Classic Movie Reviews – Details, episodes & analysis

“Only Angels Have Wings” 1939 takes place in the fictional South American town of Barranca. There is danger, romance, and drama surrounding Barranca Airways a struggling business with fatalistic pilots, money worries, unpredictable weather, few planes, and difficult human relationships.  Director Howard Hawks creates excitement much as he did with “Red River” 1948 (Episode 71), “The Thing from Another World’ 1951 (Episode 59), and many other excellent films.

The cast includes Cary Grant as Geoff Carter the Manager and lead pilot, Jean Arthur as Bonnie Lee the piano player-entertainer, Richard Barthelmess is Bat MacPherson a hated pilot who redeems himself, Judy MacPherson played by Rita Hayworth in her first major role, Thomas Mitchell as “Kid” Dabb best friend of Carter, and many others.  Fasten seat belts for this movie.

Here’s the IMDB page for “Only Angels Have Wing”

Watch the full movie for free on YouTube here.

And listen to the Lux Radio adaptation here on YouTube.

“Bicycle Thieves” also known as “Bicycle Thief” 1948 is an Italian drama that presents a Rome family struggling with unemployment, poverty, and the aftermath of World War II.  Director Vittorio De Sica captures this subsistence life with exceptional use of black and white cinematography, melancholy music, on location street scenes, untrained actors, and devastating events.  The movie won an Academy Award (Special Award) as did Mr. De Sica’s 1946 film “Shoeshine”.

Lamberto Maggiorani plays Antonio Ricci who is hired to hang outdoor wall posters in an assigned area, and he must have a bicycle for the work.  Antonio’s supportive and strong-willed wife Maria is played by Lianella Carell.  Enzo Staiola is masterful as Bruno, Antonio’s 8-year-old son.  The large supportive cast enhances this drama of everyday life.  This film is unforgettable.

Thank you to one of our Patreon members for recommending “Bombshell” 1933 for this podcast.  Director Victor Fleming has created a fast-paced comedy.  Among Mr. Fleming’s many successes are “The Wizard of Oz” 1939 (Episode 144) and “Gone with the Wind” 1939.

The talented Jean Harlow plays Lola Burns.  Lola is “fed up” with the never-ending stories orchestrated in the press by Publicist E. J. “Space” Hanlon played by Lee Tracy.  Lola’s father played by Frank Morgan and her brother played by Ted Healy create chaotic situations made more unpredictable by those large shaggy dogs engulfing Lola and her entourage.  Then mix in Franchot Tone as the wealthy and romantic Gifford Middleton to maybe carry Lola away from this wildness.  All this adds to our enjoyment of the movie. Madcap fun indeed!

Here’s the IMDB page for “Bombshell”

Up next is “King Solomon’s Mines”

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“The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” is directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and stars Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison in the lead roles with Edna Best, George Sanders, Vanessa Brown and Natalie Wood providing excellent supporting characters. Charles Lang, the cinematographer deserves a special mention as well. And of course the moving music by Bernard Hermann.

This is a wonderful movie about loss and love, life and death, hopes and dreams, and ultimately about the strength to carry on when life is throwing one difficult challenge after another at you.

Bob and I dive into great detail and cover both the film and the music. This is after all the first movie of our Bernard Hermann film festival.

So with that I would leave you with two thoughts, the first is to be sure and watch the movie before listening to the podcast if you can, as we do talk about the ending. And secondly, give this article on the music by Bernard Hermann a read, either before, after or during the movie. It really helped me understand the music and the use of leitmotifs, a style of film scoring that apparently Bernard Hermann only used in this film.