What Classics Did You See Last Week (October 12–October 18)
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spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 28, 2025 01:33 AM)
That's a great idea. Back in the early 1900s there were very prominent women directors in the world and in Hollywood, too, especially Alice Guy-Blaché and Lois Weber. And, of course, there have been numerous female directors who've risen to prominence since then, notwithstanding the gap between Ida Lupino and Elaine May in the early seventies (and Loden, too, but she wasn't in the Hollywood mainstream, as we've said).
And if you haven't seen it, I would recommend watching the documentary about Alice Guy, aka Guy-Blaché, the first female director in the world, who from 1896 to 1920 directed around a thousand films, most of them lost, though I've seen a few. The documentary is called
Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché
(2018), narrated by Jodie Foster. It's on Tubi.
Here's the trailer:
I've only seen a few of her films, but I enjoyed her short
Falling Leaves
(1912) quite a lot. It's based upon an O. Henry story.
And here's a link to many of her films available on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy8apeEKQttGyKO8ehUc_OlCrFyVW1DBf
Good luck on your new endeavor. I think it's a really great idea. -
spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 28, 2025 01:43 AM)
Well, now you've got me going. Here's a short doc about Lois Weber, the first woman to direct a feature film.
If you can find it, I love her hour long film,
Shoes
(1916). It's on YouTube, but it's colorized. I saw the black and white version but can't find it now. -
sheetsadam1 — 5 months ago(October 28, 2025 02:04 AM)
Shoes
is actually on the tentative list I've put together along with another of her films. And I'll watch the Alice Guy-Blaché short and those documentaries for sure. Thanks!
The directors I plan to hit (some of these will be rewatches) are:
Lois Weber
Ruth Ann Baldwin
Frances Marion
Germain Dulac
Alla Nazimova
Lotte Reiniger
Dorothy Arzner
Leni Riefenstahl
Maya Deren
Bodil Ipsen
Ida Lupino
Agnès Varda
Shirley Clarke
Doris Wishman
Barbara Loden
Barbara Peeters
Stephanie Rothman
Elaine May
Jane Arden
Chantal Akerman
Joan Micklin Silver
Lina Wertmüller
Barbara Kopple
Roberta Findlay
Claudia Weill
Penelope Spheeris
Amy Heckerling
Lizzie Borden
Martha Coolidge
Susan Seidelman
Lee Grant
Joyce Chopra
Donna Deitch
Kathryn Bigelow
Penny Marshall
Mary Lambert
Euzhan Palcy
Jennie Livingston
Julie Dash
Leslie Harris
Nora Ephron
Jane Campion
Kimberly Pierce
Sofia Coppola
And possibly Barbra Streisand…
Draft Barron Trump -
spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 28, 2025 04:49 AM)
Great list! Some really great directors there. And please do include Barbara Streisand. I attended the DGA awards the year
Yentl
came out, and I was appalled when the male host, whose name I can't recall, literally mocked Streisand for daring to direct a film, one that in my opinion was an exceptional accomplishment. Even more appalling was that in the audience that night was a woman, Sharron Miller, who was the first woman ever nominated for directing a drama (non-documentary), and she won! Such was the world for women directors back in the day (and that was the early 80s, if I recall). -
sheetsadam1 — 5 months ago(October 19, 2025 12:40 PM)
Daughters of Darkness (1971)
Directed by Harry Kümel
A great vampire film bolstered by some great cinematography and an excellent performance from Delphine Seyrig.
8/10
Ravenous (1999)
Directed by Antonia Bird
Rewatch. Not for the squeamish, but this cannibal Western reveals hidden depths with every rewatch.
9.5/10
Also watched:
My Father, the BTK Killer (2025, Skye Borgman) documentary
The Woman in Cabin 10 (2025, Simon Stone)
Thunderbolts* (2025, Jake Schreier)
V/H/S/Halloween (2025, various directors)
Vicious (2025, Bryan Bertino)
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PygmyLion — 5 months ago(October 19, 2025 09:40 PM)
Joan of Paris
1942 - Michele Morgan, Paul Henreid, Thomas Mitchell, Laird Cregar. WWII - five British Flyers downed in France try to get back to England. ***
Underground
1941 - Jeffry Lynn, Phillip Dorn, Kaaren Verne, Mona Maris, Martin Kosleck. WWII resistance in Germany. One thing interesting about this movie is it was released in June 28, 1941 and has a character whose son died when the Bismark was sunk on May 27, 1941, so the movie was done pretty quickly, and also was released 5 months before Pearl Harbor. The story is about 2 German brothers. One, Eric Franken (Dorn) works for the German underground broadcasting anti-government messages over the radio, and the other Kurt (Lynn) is a soldier who has just returned from the front where he lost an arm and he is still loyal to the government. Both are interested in Sylvia (Verne), who works as a violinist in a bar and with the underground. Kosleck plays Colonel Heller the top German officer and Maris plays Frau Gessner a resistance spy in his HQ. - ***1/2
Sullivan's Travels
1941 - Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake. Director Preston Sturgis. ***1/2
The Great Sinner
1949 Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner. I only made it about 60% through before getting really bored. **
If Winter Comes
1948 - Walter Pidgeon, Deborah Kerr, Angela Landsbury, Janet Leigh. - *** -
spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 21, 2025 12:29 AM)
Sullivan's Travels
is one of my favorites, PL. It's a joy to watch, brilliantly written and directed by Sturges, with wonderful performances by all the cast. And I love that it dips into the darkness and despair of the Depression to evoke Sullivan's transformation, manifested so beautifully in the the scene in the theatre.
I don't think I've seen any of your other films;
If Winter Comes
, maybe, but I'm not sure. I think I'd probably remember if I had. But
Underground
sounds like one I should see. I'll keep an eye out for that one. -
CoriSCapnSkip — 5 months ago(October 20, 2025 02:44 AM)
The Cat Creature
on October 12
Carnival of Souls
on October 13
Dead of Night
(1977) on October 14
The Night Stalker
on October 15
Ghost Story
, later
Circle of Fear
, pilot episode (not a movie) on October 16
Dark Shadows
(2012) on October 17
The Canterville Ghost
(1975) on October 18 -
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CoriSCapnSkip — 5 months ago(October 20, 2025 04:20 PM)
Carnival of Souls is one of my all-time favorites. I should watch it before October ends.
Ghost Story with Fred Astaire? That was a very mediocre adaptation of a brilliant novel.
I review every film I watch but I haven't been posting them here as I wasn't exactly welcomed when I joined. In fact, this is the only thread I've been participating in so thanks for answering.
No,
Ghost Story
was a TV series hosted by Sebastian Cabot. About halfway through they changed the title to
Circle of Fear
. -
spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 21, 2025 12:48 AM)
I quite enjoyed
Carnival of Souls
, Cori. I don't know if you know that a lot of it was shot in the (then) small college town of Lawrence, Kansas (home of the University of Kansas). And the rest was shot in Utah. I have connections to both places, so I always enjoy seeing it for that reason alone. And it was made for almost nothing, literally – about $33,000.00, but it's become a cult classic through the years. The director, Harvey Herk, was making industrial and educational films in Lawrence when he decided to put this film together. Kudos to him for being able to do it. It's not a great film, by any means, but it is a very entertaining one.
P.S. Would it be possible for you to put the year of release on all of your titles? It would very helpful to me in particular, if you could. Many thanks. -
CoriSCapnSkip — 5 months ago(October 22, 2025 01:20 AM)
P.S. Would it be possible for you to put the year of release on all of your titles? It would very helpful to me in particular, if you could. Many thanks.
So far I've only been doing that when I know there is more than one film of the same title but I guess I could. -
CoriSCapnSkip — 5 months ago(October 22, 2025 04:28 PM)
If there's a question on which film I meant on any of my previous posts please ask. As I said, I would be happy to post all my film reviews here except for the unwelcome (mild word for it) response when I joined.
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spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 23, 2025 05:01 AM)
I don't remember having a problem before, but I'll let you know if I think of anything. And I hope you'll keep posting. I'll respond when I have something to say based upon my own viewing experience. If I haven't seen the film(s), I may not respond, because I feel I don't have much to contribute. But please know that your posts are appreciated even if I haven't seen the films. So please do keep posting. I appreciate your contributions.
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spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 20, 2025 02:56 AM)
All first viewings:
Pygmalion / Anthony Asquith & Leslie Howard
(1938). An adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play in which Professor Henry Higgins (Leslie Howard) bets he can teach a cockney flower girl, Elia Doolittle (Wendy Hiller) how to speak and act like a duchess. The precursor to the
My Fair Lady
musical adaptation, it’s a real delight. And unlike the musical it never feels stage-bound, instead makes creative use of interesting camera angles. And Hiller is wonderful in it, of course. She never ceases to amaze me. It received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Actor, Actress and Screenplay, winning for Screenplay. It’s a fine adaptation of a classic play that’s only and hour and a half long and David Lean was its editor! Highly recommended. (Available on several streaming services.)
Winter Light / Ingmar Bergman
(1963). A Swedish pastor (Gunar Bjornstrand) is struggling with his faith and sliding towards atheism. In the process, he fails a loving woman (Ingrid Thulin), a suicidal father (Max von Sydow) and his pregnant wife (Gunnel Lindblom). It’s the second film in Bergman’s self-proclaimed faith trilogy that includes the earlier
Through a Glass Darkly
(1961), one of my favorite Bergman films, and the subsequent
The Silence
(1963), which I haven’t seen yet. Beautifully directed and performed, especially by Ingrid Thulin, and impeccably shot by the great cinematographer Sven Nykvist, I have to say that in spite of all of that I found it to be a bit disappointing with an oddly abrupt ending. I wanted a more profound, specific sense of closure. But for Bergman fans, I suspect it’s a must-see.
Wings / William Wellman
(1927). Two rivals (Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Richard Arlen) who are in love with the same woman (Jobyna Ralston) become fighter pilots during World War I. The first Best Picture winner at the first-ever Academy Awards, it’s beautifully directed by Wellman, who had been a pilot himself during the war and because of that was able to create some dazzling aerial sequences, long before CGI, which are still amazing to see today. And it has very good, moving performances by Rogers, Arlen and Clara Bow, who’s in love with Rogers, though he doesn’t realize it. It was also one of Gary Cooper’s first major screen roles. Not a great film, but a very good one that I highly recommended because of Wellman’s craftsmanship and the film’s historical significance. (On Tubi, Fawesome, and YouTube) -
sheetsadam1 — 5 months ago(October 20, 2025 03:33 AM)
More trivia than anything else, but you called
Wings
"the first Best Picture winner at the first-ever Academy Awards." Interestingly enough, there are (sort of)
two
films which can lay claim to that title.
Wings
, of course, won what was then called "Outstanding Picture" while F.W. Murnau's
Sunrise
won "Best Unique and Artistic Picture," an award that was never handed out again (
Sunrise
is worth watching, by the way; I haven't seen
Wings
).
Draft Barron Trump -
spiderwort — 5 months ago(October 20, 2025 04:47 PM)
Yes, of course. It's a little confusing because of the different categories in that first year of the Oscars, but I should have have clarified it as you have done. Thanks for that.
And
Sunrise
is one of my favorite films. I enjoyed
Wings
, but I love
Sunrise
! -
PygmyLion — 5 months ago(October 20, 2025 02:50 PM)
Pygmalion
is one of my favorites; top 10. I like to watch it at least once every year.
It always seems like a shame that we didn't get more movies from Wendy Hiller (1912-2003) when she was young.
Pygmalion
(1938),
Major Barbara
(1941), and
I Know Where I'm Going
(1945) are her only movies before 1950.
I Know Where I'm Going
is another one of my favorites. She was, of course, mostly a stage actress during that period.
It's been a long time since I last watched
Wings
. I'm not that into silent films, but your description and pictures make me realize that it is time for a rewatch.