A Ghost Story With A Difference: The Changeling(1980)

Not only is Peter Medak's The Changeling a chilling ghost story, but it also plays around with genre tropes and audience expectations in ways which make it very different to your average haunted house film.Ghost stories have been told around the world for so long that none of us alive today know what the very…

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True Stories On Screen: The Winslow Boy(1948)

The Winslow Boy is directed by Anthony Asquith(The Browning Version, Carrington V.C.) and produced by Anatole de Grunwald. The film is based upon the 1946 stage play of the same name written by Terence Rattigan(Separate Tables). Anatole de Grunwald and Terence Rattigan co-wrote the film's screenplay. The film features Robert Donat delivering one of his greatest screen…

Lon Chaney Sr: The Ultimate Character Actor

I have long considered Lon Chaney Sr to be the ultimate character actor on film. The man was a marvel. He could play anybody and completely disappeared inside the characters he portrayed. When I started to get into Silent cinema it didn't take long for him to become one of my all time favourite actors.…

True Stories On Screen: Anastasia(1956)

Welcome to the first in a new series in which I'll be writing about true stories that have been adapted for the screen. For this series I will not only write about the film or television series itself, but I will also be taking a look at the real individuals and historical events that they…

Murder, My Sweet(1944)

1944 was a seminal year for Film Noir with the release of some of the greatest films in the genre such as Double Indemnity,Phantom Lady, Laura, To Have And Have Not, The Woman In The Window,The Ministry Of Fear and Murder, My Sweet. Whenever I hear or read the words Film Noir, Murder, My Sweet is always…

Cry Of The City(1948)

Cry Of The City is a Film Noir which plays out like a 1940’s Greek tragedy. It is a poignant and powerful tale of injustice, love, the desire for a second chance and the inability to avoid the hand in life dealt to us by fate. Not only does the film make us fully support and sympathise…

The Partnership Of Fred Astaire And Ginger Rogers

There are some people who are just meant to be together and you cannot ever imagine them apart. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are one such screen partnership. Fred and Ginger fit together perfectly and are quite rightly considered as one of the most beloved and iconic film duos of all time. I especially like…

Now, Voyager(1942) At Eighty

Eighty years ago, Now, Voyager received its premiere in New York on the 22nd of October, 1942. The film went on general release in America on the 31st of October and wouldn't be released here in the UK until November of 1943. It is based upon the 1941 novel of the same name, which was…

The Naked Jungle(1954)

The Naked Jungle is one wild film. There’s a vast amount of sexual tension crackling away between Eleanor Parker and Charlton Heston, something which leads to their shared scenes(especially the moment he applies some insect repellent ointment to Joanna's skin) and dialogue delivery being so sexually suggestive, that you really do have to wonder quite how…

King Solomon’s Mines(1950)

King Solomon's Mines is a lot of fun and has a perfect blend of adventure, action, romance and mystery. It was directed at first by Compton Bennett who was replaced in the director's chair by Andrew Marton after the first few months of shooting. The film is based upon the 1885 novel of the same…

Crimson Peak(2015)

The more I’ve watched it, the more I have fallen in love with director Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak. What I love most about this film is how it plays out as a meticulously crafted love letter to the Gothic genre and to classic era horror cinema. There are homages to The Innocents(the scene where Edith explores the…

The 11th Annual What A Character Blogathon: Takashi Shimura

Kellee at Outspoken And Freckled, Aurora at Once Upon A Screen and Paula at Paula's Cinema Club, are back together co-hosting one of my favourite annual blogathons. Their joint blogathon is dedicated to the character actors working in film and television across the years. Make sure you check out their sites on the 8th of…