In 1934, director Frank Capra released the seminal classic It Happened One Night, a picture that helped define the relatively new genre of screwball comedy. On the heels of that film’s monumental success, Capra followed up with another comedy, Broadway Bill. But while Night became a perennial favorite, Bill virtually disappeared for decades after its release; according to the TCMdb entry on…
“It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. The minute you start, they put you on the all-American sucker list. You start out to build a home and wind up in the poorhouse. And if it can happen to me, what about the guys who aren’t making $15,000 a year? The ones who want a home of…
In the mid-1930s, the screwball comedy was still a relatively new subgenre of film. Many critics label It Happened One Night, released in 1934, as the first “screwball” picture ever produced, and subsequent films such as Twentieth Century (also 1934) and Hands Across the Table (1935) built upon the elements that would become typical tropes of…
One of the sheer joys of watching a classic film is the opportunity to catch a glimpse of how people lived in generations long before your own. In particular, I always find it fascinating to see how people used to dress during different periods in time. And I can’t tell you how many times I…
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) Airing 6:00PM EST Some of the first classic films I ever saw were the old Shirley Temple flicks from the 1930s, when the curly-headed moppet conquered Hollywood and the hearts of millions to become one of the first true cinematic superstars. I loved the innocent, precocious youngsters Temple excelled…
The Thin Man (1934) Airing at 8PM EST The first in a series of six films, The Thin Man is a charming, witty comedy about a not-so-retired detective, his glamorous, wealthy wife, and their adorable wire-haired terrier, Asta. Nick and Nora Charles spend their days drinking and carousing with their circle of dilettantes, but when…
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