TCM Film Festival!!

Okay, so a friend of mine sent me this link last week. Apparently, TCM is holding its first ever Film Festival. It's just another reason why I need to 1) Move to California or 2) Suddenly become incredibly rich and fly to California. I wish I could go so bad!

Turner Classic Movies to Host Film Festival :: Movies :: News :: Paste

Great Films Not on DVD: November

Well, I signed up for classes again this week. I was unfortunately in the last group of juniors to sign up so all of the classes I needed to take were already full. This was especially disappointing because the two film classes being offered next semester are Hollywood Musicals and Hitchcock. Dream classes! Looks like next week I’ll be begging the professors to let me in.

Sorry I slacked on last month’s edition of Great Films. I had a lot more going on than usual. I still have a lot going on this weekend, but it’s a bit more fun. I’m working on a paper for my film class on Leo McCarey and have to analyze Love Affair, The Awful Truth, and The Bells of St. Mary’s. What a tough assignment! : )

Tortilla Flat (1942)
Starring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, and John Garfield
Airs November 4 on TCM

Based on a John Steinbeck novel of the same name, it tells the story of a group of bums who spend their time in prison or drinking as much wine as they can get their hands on. When Danny (Garfield) inherits two houses, the conniving Pilon (Tracy) makes a mess of his friends newfound fortune and even tries to ruin his odds with the new girl in town.

Watch for a great performance by Frank Morgan in the role of Pirate. It won him an Oscar nomination.

The Woman in White (1948)
Starring Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, and Gig Young
Airs November 4 on TCM

A young artist is brought to an English estate to give art lessons to a beautiful and mysterious young woman. While trying to figure out the mysteries involving her (including a lookalike dressed in white), he becomes involved with a distant relative of the family that stays at the house.

The Mortal Storm (1940)
Starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan
Airs November 28 on TCM

Banned by the Nazis, the film tells the story of Martin Breitner, a man who refuses to join up with the Nazis when they take over town. In order to fight them, he joins up with other anti-Nazis and ends up falling for a beautiful young Jewish woman.

Once again showing how neglected Ginger Rogers’ non-Astaire films are, here is a list of some of her dvdless films that are playing this month.

Primrose Path (1940)
Airs November 5
Tender Comrade (1943)
Airs November 11
Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934)
Airs November 17
Rafter Romance (1933)
Airs November 17

In a Poetic Mood...

So...I'm thinking it's a little bit too late to post the Great Films Not on DVD for this month. Major failure. This semester is by far the hardest semester of my college career. Freshman and Sophomore year: easy, Junior year: not so much. I promise not to make any more excuses and just post more. I'm beginning to think my slacker attitude is because the one year anniversary of this blog is only a month away! I can hardly believe it!

Anyways, I've been getting into poetic moods quite a bit lately. I blame my poetry class and intro to creative writing. I was inspired last week to start writing a series of poems about tragic Hollywood stars. I've always found the lives of tragic stars to be very interesting and thought I might share one of my poems with you. This one is about Peg Entwistle who I wrote a post about a while back. Click here to read it.

This is a really rough draft. Let me know what you think!

Hollywood Sign Girl

The stage called you first,
Bright spotlight beckoning.
Champagne flowed
Like locks of your honeyed hair.
Your eyes, two north stars,
Compasses in the sky
For everyone to follow.

The intoxicating rivers
Of light became an addiction.
Your thirst yearned
For Hollywood’s halo
And so you went to the
Valley of the stars.
Fame like wind fueled

The fire of your compulsion,
But you couldn’t reach the
Stars that hung precariously
From the ceiling.
So you settled with that neon
Sign closest to the sky.
It said “Hollywoodland”and
You laughed at the irony
Of it all and left a note that read:

“I'm afraid I'm a coward. I am sorry for everything.
If I had done this thing a long time ago,
It would have saved a lot of pain."

It was the light
That called you there and from
The light you took your
Final curtain call.

Blog Post Fail

Feel free to throw stones or pull my hair. I deserve it for slacking. I started working on my Great Films Not on DVD post for this month over a week ago and have yet to finish it. I have been taking so many long absences between posts that I feel like I'm so disconnected from everyone. Please, somebody yell at me! Fingers crossed, I'll have it done Wednesday or Thursday. No guarantees. In the meantime, watch Night Must Fall (1937) tomorrow on TCM. Its on the list.

Stuck in Metropolis

Last week in my film class, I finally had a chance to watch Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. I have to say, for a silent film, it is pretty good. Unlike The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I didn’t feel the urge to sleep, which my friend actually did.

Ever since watching it, I’ve felt like I’m stuck in my own little Metropolis. Unfortunately, I’m not above ground in the cult of the sons. Nope, I’m definitely in the unhappy hole that is the workers’ city. I wish I could be a peacekeeper like Maria, but I don’t have that luxury. I’m the man at the clock, constantly moving the arms to the lights that flicker around the clock. I can’t stop. Stopping equals disaster. In the end, I myself become like the machine. Instead of Maria becoming the robot, I do. My brain is not my own, it is controlled by my professors and other superiors. Hopefully, my human self can destroy the robot me and flee to the world above ground. Until then, I’ll be living in Metropolis.

Sorry if this is deep. This is what happens when I watch deep movies and take two poetry classes. I get into very reflective/introspective moods. Next week, we’re watching Horse Feathers in film class so I think I’ll be in a better mood!

Great Films Not on DVD: September

Wow, it feels like forever since posted anything. I thought once recruitment was over I would have so much time to blog, especially during the first week of school. Nope, I was completely wrong. First, I forgot how much work I needed to get done for my officer position in the sorority. I still have quite a bit of work to do for this week, but there will be a month-long gap until I have more to do. Second, my first week of school was the longest of my life! There was no easing into the semester. By the time I got to Friday, I felt like I’d been going to class for a month and had a stack of homework to prove it. This is going to be a very interesting semester to say the least. However, I am taking two film classes (finally, since its kind of my major) and two writing classes which is exciting. Hope you all haven’t forgotten me! I’ll try to do better : )


A Night to Remember (1942)
Starring Loretta Young and Brian Aherne
Airs September 2 on TCM

Mystery writer Jeff Troy and his wife Nancy get more than they bargained for when a corpse turns up in their new apartment. Taking hints from his own books, Jeff (who is the prime suspect) and Nancy help solve the case.

Green Dolphin Street (1947)

Starring Lana Turner, Van Heflin, and Donna Reed
Airs September 11 on TCM

In the 1800’s, two sisters fall in love with the same man. He loves one, but drunkenly writes a letter to their father asking for the other’s hand in marriage. Problems follow. Watch for the impressive earthquake scene, which actually looks pretty believable.

The Human Comedy (1943)
Starring Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, and James Craig
Airs September 23 on TCM

A microcosm of life during World War II, the story focuses on the family of the deceased Mr. Macauley who's ghost watches over it all. It alternates between young Homer and his work as a telegram boy and his brother Marcus off at war. Robert Mitchum has a small a role as a fellow soldier.

Honorable Mention:
Four Daughters (1938) and sequels – Air September 3 (Highly Recommended)
Tender Comrade (1943) – Airs September 4
Million Dollar Baby (1941) – Airs September 11
Seven Sweethearts (1942) – Airs September 25

A Farewell to Summer

I feel as though my summer only started a few weeks ago, but unfortunately, it is coming to a close. My last day of work was Monday and I’ve spent the past couple days packing and de-cluttering all of my belongings and frantically trying to watch all the movies on my DVR. The latter has been no easy task since I had about ten movies left. I accidentally deleted A Star is Born an hour into it. Oops, but that meant one less movie to watch I guess.

I really wish I could’ve accomplished more, but summer sucked all the motivation right out of me. I don’t even have a great tan from all of my lounging about. The usually hot and humid Midwest summer didn’t want to cooperate this year. It’s finally starting to feel like summer weather-wise, but my summer must end a week and a half before other college students. Oh, the benefits of being in a sorority.

I’ll be extremely busy and cranky for the next week and half while sorority recruitment is going on, so I’ll be unable to get any posts out. Once my little hiatus is over, I’ll be ready to go with a new post. Farewell for now my friends : )

Lucky Miss Lombard gets to enjoy the beautiful sunshine, while I must head back to college!