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Tag Archives: Aline MacMahon
“The trouble with Hollywood is everybody is crazy for money.” — Ann Dvorak
Anna McKim chose “Ann Dvorak” as her stage name. She chose a challenging name to pronounce (for American audiences, that is) over her easily-pronounceable real name. Who does that?? Well, she does. It says a lot. It’s mischievous. I love … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Howard Hawks, Mervyn LeRoy, Pre-Code
8 Comments
“I pass emotions through a filter not generally used by actresses. I find the ground to meet my characters and am able to move from one feel to another. It is real stuff — no tricks, simply expressed.” — Aline MacMahon
Today is the birthday of this great character actress, ubiquitous in pre-Code films – many of which are classics. She cared deeply about acting. The quote from her in the title is instantly apparent when you encounter her work, even … Continue reading
December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
The Golden Bachelor Watched – in great hilarity – with Karen and Allison during a raucous sleepover, and Carol pulled up on FaceTime. So we could watch together. The whole thing is so ridiculous. Maestro (2023; d. Bradley Cooper) I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Aline MacMahon, Battleship Potemkin, biopic, Charlie Chaplin, Chile, Denmark, documentary, drama, dystopia, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Juliette Binoche, Kazuo Ishiguro, literary adaptation, Michael Mann, North Korea, Paul Schrader, Pre-Code, Radu Jude, Ray Milland, Richard Pryor, Romania, romantic comedy, sci-fi, short films, Sidney Poitier, silent films, Spain, Sylvia Sidney, Tana French, true crime, William Wellman, Wim Wenders, women directors
41 Comments
August 2021 Viewing Diary
Pig (2021; d. Michael Sarnoski) I wish I could write at length about some of these. I just don’t have the time these days. I absolutely loved Pig, about an isolated woodsman-truffle-hunter (Nicolas Cage) whose beloved truffle pig is stolen. … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, backting, Belgium, Bette Davis, comedy, documentary, drama, film noir, France, Golshifteh Farahani, Howard Hawks, James Cagney, Jean Arthur, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Blondell, Marion Cotillard, Mervyn LeRoy, musicals, Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Pre-Code, Richard Linklater, Robert Mitchum, Supernatural, surfing, William Carlos Williams
44 Comments
Remember My Forgotten Women: The Dire Worlds of Sucker Punch and Gold Diggers of 1933
This piece appeared first on Oscilloscope Laboratories “Musings” blog, and then was published in Volume Two of their series of books, compiling many of the pieces from that blog. I had been wanting to write this piece for literally years … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Aline MacMahon, Busby Berkeley, Ginger Rogers, Gold Diggers of 1933, Joan Blondell, Mervyn LeRoy, Sucker Punch
4 Comments
Heroes For Sale (1933); Dir. William Wellman
“It takes more than one sock in the jaw to lick 120 million people.” So says Tom Holmes, played by Richard Barthelmess, in William Wellmann’s pre-Code drama Heroes for Sale, a terrific film, and included in TCM’s Forbidden Hollywood Collection, … Continue reading