So About That Accidental Hiatus I've Been On...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was not on the run from a bunch of mobsters : )




So about this little hiatus that I’ve been on; I really didn’t mean to go on one. I thought I would get back into the swing of things over winter break, especially since I didn’t go back to work. I had all this free time and as usual, did pretty much nothing with it. It’s hard to believe I’ve gone two months without posting a single thing! To make up for my slackeritis, I’ll fill you in on what’s been going on.


Let’s see, well I celebrated my 21st birthday on December 21st. It was fun, not crazy since many of my friends are still underage. With Christmas came one of the worst blizzards I’ve seen in a long time. There was a snow drift in my backyard that was about seven feet high! New Year’s Eve was pretty much a bust. It was bitterly cold and I spent most of the night relaying messages between my best friend and her boyfriend who were in a huge fight. Not a great way to start the New Year.


I also submitted several poems to my college’s literary magazine. I’m really hoping at least one gets accepted. My mom has been hassling me for years to get some of my work published and I finally got up the courage to try. I also started writing two stories which I hope will eventually turn into novels. I work on them whenever I have free time so that is probably where all of my usual blog writing time has disappeared to. I’m also in the midst of trying to find an apartment or house for next year. It is definitely not easy to find something moderately priced, near campus, and does not look like the usual disgusting old college place.


I’m sorry none of this really has anything to do with classic movies. I’ve gotten into a bit of a rut. Any suggestions as to a movie that might help reawaken my movie passion? I promise I’ll try to post a little more instead of letting whole months go by. Hope all of you are doing well!

Great Films Not on DVD: December

So, I’ve decided to change my major. Two weeks ago, the seed that my mom planted in my head two and a half years ago finally took root. As soon as I get the motivation to fill out the paper work, I will no longer be a film studies major. I’m very sad, but English is a much more realistic major plus I’ll have way more opportunities when I graduate (which will probably begin with grad school). Ugh, I hate facing reality. I’d rather keep dreaming.

Sorry I’ve been slacking with this post. This week is dead week so I’ve been scrambling to finish a bunch of papers and projects. I turned in my beautiful poetry portfolio (I’m very happy with how it turned out) as well as my 11 page intercultural communication paper on Gossip Girl which took me all day yesterday and was much harder to write than you make think. Thankfully, Tuesday and Wednesday ended up being snow days (a rarity for college kids) so I had extra time to work on all of it. Next week is finals week, so I have a nonfiction portfolio due in my creative writing class, a final for the previously mentioned communication class, and a compare and contrast paper on West Side Story and Romeo + Juliet. By this time next week, I’ll be home!

The Secret Garden (1949)
Starring Margaret O’Brien, Herbert Marshall, and Dean Stockwell
Airs December 13 on TCM

A rather delightful adaptation of the beloved Frances Hodgson Burnett novel with Margaret O’Brien taking on the role of orphan Mary Lennox. This is one of the few films that I can stand O’Brien in; just a bit too precocious and cutesy for my taste. Elsa Lanchester as Martha is the one that steals my attention.

Vivacious Lady (1938)
Starring Ginger Rogers and Jimmy Stewart
Airs December 18 on TCM

Seriously, why isn’t this movie on DVD yet? Stewart is an uptight college professor who marries the beautiful nightclub singer played by Rogers on a trip to the city. When he comes home, he can’t get up the nerve to tell his parents. This movie also features one of the best cat fights ever!

The Miracle Woman (1931)
Starring Barbara Stanwyck and David Manners
Airs December 22 on TCM

In this early Stanwyck/Capra film, Stanwyck stars as a phony preacher that travels around the country performing fake miracles. Everything is perfect until she meets and falls in love with a blind man that puts all his faith in her and what she does.


If you have time, check out these films as well!

Ladies of Leisure (1930)
Airs December 22

The Opposite Sex (1956)
Airs December 28

Happy First Anniversary, Classic Film Oasis!

I can’t believe it, but today is the one year anniversary of Classic Film Oasis. It feels like yesterday that I became incredibly bored and randomly decided to start a film blog. I actually gave up on it for quite sometime after my first post because I didn’t think anyone would ever read it. Fast forward a year later and now I have 60 wonderful followers! I have made many wonderful friends and have learned a lot. Hopefully I can keep my motivation up and reach the two year mark!

In celebration of this wonderful event, here are links to some of my favorite/ most popular posts over the past year. Feel free to check them out!

Fun With Photos

...And They Call It Puppy Love

They Could be Twins...Or Not

Converting the Non-Classic Film Fan

Peg Entwistle: The Hollywood Sign Girl

Shirley Temple Syndrome

Escapism vs. Realism in 1930's Films

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.