The Quiet Man (1952, John Ford)
The Quiet Man starts as a loving postcard tour of the Irish countryside. It’s pastoral, romantic, funny, human. Son of Ireland-gone American John Wayne returns home and immediately falls in love with...
View ArticleA Guy Named Joe (1943, Victor Fleming)
I’m not sure how to talk about A Guy Named Joe without some spoilers. But I’m going to try. Like a test. A Guy Named Joe is a propaganda picture, but one less about jingoism and more about the American...
View ArticleIt's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
It’s a Wonderful Life is going to be a tough one. When I was a kid, during the public domain days, Wonderful Life was omnipresent. It became a joke because of that omnipresence. But also because it’s...
View ArticleThe Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston)
Even though almost every moment of The Maltese Falcon is spent with Humphrey Bogart’s protagonist, director Huston keeps the audience at arms’ length. Most of the film’s more exciting sounding set...
View ArticleThe Searchers (1956, John Ford)
John Ford is never trying to be discreet with The Searchers, he’s just not willing to talk down to the audience. In the first ten minutes of the film, he and screenwriter Frank S. Nugent quickly...
View ArticleWithout Orders (1936, Lew Landers)
Without Orders has enough story for a couple movies or at least one twice as long–it runs just over an hour. Instead, everything gets abbreviated. There's flight attendant Sally Eilers who has a sturdy...
View ArticleThe Quiet Man (1952, John Ford)
The Quiet Man starts as a loving postcard tour of the Irish countryside. It’s pastoral, romantic, funny, human. Son of Ireland-gone American John Wayne returns home and immediately falls in love with...
View ArticleA Guy Named Joe (1943, Victor Fleming)
I’m not sure how to talk about A Guy Named Joe without some spoilers. But I’m going to try. Like a test. A Guy Named Joe is a propaganda picture, but one less about jingoism and more about the American...
View ArticleIt's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
It’s a Wonderful Life is going to be a tough one. When I was a kid, during the public domain days, Wonderful Life was omnipresent. It became a joke because of that omnipresence. But also because it’s...
View ArticleThe Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston)
Even though almost every moment of The Maltese Falcon is spent with Humphrey Bogart’s protagonist, director Huston keeps the audience at arms’ length. Most of the film’s more exciting sounding set...
View ArticleThe Searchers (1956, John Ford)
John Ford is never trying to be discreet with The Searchers, he’s just not willing to talk down to the audience. In the first ten minutes of the film, he and screenwriter Frank S. Nugent quickly...
View ArticleWithout Orders (1936, Lew Landers)
Without Orders has enough story for a couple movies or at least one twice as long–it runs just over an hour. Instead, everything gets abbreviated. There's flight attendant Sally Eilers who has a sturdy...
View ArticleThe Fugitive (1947, John Ford)
While filming Citizen Kane, Orson Welles screened John Ford’s Stagecoach every night. He said everything one could do in film was done in Stagecoach. Maybe Ford heard about it, because The Fugitive...
View ArticleThe Quiet Man (1952, John Ford)
The Quiet Man starts as a loving postcard tour of the Irish countryside. It’s pastoral, romantic, funny, human. Son of Ireland-gone American John Wayne returns home and immediately falls in love with...
View ArticleA Guy Named Joe (1943, Victor Fleming)
I’m not sure how to talk about A Guy Named Joe without some spoilers. But I’m going to try. Like a test. A Guy Named Joe is a propaganda picture, but one less about jingoism and more about the American...
View ArticleIt's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
It’s a Wonderful Life is going to be a tough one. When I was a kid, during the public domain days, Wonderful Life was omnipresent. It became a joke because of that omnipresence. But also because it’s...
View ArticleThe Maltese Falcon (1941, John Huston)
Even though almost every moment of The Maltese Falcon is spent with Humphrey Bogart’s protagonist, director Huston keeps the audience at arms’ length. Most of the film’s more exciting sounding set...
View ArticleThe Searchers (1956, John Ford)
John Ford is never trying to be discreet with The Searchers, he’s just not willing to talk down to the audience. In the first ten minutes of the film, he and screenwriter Frank S. Nugent quickly...
View ArticleWithout Orders (1936, Lew Landers)
Without Orders has enough story for a couple movies or at least one twice as long–it runs just over an hour. Instead, everything gets abbreviated. There's flight attendant Sally Eilers who has a sturdy...
View ArticleThe Fugitive (1947, John Ford)
While filming Citizen Kane, Orson Welles screened John Ford’s Stagecoach every night. He said everything one could do in film was done in Stagecoach. Maybe Ford heard about it, because The Fugitive...
View Article