Category: Films

Films

The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur), a film by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1953)

The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur) is a French film from 1953 by Henri-Georges Clouzot, based on a 1950 novel by Georges Arnaud. It was voted the Grand Prize at Cannes in 1953 and Best Film of 1954 by the British Film Academy. The plot is simple, yet the character development and building of suspense is marvelously complex. The story takes place somewhere in South America. … Continue reading The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la peur), a film by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1953)

Chris T. Adamson2 Comments
Book Reviews, Films

A Walk in the Sun, A Review of the Film from 1945, and a Quick Look at the Book

{Ed. Note: This in-depth look at the wonderful 1945 film, A Walk in the Sun, based on the book by the same name from Harry Brown, is by filmmaker Robert Bailey, specially done for Books and Vines.} In the early 1940s, an ambitious young man arrived in Hollywood determined to be the next David O. Selznick. Bessarabian-born, Sorbonne-educated, Samuel Bronston, a nephew of Leon Trotsky, … Continue reading A Walk in the Sun, A Review of the Film from 1945, and a Quick Look at the Book

Chris T. Adamson6 Comments
Films

My Week with Marilyn, from Weinstein Company and BBC Films

Films about films are often dreary affairs. My Week with Marilyn avoids such dreariness due to a strong cast and because it takes a different approach from the norm.  A true story, if one is to believe Colin Clark, based on two diaries he wrote while associated with the making of the 1957 film The Prince and The Showgirl.  The film, directed by and starring Sir Laurence … Continue reading My Week with Marilyn, from Weinstein Company and BBC Films

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Films

Contagion, a Film by Steven Soderbergh

At dinner, after spending a couple hours watching Contagion this past weekend, I could not help but look suspiciously at fellow diners every time someone coughed! Watching people at a restaurant, it is easy to see how a contagious disease could quickly pass from person to person faster than our ability to contain it.  Coughing, handshaking, kissing, sharing drinks, touching the bathroom door handles and … Continue reading Contagion, a Film by Steven Soderbergh

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Films

Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves

I finally got around to watching Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di biciclette),something I long wanted to do, on Criterion Collection DVD.  This Italian film from 1948 is considered one of the greatest films of all time by critics (a Sight and Sound Director’s poll in 2002, listed this as the 6th greatest film ever).  It attains the peak of the Italian neo-realist film movement of the … Continue reading Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves

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