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This past holiday season, we shared some unconventional Christmas movie recommendations, like The Silent Partner, Anna and the Apocalypse, The Ref, and my own recommendation, Trancers. But even though I love Trancers and also watch Anna and the Apocalypse every December, my two favorite Christmas movies are not unconventional choices at all: every December 25th, I watch A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation. Very common choices. Someone else with very common choice for their favorite Christmas movie is filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who revealed to BFI that his holiday favorite is It’s a Wonderful Life.

Directed by Frank Capra, who crafted the screenplay with Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Jo Swerling, the 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life was based on the short story The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern (which was loosely based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol) . Here’s the synopsis: George Bailey has so many...

John Ford’s classic Western “The Searchers” is back on the big screen — and this time, in 70mm.

IndieWire can exclusively unveil the full lineup for Museum of the Moving Image and Mubi’s ninth annual “See It Big: 70mm” film festival, with “The Searchers” headlining. The annual summer 70mm series is New York City’s only festival of 70mm films. The festival takes place from July 18 through August 18.

Ford’s “The Searchers” in 70mm will make its East Coast premiere after the print debuted at the American Cinematheque earlier this year. From July 18-21, the 1956 masterpiece will be presented seven times in a new restoration and newly struck 70mm print. The film was scanned from the original 35mm VistaVision camera negative for this print and has been approved by The Film Foundation, which was founded by Martin Scorsese. (He’s credited “The Searchers” for being a direct influence on his Oscar-winning film “Taxi Driver.

Everything about the making of 1954's "Godzilla" feels miraculous. The movie is a feat of filmmaking on every level, from its now aged yet still impressive practical effects to its bold nuclear threat story set in post-war Japan. The film utilized every trick in the book to bring its eponymous kaiju to life, from building a monster costume out of plastic and concrete to creating Godzilla's infamous roar by rubbing the loosened strings of a double bass.

The team behind the original "Godzilla" movie, which included director Ishirō Honda, special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, and the team at Toho Studios, got creative with their moviemaking at every opportunity. Still, no amount of creative problem-solving could save the cast and crew from the forces of nature, which apparently conspired against the production during some especially sweltering days in Japan's Mie prefecture.

In the 2019 Life magazine special edition "Life: Godzilla," the...

"X-Men '97" brings back the marvelous mutants as if they never left TV screens after the original series finale, "Graduation Day." The trailer promised a tone and style befitting the original, plus plenty of Marvel comic book Easter eggs.

Now, the X-Men are larger than life — and ultimately, any one actor. In the 27-year hiatus between the 1992 series and this revival, the X-Men finally made it to live-action (we ranked their cinematic adventures here) and starred in other animated series. Since "X-Men '97" is a revival of a specific version of the X-Men, though, the show has brought back cast members and creatives from the original show. If they hadn't, then why revive this series instead of just making a new "X-Men" cartoon?

In its opening titles, "X-Men" would introduce each member of the team one-by-one with hero shots demonstrating their powers and/or quirks alongside huge text displaying their names.

Ever since Martin Scorsese‘s “Killers of the Flower Moon” premiered at Cannes, critics have celebrated it as Scorsese’s first real Western after decades in which the genre’s influence could be felt at the edges of movies like “Casino” and “Gangs of New York.” The director himself sees it a little differently. As the guest on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast’s 250th episode, he said, “How can I make a Western? I come from the Lower East Side. The guys who made Westerns, when they came out [to Los Angeles], they were riding horses. The old cliché of the director wearing jodhpurs? Well, that’s what they did — you got around on a horse, you had to wear boots, you had to have a riding crop.”

Scorsese feels that the Western as he knew it in childhood ended with Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch” in 1969, and that it’s...

What a thrill it must be as an actor to be in a film that becomes a contender for the Academy Award for Best Picture. A few even develop such an impressive resume that they have seven, eight, nine, or more of these credits to their names. Who are the actors who have starred in the most number of Best Picture nominees?

Many of the performers on this list are not a surprise, with multi-Oscar-winners such as Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Cate Blanchett and Bette Davis making the cut. But there are also some fine character actors who appeared in hundreds of films over careers that spanned decades, including Henry Travers (Clarence the angel from “It’s a Wonderful Life) and Thomas Mitchell (Scarlett O’Hara’s dad from “Gone with the Wind”). Mitchell was such a sought-after actor, he appeared in five of the Best Picture nominees in 1940 and 1941. Two...

What a thrill it must be as an actor to be in a film that becomes a contender for the Academy Award for Best Picture. A few even develop such an impressive resume that they have seven, eight, nine, or more of these credits to their names. Who are the actors who have starred in the most number of Best Picture nominees?

Many of the performers on this list are not a surprise, with multi-Oscar-winners such as Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Cate Blanchett and Bette Davis making the cut. But there are also some fine character actors who appeared in hundreds of films over careers that spanned decades, including Henry Travers (Clarence the angel from “It’s a Wonderful Life) and Thomas Mitchell (Scarlett O’Hara’s dad from “Gone with the Wind”). Mitchell was such a sought-after actor, he appeared in five of the Best Picture nominees in 1940 and 1941. Two...

With the insane games that the various streaming platforms are pulling in terms of removing content from their services (sometimes projects that were made specifically for those platforms), an added emphasis has been placed on home video. And with good reason. The only way you can insure that the movies you love will be around is by owning them on Blu-ray. Thankfully the home video labels have been stepping up their game, with deluxe packages overflowing with extras and feature films presented in their best possible format.

Here are the biggest and best releases on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K in August 2023.

Marvel Studios

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”

Ready for one last ride? Writer/director James Gunn, who is now overseeing DC Studios at Warner Bros., returned for the third part of his “Guardians of the Galaxy” saga. This time around, the Guardians, led by Star Lord (Chris Pratt...

“Now I’m through with land and the land’s through with me,” says world-weary mariner Donkeyman (Arthur Shields) in The Long Voyage Home, succinctly expressing the dichotomy that runs through John Ford’s 1940 drama. Adapted by Dudley Nichols from four of Eugene O’Neill’s one-act plays, the film is deeply concerned with the threshold between land and sea.

Even when in port, the men working on the SS Glencairn are largely confined to the British cargo ship, and for logical reasons, such as police and military restrictions during wartime. Yet, through the aura of despondence and alienation so strongly established by Gregg Toland’s almost spectral cinematography, the men’s entrapment takes on a metaphysical significance not unlike that of the bourgeois individuals unable to exit the dining room in Luis Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel.

For all the isolation and deprivation endured by the sailors, The Long Voyage Home is,...

Movie star John Wayne was never one to shy away from having a drink. Whether he was on a movie set or enjoying life on his houseboat, he frequently enjoyed including alcohol in his plans. According to the official Wayne Facebook page, he claimed, “I never trust a man who doesn’t drink.” However, this revealed a lot about his character.

John Wayne found comradery in sharing a drink L-r: John Wayne and Forrest Tucker | Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

It’s important to acknowledge why Wayne held such importance in an alcoholic drink, to begin with. He greatly valued the comradery that came with sharing alcohol with a friend or a colleague. The movie star viewed it as an opportunity to be genuine with one another, and to share laughs and stories.

Some of Wayne’s closest friends included actor Ward Bond and director John Ford. The trio...

Movie star John Wayne himself saw a major turning point in his career when Red River came about. He played Thomas Dunson, who was significantly older than the actor’s real-life age. Nevertheless, Wayne delivered a powerful performance in Red River, claiming it to be the first time he considered himself a “real actor.” While filming, the Western film star went on an awful bear-hunting trip that especially soured his co-star, Montgomery Clift.

‘Red River’ actor John Wayne went on a bear-hunting trip L-r: Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth and John Wayne as Thomas Dunson | John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

Todd McCarthy’s Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood explored some of the most memorable moments while filming Red River alongside major stars, such as Wayne and Clift. Director Howard Hawks’ son, David, shared his favorite memory when it came to a bear-hunting trip that he took alongside the two lead actors.

Marion Robert Morrison, more commonly known as John Wayne or ‘The Duke,’ left a lasting imprint on American cinema. His career spanned five decades, during which time he starred in 179 films and delivered countless illustrious performances.

He rose to fame with his starring role as Ringo Kid in the 1939 classic ‘Stagecoach,’ and would go on to play characters like Ethan Edwards in Ford’s 1956 ‘The Searchers’ – cementing his place in American film history.

In this blog post, we’ll be taking a look at some of the best John Wayne movies, which capture the actor’s undeniable talent and unforgotten legacy. From westerns like ‘True Grit’ (1969) to war films like ‘The Longest Day’ (1962), Wayne left an indelible mark on our collective culture.

The Highest-Rated John Wayne Films on IMDb ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ (1962) – 8.1/10 ‘Rio Bravo’ (1959) – 8/10 ‘The Searchers’ (1956) – 7.9/10 ‘Stagecoach’ (1939) – 7.8/10 ‘Red River’ (1948) – 7.8/10 ‘The Longest Day’ (1962) – 7.7/10 ‘The Quiet Man’ (1952) – 7.7/10 ‘The Shootist...

Movie stars John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara shared electric chemistry on the silver screen that had audiences swooning. They had a special relationship in real life, but that friendship meant more to the Duke than many people realized. Wayne once called O’Hara his only female friend, exclaiming that she’s “definitely my kind of woman.”

John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara met through John Ford L-r: John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara | Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Wayne and O’Hara both had big Hollywood dreams of becoming the next hot actor in the film industry. She made her leading role debut in 1939’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Meanwhile, he accomplished the same in 1930’s The Big Trail, but 1939 was also the year that marked his launch into stardom with Stagecoach. From there, his career transformed into one of the faces of the Western and war movie genres,...

John Wayne and John Ford went down as one of the most iconic actor–director duos Hollywood ever saw. Together, they collaborated on some of the greatest films ever made in the Western genre and beyond. Wayne and Ford shared many laughs and arguments over the years together, but their final day together was undeniably sentimental.

John Wayne and John Ford collaborated on 14 movies L-r: John Wayne and John Ford | CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Wayne and Ford first met at Fox Studios, where the actor started in the prop department as a young man with a dream of making something of himself. Meanwhile, the director was already established as a confident filmmaker, but he had a temper that ultimately unleashed itself upon Wayne on movie sets.

Ford’s 1939 classic, Stagecoach, launched Wayne into stardom. From there, they worked on another 13 feature films, although they weren’t all quite as successful as the first.

Movie star John Wayne stepped behind the camera for The Alamo, but not quite for the reasons that one would expect. Similar to many other actors, he pretended not to care about what the critics thought, although their words hurt more than he let on. Wayne directed The Alamo because he didn’t think he was attractive enough to continue his career as an actor into his older years.

John Wayne made ‘The Alamo’ his directorial debut John Wayne | United Artists/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Wayne originally started in Hollywood as a prop man for Fox, where he met legendary filmmaker John Ford. Next, he had the opportunity to work on productions, ultimately landing in front of the camera as an actor. There, he managed to capture the hearts of moviegoing audiences across the country.

The iconic Western actor made some of the greatest films the genre has to offer,...

Movie star John Wayne and director John Ford became one of the most iconic filmmaker and actor duos ever to move through Hollywood. It all started with their fateful meeting when Wayne worked as a prop man at Fox, where their personalities quickly hit it off. They would later go on to collaborate on 14 movies together, although the list would be longer if one was to count the times they helped one another in lesser capacities.

‘Stagecoach’ (1939) L-r: Claire Trevor as Dallas and John Wayne as Ringo Kid | Getty Images

A group of unlikely travelers find themselves on a stagecoach headed for Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the 1880s. The arrival of an escaped outlaw named the Ringo Kid (Wayne) shakes up their adventure, as they face riding through dangerous Apache territory.

Wayne played his first leading role in Raoul Walsh’s The Big Trail in 1930, but the actor’s career...

Movie star John Wayne deeply enjoyed playing games, such as bridge and dominoes. He wasn’t ever against having a strong drink and sharing good company with his close friends. Wayne was very close friends with filmmaker John Ford and fellow actor Ward Bond, but they had a particular dynamic that informed how the games went.

John Wayne was miserable filming ‘Three Godfathers’ John Wayne as Robert Hightower |

Three Godfathers tells the story of thieves named Robert Hightower (Wayne), Pete Fuerte (Pedro Armendáriz), and Abilene Kid (Harry Carey Jr.). They rob an Arizonian bank before Sheriff Buck Sweet (Bond) pursues them across the desert. Along the way, the trio comes across a woman (Mildred Natwick), who is dying during childbirth, as they promise to bring her child to society.

According to Carolyn McGivern’s book, John Wayne: A Giant Shadow, the cast and crew had an awful time filming Three Godfathers.

Actor John Wayne starred in a wide assortment of movies primarily rooted in the Western and war genres. He had a signature walk and a slow, booming voice that commanded moviegoers’ attention. However, only nine of Wayne’s movies were selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” They select 25 film each year for this high honor. However, the Wayne films that made the cut aren’t all the obvious picks.

‘The Big Trail’ (1930) L-r: John Wayne as Breck Coleman and Marguerite Churchill as Ruth Cameron | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Raoul Walsh’s The Big Trail follows Breck Coleman (Wayne), as he leads an adventure with hundreds of settlers seeking to travel from the Mississippi River out West for greater opportunities. However, there are many potentially fatal dangers along the way.

The 1930 feature marked the actor’s first leading role,...

It’s great to be Cate. When “Tar” was announced as one of the 2023 Oscar nominees for Best Picture on January 24, it secured Cate Blanchett a record 10th appearance in movies nominated for the Oscars’ top prize. That ties Blanchett with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson for having appeared in the second-most Best Picture nominees in history behind only Robert De Niro, who has been credited with starring in 11 Best Picture nominees.

The caveat: Actor Ward Bond appeared in 13 films that were nominated for Best Picture, but he was uncredited as a performer in a number of the projects. His roster of Best Picture nominees, however, included “Arrowsmith” (1931/32), “Lady for a Day” (1933), “It Happened One Night” (1934), “Dead End” (1937), “You Can’t Take It with You” (1938), “Gone with the Wind” (1939), “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), “The Long Voyage Home” (1940), “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), “Sergeant York” (1941), “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946), “The Quiet Man” (1952), and “Mister Roberts” (1955).

Back to Blanchett.

John Wayne starred in dozens of Westerns during his lengthy career, but he very rarely played the bad guy. One of his darkest roles came in "The Searchers," his 14th and greatest collaboration with John Ford, the director who helped the Hollywood icon make his name in "Stagecoach." It was a film that inverted Wayne's heroic screen persona by casting him as Ethan Edwards, a bitterly racist former soldier who spends many years on an obsessive quest to track down his niece after she is abducted by Comanches.

For a director-star combo that had often portrayed Native Americans as a faceless marauding horde in many of their earlier pictures, "The Searchers" is a soulful and sometimes awkward attempt to reckon with that past and, in turn, America's legacy of genocide and Manifest Destiny. While its comedic moments seem to belong to another film and its use of Redface is cringe-inducing,...

It’s the week of Christmas, which means it’s a time for presents, love, friendship, and lots and lots of movies. And beyond the endless streaming originals and Hallmark films set during the holiday seasons are a few bonafide classics of the genre — chief among them “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the beloved 1946 Frank Capra picture and a perennial topper of any “Top Christmas Movie” list.

Online, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is free to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Plex. The movie can also be purchased via multiple VOD platforms, including Redbox, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu, and Apple TV, with prices ranging from 1.99 to 3.99.

Linear TV will also be carrying multiple showings of the beloved film. On Christmas Eve, NBC will air the film in its entirety starting at 8 p.m. Et. E! will also air the film on loop on Christmas Day, starting at 6 a.m. Et for a total of seven showings.

While he may not be as well-known today as Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder, director Nicholas Ray had a fantastic run during the '50s working across a range of genres from film noir ("In a Lonely Place") to war saga ("Flying Leathernecks"), coming-of-age teen angst ("Rebel Without a Cause") to westerns, the strangest of which is undoubtedly "Johnny Guitar." Shot in gaudy Trucolor, it stands apart from other studio westerns of the day, maybe because it isn't really a western at all -- It's more like a twisted gothic psychodrama that just happens to be set in the Old West.

Although the title refers to Sterling Hayden's nonchalant protagonist, Mr. Guitar takes a back seat for much of the movie, just one of many of Ray's subversive twists to the standard western formula. Instead, the main focus is the bitter rivalry between Vienna (Joan Crawford), a steely saloon keeper,...

It is impossible to think of Westerns and their rugged portrait of American masculinity without thinking of director John Ford, somewhat of a hard-boiled man himself. His 1959 film "The Searchers" is considered by many to be his magnum opus and inspired future filmmakers like Martin Scorsese. It features a leading performance by John Wayne, the perfect example of Ford's ideal male archetype, as well as a strong supporting role played by Ward Bond.

"The Searchers" was Bond's second collaboration with Ford, having also been cast as one of the villains in Ford's 1946 Western "My Darling Clementine." These two collaborations...

The post How Ward Bond Accidentally Sabotaged a Scene On the Set of The Searchers appeared first on /Film.

When John Wayne showed up on television, he was usually playing himself in a showbiz cameo, like his "I Love Lucy" guest appearance. As one of the century's biggest movie stars, he didn't exactly need exposure.

But Ward Bond, Wayne's co-star in many of legendary director John Ford's movies, struggled over whether or not he should make a move to television. When Ford discussed it with Bond, he got blunt. According to Joseph McBride's book "Searching for John Ford," the director called his friend a "dumb Irishman" and asked, "Don't you act for a living?" Bond listened, and took a leading role in "Wagon...

The post The Uncredited John Wayne TV Role You've Probably Never Seen appeared first on /Film.

Cate Blanchett failed to land among this year’s nominees in the Best Supporting Actress race, but the two-time Oscar winner made history anyway with the 94th Academy Awards nominations. By starring in two Best Picture nominees, “Don’t Look Up” and “Nightmare Alley,” Blanchett has been credited in nine movies nominated for the Oscars’ top picture prize. That makes her the only actress ever credited in that many Best Picture nominees, surpassing a record previously held by Olivia de Havilland.

Blanchett’s first role in a Best Picture nominee came for “Elizabeth,” the 1998 film that also gave Blanchett her first Best Actress nomination. Her other Best Picture nominees before this year included all three films in the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Aviator”, “Babel,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” The twosome of “Don’t Look Up” and “Nightmare Alley” marks the first time Blanchett has appeared in...

The best picture prize is what every studio and filmmaker covets, whether they publicly admit it or not. But, of course, it would help if you had the star power to make it happen. Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett both have proven that they have said star power with the amount of best picture nominees (and winners) they’ve appeared in over their careers. With DiCaprio starring in “Don’t Look Up” alongside Blanchett, who is co-starring in another awards vehicle, “Nightmare Alley,” both stand a solid chance of getting close to — or possibly breaking — a record.

This year, Blanchett’s double feature outings could have her breaking a significant record for female actors. The two-time Oscar-winning actress currently has had a role in seven former Academy nominees: “Elizabeth” (1998), “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Aviator” (2004), “Babel” (2006) and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008). She’s currently tied...

It’s the Gold Standard of Christmas movies and likely the oldest feature still broadcast on network TV during the holidays: Frank Capra’s sentimental favorite is his most human movie, the kind of show that convinced people that raising a family is a great idea. Although we’re now a full three generations removed from the world events that surround the story of George Bailey, his problems haven’t dated. Paramount’s anniversary disc gives us a new encoding from a 4K scan, a repressing of the older colorized version, a good making-of piece by Craig Barron and Ben Burtt, a reel of home movies from the film’s wrap picnic in the summer of ’46. . . and a set of ‘Bailey Family Recipe Cards.’

It’s a Wonderful Life 75th Anniversary

Blu-ray

Paramount

1946 / B&w + Colorized / 1:37 Academy / 130 min. / Street Date November 16, 2021 / Available from /

Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore,...

Paul Greengrass’ western drama “New of the World” starring Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel is gaining traction during this pandemic awards season despite the fact that sagebrush sagas often get short shrift at the Oscars. Only three traditional Westerns — 1931’s “Cimarron,” 1990’s “Dances with Wolves” and 1992’s “Unforgiven” — and one contemporary Western (2007’s “No Country for Old Men”) have won the Best Picture Oscar.

Among the oaters to be nominated for the top prize at the Academy Awards: John Ford’s 1939 “Stagecoach,” William A. Wellman’s 1943 “The Ox-Bow Incident,” Fred Zinnemann’s 1952’s “High Noon” (Gary Cooper won the Oscar for Best Actor), George Stevens’ 1953 “Shane”; 1960’s “The Alamo;” 1962’s “How the West Was Won”; and George Roy Hill’s 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

But some of the most acclaimed, treasure and influential Westerns have been all but ignored. Here’s a look at some of the...

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“Male Egos On A Boat”

By Raymond Benson

The extremely popular 1955 movie Mister Roberts began as a 1946 novel by Thomas Heggen. It was then a Broadway play written by Heggen and Joshua Logan, directed by Logan, and produced by Leland Hayward. Henry Fonda played the title role of Lieutenant Doug Roberts on Broadway and won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance. It then made sense for Fonda to reprise the role in the motion picture, which was also produced by Hayward and co-scripted by Logan and Frank S. Nugent. Sounds like a Hollywood no-brainer in the making, right?

The direction of the film is where things got dicey. John Ford was hired to direct, but according to Hollywood scuttlebutt accounts, Ford and James Cagney did not get along. Then, during filming Ford and his old friend Henry Fonda got into a fight.

This adapted Broadway play may be considered minor John Ford moviemaking, and some sources say he had to drop out before he could film very much of it. But what’s on the screen pleased audiences primed for the first wave of WW2 nostalgia. The story of cargo officer Henry Fonda’s one-man war against his Bligh-like Captain James Cagney had all of us ’50s kids asking dad if the war really was like that. James Cagney steals the show while stars William Powell, Betsy Palmer and Ward Bond make their marks. Young Jack Lemmon came out swinging with his bright personality and won an Oscar for his trouble.

Mister Roberts

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date December 8, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Philip Carey, Nick Adams, Perry Lopez, Ken Curtis, Robert Roark, Harry Carey Jr.,...

It’s pretty scary to think that as late as 1940 both Washington and the American public were sharply divided over Nazi Germany. Poland had been overrun and France was about to fall, but MGM waited until June of that year to release this softened adaptation of a novel written as a warning to the world in 1937. Handsomely produced with MGM’s high-gloss production values, it’s remembered as a valiant and courageous anti-Nazi film. Its all-star cast reunited the potent romantic team of James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan for sentimental fireworks.

The Mortal Storm

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1940 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 100 min. / Street Date November 3, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack, Bonita Granville, Irene Rich, William T. Orr, Maria Ouspenskaya, Gene Reynolds, Russell Hicks, Esther Dale, Dan Dailey, Ward Bond, Rudolph Anders, Brad Dexter.

Cinematography: William H. Daniels

Film Editor:...

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“A Reluctant War Hero”

By Raymond Benson

Howard Hawks’ biopic of American war hero Alvin C. York, Sergeant York, was the highest grossing film of 1941. It received many accolades, including a Best Actor Oscar for star Gary Cooper and a trophy for Film Editing. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay (John Huston was one of four writers involved), Supporting Actor (Walter Brennan), Supporting Actress (Margaret Wycherly), Cinematography, Art Direction, Music Score (by Max Steiner), and Sound Recording. The film was released in the summer of ’41 and did very well at the box office. By the time it was playing in rural America later in the year, though, the attack on Pearl Harbor had occurred. The mobilization to prepare for war helped give Sergeant York a second wave of financial success and it continued to play on U.S. screens...

Ya like quality pro-intervention propaganda? Warners’ filmic call to arms inspired America’s reluctant warriors via a superhuman feat by a highly decorated WW1 veteran… and promptly got into hot water with the United States congress. Howard Hawks’ highly effective load of sentiment and sanctimony makes Tennesseans look like denizens of Dogpatch, U.S.A.. But America loved it, even favorite Gary Cooper’s cute ‘aw shucks’ mannerisms that compare shooting the enemy with shooting a turkey. That’s how we baby boomers learned about patriotism.

Sergeant York

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 134 min. / Street Date October 13, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie, George Tobias, Stanley Ridges, Margaret Wycherly, Ward Bond, Noah Beery Jr., June Lockhart.

Cinematography: Sol Polito

Second Unit Director: Don Siegel

Film Editor: William Holmes

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by Abem Finkel, Harry Chandlee, Howard Koch, John Huston...

Join Cinema St. Louis for their free online movie club! Since we can’t watch a film together on the big screen, Cinema St. Louis invites you to come together to share our love of cinema from the comfort of your own home. Every other week Cinema St. Louis will select a film available on a streaming service and host the discussion on Facebook.

Cinema St. Louis will be hosting an Online Screening of It Happened One Night this Monday (May 19th) at 7:30pm(Ct). Diane Carson, Ph.D., professor emerita, and reviewer of films for more than 25 years, covering Cannes, Telluride, Toronto, Palm Springs, and Sundance festivals, will be talking about the film on Facebook Live. For more details go to the Facebook invite Here

It Happened One Night concerns an heiress, Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) who runs away from her father to join her new husband, society...

As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***Jean Renoir's first Hollywood film, Swamp Water (1941) is available on home video from Twilight Time if you have the means, and is well worth buying, again if you have the means. Most of us don't, which is why capitalism sucks. The sentence "Swamp Water is not currently streaming" has a redundant air.The "celebrated megaphonist," as Fox publicity hailed him began work on Dudley Nichols' script, from Vereen Bell's novel, with a mixture of trepidation and hope. Renoir regarded American filmmaking as somewhat stultified,...

” Two women in the house – and one of them a redhead! “

John Wayne in John Ford’s The Quiet Man (1952) is one of Hollywood’s most beloved movies and you’ll have a chance to see it on the big screen when it screens at The Wildey Theater in Edwardsville, Il at 7pm Tuesday, March 17th. Admission is $2.

John Ford’s flamboyant tribute to Irish-Americans, The Quiet Man may be full of all-too-familiar Irish stereotypes, ranging from a fondness for spirits to the love of a good fight, but it’s delivered with great skill and broad humor and at its heart is a good-natured, old-fashioned romance. The action takes place in Sea Verge (Ireland), around 1933 and tells the story of “Sean Thornton” (John Wayne), “a quiet peace loving man come home from America”, He’s a boxer who’s returned to his native Ireland to recover his farm and escape his past.

He might not have any ears, but he’s got a ticklish tummy and a lathery longevity. Sesame Street‘s ode to good, clean fun in the tub, “Rubber Duckie,” just turned 50. The song debuted on Feb. 25, 1970, in episode 78 during the first season of the upstart TV classroom series. Ernie sang it from the bathroom of the basement apartment he shared with his best friend Bert at 123 Sesame Street.

“Rubber Duckie” is the only original song the educational series managed to land on the Billboard charts. “Mah Nà Mah Nà” and “The People in the Neighborhood,” which premiered the year earlier, didn’t do it. Neither did “Sing,” which the Carpenters covered and got into the top five. Not even the subtly subversively inclusive classic “Bein’ Green” hit the charts with Kermit at the mic, and that one has since become an American Standard.

“The arrangement is hysterical, the idea is funny,...

This great, unheralded western is divorced from the usual concerns of law and order and gunslinger protocol. As in most every film by Jacques Tourneur, we feel a strong empathy for characters that behave like real people working out real problems. The Oregon Territory is pioneered by imperfect people — opportunists, knaves and hopeful dreamers — all rich in personality. Dana Andrews and Susan Hayward lead a large cast in a tale with just as much conflict and violence as the next western, but with an integrity one can feel. The icing on the cake is the presence of ‘troubadour’ Hoagy Carmichael and his beautiful music.

Canyon Passage

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1946 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 92 min. / Street Date March 10, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Dana Andrews, Susan Hayward, Brian Donlevy, Patricia Roc, Ward Bond, Hoagy Carmichael, Fay Holden, Stanley Ridges, Lloyd Bridges, Andy Devine, Victor Cutler, Rose Hobart, Halliwell Hobbes, James Cardwell,...

” The city can be lonely too. Sometimes people who are never alone are the loneliest. “

Webster University presents “The Other St. Nick”, a six-film Nicholas Ray Film Festival that runs December 27th-January 5th at the University’s Moore Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave). The films screen Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:00pm the weekends of Dec 27-29th and Jan 3-5th. The series continues tonight, December 29th at 7pm with On Dangerous Ground (1951)

A film noir more often compared to the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer than its American contemporaries, On Dangerous Ground concerns the hot-headed detective Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan), who partners up with Walter Brent (Ward Bond), the father of a murdered young girl, in the solving of the crime. Along the way they encounter a blind woman, Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), who may offer a key to the case. Featuring a memorable score from master Bernard Herrmann.

” This boy… and this girl… were never properly introduced to the world we live in… To tell their story… They Live by Night. “

Webster University presents “The Other St. Nick”, a six-film Nicholas Ray Film Festival that runs December 27th-January 5th at the University’s Moore Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave). The films screen Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:00pmthe weekends of Dec 27-29th and Jan 3-5th.The series kicks off tonight, December 27th at 7pm with They Live By Night – 1948

After seven years in prison, 23-year-old Bowie (Farley Granger) escapes alongside some bank robbers. Once out, he runs into new love Keechie (Cathy O’Donnell), and makes it a priority to prove his innocence, or at least escape to the mountains with Keechie in tow. With this, his film debut, Nicholas Ray already exhibits future preoccupations with young underdogs and offers a fine contribution to the film noir canon.

” I’ve got the bullets! “

Webster University has announced “The Other St. Nick”, a six-film Nicholas Ray Film Festival that runs December 27th-January 5th at the University’s Moore Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave). The films screen Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays at 7:00pm the weekends of Dec 27-29th and Jan 3-5th.

Jean-Luc Godard once famously wrote that “Cinema is Nicholas Ray.” Champion of the underdog, one of the earliest masters of Cinemascope, forward thinking in depictions of the aligned and marginalized, Mr. Ray’s contributions to film continue to resonate with modern filmmakers and audiences. Sure, you can spend the holiday season with an old man in a red suit, but Nicholas Ray is the one giving the gifts that keep on giving.

Here’s the lineup:

They Live By Night (1948) Friday, December 27 at 7:00pm

After seven years in prison, 23-year-old Bowie (Farley Granger) escapes alongside some bank robbers.

John Ford’s favorite western of his own work is a curiously gentle, endearingly simple hark-back to the verities of silent filmmaking. Mormons crossing the desert are encumbered by show people and beset by a nasty outlaw family — but don’t worry ’cause the Sons of the Pioneers will still be singing backup for ‘The Chuckawalla Swing.’ Ford rodeo discovery Ben Johnson returns with Harry Carey Jr. and every other Ford stock player not nailed down, and the marvelously direct cinematography is keyed to Ford’s idealized vision of life on the frontier.

Wagon Master

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1950 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date August 13, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Alan Mowbray, Jane Darwell, Ruth Clifford, Russell Simpson, Kathleen O’Malley, James Arness, Francis Ford, Hank Worden.

Cinematography: Bert Glennon

Film Editor: Jack Murray

Original Music:...

Great news for fans of director John Ford. His 1950 classic Wagon Master is now available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive

The rivers are wide and rapid. The desert is vast and unforgiving. And when the trail turns craggy, men use pickaxes to dig grooves for the wagon wheels. Mother Nature can be overcome, but human nature remains deadly and unpredictable: Outlaws are using the Mormon wagon train as a hideout from a pursuing posse. John Ford’s Wagon Master is one of the legendary filmmaker’s personal favorites, a visually stirring celebration of Western will and cooperation set to the soundtrack crooning of the Sons of the Pioneers. Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond (who would later lead TV’s Wagon Train) and other familiar Ford stock company players take the reins in this glorious paean to the pioneer spirit. “Wagons west!”

Master director John Ford assembles most of...

Two-time Oscar nominee Peter Fonda, who became a counterculture icon when he co-wrote, produced and starred in seminal 1969 road movie “Easy Rider,” then showed Hollywood he could act about three decades later in “Ulee’s Gold,” died on Friday from lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He was 79.

His sister Jane Fonda said in a statement, “I am very sad. He was my sweet-hearted baby brother. The talker of the family. I have had beautiful alone time with him these last days. He went out laughing.”

His wife Parky released a statement on behalf of the family, saying “In one of the saddest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our hearts…And, while we mourn the loss of this sweet and gracious man, we also wish for all to celebrate his indomitable spirit and love of life.

Ray Milland directs a fine western drama, strong on character and tension; it garnered enough praise to set him on a second, minor career behind the camera. Milland also stars as a gunman in the wrong place at the wrong time — framed for a mass murder in an unforgiving frontier town. Who ya gonna blame? That nasty sidewinder villain Raymond Burr, of course.

A Man Alone

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1955 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 96 min. / Street Date November 6, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Ray Milland, Mary Murphy, Ward Bond, Raymond Burr, Arthur Space, Lee Van Cleef, Alan Hale Jr., Douglas Spencer, Thomas Browne Henry, Grandon Rhodes, Martin Garralaga, Kim Spalding, Minerva Urecal.

Cinematography: Lionel Lindon

Film Editor: Richard L. Van Enger

Original Music: Victor Young

Written by John Tucker Battle, from a story by Mort Briskin

Directed by R. Milland

A Man Alone is yet another exceptional western from Republic Pictures.

By John M. Whalen

Kino Lorber has released “Singing Guns” (1950), a Republic Pictures “singing cowboy” western filmed in Trucolor. The film is based on a western novel by Max Brand, and is pretty unremarkable except for the fact that the cowboy anti-hero, Rhiannon, an outlaw with a long bushy beard who has been robbing stagecoaches to the tune of over a $1 million, isn’t played by Roy, or Gene Autry, Rocky Lane Rex Allen, or any of the other western stars in Republic’s stable. Rhiannon, is played by a popular singer from that era named Vaughn Monroe.

I remember Vaughn Monroe when I was a kid. I used to hear him singing “Racing with the Moon,” on the radio. He had a rich baritone voice and my mother would turn up the radio every time it came on and sort of stare out into space with a funny look in her eyes.

Does every great actress see Joan of Arc as the ultimate serious role? Ingrid Bergman ran into serious career trouble while this picture was still in release. Its cast and credits are packed with star talent — is it a misunderstood classic with a great central performance? Ms. Bergman was so enamored with the character that she played it twice.

Joan of Arc

70th Anniversary Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1948 / Color / 1:37 flat full frame / 146 100 min. / Street Date March 27, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Jos&eacute Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan, J. Carrol Naish, Ward Bond, Shepperd Strudwick, Gene Lockhart, John Emery, Leif Erickson, Cecil Kellaway.

Cinematography: Winton Hoch, William V. Skall, Joseph Valentine

Film Editor: Frank Sullivan

Special Effects: Jack Cosgrove, John P. Fulton

Original Music: Hugo Friedhofer

Written by Andrew Solt, Maxwell Anderson, from his play

Produced by Walter Wanger

Directed by Victor Fleming

What becomes of a grandiose...

Viewers looking (desperately) for American leaders to admire can’t do better than to reflect on John Ford’s folksy, at least partly authentic honorarium to one of the greats. Henry Fonda is 100% dead-on as a vision of Abe Lincoln to bring tears to our eyes. Imagine . . . there’s such a thing as political integrity, or simply a person that puts the public good ahead of personal advantage. Criterion’s older extras are augmented with a fine new feature commentary by John Ford authority Joseph McBride.

Young Mr. Lincoln

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 320

1939 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 100 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 9, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Henry Fonda, Alice Brady, Marjorie Weaver, Arleen Whelan, Eddie Collins, Richard Cromwell, Eddie Quillan, Ward Bond, Milburn Stone, Francis Ford, Fred Kohler Jr..

Cinematography: Bert Glennon

Original Music: Alfred Newman

Written by Lamar Trotti

Produced by Kenneth Macgowan, Darryl F. Zanuck

Directed by John...

They’re non-corporeal cut-ups, rich ghosts on the town with nothing better to do than spice up the love life of Roland Young’s harried, henpecked bank president. Hal Roach’s screwball hit did good things for everybody concerned, especially star Cary Grant and bit player Arthur Lake. But the show’s nostalgic heart is Billie Burke, of the tinkly-glass voice. Also starring platinum blonde Constance Bennett, Alan Mowbray and Eugene Pallette.

Topper

Blu-ray

Vci

1937 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 97 min. / Street Date October, 2017 / 20.99

Starring: Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, Eugene Pallette, Arthur Lake, Hedda Hopper, Virginia Sale, Theodore von Eltz, J. Farrell MacDonald, Elaine Shepard, Ward Bond, Hoagy Carmichael, Lana Turner, Russell Wade, Claire Windsor.

Cinematography: Norbert Brodine

Film Editor: William Terhune

Art Director: William Stevens

Original Music: Marvin Hatley

Written by Jack Jevne, Eric Hatch, Eddie Moran from a novel by Thorne Smith...

Fritz Lang continues his take-no-prisoners indictment of America’s curious relationship with crime; this time he presents the thesis that an innocent man can be a pawn in cosmic game of injustice. Three-time loser Henry Fonda, the glummest actor in ’30s films, doesn’t mean to rob or kill, but gosh darn it, They Made Him a Criminal. Those considerations aside, it’s a wonderful cinematic achievement, made all the better by a decent digital restoration.

You Only Live Once

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1937 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 86 min. / Street Date July 25, 2017 / 29.98

Starring: Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane, Jean Dixon,

William Gargan, Jerome Cowan, Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, Margaret Hamilton, Warren Hymer,

Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams, Ward Bond, Jack Carson, Jonathan Hale

Cinematography: Leon Shamroy

Art Direction: Alexander Toluboff

Film Editor: Daniel Mandell

Original Music: Hugo Friedhofer

Written by Graham Baker and Gene Towne

Produced by Walter Wanger

Directed by Fritz Lang...