EPISODE # 31: OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS is a silent MGM classic from 1928 that stars Joan Crawford as Diana, a party girl with a heart of gold. Diana’s in love with Ben (Johnny Mack Brown), who also loves her until her frenemy Ann (Anita …
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
EPISODE # 30: SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN is the epitome of classic Hollywood MGM movie magic, and is a musical about the birth of the Hollywood musical. The film is set in the 1920s, when silent films were being pushed aside by “talkies.” Gene …
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
EPISODE # 29: SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS is film noir at its finest, weaving together some very dark themes, stunning black-and-white photography, and a sultry score featuring a 1950s jazz quintet. Tony Curtis gives an astonishing performance as power-hungry press agent Sidney Falco, who …
The General (1926)
EPISODE # 28: THE GENERAL (1926) is a silent film that is based on The Great Locomotive Chase, an actual event that happened in 1862 in Georgia during the Civil War. Buster Keaton plays train engineer Johnnie, who loves his fiancée, Annabelle, and his …
The Thin Man (1934)
EPISODE #27: THE THIN MAN (1934) has been called the original comedy detective film, and is based on the book by Dashiell Hammett. William Powell and Myrna Loy star as husband and wife detective team Nick and Nora Charles. Nick has married Nora, an …
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
EPISODE #26: THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) is directed by John Ford, and stars John Wayne as a gunslingin’ cowboy good guy, who instead of being at odds with a typical Western outlaw, finds himself going up against do gooder Jimmy Stewart, …
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
EPISODE #25: Lonesome Rhodes, played by Andy Griffith as you have most likely NEVER seen him before, is a drifter and a raconteur. When we—and Patricia Neal—meet him, he’s in jail, but his storytelling and singing land him on her radio show, which …
Now, Voyager (1942)
EPISODE #24: NOW, VOYAGER (1942) is the movie that might dehydrate you and end the drought in California with your tears. Bette Davis is Charlotte, everyone’s favorite spinster aunt in the Vale family. She was an unwanted child, and the cruel treatment her domineering …
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? (1962)
EPISODE #23: The film opens with a middle-aged couple drunkenly stumbling home from a neighbor’s party. We soon learn that they’re living at a New England university where the man (played by Richard Burton) is a history professor and his wife (played by Elizabeth …
Double Indemnity (1944)
EPISODE # 22: This is a classic film noir that begins with a murder confession. Fred MacMurray plays Walter Neff, and he’s come to his office to record what he’s done and how he’s done it. Even though we know up front what’s happened, …