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Drunken Angel (April 27, 1948)
Now seems as good a time as any to talk about how Akira Kurosawa changed my life. When I was 11 or 12 years old, my mom took me to see Ran (1985) on the big screen. I always loved going to the movies,...
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Anna Karenina (April 27, 1948)
Julien Duvivier’s Anna Karenina was the second non-silent film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel. It premiered in the U.K. on January 22, 1948, and in New York City on April 27, 1948. I originally put...
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Letter From an Unknown Woman (April 28, 1948)
The key to Max Ophüls’s Letter From an Unknown Woman lies, simply enough, in its title. No matter how rapturous or romantic the proceedings get, the title of the film will nag at viewers’ minds. We...
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Homecoming (April 29, 1948)
If Mervyn LeRoy’s slick M-G-M romance Homecoming is to be believed, the entire European theater of operations in World War II was an elaborate backdrop for a passionate and illicit romance between...
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State of the Union (April 30, 1948)
Sixty-four years ago there was a Democrat in the White House facing reelection in the fall, and there was no single heavily favored Republican candidate as the days marched on toward the Republican...
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Under California Stars (April 30, 1948)
Under California Stars is one of those “Trigger in peril” pictures in which Roy Rogers’s faithful palomino Trigger, “the smartest horse in movies,” faces terrible danger, and only his best friend Roy...
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Smart Woman (April 30, 1948)
Edward A. Blatt’s Smart Woman is a film of “lasts.” It was the last screenplay for which Alvah Bessie received a credit. (Louis Morheim and Herbert Margolies are also credited for the screenplay, from...
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Fury at Furnace Creek (April 30, 1948)
Fury at Furnace Creek might not be a towering classic of western cinema, but I think I flat-out enjoyed it more than any other western I’ve seen recently. I’ve never been a big fan of Victor Mature,...
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Berlin Express (May 1, 1948)
Jacques Tourneur’s crisp thriller Berlin Express presents occupied Germany in miniature. Every nation associated with Allied-occupied Germany is represented by the film’s characters — the United...
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On an Island With You (May 3, 1948)
On an Island With You was director Richard Thorpe’s fourth film to star the shimmering sea creature Esther Williams. I didn’t get a chance to see the last film they made together, This Time for Keeps...
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Hamlet (May 4, 1948)
Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet dominated the 21st Academy Awards with seven nominations and four wins. (Jean Negulesco’s Johnny Belinda was nominated in 12 categories — more than any other picture — but...
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The Iron Curtain (May 12, 1948)
William A. Wellman’s The Iron Curtain was the first appearance of Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney together in a film since Otto Preminger’s Laura (1944). This really has no bearing on The Iron Curtain,...
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Trapped by Boston Blackie (May 13, 1948)
I listen to radio shows. A lot of radio shows. I’ve amassed a large collection over the years, and each radio show is identified by date broadcast so I can listen to them on the same day of the week...
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Silver River (May 18, 1948)
Silver River, which was directed by Raoul Walsh, premiered in Denver on May 18, 1948, and in New York City two days later. Walsh’s last couple of pictures — Pursued (1947) and Cheyenne (1947) — were...
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The Halloween Movie Meme
I know it’s a day after Halloween. (Two days after if you live in Europe. It’s getting late.) But I love horror movies, and when I’m not living 64 years in the past, I watch a fair amount of horror...
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Raw Deal (May 26, 1948)
Anthony Mann’s T-Men (1947) and Raw Deal (1948) together form one of the most powerful one-two punches in the history or film noir. Both films star Dennis O’Keefe, both feature musical scores by Paul...
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Up in Central Park (May 26, 1948)
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have a special place in my heart for Deanna Durbin. I think Durbin is one of the most charming, talented, and attractive performers to ever...
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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (June 4, 1948)
I don’t know about you, but comedies like H.C. Potter’s Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House really stress me out. When the subject of “things I could never laugh at” comes up, most people think of...
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Shed No Tears (June 9, 1948)
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times … only a chump fakes his own death. And yet, that’s exactly what Sam Grover (Wallace Ford) does in the very first scene of Jean Yarbrough’s Shed No...
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Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (June 15, 1948)
There are two schools of thought regarding Charles Barton’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. On the one hand, it was the final nail in the coffin of the increasingly moribund Universal monster...
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