As gilded and over-the-top as the Old South itself, the Gone with the Wind 70th Anniversary Collector's Edition Blu-ray release is an impressive tribute to one of the best loved films of all time. The Victor Fleming-directed (at least Fleming gets the credit) classic, based on Margaret Mitchell's book of the same name, looks exceedingly good in high definition, and the bonus items (video and otherwise)...
Pygmalion (1938): Leslie Howard is my preferred Henry Higgins in this definitive film version of Bernard Shaw's best-known play. With a screenplay adapted by the writer himself....
i read louise brooks' autobiography too long ago to remember much other than she had a serious crush on the happily married leslie howard. she and i clearly had similar taste in men. her work in german silent films are her legacy but she actually hails from kansas. she had style in spades and a gorgeous smile. like audrey hepburn, louise will never go out of fashion. In the opinion of Brooks's biographer...
In June 1943 the film star Leslie Howard was mysteriously killed when his plane was shot down by the Luftwaffe on a return flight from Spain. This was an unprovoked attack on a commercial airliner, and there seemed to be no motive for it. British intelligence circulated rumours that the Germans had hoped to kill Churchill, whom they mistakenly thought was travelling on the plane. In fact, it now seems...
In his excellent 1944 book Film (a lucid, intelligent study of cinema - including popular film - at a time when there wasn't enough literature on the subject), Roger Manvell made the following observation about Charles Laughton : “Men of the great acting quality of Laughton and [Leslie] Howard are often accused of being themselves at the expense of their parts...[but] a man is often chosen for...
looking for a film chalk full of favorites? clarence brown (garbo's favorite) directed this tale of upper class gal meets and falls for lower class gambler in 1931's 'a free soul.' everyone gets pretty beat up while learning lessons the hard way but above the gaming tables, in a chic little hideaway, clark and norma play cat and mouse with plenty chemistry. her clothes that barely stay on her frame,...
I went with my Mum to a lunchtime piano recital at St Edmund's church given by Nathan Williamson , with a collection for a leprosy hospital in Kathmandu . He's a fine pianist : http://www.nathanwilliamson.co.uk/ , who played my late Dad's piano before it was sold , although as he politely pointed out the piano that's been in the church for 100 years has its limitations , and will shortly be replaced...
"Hollywood, oh Hollywood, wherefore art thou Hollywood in making classic pictures like 1936's "Romeo and Juliet" starring Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer". It beats me, because they don't make 'em like these anymore and that's a shame because this movie based on the classic literary Shakespeare play is a great film to watch for romantics, nostalgia buffs, Shakespeare lovers and...
It is beyond question that healthcare in America is troubled. Costs have soared, employers are having a difficult time keeping up with the rising costs, and many Americans do not easily get the care they’d like. There are solutions, of course, but the headlong rush to implement a government controlled, top down, cold, autocratic system is the wrong avenue to take. One of the scariest aspects...
There are several film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, as well as films that are some sort of interpretation of it. In case you haven't yet seen a production of the play, one of these might do in a pinch: Romeo and Juliet , Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film version starring Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. An excellent "classical" interpretation of the story. With an exceedingly memorable...
Go away. Why won't you leave? Do I need to say a magic word, or something? Pleeeeeeeeeze. Go. Away. And yet you are still here, magic word notwithstanding. Blast it all. What will it take for me to be shut of you? A reading? Can that be all? Wonderful! Here you are, then: Goood gravy, but you're annoyingly chipper! A hundred grumps can't bring your spirits down. Maybe being kicked off the side of a...
Scott Weinberg is right -- in this day and age, there's no movie that can't be remade. While I don't necessarily believe in sacred cows (and I feel like if there's a novel at the source it can be excused), there are some films that got it right the first time -- and one of these is Gone with the Wind . First, I'll begin by saying that I know all the arguments against it and Margaret Mitchell's book....
Oh, what might have been! Alison Lohman gives a terrific performance as the cursed loan officer Christine Brown in Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell , which opens tomorrow. If not for the vagaries of scheduling, though, Ellen Page would have played the lead role. Would Page have been any better? We'll never know, but she joins a long list that inspires thoughts of 'What if ...?' Once upon a time, we might...
Last night I caught up with a film that has been on my must see list for about forty years: the 1934 version of 'Of Human Bondage' starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. As a teenager I was a passionate film buff with a special interest in the early talkies, and the British contribution to 1930s Hollywood could easily have been my specialist subject on Mastermind . Since then I have become somewhat...
Spaniards to erect monument to actor Leslie Howard near where Nazi air force downed his plane -- Newsday.com : "MADRID (AP) — 'Gone With the Wind' actor Leslie Howard will be honored as a war hero with a monument in Spain near where his plane was shot down by Nazi fighter pilots during World War II, a historical association said Saturday. The propeller-shaped sculpture will be unveiled...
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