With the 2021 TCM Classic Film Festival just gearing up, I can already say that I’m firmly on-board with this year’s highly detailed, virtual approach. This is made delightfully more … Continue Reading TCMFF 2021: In the Footsteps of Speedy
Regular readers of Ticklish Business know, there are a few hills which I’m prepared to die on. It seems, we’re finding these hills early on as the TCM Classic Film … Continue Reading TCMFF 2021: Uncovering the Naked City
There’s always an air of suspicion when the family of a subject decides to create a documentary on their behalf. Will it be honest and forthright or will it be … Continue Reading Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020)
Some of my favorite documentaries are ones that look at unfinished projects and pieces of film history that have been allowed to slip through the cracks or, in this case, … Continue Reading The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (2016)
This is reposted as part of the Summer Under the Stars blogathon To audiences, Buster Keaton is “the Great Stoneface.” A man capable of conjuring laughs from doing little more … Continue Reading The Great Buster (2018)
This is reposted as part of the Summer Under the Stars blogathon So back story into why I sought out Young Man With a Horn to today’s review: I reviewed a … Continue Reading Young Man With a Horn (1950)
The tragedy and sadness of Montgomery Clift’s life is well-documented. As a montage in Robert Anderson Clift and Hillary Demmon’s documentary, Making Montgomery Clift, shows, the actor with the impossibly … Continue Reading Making Montgomery Clift (2018)
As classic film fans will tell you, the new wave of Hollywood secrets coming out today are nothing if you know about studio era history. Certain stars troubles were well-known, … Continue Reading Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018)
In a world of CGI and franchise starters, we’ve lost sight of the hard work that used to go into filmmaking, like when a poster image was hand-drawn by an … Continue Reading Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story (2015)
ZZ Top once sang “Every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed man.” Costume designer Orry-Kelly was Hollywood’s most sharp-dressed man, whose techniques swathed several legendary leading ladies in their best finery. Women He’s … Continue Reading Women He’s Undressed (2015)
To many, Tab Hunter’s name doesn’t inspire any recognition. But for those who enjoy obscure and studio era cinema, Hunter’s both an intriguing outcast who made quite the career comeback through the … Continue Reading Tab Hunter Confidential (2015)
Certain stars are larger than life, and with that reputation comes a tendency for documentaries and biographies to glamorize or deify their subject, placing them in a league above men … Continue Reading Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)
My experience with the works of Frank Sinatra are amateurish. I’ve watched a few of his films and I know his hits (haven’t listened to any of the deep cuts). … Continue Reading Sinatra: All or Nothing At All (2015)
Halloween is upon us and that means witches rule the week (outside of a few backdated reviews I hope to get up). Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages is the oldest … Continue Reading Haxan (1922)
Our final tribute to Nick and Nora Charles is a pair of documentaries included with the Complete Thin Man box set. (I assumed the final disc, Alias Nick and Nora, … Continue Reading Alias Nick and Nora (1991/2005)
Regulars to the site know of my tendency to discuss the roles of women in cinema, and the classic film era simultaneously marginalized and provided opportunities for women in Hollywood. … Continue Reading Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women in Hollywood (2000)
