Reel Classics - Where Black Meets White

“Why do people have to love people, anyway?” By the time the 1960’s rolled around in America, the infamous Production Code that was implemented in the 1930’s was clearly losing its grip in Hollywood. The years of filmmakers sliding in double-meaning lines of dialogue and skirting  ...

“Orson Welles had a perception of everything in the film, including the music. He knew. He truly understood film scoring. …Touch of Evil was one of the best things I’ve ever done.” - Henry Mancini And it shows, too.  From Mancini’s score to ...

“The things we like best are either illegal, immoral or fattening.” It starts on a boat – an ocean liner headed to New York. Two strangers who enjoy a life of indulgences have a chance meeting when a telegram caught in the wind brings them together. Despite being engaged to their own respective  ...

Elwood P. Dood has a really BIG secret.  No, it’s not his constant drinking, which might be a cause for alarm in and of itself.  It’s his friend; his drinking buddy; and the only person who shares his innermost secrets with.  His best friend in the whole wide world is invisible.  He’s also 6-foot tall ...

We’re in the money!  We’re in the money!   Well, not everyone, but that doesn’t mean the star-studded comic song-and-dance spectacle of following the exploits of chorus girls Polly, Carol, and Trixie around New York City while they scratch about trying to land parts in the next BIG Broadway  ...

“Talk to me later. I’m killing myself.” With a noose hanging around his neck, dramatically (and quite insincerely) calling out the name of the gorgeous chambermaid he is in love with, this is probably one of the most brilliantly understated ways of introducing Bob Hope’s title character in Monsieur ...

Cue the music and pull back the “safety curtain.” You are in for a fun one.  It is one of the most over-looked projects in Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography, but Stage Fright, has no shortage of suspense from the master himself. In this piece of theater, virtually every character plays the roles of  ...

“I like being shipwrecked!” As far as Hitchcock romantic comedies go, well…you probably did not even know one existed! (I did not even know one existed). In fact, the whole idea that Alfred Hitchcock has quite a few comedies credited to his filmography seems more unnerving than any of his ...

Director Jack Arnold was Universal’s go-to guy when they wanted a quick hit.  He proved himself mightily as he churned out classics like It Came from Outer Space (1953), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Revenge of the Creature (1955), Tarantula (1955), and The Incredible Shrinking  ...

Loretta Young is a wholesome brunette no more!  As a naive blonde bombshell, this one-time gangster’s moll finds herself with a deep, dark secret.  Because of You is the film that launched Tony Bennett's career as the title song became his first Number 1 hit, but it is also progressive for its era ...