Silver Age of Film

"The River" (1951) is one of my all time favorite films. I saw bits of it several times on the late late show in my younger days. It always struck me as a "neat film" but I could never find out the title or see the whole thing. Recently I found it. I give it 5 starts on my netflix rating and I only give 5 starts to my absolute favorites such Bergman's "The Seventh Seal." "The River" is a strange film directed by Jean Renoir, one of the truly great directors, best known for the film classic, "the Rules of The Game," (19390 (Roger Ebert's Review) , and the equally famous "Grand Illusion" (1937) (Renoir was the son of the famous Painter) . The first time I saw the river I had no idea who made it. I came to respect Renoir, years before I  knew about the River . Probably his most famous works are Rules of the Game , and Grand Illusion both "must sees" for anyone who pretends to a good knowledge of film...

Tati as Hulot : I am convinced that he was the model for Inspector Clouseau. The above picture In front of the "mos French Looking house" form Mon Oncle . Part of the mission of this blog is intellectual reflection upon life as well as faith. The appreciation of Great art counts in that endeavor, and if the great art makes you laugh so much the better for Sunday, the day of rest. Toward that end I sometimes do little film reviews, always of old art films from the golden age of artistic cinema. Recently (in the past couple of years) I have really come to appreciate the great French filmmaker Jacques Tati (Oct 9, 1907--Nov 5, 1982). American film critics always call him "the French Chaplin." That is a dismissive injustice. He was a brilliant filmmaker who deserves to be thought of as the Bergman of Comedy. I heard of this guy a long time ago. I even saw some of his early shorts. I thought "Ha, ha they are ok but he's no Chaplin." Not to insult the ac...

IMBD page Cast Cast overview, first billed only: Eddie Albert ... Col. Thompson Paul Anka ... U.S. Army Ranger Arletty ... Madame Barrault Jean-Louis Barrault ... Father Louis Roulland Richard Beymer ... Pvt. Dutch Schultz Hans Christian Blech ... Maj. Werner Pluskat ...

1954 I'd like to know if anyone actually read this review. if so please make a comment? I love foreign cinema and occasionally I enjoy reviewing old films from Germany, France, Italy or Japan, or other countries. My favorite kind of film is one that takes on a big question, the kind of question religious belief is about answering, through the perspective of modern thought and film making. My favorite director is Ingmar Bergman , for his quasi religous (even though he was an atheist) films such as The Seventh Seal , the Virgin Spring , Winter Light. I've been searching for another director who would have that same kind of theological bent in a modern film package. I recently found one in Carl Dreyer (1889-1968) . While Berman was a Swede Dreyer was Danish, and is very different from Bergman yet they both share that same Nordic kind of theater tradition that adds an element of stinginess and pageantry to their films. While they are very different they a...

(2) Dr. Strangelove: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) directed by Stanly Kubrick Peter Sellers , Peter Sellers, and Peter Sellers. (yes, he plays three different characters in the same movie) Group Captain Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove George C. Scott ... General 'Buck' Turgidson Sterling Hayden ... Brigadier General Jack Ripper Keenan Wynn ... Colonel 'Bat' Guano Slim Pickens ... Major 'King' Kong Peter Bull ... Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky James Earl Jones ... Lieutenant Lothar Zogg ...