Dec 8, 2023
In this Lilli Palmer Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode we take a look at a Lilli Palmer who's (mostly) new to us, Lilli the victim: the victim of self-destructive womanizer Rex Harrison (Palmer's real-life husband) in Launder and Gilliat's enigmatic social satire The Rake's Progress (1945), and the self-destructive...
Dec 1, 2023
For this Paramount 1945 episode, we look at a couple of male melodramas: The Man in Half Moon Street, a Gothic B-movie starring Nils Asther, "the most beautiful man who ever lived," according to Elise, as a scientist who becomes unscrupulous in his pursuit of eternal youth, and Salty O'Rourke, a Raoul Walsh-directed hit...
Nov 24, 2023
For our Ozu Noir-vember Special Subject, we look at three silent films by Yasujirō Ozu, Walk Cheerfully (1930), That Night's Wife (1930), and Dragnet Girl (1933), that not only bear a fascinating relationship to each other but also seemingly inaugurate the gangster film in Japan and anticipate (we argue) American...
Nov 17, 2023
We dig into some substantial British cinema offerings in a Lilli Palmer Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode that's heavy on wartime themes: Thunder Rock (1942), a philosophical examination of the disillusionment of a leftist; dramatically illustrated in a surprising way; The Gentle Sex (1943), Leslie Howard's eccentric and...
Nov 10, 2023
We weren't sure what to expect with our Universal 1944 "scary woman"-themed episode, but Cobra Woman, starring the riveting Maria Montez, delivered, and the completely unknown Weird Woman, starring the less-than-riveting Lon Chaney Jr., was a surprise gem that seems to be nodding to Val Lewton's work at RKO. This...