“Three Guys Named Mike:” A Threesome of Jealous Beaux

This article is part of the "My Favorite Movie Threesome" Blogathon at Movie Movie Blog Blog: https://moviemovieblogblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/08/announcing-the-my-favorite-movie-threesome-blogathon/   Few titles so clearly imply that a film will feature a threesome as Three Guys Named Mike. This light, carefree picture from 1951 follows the story of an energetic, personable airline stewardess named Marcy Lewis. This chipper …

Breening Thursdays: 4. “You Can’t Run Away from It” from 1956

It is Thursday again, and this is the week for a Breening Thursday article. I am going to breen an early Shurlock film this week, You Can't Run Away from It from 1956 with Jack Lemmon and June Allyson. I chose this film in honor of the fact that I will be in Tucson, Arizona, …

Holiday Next Week

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. Tomorrow, my family and I are leaving for a holiday in Tucson, Arizona. To quote Linda Seton in Holiday from 1938, I'm going "on a trip, on a big ride. Oh, what a ride! Do you mind?" Thus, I will be unable to respond to any …

Saturdays of the Future: 7. The Hollywood Western Building

If you have ever driven or walked down Hollywood Boulevard, perhaps you have gone far enough east of the Hollywood Walk of Fame to reach the corner of Western Avenue. Where Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue meet, you may have seen a beautiful old building with ornate carvings of human forms and faces and a …

James Cagney: A Great, Unappreciated Musical Talent of the 1930s

James Cagney was one of Warner Bros. Studio's primary “tough guy” actors in the 1930s. His huge success as Tom Powers in The Public Enemy from 1931 secured his image as an excellent gangster actor. In the four or five films he made before this, he usually played a criminal's assistant, some type of hoodlum, …

“The Pirate:” A Tale of a Romantic Spanish Maiden and a Swashbuckling Caribbean Actor

This article is part of the Swashathon at Movies Silently: http://moviessilently.com/2017/07/14/the-swashathon-is-here/ Many classic films contain great dancing, others contain exotic period settings, and still others contain exciting adventure with swashbuckling drama. Not many pictures contain all three, but The Pirate from 1948 does! When I decided to join the Swashathon at Movies Silently, I knew …

Breening Thursdays: 3. “Flying Down to Rio” from 1933

For my third Breening Thursday article, I present another pre-Code film, Flying Down to Rio from 1933. This was the first teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as well as the film debut of the former, but it stars Dolores del Rio and Gene Raymond. This elaborate, carefree musical from RKO Pictures brings the …

Saturdays of the Future: 6. Opera, the Treble Clef in PEPS

From now on, I am going to alternate between Thursday and Saturday articles. One week I will write a Breening Thursday article, and the next I will write a Saturday of the Future article. For this week, I am going to discuss my love of opera, my concern for its future, and how PEPS aims …

“Yankee Doodle Dandy:” Happy Independence Day!

What makes America great? It is the fact that many nations merged in one New World to make a city on a hill. Over two hundred years ago, our Founding Fathers created a new nation based on liberty and equality. Our motto, E pluribus unum, expresses the fact that one new people was created out …

“Strawberry Blonde:” ‘Zactly.

This article is part of the Second Annual Olivia de Havilland Blogathon: https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2017/05/13/announcing-the-second-annual-olivia-de-havilland-blogathon-errol-flynn/ When I first saw the announcement for the Olivia de Havilland + Errol Flynn blogathon, I realized that I had seen neither of them in a film. Later that day, I accidentally encountered a review of Strawberry Blonde from 1941; I had …