so year period during the 1940s and 1950s, highlighted life of ordinary, working class (and often impoverished) individuals who were dealing with the stresses of day to day life in Italy during or shortly after World War 2. Previously, Italian filmmakers had had their artistic scope and perspective limited by the fascist government of Benito Mussolini (for more than twenty years) and this style of motion picture was a reaction to it. Filmed in a semi-documentary fashion (typically on a low budget), the streets of Rome and other cities were used instead of the safety of studios to depict relevant social themes of otherwise common people.