Background and action in Paramount’s Remember the Night (1940), directed by Michell Leisen from a screenplay by Preston Sturges, featuring a budding romance between Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray during the Christmas season. With special attention given to character actor Willard Robertson, whose loquacious lawyer steals the show out of the gates. Lengthy article, over 5,000 words, that first appeared in Classic Movie Monthly #4.
Lightning Review: Dr. Cyclops (1940) Starring Albert Dekker
Brief look at Dr. Cyclops (1940) a sci-fi/horror blend from Paramount. Plays like ’50s science fiction, but a little slow in doing so. Albert Dekker stars.
Lightning Review: Curtain Call (1940) Starring Barbara Read, Alan Mowbray
Brief look at RKO “B” movie CURTAIN CALL. Naive playwright set loose in New York when producers use her terrible play with hopes of taming their only star. Stars Barbara Read, Alan Mowbray, Helen Vinson. Directed by Frank Woodruff.
Men Against the Sky (1940) – Richard Dix’s Ace of Aces Goes Modern
The public was air-minded when RKO released Men Against the Sky (1940), an exciting “B” film starring former “Ace of Aces” Richard Dix, with Kent Taylor, Wendy Barrie, and Edmund Lowe. A look at why the public was so fascinated by flying at that time, and how the four stars and other elements of the film worked so well together.
Brief Impressions: No Other Woman – Side Streets – Evelyn Prentice – Millionaires in Prison
A quick peek at four movies I’ve watched recently: No Other Woman (1933); Side Streets and Evelyn Prentice (both 1934); and Millionaires in Prison (1940).
First Impressions: Little Men (1940) Starring Kay Francis
The RKO released Little Men (1940) starring Kay Francis as Jo is inferior sequel to Little Women (1933) but enjoyable tale of swindlers George Bancroft and Jack Oakie.
Gallant Sons (1940) Starring Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville and Gene Reynolds
MGM gives Hardy director George B. Seitz a different group of kids for GALLANT SONS, a 1940 murder mystery starring Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville and Gene Reynolds.
Johnny Apollo (1940) starring Tyrone Power and Dorothy Lamour
Tyrone Power stars as Johnny Apollo (1940) for Henry Hathaway at 20th Century Fox. The film fits nicely between the 1930’s gangster cycle and later film noir. With Dorothy Lamour and Lloyd Nolan.
A Dispatch from Reuters (1940) – Plus the Real Reuter vs. Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson stars as the entrepreneur behind A Dispatch from Reuters (1940), a Warner Brothers’ biopic whose message is progress and knowledge through a smaller world. Plus a look at the real Reuter compared to the Edward G. Robinson character of the movie.
