Recent content by Julian Shellhammer

The Man Who Died Twice (1958), directed by Joseph Kane (who was behind the camera for In Old Sacramento, Song of Nevada, and The Yellow Rose of Texas), and starring Rod Cameron, Vera Ralston, and Mike Mazurski. Here I insert IMDb's synopsis in full: Nightclub owner T.J. Brennon dies in a car...

Your earlier comments are well-put, FF; The Dark Corner is a solid noir, but for an introduction to the genre perhaps something along the lines of Out of the Past would be better.

The Dark Corner (1946), a superb noir with Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix , and Mark Stevens, directed by Henry Hathaway. Classic noir visuals, with high contrast lighting, geometric shapes formed by light cutting into a room from a window, shadows carrying the storyline cast on...

Recent views at the stately Shellhammer Fete du Film include The Saint's Double Trouble (1940) with George Sanders, and a minor appearance of Bela Lugosi; Jonathan Hale returns in his role as Inspector Fernack. Directed by Jack Hively, who helmed a couple other productions in the franchise. As...

The Egg and I (1947) with Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray, with Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride. WW2 vet MacMurray and new bride Colbert face challenging challenges on a chicken farm way out in the country. Based on the book by Betty MacDonald. Is it a screwball comedy? A rom-com? A live...

Gentleman's Agreement (1947), with Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and John Garfield, dir. Elia Kazan. A look at anti-semitism, with the story told as a reporter's series in a prominent magazine. Reporter Peck presents himself as Jewish in order to experience the bigotry both subtle and violent...

The Prince and the Pauper (1937) directed by William Keighley (who would later work on The Adventures of Robin Hood), featuring top-billed Errol Flynn, and actual twins Billy and Bobby Mauch, with Claude Rains doing his "power-hungry court intriguer" bit with poise. Flynn shows up about half-way...

Here at the Shellhammer Palais du Film Ancien, it was- The Saint Takes Over (1940) with George Sanders as the Saint, Wendy Barrie as an elegant but tough mystery person on a mission, and Jonathan Hale as Inspector Henry Furnace of the NYPD. Fernack's been framed by mobsters, Wendy Barrie...

An odd offering, starting out as a 30s/40s rom-com, then grim manslaughter tale, then melodramatic drama as only classic Hollywood could produce, is And One Was Beautiful (1940), with headliners Robert Cummings and Laraine Day under the direction of Robert B. Sinclair, who brought us such varied...

Battleship Potemkin (1925) dir. Sergei Eisenstein, via YT. Flash cuts, massive crowd scenes, striking shot compositions, this has it all. The movie nerd lingers on... The Saint in London (1939), brought to us by John Paddy Carstairs, with George Sanders and Sally Gray. We're trying to watch...

As well, decades since I read a "Saint" book. I remember checking a copy out of the local library not long after reading all the Sherlock Holmes I could find, then beginning to work through Chandler, Van Dine, Stout, and Hammett. Simon Templar was only peripherally known to me, sort of via the...

The Saint in New York (1938) dir. Ben Holmes, with Louis Hayward at the Saint, Kay Sutton as a mysterious character tied up with a criminal organization, and Jack Carson and Paul Guilfoyle as a pair of Mutt and Jeff thugs played a la Damon Runyon. With crime running rampant through a large...

Eyes in the Night (1942) starring Edward Arnold as Capt. Duncan Mclain, a blind detective who solves mysteries with the help of his dog, Friday (who out-Rin-tin-tins Rin-tin-tin in some skill sets). Supposedly the first in a projected series, it did not catch on. With Ann Harding, playing a...

Barnaby Jones, S1 E1, and Mannix, S1 E1. Did not see these first time around. The Quinn Martin style parodied so devastatingly in Police Squad! is out in full force.

Klaus, from 2019, from directors Sergio Pablo and Carlos Martinez Lopez, written by Sergio Pablo, Jim Mahoney, and Zach Lewis. Sort of an animated How Did Santa Become Santa? movie. Voice talent includes Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, and Rashida Jones. In its own way a naturalistic proposal...