We return to film noir, with a movie that could be called, Edmond O’Brien’s really, really bad day. A man learns he’s going to die, and sets out to find out who’s killing him and why. It’s directed by Rudolf Maté, and if you are a fan of noir lighting, camera angles and scenes of LA and San Francisco from the post-war period, you will find them here.

D. O. A.

Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr and Nathan Alderman

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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All This and Heaven Too (1940)

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What happens when an unlikely group of strangers shares an ocean voyage? If it’s the middle of WWII and Alfred Hitchcock is directing, don’t expect a frothy comedy, dah-ling. Do expect raconteur and occasional film actress Tallulah Bankhead, with John Hodiak, Walter Slezak, William Bendix and Hume Cronyn. They’re all stuck on a lifeboat after their merchant ship is torpedoed.

Lifeboaat

Shelly Brisbin with Jean MacDonald and Nathan Alderman

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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D. O. A. (1949)

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It’s 1830s Edinburgh, home of some of Europe’s finest medical schools — but where are they getting the cadavers to hone their students’ knowledge of anatomy? Well, provided you’ve got ready cash on hand, and you don’t ask too many questions… Horror auteur Val Lewton and still-rookie director Robert Wise adapt Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story with typically eerie elegance — but you’ll come away remembering Boris Karloff, in maybe the greatest performance of his career, as a deceptively cheerful cabman with a grisly side hustle. A much-diminished Bela Lugosi’s also in it, barely — but the key scene he shares with Karloff will stick with you long after you’ve seen this relatively little-known and underrated classic.

"The Body Snatcher"

Nathan Alderman with Annette Wierstra and Shelly Brisbin

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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Lifeboat (1944)

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Ride with Barbara Stanwyck in an ambulance that’s on a collision course with decadent mayhem. Stanwyck gets a job as a nurse, eventually assigned to care for the children of a neglectful mom. She’s neglectful because she’s drunk and under the influence of a sadistic Clark Gable. And oh look, Joan Blondell is in this one, too. Directed by “Wild” Bill Wellman. The film is among the first rank of early 30s precodes.

"Night Nurse"

Shelly Brisbin with Nathan Alderman

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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Pretty actor Tyrone Power comes back from WWII and wants to play more serious part. So here he is as a carnival worker who rises through like as an increasingly successful con man. Until he doesn’t. Great noir visuals and wonderful performances by the underseen Helen Walker, and the can’t-be-overseen Joan Blondell.

Take a Trip Down "Nightmare Alley"

Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra and Nathan Alderman

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We didn’t know when we scheduled this show that a remake of “Nightmare Alley” was coming soon!

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All this fuss over one lady in a painting. Laura! Loads of men want her, she has a song that’s quite memorable, and everyone in this movie talks about her constantly. Otto Preminger directs Gene Tierney, Vincent Price, Dana Andrews, and Clifton Webb. It’s a great cast, and the film comes just as we’re entering the film noir era. But it’s far too pretty to be noir.

Everybody Luvs "Laura"

Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra and Erika Ensign

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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James Cagney became a star, Mae Clark took a grapefruit to the face and Jean Harlow made an impression. It’s an early “talkie” by William Wellman that’s both a blueprint for what would come later, and a uniquely brutal take on the gangster genre.

The Public Enemy

Shelly Brisbin with Dr. Drang and Nathan Alderman

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Here’s a Billy Wilder master class that some people call one of the greatest comedies ever - “The Apartment.” We’ll see about that! It was among the inspirations for “Mad Men,” so there’s that, too. Jack Lemon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred McMurray are your leads. Welcome to the swinging’ 60s, businessman style.

The Apartment

Shelly Brisbin with Jean MacDonald, Annette Wierstra and Nathan Alderman

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

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It’s the best-loved of the four movies Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant made together, and the one that also stars Jimmy Steward. Another George Cukor production, this was Hepburn’s triumphant entry into MGM, and her middle finger to the “box office poison” label of the late 1930s. “Hullo, George!”

The Philadelphia Story

Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra, Paul Sabourin, Micheline Maynard and Judy Samelson

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Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard and a stellar cast of supporting actresses are just doing the best they can, moving through their upper-class New York world.

"The Women"

Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra, Deborah Stanish, Lisa Schmeiser and Judy Samelson

George Cukor made “women’s pictures.” It wasn’t usually meant as a compliment, at least when assessing him against others of the time, and it wasn’t even universally true. “The Women,” though, with an all-female cast and a lot of things to say about female friendship, frenemyship and how a woman was required to move through the world at the time of the film, is a great one. And we have an all-female panel to break the whole thing down.

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

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