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Humphrey Bogart's portrayal in The Big Sleep remains the iconic standard for Philip Marlowe movies, capturing the essence of classic film noir. Marlowe in The Big Sleep embodies the quintessential hard-boiled detective, with wit, charm, and a morally ambiguous femme fatale. Bogart's performance set the bar high for future portrayals of Marlowe, cementing his place as an enduring figure in the history of cinema.

The hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe was among the most famous private investigators in cinema and has been portrayed in several acclaimed movies over the years. As a hard-drinking, no-nonsense, wise-cracking detective, Marlowe was created by the writer Raymond Chandler and versions of him appeared in short stories, novels, and a dozen feature films. Marlowe first gained prominence in the film noirs of the 1940s but has since maintained an important place in popular culture and has been continually reimagined and revived for new audiences by acclaimed writers,...

One of Alfred Hitchcock's most beloved films also happens to be one of the most technically challenging productions; in the days before CGI, orchestrating a creature feature was a daunting task — but not too daunting for a filmmaker known for pioneering storytelling techniques. "The Birds" is Hitchcock's thrilling 1963 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 1952 story of the same name, concerning a series of sudden, violent bird attacks on the people of the sleepy seaside town of Bodega Bay, California.

A collection of interviews with the Master of Suspense dropped in 2003, containing a fascinating conversation between the director and Bruce Lane about the training involved with the feathered antagonists. The script called for birds to orchestrate mass assaults, dive at windows and, in one of the most impeccably-constructed suspense scenes of all time, assemble and attack schoolchildren. Hitchcock credits good trainers and good old movie magic for the stupefying result:

Training?...

Does a musical have to have big dance numbers, glorious cinematography and stereophonic sound? I agree with a consensus of critics and fans that this 1932 pre-Code marvel is the best musical romance of all. Maurice Chevalier may be ‘nothing but a tailor’ yet he steals the heart of Jeanette MacDonald’s princess and shocks her titled, discriminating family. Forget MGM operetta saccharine and say hello to a sexed-up fling annotated with suggestive pre-Code dialogue and song lyrics. Some of the better naughty content is delivered by Myrna Loy, who was never as gloriously slinky-seductive. Isn’t it romantic?

Love Me Tonight

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1932 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 104, 96 min. / Street Date September 9, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Charles Ruggles, Charles Butterworth, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith, Elizabeth Patterson, Ethel Griffies, Joseph Cawthorne, Robert Greig.

Cinematography: Victor Milner

Film Editor: William Shea

Original Music: John Leipold

Songs: Lorenz Hart,...

“The Ruler Of Ambrosia”

By Raymond Benson

Director John Schlesinger emerged from the so-called British New Wave, or “Free Cinema Movement,” of the late 1950s/early 60s, that was typified by pictures made by maverick filmmakers working with low budgets and concentrating on working-class heroes in often bleak settings of smaller towns around Britain.

Billy Liar, based on the novel by Keith Waterhouse and the stage play by Waterhouse and Willis Hall (with a screenplay by Waterhouse and Hall), was Schlesinger’s second film, and it is an exhilarating demonstration of the director’s confidence and talent. Schlesinger would go on to direct such classics as Darling (1965) and Midnight Cowboy (1969).

Filmed in widescreen black and white, the tale focuses on Billy Fisher a young man who still lives with his stodgy parents and a grandmother in a Yorkshire town. He juggles three girlfriends and a job at a mortuary that he hates,...

Do you ever lapse into daydream fantasies to escape from everyday life? Tom Courtenay and John Schlesinger changed their destinies and that of Julie Christie with this brilliant (black?) comedy about what ought to be a tragic situation. The frustrated Billy rebels against his dull routine with outrageous lies and chicanery, but hasn’t the courage to strike forth on his own — even when invited to do so by the girl of his dreams. Schlesinger’s delightful directorial style applies brash New Wave editing to Billy’s grandiose ‘Walter Mitty’ fantasies.

Billy Liar

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1963 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Tom Courtenay, Julie Christie, Wilfred Pickles, Mona Washbourne, Ethel Griffies, Finlay Currie.

Cinematography: Denys N. Coop

Film Editor: Roger Cherrill

Original Music: Richard Rodney Bennett

Written by Keith Waterhouse, Willis Hall from their play

Produced by Joseph Janni

Directed by...

The Impatient Maiden (1932) is an almost entirely overlooked film, and it's easy to see why, falling as it does between Frankenstein (1931) and The Old Dark House (1932) in director James Whale's Universal career. Those two films are important classics of the horror field, whereas Maiden is a modest romantic comedy that probably nobody had any particular hopes for. Still, as some of Whale's other, lesser-known movies are getting more attention (The Road Back has been restored, and Whale's own favorite film, By Candlelight, has had recent revivals; I'd like to see more attention paid to The Great Garrick and The Man in the Iron Mask) this one might reward attention—or at least I supposed so.How it came into the world: Universal had bought the novel The Impatient Virgin as a vehicle for fading star Clara Bow, who promptly rejected it. The censors mandated a change of title, despite...

'The Beast with a Million Eyes': Hardly truth in advertising as there's no million-eyed beast in Roger Corman's micro-budget sci-fi thriller. 'The Beast with a Million Eyes': Alien invasion movie predates Alfred Hitchcock classic Despite the confusing voice-over introduction, David Kramarsky's[1] The Beast with a Million Eyes a.k.a. The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes is one of my favorite 1950s alien invasion films. Set in an ugly, desolate landscape – shot “for wide screen in terror-scope” in Indio and California's Coachella Valley – the screenplay by future novelist Tom Filer (who also played Jack Nicholson's sidekick in the 1966 Western Ride in the Whirlwind) focuses on a dysfunctional family whose members become the first victims of a strange force from another galaxy after a spaceship lands nearby emitting sound vibrations that turn domestic animals into aggressive killers. Killer cow First, the lady-of-the-house is pecked by a flock of chickens and,...

Rod Taylor dead at 84: Actor best known for 'The Time Machine' and 'The Birds' Rod Taylor, best remembered for the early 1960s movies The Time Machine and The Birds, and for his supporting role as Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's international hit Inglourious Basterds, has died. Taylor suffered a heart attack at his Los Angeles home earlier this morning (January 8, 2015). Born on January 11, 1930, in Sydney, he would have turned 85 on Sunday. Based on H.G. Wells' classic 1895 sci-fi novel, The Time Machine stars Rod Taylor as a H. George Wells, an inventor who comes up with an intricate chair that allows him to travel across time. (In the novel, the Victorian protagonist is referred to simply as the "Time Traveller.") After experiencing World War I and World War II, Wells decides to fast forward to the distant future, ultimately arriving at a place where humankind has been split...

Paul Henreid: Actor was ‘dependable’ leading man to Hollywood actresses Paul Henreid, best known as the man who wins Ingrid Bergman’s body but not her heart in Casablanca, is Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013. TCM will be showing a couple of dozen movies featuring Henreid, who, though never a top star, was a "dependable" — i.e., unexciting but available — leading man to a number of top Hollywood actresses of the ’40s, among them Bette Davis, Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland, Eleanor Parker, Joan Bennett, and Katharine Hepburn. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of Paul Henreid movies to be shown on Turner Classic Movies in July consists of Warner Bros. productions that are frequently broadcast all year long, no matter who is TCM’s Star of the Month. Just as unfortunately, TCM will not present any of Henreid’s little-seen supporting performances of the ’30s, e.

Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 40 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the classic Turner Classic Movies screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”! Oscar winner and star Tippi Hedren will be in attendance at this special screening!

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is bringing the Road to Hollywood tour to Chicago in celebration of the Classic Film Festival this April in Hollywood. Tippi Hedren and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz will conduct a Q&A prior to the start of the film. “The Birds” (1963) stars Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies, Charles McGraw and Ruth McDevitt from director Alfred Hitchcock and writers Daphne Du Maurier and Evan Hunter.

To win your free passes to the Chicago screening of “The Birds” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, get interactive with our new Hookup technology directly below. That’s it!

Universal will mark its 100th anniversary in 2012, and will commemorate its centennial with a yearlong celebration honoring the studio's rich film history and cultural legacy. The campaign draws its inspiration from Universal's extraordinary and diverse library of films, many of which will be highlighted throughout the year, and is designed to engage fans of all ages in the art of moviemaking.

A significant element of the centennial includes the extensive restoration of 13 of the studio's most beloved titles such as To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet on the Western Front, Jaws, The Sting, Out of Africa, Frankenstein and Schindler's List.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment will kick off the celebration in January with a special 50th anniversary release of To Kill a Mockingbird, debuting on Blu-ray for the first time ever. Throughout the year, Universal will pay tribute to other influential films in the Universal library with special events and Blu-ray...