John M. Stahl’s superior melodrama is a focus point for the study of African-Americans in Hollywood. Businesswoman Claudette Colbert a housekeeper Louise Beavers raise their daughters together for a story that expresses the racial divide in simple terms. Determined to pass for white, Beavers’ daughter Fredi Washington rejects her mother outright. The tale of motherly sacrifice is in some ways more honest than later ‘social justice’ films about race, yet it sticks closely to Hollywood’s segregationist rules.
Imitation of Life
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1167
1934 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 10, 2023 / 39.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Louise Beavers, Fredi Washington, Rochelle Hudson, Ned Sparks, Juanita Quigley, Alan Hale, Henry Armetta, Hattie McDaniel, Paul Porcasi, Teru Shimada, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Jane Withers, Dorothy Black.
Cinematography: Merrit Gerstad
Costumes: Travis Banton
Art Director: Charles D. Hall
Film Editor: Philip Cahn, Maurice Wright
Original Music: Heinz Roemheld...
Imitation of Life
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1167
1934 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 10, 2023 / 39.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Louise Beavers, Fredi Washington, Rochelle Hudson, Ned Sparks, Juanita Quigley, Alan Hale, Henry Armetta, Hattie McDaniel, Paul Porcasi, Teru Shimada, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Jane Withers, Dorothy Black.
Cinematography: Merrit Gerstad
Costumes: Travis Banton
Art Director: Charles D. Hall
Film Editor: Philip Cahn, Maurice Wright
Original Music: Heinz Roemheld...
- 1/17/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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.***The coming of sound cost the American film industry plenty: it forced them to soundproof their stages, refit their theaters, and it rendered a fair few actors unemployable, by reason of heavy accents or lack of facility with the English language. In fact, one of the founders of 20th Century Fox was the comedy star Raymond Griffith, whose damaged vocal cords prevented him speaking above a croak, and who made the transition to writing and producing when he saw the writing on the wall. But on the other hand,...
- 3/18/2020
- MUBI
By Fred Blosser
Two 1960s murder thrillers with Joan Crawford have been released by Mill Creek Entertainment on single-disc Blu-ray. The cover sleeve bills the package as a “Psycho Biddy Double Feature.” The films are “Strait-Jacket” (1964), the first of Crawford’s three pictures with producer-director William Castle, and “Berserk!” (1967), her first of two with producer Herman Cohen. In using the possibly ageist and definitely sexist phrase “Psycho Biddy,” Mill Creek’s marketing department clearly hopes that audiences will have fond memories of the frenzied, middle-aged Joan Crawford in 1981’s “Mommie Dearest,” shrieking “I told you! No . . . wire . . . hangers -- ever!” at her terrified adopted child, Christina. Never mind that the belittling term “biddy” is problematic in the case of Joan Crawford. There may be plenty of biddies in the world, but the imperious Joan was never one of them. Never mind either that it was Faye Dunaway impersonating Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest,...
Two 1960s murder thrillers with Joan Crawford have been released by Mill Creek Entertainment on single-disc Blu-ray. The cover sleeve bills the package as a “Psycho Biddy Double Feature.” The films are “Strait-Jacket” (1964), the first of Crawford’s three pictures with producer-director William Castle, and “Berserk!” (1967), her first of two with producer Herman Cohen. In using the possibly ageist and definitely sexist phrase “Psycho Biddy,” Mill Creek’s marketing department clearly hopes that audiences will have fond memories of the frenzied, middle-aged Joan Crawford in 1981’s “Mommie Dearest,” shrieking “I told you! No . . . wire . . . hangers -- ever!” at her terrified adopted child, Christina. Never mind that the belittling term “biddy” is problematic in the case of Joan Crawford. There may be plenty of biddies in the world, but the imperious Joan was never one of them. Never mind either that it was Faye Dunaway impersonating Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest,...
- 10/29/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
It’s 1964. You’ve been a long time fan of Joan Crawford since her Oscar winning performance in Mildred Pierce (1945), and you see she has a new movie opening this weekend: Strait-Jacket! “What could it be about?” you exclaim, right before you see the ad of Joan swinging an axe with a maniacal gleam in her eye and throw down your paper in disgust. “Horror nonsense”, you mumble. “She’ll never get my money again!” That’s a shame, Winifred, because Strait-Jacket is a hot blast of campy delights that I’m positive your kids and grand babies would have a grand old time with. Now have a lay down and I’ll tell you why.
Released by Columbia Pictures stateside in January, with a worldwide rollout in the spring, Strait-Jacket was a big hit for director William Castle (The Tingler) and Crawford, bringing in over $2 million at the box office,...
Released by Columbia Pictures stateside in January, with a worldwide rollout in the spring, Strait-Jacket was a big hit for director William Castle (The Tingler) and Crawford, bringing in over $2 million at the box office,...
- 9/1/2018
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Strait-Jacket
Blu ray
Shout Factory
1964 / 1.85:1 / Street Date August 21, 2018
Starring Joan Crawford, Diane Baker
Cinematography by Arthur Arling
Directed by William Castle
The planets aligned in 1964 as William Castle’s Strait-Jacket premiered in January and Susan Sontag’s Notes on Camp was published later that fall. There’s no mention of Castle’s axe-happy melodrama in Sontag’s essay – an eclectic rundown of kitsch touchstones extolling everything from The Mysterians to Steve Reeves – and that’s surprising because frame by frame, Castle’s overcooked fright-fest encompasses almost everything Sontag had to say about the joys of guilelessly bad art.
Joan Crawford stars as Lucy Harbin, a middle-aged outcast back home after a twenty year stint in a mental institution. The film’s prologue sets the stage; one hot night in 1944 Lucy paused by her bedroom window to find her husband sharing their bed with another, distinctly younger, woman. The enraged...
Blu ray
Shout Factory
1964 / 1.85:1 / Street Date August 21, 2018
Starring Joan Crawford, Diane Baker
Cinematography by Arthur Arling
Directed by William Castle
The planets aligned in 1964 as William Castle’s Strait-Jacket premiered in January and Susan Sontag’s Notes on Camp was published later that fall. There’s no mention of Castle’s axe-happy melodrama in Sontag’s essay – an eclectic rundown of kitsch touchstones extolling everything from The Mysterians to Steve Reeves – and that’s surprising because frame by frame, Castle’s overcooked fright-fest encompasses almost everything Sontag had to say about the joys of guilelessly bad art.
Joan Crawford stars as Lucy Harbin, a middle-aged outcast back home after a twenty year stint in a mental institution. The film’s prologue sets the stage; one hot night in 1944 Lucy paused by her bedroom window to find her husband sharing their bed with another, distinctly younger, woman. The enraged...
- 8/28/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
So many icons, so little time. Two of William Castle's classic films, The Tingler (starring Vincent Price) and Strait-Jacket (starring Joan Crawford) are finally available on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory. If you're not familiar with The Tingler or Strait-Jacket, it's no sweat, because we have three Blu-ray clips for each film, plus trailers!
Press Release: "This August, beat the heat with two classic chillers from Scream Factory! On August 21st, 2018, two of legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s best-loved films will make their Blu-ray debuts loaded with bonus features, including new interviews and audio commentaries on each release. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com
In Strait-Jacket, film legend Joan Crawford gives a terrific performance in this chiller from pioneer horror movie producer William Castle.
Crawford plays Lucy Harbin, a woman who goes berserk when she finds her husband in bed with another woman. With...
Press Release: "This August, beat the heat with two classic chillers from Scream Factory! On August 21st, 2018, two of legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s best-loved films will make their Blu-ray debuts loaded with bonus features, including new interviews and audio commentaries on each release. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com
In Strait-Jacket, film legend Joan Crawford gives a terrific performance in this chiller from pioneer horror movie producer William Castle.
Crawford plays Lucy Harbin, a woman who goes berserk when she finds her husband in bed with another woman. With...
- 8/24/2018
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
In addition to their recent Blu-ray announcement of the House on Haunted Hill remake, Scream Factory will also release two William Castle movies on Blu-ray this August, and we have a look at the full lists of special features for Strait-Jacket and The Tingler:
Press Release: This August, beat the heat with two classic chillers from Scream Factory! On August 21st, 2018, two of legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s best-loved films will make their Blu-ray debuts loaded with bonus features, including new interviews and audio commentaries on each release. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com
In Strait-Jacket, film legend Joan Crawford gives a terrific performance in this chiller from pioneer horror movie producer William Castle.
Crawford plays Lucy Harbin, a woman who goes berserk when she finds her husband in bed with another woman. With her three-year-old daughter accidentally witnessing the grisly act, Lucy axes the couple to death.
Press Release: This August, beat the heat with two classic chillers from Scream Factory! On August 21st, 2018, two of legendary horror filmmaker William Castle’s best-loved films will make their Blu-ray debuts loaded with bonus features, including new interviews and audio commentaries on each release. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com
In Strait-Jacket, film legend Joan Crawford gives a terrific performance in this chiller from pioneer horror movie producer William Castle.
Crawford plays Lucy Harbin, a woman who goes berserk when she finds her husband in bed with another woman. With her three-year-old daughter accidentally witnessing the grisly act, Lucy axes the couple to death.
- 7/16/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Woo hoo! The pre-Code marvels return for one last go-round -- tales of sin and moral turpitude but also serious pictures about social issues that the Production Code effectively swept from Hollywood screens -- financial crimes and ethnic bigotry. Forbidden Hollywood Volume 10 Guilty Hands, The Mouthpiece, Secrets of the French Police, The Match King, Ever in My Heart DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1932-1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 63, 62, 78, 85, 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 40.99 Starring Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans; Warren William, Sidney Fox, Aline McMahon; Frank Morgan, Gwili Andre, Gregory Ratoff Rochelle Hudson; Warren William, Lili Damita, Glenda Farrell, Claire Dodd; Barbara Stanwyck, Otto Kruger, Ralph Bellamy, Ruth Donnelly. Cinematography Merritt B. Gerstad, Barney McGill; Alfred Gilks; Robert Kurrie; Written by Bayard Veiller; Joseph Jackson, Earl Baldwin, Frank J. Collins; Samuel Ornitz, Robert Tasker; Houston Branch, Sidney Sutherland, Einar Thorvaldson; Bertram Millhauser, Beulah Marie Dix.
- 6/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'Broadcast News' with Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter: Glib TV news watch. '31 Days of Oscar': 'Broadcast News' slick but superficial critics pleaser (See previous post: “Phony 'A Beautiful Mind,' Unfairly Neglected 'Swing Shift': '31 Days of Oscar'.”) Heralded for its wit and incisiveness, James L. Brooks' multiple Oscar-nominated Broadcast News is everything the largely forgotten Swing Shift isn't: belabored, artificial, superficial. That's very disappointing considering Brooks' highly addictive Mary Tyler Moore television series (and its enjoyable spin-offs, Phyllis and Rhoda), but totally expected considering that three of screenwriter-director Brooks' five other feature films were Terms of Endearment, As Good as It Gets, and Spanglish. (I've yet to check out I'll Do Anything and the box office cataclysm How Do You Know starring Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Jack Nicholson.) Having said that, Albert Brooks (no relation to James L.; or to Mel Brooks...
- 2/7/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Depraved convicts ! Crazy Manhattan gin parties! Society dames poaching other women's husbands! A flimflam artist scamming the uptown sophisticates! All these forbidden attractions are here and more -- including Bette Davis's epochal seduction line about impulsive kissing versus good hair care. It's a 9th collection of racy pre-Code wonders. Forbidden Hollywood Volume 9 Big City Blues, Hell's Highway, The Cabin in the Cotton, When Ladies Meet, I Sell Anything DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1932-1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 63, 62, 78, 85, 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 40.99 Starring Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, Humphrey Bogart; Richard Dix, Tom Brown; Richard Barthelmess, Bette Davis, Dorothy Jordan, Berton Churchill; Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy, Alice Brady, Frank Morgan; Pat O' Brien, Ann Dvorak, Claire Dodd, Roscoe Karns. Cinematography James Van Trees; Edward Cronjager; Barney McGill; Ray June Written by Lillie Hayward, Ward Morehouse, from his play; Samuel Ornitz, Robert Tasker, Rowland Brown...
- 11/24/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Constance Cummings in 'Night After Night.' Constance Cummings: Working with Frank Capra and Mae West (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Actress Went from Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill.”) Back at Columbia, Harry Cohn didn't do a very good job at making Constance Cummings feel important. By the end of 1932, Columbia and its sweet ingenue found themselves in court, fighting bitterly over stipulations in her contract. According to the actress and lawyer's daughter, Columbia had failed to notify her that they were picking up her option. Therefore, she was a free agent, able to offer her services wherever she pleased. Harry Cohn felt otherwise, claiming that his contract player had waived such a notice. The battle would spill over into 1933. On the positive side, in addition to Movie Crazy 1932 provided Cummings with three other notable Hollywood movies: Washington Merry-Go-Round, American Madness, and Night After Night. 'Washington Merry-Go-Round...
- 11/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films – in about 15 of which as a leading lady or star – in a movie career spanning three decades. Good for the relatively few who saw her on stage; bad for all those who have access to only a few performances of one of the most remarkable acting talents of the 20th century. This evening, TCM is showing three Vivien Leigh movies: Gone with the Wind (1939), 21 Days Together (1940), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Leigh won Best Actress Academy Awards for the first and the third title. The little-remembered film in-between is a TCM premiere. 'Gone with the Wind' Seemingly all...
- 8/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Shirley Temple dead at 85: Was one of the biggest domestic box office draws of the ’30s (photo: Shirley Temple in the late ’40s) Shirley Temple, one of the biggest box office draws of the 1930s in the United States, died Monday night, February 10, 2014, at her home in Woodside, near San Francisco. The cause of death wasn’t made public. Shirley Temple (born in Santa Monica on April 23, 1928) was 85. Shirley Temple became a star in 1934, following the release of Paramount’s Alexander Hall-directed comedy-tearjerker Little Miss Marker, in which Temple had the title role as a little girl who, left in the care of bookies, almost loses her childlike ways before coming around to regenerate Adolphe Menjou and his gang. That same year, Temple became a Fox contract player, and is credited with saving the studio — 20th Century Fox from 1935 on — from bankruptcy. Whether or not that’s true is a different story,...
- 2/11/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
‘Gilda,’ ‘Pulp Fiction’: 2013 National Film Registry movies (photo: Rita Hayworth in ‘Gilda’) See previous post: “‘Mary Poppins’ in National Film Registry: Good Timing for Disney’s ‘Saving Mr. Banks.’” Billy Woodberry’s UCLA thesis film Bless Their Little Hearts (1984). Stanton Kaye’s Brandy in the Wilderness (1969). The Film Group’s Cicero March (1966), about a Civil Rights march in an all-white Chicago suburb. Norbert A. Myles’ Daughter of Dawn (1920), with Hunting Horse, Oscar Yellow Wolf, Esther Labarre. Bill Morrison’s Decasia (2002), featuring decomposing archival footage. Alfred E. Green’s Ella Cinders (1926), with Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, Vera Lewis. Fred M. Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet (1956), with Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Robby the Robot. Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946), with Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready. John and Faith Hubley’s Oscar-winning animated short The Hole (1962). Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), with Best Actor Oscar winner Maximilian Schell,...
- 12/20/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Natalie Wood: Hot Hollywood star in the ’60s - TCM schedule on August 18, 2013 See previous post: “Natalie Wood Movies: From loving Warren Beatty to stripping like Gypsy Rose Lee.” 3:00 Am The Star (1952). Director: Stuart Heisler. Cast: Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood, Warner Anderson, Minor Watson, June Travis, Paul Frees, Robert Warrick, Barbara Lawrence, Fay Baker, Herb Vigran, Marie Blake, Sam Harris, Marcia Mae Jones. Bw-90 mins. 4:30 Am A Cry In The Night (1956). Director: Frank Tuttle. Cast: Edmond O’Brien, Brian Donlevy, Natalie Wood. Bw-75 mins. 6:00 Am West Side Story (1961). Director: Robert Wise. Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, Tucker Smith, Tony Mordente, David Winters, Eliot Feld, John Bert Michaels, David Bean, Robert Banas, Anthony ‘Scooter’ Teague, Harvey Evans aka Harvey Hohnecker, Tommy Abbott, Susan Oakes, Gina Trikonis, Carole D’Andrea, Jose De Vega, Jay Norman,...
- 8/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Claudette Colbert, Alla Nazimova, Marion Davies, Charles Boyer: Cinecon 2011 Thursday September 1 (photo: Alla Nazimova) 7:00 Hollywood Rhythm (1934) 7:10 Welcoming Remarks 7:15 Hollywood Story (1951) 77 min. Richard Conte, Julie Adams, Richard Egan. Dir: William Castle. 8:35 Q & A with Julie Adams 9:10 Blazing Days (1927) 60 min. Fred Humes. Dir: William Wyler. 10:20 In The Sweet Pie And Pie (1941) 18 min 10:40 She Had To Eat (1937) 75 min. Jack Haley, Rochelle Hudson, Eugene Pallette. Friday September 2 9:00 Signing Off (1936) 9:20 Moon Over Her Shoulder (1941) 68 min. Dan Dailey, Lynn Bari, John Sutton, Alan Mowbray. 10:40 The Active Life Of Dolly Of The Dailies (1914) 15 min. Mary Fuller. 10:55 Stronger Than Death (1920) 80 min. Alla Nazimova, Charles Bryant. Dir: Herbert Blaché, Charles Bryant, Robert Z. Leonard. 12:15 Lunch Break 1:45 Open Track (1916) 2:00 On The Night Stage (1915) 60 min. William S. Hart, Rhea Mitchell. Dir: Reginald Barker. 3:15 50 Miles From Broadway (1929) 23 min 3:45 Cinerama Adventure (2002). Dir: David Strohmaier. 5:18 Discussion...
- 9/2/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
William "Wild Bill" Wellman was always more renowned for his reportedly rough and tumble extra-cinematic resume (delinquent, pilot, stuntman) than for his mostly orthodox films -- from his nearly 40-year career, only a handful of astute genre epics remain lodged in the cultural front-brain today: "Nothing Sacred" and "A Star Is Born" (both 1937), "Beau Geste" (1939), and "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943). They're all beautifully judged, visually eloquent and delicately acted films (compare Fredric March in "A Star Is Born" to the rest of his mannered '30s work, and you get a taste of Wellman's touch), particularly "Ox-Bow," wherein Dana Andrews and Henry Fonda are unnervingly in touch with the wages of frontier violence.
Still, Wellman worked long enough in the studio system to assure a certain homogeneity to most of his work, and so the payload of early Wellmans delivered in Warner/TCM's new Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume Three have as...
Still, Wellman worked long enough in the studio system to assure a certain homogeneity to most of his work, and so the payload of early Wellmans delivered in Warner/TCM's new Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume Three have as...
- 3/31/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
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