Veronica Lake

It’s little wonder “Sullivan’s Travels” came in at number 61 on the American Film Institute’s 2007 list of the top 100 motion pictures. This is a great, great film.

In Preston Sturges’s landmark 1941 film Sullivan’s Travels, the writer-director achieves a unique balance of genre aesthetics. The film is billed as a comedy, and it more than earns that title. But a significant portion of it is actually a tragedy, completely unlike anything else in the film. The combination of both sides of the coin …

The Blue Dahlia Written by Raymond Chandler Directed by George Marshall USA, 1946 Three wartime veterans who served in the Navy return home to Los Angeles. They are Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) and his two faithful companions, Buzz (William Bendix) and George  (Hugh Beaumont). After an early tussle at a diner in which Buzz shows …

This Gun for Hire Written by Albert Maltz and W.R. Burnett Directed by Frank Tuttle U.S.A, 1942 The great American actor Alan Ladd died at the unfairly young age of 50. With a series of leading roles in some timeless classics during the 1940s and 1950s he carved himself a firm place in Hollywood lore. …