Tag Archives: Katharine Hepburn

“Everyone thought I was bold and fearless and even arrogant, but inside I was always quaking … I don’t care how afraid I may be inside — I do what I think I should.”– Katharine Hepburn

Barbara Walters: “Kate, you always wear pants. Do you even own a skirt?” Katharine Hepburn: “I have one, Miss Walters. I’ll wear it to your funeral.” Dan and I discussed her, in my interview with him about his new book. … Continue reading

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“My philosophy is that to be a director you cannot be subject to anyone, even the head of the studio. I threatened to quit each time I didn’t get my way, but no one ever let me walk out.” — Dorothy Arzner

It’s her birthday today. I have written quite a bit about her films here, mainly one of my favorites, Merrily We Go to Hell, a superb drama about a marriage gone terribly wrong, starring Sylvia Sidney and Fredric March in … Continue reading

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June 2023 Viewing Diary

Succession (2018-2023) I finally watched, having somehow resisted the DEAFENING buzz over the last couple of years. I like Jeremy Strong, liked his small moment in Zero Dark Thirty, he totally stood out in The Big Short (directed by one … Continue reading

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Sidney Lumet: Excerpts from Making Movies

It’s Sidney Lumet’s birthday. Here are many excerpts from his classic and invaluable film-making handbook Making Movies: In Murder on the Orient Express, I wanted Ingrid Bergman to play the Russian Princess Dragomiroff. She wanted to play the retarded Swedish … Continue reading

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November 2021 Viewing Diary

The Wire, half of Season 3 This is the busiest time of year in re: film-critic-land, so had to stop my re-watch of The Wire to make room for new releases. I’ll get back to it! All Is Forgiven (2007; … Continue reading

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Now on Criterion: Bringing Up Baby

The Criterion Collection just released Howard Hawks’ 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby, in a new 4k restoration. The special features are EXTENSIVE, including a video-essay on Cary Grant by Scott Eyman (author of the new biography of Grant), as … Continue reading

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Criterion July releases announced

And every single one (La Piscine, Working Girls, Deep Cover, The Mirror and Bringing Up Baby) is exciting and a welcome addition to the Criterion library. I was thrilled to have been asked to write the booklet essay for Howard … Continue reading

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January/February/March 2021 Viewing Diary

Better late than never. I moved at the end of January – a big interstate move – so I’ve been a bit, how you say, busy. Not too busy to keep up my viewing schedule but too busy to put … Continue reading

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Recommended Books: Memoirs

More recommendations: Recommended Fiction Recommended Non-Fiction MEMOIRS The Fervent Years: The Group Theatre And The Thirties, by Harold Clurman Probably the most famous of all the Group Theatre-related books. Harold Clurman writes his memories of that time and what those … Continue reading

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January 2020 Viewing Diary

Hell Is for Heroes (1962; d. Don Siegel) A spare lean and mean war movie – pretty standard, actually – except Steve McQueen is actually presenting a character study here, a character he probably knows something about. He is eerie … Continue reading

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