Classic Hollywood

The Last of Robin Hood depicts the last romance of Errol Flynn’s life from the not-so-tender age of 48 until his death. Who was the lucky girl? Beverly Aadland. One person’s definition of luck is most people’s definition of statutory rape—something that Flynn had some trouble with before—as Miss Aadland was under 18 at the time. This is the crux of the conundrum behind this story and what would regularly confound a filmmaker in bringing it to the screen—even Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita screenplay was rejected and reworked by Stanley Kubrick. Fortunately for the audience, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland are no regular filmmakers (see Grief, The Fluffer, Quinceanera). They have written and directed a film about three protagonists (Beverly Aadland, her mother Florence, and Errol Flynn) with a vague outward antagonist—society, perhaps? And somehow, through the grace of such strong characters and writing, it works.

The Heiress Directed by William Wyler Written by Augustus and Ruth Goetz Starring Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, and Ralph Richardson USA, 115 min – 1949. William Wyler’s The Heiress tells the quasi-tragic story of Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland), a plain-jane, Gilded Age heiress, who’s naiveté leads her into a courtship, with fortune-hunter, Morris …

For the truly serious cineaste, Joel Finler’s Hollywood Movie Stills:  Art and Technique in the Golden Age of the Studios is a buffet of exquisite ironies.  For one:  that much of the history, the grandeur and the glitz, the behind-the-scenes grit and the red carpet glory associated with the moving picture have come to us …

Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean Written and directed by Matthew Mishory USA, 2012 Let’s posit a hypothetical – what if the iconic James Dean was gay? Well, let’s answer one hypothetical question with another – what if Fellini made a Dolce & Gabbana commercial instead of La Dolce Vita? What does one …