While he has had a career that has lasted more than half a century, you can easily divide Woody Allen’s work into clearly defined periods, each one distinct and clear in how they showcase the specific artistic curiosities and concepts that fascinated the director at any given moment. At some point in the late 1970s,…

One of the great joys of exploring cinema is the feeling of excitement you get when you discover someone for the first time. We all recall our first encounters with the great masters of their craft, the people who are seen as overarching definitions of what a great writer, director or actor should be, becoming…

When looking at older films, they usually fall into one of two broad categories: the films that stand the test of time and become beloved classics, and those that may not be particularly bad but lack some quality that keeps them in the conversation, usually having them fall into slight obscurity. This is only a…

They certainly don’t make romances like they used to – there’s something so compelling about how love was perceived during the Golden Age of Hollywood that has allowed so many terrific works to become cherished classics of the genre. Ball of Fire is a film that has remained admired and beloved for over half a…

All it takes is a single moment for your life to change – and for the frumpish but well-meaning Guinevere Pettigrew, it was a glance at her employment agency that allowed her to rise above her paltry working-class life and sample instead from London’s high society after finagling herself into the life of a well-to-do…

Something that becomes very clear when looking into the Golden Age of Hollywood is that what makes the industry run is the balance between reliability and ambition – they are not mutually exclusive, but we can easily divide the majority of mainstream films into one of the two categories – either, its a film aiming…

When it comes to secrets, it is undeniable that some should remain unsaid, since the aftermath of certain revelations can have quite a harsh impact if whoever is receiving it is not adequately prepared. In the case of family secrets, we often feel we are entitled to know the truth about those we share our…

There are many reasons to appreciate Mel Brooks, but his sense of humour is perhaps the most important, and he built an entire career out of his quick wit and ability to make any subject funny. The story of how he came up with History of the World, Part I is one of the most…

If you have been reading here for a while, you will undoubtedly know about my fondness for The Front Page, the magnificent play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which is perhaps the finest piece of comedic theatre to come out of the first half of the 20th century, and like any well-received production, it…

One has to wonder whether when he made his notorious quip about his preference for screen partners (“never work with children or animals”), W.C. Fields truly understood how some of the most interesting performances in film history have come from these unexpected sources. Of course, his cynicism was not unfounded, and for the most part,…