Classic Movie Reviews by Cliff Aliperti

Spoiler-free reviews of movies from Hollywood's Golden Age, especially the 1930s. Most reviews also include research into background of the film and, when relevant, the history surrounding the subject of the movie.

Charles Laughton stars in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

March 9, 2010 By Cliff Aliperti 8 Comments

Charles Laughton earns his Oscar for Best Actor in Alexander Korda’s The Private Life of Henry VIII, a comedic costume piece focusing on Henry’s relationships with his various wives.

China Seas (1935) starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow

March 3, 2010 By Cliff Aliperti 4 Comments

The Clark Gable and Jean Harlow teaming peaks in China Seas, the 4th of their 6 MGM pairings, a tale of love and piracy at sea also starring Wallace Beery and Rosalind Russell.

Union Depot (1932) starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Joan Blondell

February 28, 2010 By Cliff Aliperti 6 Comments

Douglas Fairbanks Jr is a hobo playing Gentleman for a Day in 1932’s Union Depot co-starring Joan Blondell and Guy Kibbee. A sweeping view of all classes during the Great Depression.

The Southerner (1945) starring Zachary Scott and Betty Field

February 23, 2010 By Cliff Aliperti 4 Comments

A look at Jean Renoir’s The Southerner (1945) starring Zachary Scott as head of a dirt-poor family fighting to have their own farm. Also starring Betty Field.

Edward G. Robinson in The Sea Wolf (1941) with Alexander Knox

February 13, 2010 By Cliff Aliperti 6 Comments

Is there a more brutal film from this period than Warner Brothers’ The Sea Wolf? Adapted by Robert Rossen from Jack London’s original story, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Ida Lupino and Alexander Knox.

The Whole Town’s Talking (1935) starring Edward G. Robinson and Jean Arthur

February 7, 2010 By Cliff Aliperti 2 Comments

There’s a lot to like here for Edward G. Robinson fans who get to see their hero play both the milquetoast “Jonesy” and gangster “Killer” Mannion—sometimes in the same scene!

Peggy Hopkins Joyce, W.C. Fields, et al., in Paramount’s International House (1933)

February 2, 2010 By Cliff Aliperti 2 Comments

International House, billed in its day as The Grand Hotel of comedy, found Eddie Sutherland directing a cast headed by W.C. Fields, Burns and Allen, and Bela Lugosi, with top bill actually going to socialite Peggy Hopkins Joyce in what was the final film of her sporadic movie career. The films’ everyman is played by […]