City Lights had its gala premiere ninety years ago today– January 30, 1931–and after all this time, its brilliance has not dimmed. Its images have remained with us ever since. City Lights is something more than a comedy. It’s a…
“But even a Barrymore on the decline is still more than a match for any other actor in Hollywood: most of his role calls for flamboyant theatrics a la “20th Century,” and he launches into his tirades with magnificent gusto.…
The name Max Steiner may not be familiar to the general public, but the music he created is recognizable to millions of fans worldwide. Steiner was a pioneering film composer who invented techniques that are still used today to score…
This past week marked the 40th anniversary of Popeye‘s premiere: December 6, 1980. Sometime shortly after its general release, my mom took me to see it– one of the few times I saw a movie at the show with my…
Since 2014, The Pickwick Theatre Classic Film Series has presented several James Bond events in partnership with the Ian Fleming Foundation. Prior to the COVID pandemic, discussions had been underway about a possible event honoring Sean Connery’s 90th birthday in…
“I would prefer to live forever in perfect health, but if I must at some point leave this life, I would like to do so ensconced on a chaise longue, perfumed, wearing a velvet robe and pearl earrings, with a…
This is the time of year when I’m normally planning our annual “Halloween Horrorfest” at the Pickwick Theatre Classic Film Series. Since there will be no screening this year with the program in mothballs, I thought I’d look back on…
Prior to the 2020 pandemic, it seemed like every two weeks a new superhero movie was being released. This was never the case in the 1970s and ’80s. When a movie like Superman (1978) hit the screen, it truly was…
“Do you realize the close analogy between conditions today in the United States and in the Roman Empire prior to its fall? Multitudes in Rome were then oppressed by distressing laws, overtaxed and ruled by a chosen few. Unless America…
The following interview with Ann-Marie Streibich, granddaughter of actress Irene Dunne, was conducted by phone on May 21, 2020, by film historian Matthew Hoffman. MH: Your appearance in 2014 was one of the more memorable evenings we’ve had at the…