Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant? No, Marlene Dietrich and Herbert Marshall? Marlene and a cute little kid? Marlene in the Deep South? This movie will surprise you. IT is part of the cycle of films she made with Josef von Sternberg during her early American career. And our heroine goes through A LOT. I’d argue it’s among Dietrich’s most sympathetic roles. In this episode, I find myself arguing with my panelists about the worthiness of this movie!

Blonde Venus

Shelly Brisbin with David J. Loehr and Nathan Alderman

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

Phantom Lady (1944)

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This is Shelly’s current favorite classic holiday movie. It begins just before Christmas and runs New Years, and that totally counts! It’s sweet, it’s a romance and it’s well-acted. It stars Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten and a teenaged and bratty Shirley Temple.

I'll Be Seeing You

Shelly Brisbin with Annette Wierstra and Erika Ensign

Next time, we’ll watch

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Who among the female stars of the 30s and 40s retains more ID today than Bette Davis? She was the queen of the Warner lot when she wasn’t fighting with her bosses, and she played her share of scenery-chewing roles as both a young woman and an older one. But All This and Heaven Too is not one of these. The Davis we meet here is deep in melodrama, certainly, but her performance is controlled and quiet. She loves Charles Boyer, and he loves her, but nothing’s going right for them. Behold, LTS does romance!

All This and Heaven Too

Shelly Brisbin with Philip Michaels, Lisa Schmeiser and Erika Ensign

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

I’ll Be Seeing You (1944)

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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

Next time, we’ll watch

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

Next time, we’ll watch

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

Next time, we’ll watch

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

Next time, we’ll watch

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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

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

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

Next time, we’ll watch

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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

The Movie: review/commentary on a single classic film

Next time, we’ll watch

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