Classic Cinema Zone

A sensation both as an actress and as a singer, Doris Day typified the All-American girl next door whose shining virginal persona onscreen belied a private life plagued by abuse and multiple marriages. As an actress, Day delivered exuberant performances in a string of musicals and comedies, ultimately becoming the top box office star in the early 1960s thanks to a trio of collaborations with Rock Hudson. Though she tried subverting her virginal image with the occasional thriller, where she displayed considerable chops as a dramatic actress, Day found her greatest success with fluffy romantic comedies that eventually fell out of favor during the sexual revolution of the mid-1960s. Still, Day was fondly remembered by legions of classic movies decades after she retired and today remains one of the era’s most popular performers. Here is a list of eight fantastic movies starring Doris Day.

Former competitive swimmer and star of numerous so-called “aquamusicals” Esther Williams died today in her Beverly Hills, CA home. She was 91. Williams rose to prominence as a medal-winning swimmer in Los Angeles who planned to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics, only to see her dreams of gold medal glory dashed by the outbreak World War II. … Read Full Post

Usually I’m hard-pressed to find enough movies for this article, but this month there are tons of classics being released on Blu-ray. In fact, there are so many that I need two lists. Those making the transfer in part I are a classic World War II action thriller; an iconic biblical musical; a searing courtroom drama starring Paul Newman; an experimental thriller from Alfred Hitchcock starring James Stewart; a biopic of a Mexican revolutionary with Marlon Brando; and a psychological Western adapted from an early Elmore Leonard short story. As always, these releases make for great gifts for casual fans and classic movie buffs alike.

A new digital restoration of the classic 1968 musical Funny Girl will open the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival with a world premiere at the festival’s Opening Night Gala tonight. … Read Full Post

A former aspiring musician and law student born in Austria, Fred Zinnemman found himself in Hollywood in the early 1930s, where he made a number of B-movies before scoring a hit with ‘The Seventh Cross’ (1944) and earning his first Academy Award nomination for ‘The Search’ (1948). But it wasn’t until the next decade that he hit his stride with his revisionist Western ‘High Noon,’ and went on to direct highly acclaimed and commercially successful films for the next two decades, several of which have become all-time classics. Over the course of the next three decades, he would direct stunning films in genres as varied as thrillers, Westerns, film noir and even musicals. The winner of two Oscars and director of some of Hollywood’s biggest hits, Zinnemann left behind a legacy as one of cinema’s most accomplished filmmakers.

A former editor who cut such classics as William Dieterle’s iThe Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (1939) and Orson Welles’ ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941), Robert Wise was that rare director who could make exceptional films in a wide array of genres. Whether film noir, science fiction or lavish musicals, Wise was a gifted craftsman whose influence on filmmaking has been far greater than most realize.

Released this month are two classic musicals starring Barbra Streisand; another great Shakespeare adaptation from Laurence Olivier; a little-known comedy from William Wellman starring James Stewart; and Jay Clayton’s glossy adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece. Of course, all the films being released this month make great gifts for both casual fans and films buffs alike.

Whether whimsical musicals populated with leprechauns or dark thrillers about the conflict between Northern Ireland and England, there’s a movie about Ireland that will fit just about anyone’s taste. Here’s a list of classic movies about Ireland that can be enjoyed on St. Patrick’s Day or any other time of year.

A former theater actor turned director, Otto Preminger quickly made a name for himself outside the studio system by directing a number of classic movies containing controversial material that challenged the authority of Hollywood’s restrictive production code. Whether film noir, musicals or courtroom dramas, Preminger used taboo subjects like sexuality and drug use to make several challenging films that hold up even today. Though he was the victim of his own excessive ambitions later in his career, Preminger remained one of classic Hollywood’s most significant directors.

With the old studio system decaying and the abolition of the Hays Code in the face of rapid social change, movies in the 1960s increasingly became more experimental. But the winners of Best Picture throughout most of the decade were decidedly traditional, however, with four winners being musicals despite that old staple’s general decline; something that never happened even during the genre’s heyday of the 1930s and 1940s. By the end of the decade, the classic era had finally given way to New Hollywood with the first and so far only X-rated Best Picture winner, lining up the Second Golden Age of the 1970, one of cinema’s greatest decades.