Truffaut is one of all time favorites and I love The Bride Wore Black . Of course Jules and Jim is near the top of my Truffaut list (when it comes to Trauffaut, there's nothing near the bottom), and I, too, would gladly watch Moreau read the phone book. I even suffered through Jean-Jacques Annaud's ...

While I have biographies on Gable, Grant and Hepburn, I have not yet read them so can’t offer an opinion. These are a few of the “star” biographies I have read and found quite informative without being (too) judgmental. Bogart --A.M. Sperber & Eric Lax (superb) Clara Bow: Runnin’ Wild --David St...

Moira, I have the Flicker Ally DVD of Phantom and must admit that the film is mediocre at best. Yes, it’s Murnau, so it’s well worth seeing, but it is certainly not one of his classics. Featuring a novel’s worth of characters and plot, the film is essentially the tale of an aspiring poet’s love at f...

Lois Weber continues to wield her sledge hammer in Where Are My Children , this time tackling birth control and abortion. Not surprisingly, the film was not short on controversy, which, I suspect, was one of the reasons it was a hit in 1916. While competently made, Weber contradicts many of her own ...

I watched two films starring Jeanne Moreau, Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows ( Ascenseur pour l’échafaud ) , a terrific film noir, with twists and motivations that aren’t predictable and best discovered. The jazz score by Miles Davis works amazingly well, especially during the long, rainy night...

I have the laserdisc of Little Annie Rooney and The Crowd (which is paired with The Wind ). Never saw The Blackbird , but any Chaney/Browning film is certainly worthwhile. My favorite (of the ones I’ve seen, of course) in The Unknown . Can’t beat the implied gruesomeness and Chaney gives one of his ...

gagman

I, too, think that Two Arabian Knights is a comedy, or I’d put that on my list as well. (I also think The Garden of Eden and The Doll are comedies.) As Little Annie Rooney is my favorite Pickford film, I’m going to have to put that on my list, too. Just got to figure out where...

charliechaplinfan, I think you are right about Chaplin’s Little Fellow and Edna Puviance. Their chemistry is palpable, and many of their shorts, particularly the Mutuals, do seem to have underlying romantic/sexual themes. It’s interesting, that given Chaplin had romances with many (most?) of his lea...

With the proviso the list can (and will) change: 1. Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer) 2. Intolerance (Griffith) 3. The Last Laugh (Murnau) 4. Pandora’s Box (Pabst) 5. The Big Parade (Vidor) 6. Sir Arne’s Treasure (Stiller) 7. Greed (Stroheim) 8. Napolean (Gance) 9. The Man Who Laughs (Leni) 10. The Wi...

Despite the fact that Carlin became famous for his “seven dirty words”, I actually don’t see Carlin’s humor as profane. Carlin was a writer-comedian. He didn’t ad-lib. All of his jokes were painstakingly written, honed, and re-written. Including the obcentities. Listen to the rhythm of his joke, rem...

jdb1,

I completely agree. As far as his silent features go, The Tramp is pretty asexual. The exception is The Gold Rush, which, in the Silent version, actually fades out on his kissing Georgia Hale. Of course this is the one film where he ends up a millionaire, too...

I’m curious about City Lights being a romantic comedy. Do you think the Tramp has romantic intentions with the Blind Girl? I get the idea that he loves her in a strictly platonic way, as he does the Gamin in Modern Times . And while the Blind Girl loves the person who enabled her to see, do you thin...

I agree with all of these choices, particularly Huston in Chinatown . A few others to consider: In the Silents: Lon Chaney in West of Zanzibar Erich von Stroheim in Hearts of the World/Foolish Wives/Blind Husbands , pretty much anything he’s in (he is “the man you love to hate”, after all) Eric Camp...

I had the honor of rooming with a Catholic while in college, and with me minoring in philosophy, we’d get into some very interesting discussions. While he did his best, many aspects of Christianity still confuse me. For instance, I must confess that I don’t understand the concept of Free Will at all...

Growing up, Sunday mornings at 11:30 meant only one thing....An Abbott and Costello movie on channel 11! Here are some of the tunes that helped make these films wonderful. Andrew Sister’s in Buck Privates introducing that Boogie Woogie Bugler: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wiVkdVPGoY[/you...