Gone With The Wind (1939) is often considered the most beloved, enduring and popular film of all time. Sidney Howard’s script was derived from Margaret Mitchell’s first and only published, best-selling Civil War and Reconstruction Period novel of 1,037 pages that first appeared in 1936, but was mostly written in the late 1920s. Producer David…
Tag: hollywood films
West Side Story (1961) : re-telling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet tragedy
West Side Story (1961) is an energetic, widely-acclaimed, melodramatic musical – a modern-day, loose re-telling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet tragedy of feuding families, although the setting is the Upper West Side of New York City in the late 1950s with conflict between rival street gangs rather than families. West Side Story is still one…
Ben-Hur – The first film to win eleven Oscars!
Ben-Hur (1959) is MGM’s three and a half hour, wide-screen epic Technicolor blockbuster – a Biblical tale, subtitled A Tale of the Christ. Director William Wyler’s film was a remake of the spectacular silent film of the same name (director Fred Niblo’s and MGM’s Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)). Wyler had been an…
From Here to Eternity (1953) – 'battle' against corruption .
From Here to Eternity (1953) is the powerful, realistic story (and fierce indictment) of the lives of American military men (and their women) stationed in peacetime Hawaii (near Honolulu) in the summer and fall before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941 and the US entrance into WW II. The successful film, both…
It Happened One Night (1934) – one of the greatest romantic comedies in film history!
It Happened One Night (1934) is one of the greatest romantic comedies in film history, and a film that has endured in popularity. It is considered one of the pioneering “screwball” romantic comedies of its time, setting the pattern for many years afterwards along with another contemporary film, The Thin Man (1934). The escapist theme…
The Very First Academy Awards Ceremony
The original AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) consisted of 230 members, who each paid a $100 fee to join. The first awards ceremony/banquet was held in Hollywood (at the Roosevelt Hotel) on May 16, 1929 with tickets costing $10, to honor films made for the 1927-1928 time period. There was no suspense…
My Fair Lady (1964) – musical romantic comedy of all times.
My Fair Lady (1964) was experienced director George Cukor’s film musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 play Pygmalion that had played successfully on Broadway from March 15, 1956 to 1962. Shaw’s plot was derived from Latin poet Ovid’s story (in the Metamorphoses) about a character named Pygmalion who fell in love with a beautiful…
On the Waterfront (1954)- a part drama and part gangster film.
On the Waterfront (1954) is a classic, award-winning, controversial film directed by Elia Kazan – a part drama and part gangster film. The authentic-looking, powerful film is concerned with the problems of trade unionism, corruption and racketeering. And it is set on New York’s oppressive waterfront docks, where dock workers struggled for work, dignity, and…