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Grand action entertainment bursts forth on the high seas, showing us how much production value Golden Hollywood could lavish on an exciting, artful swashbuckler. Errol Flynn is at his glorious best, backed by greats like Flora Robson, Henry Daniell and Claude Rains in fine form. The special effects and full-sized ship sets impress in ways that computer generated images never will. And the rousing music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold seals the deal — the term ‘Timeless Classic’ was invented for marvels like this.

The Sea Hawk

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1940 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 127 min. / Street Date December 18, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson, Alan Hale, Henry Daniell, Una O’Connor, James Stephenson, Gilbert Roland, William Lundigan, Julien Mitchell, Montagu Love, J.M. Kerrigan, David Bruce, Fritz Leiber, Francis McDonald, Pedro de Cordoba, Ian Keith, Jack La Rue, Halliwell Hobbes, Victor Varconi,...

What? Not another Hungarian silent film from 1914 -- how many can the market bear? Actually, the rarity and high quality of this amazing rediscovery is nothing to laugh at. Michael Curtiz made fifty or sixty features before coming to America, and this sentimental melodrama shows us that basic entertainment values haven't changed. The Undesirable Blu-ray Olive Films 1914 / B&W with color tints / 1:33 flat full frame / 67 min. / "A tolonc" / The Exile / Street Date January 19, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring Lili Berky, Mari Jaszai, Victor Varconi . Cinematography László Fekete New Music Attila Pacsay Written by Jenö Janovics from a play by Ede Tóth Directed by Kertész Mihály (Michael Curtiz)

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

They tell us that most silent films are lost forever, and a look at the missing titles in the filmography of Michael Curtiz makes us realize just how true that is. Although not a household name...

Susan Hayward. Susan Hayward movies: TCM Star of the Month Fiery redhead Susan Hayward it Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in Sept. 2015. The five-time Best Actress Oscar nominee – like Ida Lupino, a would-be Bette Davis that only sporadically landed roles to match the verve of her thespian prowess – was initially a minor Warner Bros. contract player who went on to become a Paramount second lead in the early '40s, a Universal leading lady in the late '40s, and a 20th Century Fox star in the early '50s. TCM will be presenting only three Susan Hayward premieres, all from her Fox era. Unfortunately, her Paramount and Universal work – e.g., Among the Living, Sis Hopkins, And Now Tomorrow, The Saxon Charm – which remains mostly unavailable (in quality prints), will remain unavailable this month. Highlights of the evening include: Adam Had Four Sons (1941), a sentimental but surprisingly...

Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...

Fred Astaire ca. 1935. Fred Astaire movies: Dancing in the dark, on the ceiling on TCM Aug. 5, '15, is Fred Astaire Day on Turner Classic Movies, as TCM continues with its “Summer Under the Stars” series. Just don't expect any rare Astaire movies, as the actor-singer-dancer's star vehicles – mostly Rko or MGM productions – have been TCM staples since the early days of the cable channel in the mid-'90s. True, Fred Astaire was also featured in smaller, lesser-known fare like Byron Chudnow's The Amazing Dobermans (1976) and Yves Boisset's The Purple Taxi / Un taxi mauve (1977), but neither one can be found on the TCM schedule. (See TCM's Fred Astaire movie schedule further below.) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals Some fans never tire of watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing together. With these particular fans in mind, TCM is showing – for the nth time – nine Astaire-Rogers musicals of the '30s,...

Zellweger, Gere, Zeta-Jones, and Latifah: ten years later, Chicago cast to be reunited at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, Renée Zellweger, and Richard Gere, who starred in director Rob Marshall's 2003 Best Picture Oscar winner Chicago, will join forces once again -- but as presenters at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony next February 24. Show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced the latest additions earlier today. (Pictured above: Zellweger, Gere doing a dance number in Chicago.) Remember that the 2013 ceremony is supposed to revolve around a Hollywood Musical theme, and that a decade ago Chicago became the last musical to win the Academy's Best Picture accolade. And here's a curious coincidence: It has also been a whole decade since a Directors Guild of America Award winner failed to also win the Academy Award in the Best Director category -- something that is bound to take...

Chicago, the restored 1927 silent (unofficially) directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring perky Phyllis Haver (right, with Victor Varconi) as Roxie Hart, is being released on DVD by Flicker Alley, in collaboration with The Blackhawk Films Collection. The 2002 Chicago remake, based on Bob Fosse’s musical which itself was taken from Maurine Watkins‘ stage play, starred Renee Zellweger (as Roxie), Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere. It was a good-sized box-office and critical hit. Directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay by Bill Condon (who’ll next be directing The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn), Chicago won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress (Zeta-Jones). I’m probably in the minority here, but I thought the Chicago remake was all [...]...

"Sound and Silents" is the title of a four-film series — part of the wider "Birds Eye View Film Festival" celebrating women filmmakers — to be held at London’s bfi Southbank and the Barbican from March 6-10. The four screening silent films are: King Vidor’s The Patsy (1928), starring Marion Davies; Sidney Franklin’s Her Sister from Paris (1925), starring Constance Talmadge and Ronald Colman (right); Cecil B. DeMille’s Chicago (1927), with Phyllis Haver and Victor Varconi; and Lotte Reiniger’s animated The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926). All four films will feature live musical accompaniment. The most enjoyable of the four is Sidney Franklin’s Lubitschesque Her Sister from Paris, which offers Constance Talmadge at her screwballish best — and this before screwball [...]...