First Looks category archive

The Heiress.

Olivia de Havilland’s performance was outstanding. Her character was real.

We saw it on TCM.

Just when you think they can’t get more fiendly, they go right ahead and prove you wrong.

The Secret Life of . . . ., a humorous, well, really, snarky and sardonic look at the “secret lives” of historical figures, such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Calligula, and Casanova.

I’m watching it on Tubi.

The Best Years of Our Lives, a superb movie about the challenges faced by veterans returning from WWII. I suspect that veterans returning from other wars have faced similar challenges.

If you can find it, watch it. We saw it on TCM.

Afterthought:

I don’t know that my father faced such challenges upon his return from WWII, but I do know that he saw and endured things that persons on the homefront never had to see or endure.

He fought fascism in Europe.

He would be appalled and ashaned to know that we now must needs fight fascism at home.

Via Yellowdoggranny.

Imitation of Life, the 1934 version, not the 1950s remake.

We stumbled over it on TCM.

I was frankly taken aback by how frankly it dealt with racial issues in a time of segregation, when most films of that time pretended that they did not exist. Not to disparage the performances of the other members of the cast, particularly that of Rochelle Hudson, I found Claudine Colbert’s performance to be truly impressive.

We did recently watch It Happened One Night (which we also caught on TCM), for which Colbert won an Oscar, but I thought her acting in this film to be far superior to that Oscar-winning performance. It was somehow more real.

Off to drink liberally.

Seth satirizes the capitulation of they-call-themselves conservatives to the consummate con artist.

Museum Secrets.

I’m currently watching it at tubitv.com, a free streaming service with surprisingly unannoying commercials.

My most excellent hosting provider informs me that the migration of this site to a new VPS is complete.

But I’m still taking the rest of today off.

As Mark Twain observed, history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison.

We recorded it from TCM some while ago and watched it tonight, (I first watched it many years ago on Monday Night at the Movies and was looking forward to seeing it again.)

It is, in my opinion, Robert Mitchum’s finest movie. If you can find it on a streaming service, it is well worth your while.

If you have not done so, I highly recommend that you read Lena Horne’s autobiography.

Give me a break.

Via All Things Amazing, an image site (some images NSFW).