This post is a (very late) entry in the Great Villain Blogathon, hosted by Shadows and Satin, Speakeasy and Silver Screenings. See the other posts here. I’ve decided to try something a little different for this post: not a review but a look at a single performance. (Spoilers ahead.) Some villains have chainsaws, others vats […]
David Niven Makes a Scene
Merry Christmas! Preparations have been well under way in the Retro Movie Buff household for several days. In between movie marathons and mince pies, I’ve been dipping into David Niven’s autobiography, The Moon’s a Balloon—a book practically brimming with good cheer. The star of Around the World in 80 Days, A Matter of Life and […]
La Belle Josephine: ‘Siren of the Tropics’ (1927), ‘Zouzou’ (1934) and ‘Princess Tam Tam’ (1935)
What I remember best about The Triplets of Belleville, Sylvain Chomet’s eccentric, inscrutable animated comedy is its opening: a flashback showing the titular triplets performing on stage in the 1930s. There’s Charles Trenet and Django Reinhardt jamming in the orchestra pit, Fred Astaire inexplicably being devoured by his own shoes and, for reasons best known […]
Light and Shadow: Ray Milland
When I was eight or nine, I wandered into the living room and found my mother watching a film I didn’t recognize. Grace Kelly was pleading with a man not to reveal their affair to her once distant, now much-reformed husband. Then, ‘Mr. Kelly’ arrived. He was charming, witty, impeccably dressed and secretly plotting to […]
Biography of a Hit: The Success of ‘My Man Godfrey’ (1936)
This essay was originally published on ArtsandCrit.com (now sadly defunct) and has been dusted off and spruced up for its Retro Movie Buff debut. In 1936, the Great Depression was in its fifth year, the average movie ticket cost $0.25 and a film review in trade magazine Variety made history by christening a new genre: […]
A Few Words on Robert Donat
He was one of the biggest stars in British cinema, but only made 19 films. He was celebrated for his beautiful speaking voice, but suffered from crippling asthma. He made his name playing dashing heroes, but is now best remembered for his performance as a shy schoolteacher. He might be the finest actor Britain ever […]