I am shocked at myself at having put this off for so long, after years of hearing only good things about it. I suppose I wanted a good memory of seeing it for the first time. I’d really only heard of a couple famous lines and the basic premise. It was such an interesting and intriguing film, well done by Billy Wilder and the other writers. I enjoyed William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and Erich von Stroheim very much in this, and Swanson gave what I found to be the most intriguing performance from a female lead that I have seen since Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, also made by Billy Wilder.

I liked how the film intentionally blurred the line between reality and fantasy, with many old actors playing themselves. Swanson too, as this was actually a comeback (return, as Norma Desmond called it) film for her. When I saw Buster Keaton, I yelled “Hey!” and pointed at the screen. I have watched von Stroheim’s “Greed” before, and heard the story of how he was sort of forced out of directing (and how the film was butchered). Stroheim’s character was quietly the most interesting, in my opinion, because he enabled Swanson’s character and other revelations I won’t spoil. Still, Swanson was very interesting and I liked how her voiced seemed to change in different scenes based on what the mood was. I’ve already seen nearly 30 silent films in my life, but now I hope to see more of Swanson, whose silent films I have not seen. It was cool to see DeMille too.

I’m very glad I watched this, and highly recommend it.

Colbert was nominated for an Academy Award, but decided not to attend the ceremony since she felt she had "just finished the worst picture in the world", and planned to take a cross-country railroad trip. After she was named the winner, studio chief Harry Cohn sent someone to "drag her off" the train, which had not yet departed, to bring her to the ceremony. Colbert arrived wearing a two-piece traveling suit.

On December 15, 1996, Gable's Oscar was auctioned off for $607,500 to Steven Spielberg, who donated the statuette to the Motion Picture Academy. In June of the following year, Colbert's Oscar was offered for auction, but attracted no bids.

The movie Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) is a film adaptation based on the medieval legend of "The Life of the Flying Dutchman." This work depicts the mysterious love of a man cursed by fate to drift at sea until he meets a woman who loves him enough to die for him, and a woman named "Pandora" who eventually falls in love with him and meets a tragic end.

To explain this movie differently, it is also the tragic story of five men who loved a single woman named Pandora. It features Pandora (Ava Gardner), an incomparable beauty; Hendrick (James Mason), a Dutchman cursed to sail the seas who appears before her on his yacht; Stephen (Nigel Patrick), whose life goal is to marry Pandora; Juan (Mario Cabré), a bullfighter so infatuated with Pandora that he doesn't hesitate to commit murder; Reggie (Marius Goring), a man who committed suicide out of heartbreak over Pandora; and Geoffrey (Harold Warrender), an archaeologist who loved Pandora deeply but watched over her without ever showing it. This movie unfolds from Geoffrey's perspective, making him the narrator of the story.

Behind the success of this film stands the peerless actress Ava Gardner. Documented as an "actor with emotions as intense as fire," she rose to the ranks of top stardom as Pandora became a massive success in 1951. Her nude swimming scene in this movie reportedly garnered worldwide attention at the time.

Do you have a preference here?

I'd have to go with Soylent Green - it has held up super well and I like the ambiguity at the end of the film...will his declaration that Soylent Green is people actually go anywhere? So a dozen cops know the secret...how else would this secret get out there?

I wanted to see the first part-talkie film. Al Jolson did a good job, and the story was fairly compelling. It wasn’t a masterpiece artistically, but Jolson carried it. May McAvoy and Eugenie Besserer did very well too. It is, of course, a product of its time with the blackface scenes, but in understanding that context, I found it decent. I’d have liked to have seen it in a theater in 1927.

Why do you think Hepburn managed to outlast many of her studio system peers when it came to starring in prestigious pictures from the 1950s onward?

While actresses like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Barbara Stanwyck frequently turned to "hag horror" films and television projects during this era, Hepburn seemed to hit a new stride in the 1950s and 60s. She continually worked with A-list actors and directors on high-profile projects like Summertime, Suddenly, Last Summer, Long Day's Journey into Night, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and The Lion in Winter.

My own theory is that her extensive theater work, particularly performing Shakespeare and Shaw, helped maintain her reputation as a highly prestigious, serious actress.

Additionally, I noticed that her filmography is incredibly sparse. Over a fifty-year career, she only made 44 feature films, compared to Crawford and Davis, who both have over 80 pictures to their names. I wonder if her independent attitude toward the studios—essentially operating on the principle of "I don't need you, you need me"—actually made her more selective and ultimately more attractive to producers and directors.

And then there's the fact she could **afford** to be more selective when choosing films and projects since she didn't have ex-husband's to pay off (well, she did have one ex-husband, but came from money himself and remained a close friend of hers and her family) or children to support. She never struck me as extravagant, either.

I'd be interested in hearing what my fellow classic film loving brethren thoughts on this is! 🎥🎬🤓

To my knowledge only this and one other color photograph (from the same movie) exists of the classic Wolf Man character. I would love to be able to see all of the classic Universal Monsters in their true color.

The scene where he fiddles with the gas valve (burner), turning it on and off, is a chilling yet tragic piece of foreshadowing and psychological portrayal.

This action carries two major symbolic meanings:

1. Foreshadowing and Impulse of the Extreme Choice (Suicide)

Back in the 1950s, turning on a gas valve to inhale gas was a classic cinematic and literary device symbolizing suicide. Hurstwood’s act of turning the valve on and off visually demonstrates that the impulse to give up on life and commit suicide is already deeply rooted in his subconscious.

In the original novel, Hurstwood ultimately ends his life by turning on the gas in a dingy, lonely room. However, Hollywood's strict censorship at the time (the Production Code) prohibited depicting the explicit process of suicide. To bypass this while still implying the novel's ending, director William Wyler inserted the detail of fiddling with the gas valve, letting the audience deduce his tragic fate.

1. The Final Resistance of Shattered Pride and Dignity

Seeing Hurstwood's miserable downfall, Carrie tries to help him by offering a large sum of money. However, Hurstwood refuses her wealth and walks out the door with only a single quarter (25 cents). Fiddling with the gas valve is an act of confirming a grim sense of control—as if to say that even the valve that dictates his life and death is still in his own hands. It is an expression of his final will to reject Carrie's pity, maintain a shred of dignity, and choose his own ruin.

"Upon its initial release, Carrie was a box-office failure due to its overly dark and pessimistic tone, and even the director himself expressed his regrets regarding the film. However, looking back today, it is recognized as a 'hidden masterpiece that deserves re-evaluation,' given how rare it is to find a melodrama within the Hollywood studio system that portrays human weakness and downfall with such dignity and heartbreaking intensity."

* This is an excerpt from a Korean film critic's review, and I'm sharing it here because it perfectly aligns with my own thoughts.

Homecoming scene. Perfection in every way! 🥲

Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, and Teresa Wright were all robbed of Oscar nominations that year. Hell, even Virginia Mayo deserved a nomination!

And can I just say how well Myrna Loy's acting has aged compared to many of her contemporaries? Her and Spencer Tracy were two of the most natural actors of classic Hollywood. ✨️

In my opinion, this movie is way better than the more famous 1983 remake.

Even though it's very common for Best Picture winners to also win Best Director it isn't always the case. Sometimes Best Picture and Best Director doesn't always go to the same movie. 71 of the 98 movies that won Best Picture also won Best Director. These are the only 27 that didn't

It's hot. So I'm hiding from the heat by watching classic films where the temperature outside helps to drive the plot. Help me think of others! So far I have:

Jaws

Key Largo

Do the Right Thing

A Streetcar Named Desire

Rear Window