Passage To Marseille (Michael Curtiz, 1944) Now that's lighting! For all the incredible talent involved in this one, a sad misfire. Much has been made of its extensive abuse of flashbacks (there's a point where the audience is watching a flashback within a flashback within a flashback within a flashback - I think?), and it really is remarkable to see a film so completely ill-structured that it utterly squanders such a substantial storytelling potential. The story of 6 French convicts' desperate escape from a prison colony to join up and fight the Nazis, there are some excellent sequences, but they're all so jumbled together that no distinct thread of action is taken up and the characters are left so vague and ill-formed that it becomes difficult to even remember who is who. Curtiz does his best - there's one tracking and craning shot that will take your breath away - but there's no hiding the stench of this screenplay. With the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet starring, with Curtiz at the helm, this can't help feeling like a truly depressing waste of an opportunity. Not recommended. #film #films #filmmaking #movie #movies #cinema #cinematic #blackandwhitephotograph y#blackandwhite #cinematography #Hollywood #goldenageofhollywood #1940s #40s #classicmovies #movietime #filmblog #filmphotography #filmphoto #drama #noir #filmnoir #bmovie #classicmovie #classicfilm #art #cultmovie #thriller #movietime #classicmovies #blackandwhitemovie

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (Alexander Hall, 1941) A sad case of Old Hollywood charm falling short of shoring up a shaky cinematic structure. Despite an intriguing premise - a boxer is mistakenly killed and cremated before his time, and the bureaucracy of the afterlife must find him a new body - the story is a ramshackle affair, never quite hitting on a basic conflict or need for the main character, and dropping him in and out of storylines that aren’t given enough time or space to cohere. The lack of a strong sense of direction or consistency in the storytelling is exacerbated by a frankly poor leading performance from Robert Young and some incredibly bland directing from Alexander Hall, who never gives the film the visual flair that would seem required for a film about the beyond. On the plus side, the ever dependable Everett Edward Horton is fantastic as a low level angel, and Claude Rains, even at his most phoned-in, gives a warm and endearing performance as - well, a high level angel? Regardless, for a more successful '40s cinematic take on the afterlife, look to either Heaven Can Wait or A Matter Of Live And Death, both brilliant films that use the hereafter to tell a scintillating story with a strong sense of thematic purpose. Not recommended. #film #films #filmmaking #movie #movies #cinema #cinematic #blackandwhitephotograph y#blackandwhite #cinematography #Hollywood #goldenageofhollywood #1940s #40s #composition #lighting #classicmovies #movietime #filmblog #filmphotography #filmphoto #drama #filmnoir #bmovie #classicmovie #classicfilm #art #cultmovie #movietime #classicmovies #blackandwhitemovie

The Man From Laramie (Anthony Mann, 1955) Another Anthony Mann western, this one his last of 5 collaborations with the great Jimmy Stewart. Stewart plays an army man out to exact revenge on the men who he holds responsible for the murder of his brother by Apache warriors, traveling to the small town of Coronado where arms are being sold to the warring Apaches that massacred his brother's cavalry patrol. What's fascinating about this one is the way that this revenge plot-line is essentially a narrative ploy, as the film uses it as more of a framing device to explore the complex dynamics of Coronado and of the powerful family that runs the town. There are shades of King Lear, and there's an epic sweep to this one that's revelatory: a small story, told within the widest possible scope. A western by Mann is always making a commentary on the forms of the genre themselves, and The Man From Laramie is no exception - rather than simply a study in redemptive violence on the open frontier, its a nuanced and brutal study in the hopelessness of that violence. Recommended. #film #films #filmmaking #movie #movies #cinema #cinematic #colorphotography#color #cinematography #Hollywood #goldenageofhollywood #1950s #50s #composition #lighting #classicmovies #movietime #filmphotography #filmphoto #drama#western #art #jimmystewart #westernmovie #vintage

Kid Galahad (Michael Curtiz, 1937) Much to like here: boxing and melodrama; energetic and efficient directing from Michael Curtiz; impeccable performances from Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, and Bette Davis(!). That's a murder's row of actors, even if Bogie and Davis weren't quite in their prime - and unsurprisingly, its a master class in acting, with Curtiz even having the heart to give us a deathbed scene that allows for maximal dramatics (or histrionics, if one were to be unkind). Curtiz himself is not to be outdone by his actors: his subtle but expressive use of camerawork, mastery of pacing, and vibrant but often minimalist sense of composition all shine here. This one really should be in the top tier of boxing films, but sadly seems to be all but forgotten now. Recommended. #film #films #filmmaking#movie #movies #cinema #cinematic#blackandwhitephotography#blackandwhite #cinematography#Hollywood #goldenageofhollywood#1930s #30s #composition #lighting #classicmovies #movietime #filmblog #filmphotography #filmphoto #drama #noir #filmnoir #classicmovie #classicfilm #art #cultmovie #boxing