Camille: An Unguarded Garbo

Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. Photo: MGM This adaptation of the classic Alexandre Dumas play and novel became one of Hollywood wunderkind Irving Thalberg’s last as producer. As in so…

A Family Affair

The first film in the wildly popular Andy Hardy series focuses more on Judge Hardy, as his decision to oppose a project that promises to bring jobs turns the small…

Grand Hotel: Where Nothing Ever Happens

Greta Garbo and John Barrymore. Photo: MGM In the 1930s, the Nazis decided that the Austrian author Vicki Baum’s novels were amoral and had to be banned. By then, Baum…

You Can’t Take It With You: Enjoy It Now

Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Jean Arthur and Edward Arnold. Photo: Columbia With It Happened One Night (1934), Frank Capra had already won an Oscar for Best Director. The same honor…

It’s a Wonderful Life: Wing and a Prayer

James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Coombs, Jimmy Hawkins, Larry Simms and Karolyn Grimes. Photo: RKO This Christmas I decided to catch Frank Capra's last masterpiece again. Having seen it several…