C. Aubrey Smith

  • John Cromwell – Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaJohn CromwellUSA

    An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.Read More »

  • Andrew L. Stone – Sensations of 1945 (1944)

    1941-1950Andrew L. StoneMusicalUSA

    Plot Synopsis:
    Eleanor Powell is an ambitious dancer who decides to teach her publicity agents a thing or two about publicity by running their firm herself. Among the “clients” who perform are W.C. Fields, Cab Calloway, Woody Herman, Sophie Tucker, and, of course, Eleanor Powell.Read More »

  • John Ford – Wee Willie Winkie (1937)

    1931-1940AdventureComedyJohn FordUSA

    Joseph McBride wrote:
    Wee Willie Winkie provides a case study of how Ford approached what could have been another pot-boiler and infused it with his own artistic sensibilty. If there were any real justice in Hollywood, Ford would have won an Oscar for a film such as this one, whose truly superior craftsmanship is all the more impressive for seeming so effortless. With larger-than-life romanticism, Ford deflty creates a child’s storybook vision of the world, then introduces unexpectedly touching moments as reality impinges on the consciousness of the innocent protaganist. This stylised feeling was heightened in the film’s original release by tiniting the daytime scenes sepia and the nighttime scenes blue, reviving a practice from the silent cinema.Read More »

  • W.S. Van Dyke – Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

    1931-1940AdventureClassicsUSAW.S. Van Dyke

    Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) is the first feature-length talking (sound) version of the Tarzan series. [Tarzan films stretch into the silent film era back to 1918.] The Tarzan saga was based upon the original ‘Lord of the Jungle’ characters created by novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Tar-zan character (called various titles through the years, including John Clayton, Lord Bloomstoke (Greystoke)), first appeared in late 1912 in All-Story Magazine. Many actors have portrayed Tarzan, both on screen and on television, including Elmo Lincoln, Gene Pollar, P. Dempsey Tabler, James Pierce, Frank Merrill, Larry “Buster” Crabbe, Herman Brix (Bruce Bennett), Johnny Weissmuller, Lex Barker, Gordon Scott, Denny Miller, Jock Mahoney, Mike Henry, Ron Ely, Miles O’Keefe, Joe Lara, Wolf Larson, Christopher Lambert, and Casper Van Dien.Read More »

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