1940s

1941 was an interesting time for the US as the country started the year off as a passive, neutral observer of what Germany and Hitler were doing in Europe and ended with the attack on Pearl Harbor, leading the US to officially enter WWII. And while Fritz Lang’s 1941 anti-Nazi film “Man Hunt” was rushed by Darryl F. Zanuck and 20th Century Fox into production then subsequently theatres to be current, they still had to contend with the Production Code and how the film would be seen by people while the Neutrality Act was still in effect. It’s a film that reflects the time in which it was made really well, giving us insight now not just how the filmmakers were thinking, but how society and the government were all thinking and working together (or against each other). Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our Fritz Lang series with “Man Hunt.”

The two films most often cited as the ultimate representations of film noir are Billy Wilder’s 1944 film “Double Indemnity” and Jacques Tourneur’s 1947 film “Out of the Past.” Tourneur’s film gives us Robert Mitchum at his laconic best, Jane Greer at her sexiest and Kirk Douglas in one of his earliest roles but already defined by his machismo. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Film Noir series with “Out of the Past.”

Fritz Lang may have often had conflicts with his producers, but when he turned out a great film, he made so great that it’s easy to look past his argumentative nature and just focus on the end product. Well, perhaps more so now than at the time. Sure, he had his stinkers, but looking at a magnificent film like “Scarlet Street,” it’s easy to forgive any battles he started and just relish the brilliance of the story. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Film Noir series with Lang’s 1945 masterpiece, “Scarlet Street.”

There are good films noir and there are bad films noir. But rarely do you have a case like 1945’s “Detour,” directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, where the poor quality that would make it a bad film could actually be construed as elements that make it a good film. In fact, this is arguably the only case where that happened. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our Film Noir series with Ulmer’s “Detour.”

Sir Alec Guinness may always be remembered as Obi Wan Kenobi, but his career goes far beyond those three little science fiction films he did late in his career. He worked many times with David Lean. He gave life to the spy George Smiley long before Gary Oldman. And he starred in a number of the great Ealing comedies, his first of which is Kind Hearts and Coronets, where he pulls a Peter Sellers by playing eight of the characters in the film. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we begin our Sir Alec Guinness series by talking about Robert Hamer’s 1949 comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets.

Happy holidays! It’s time for another Christmas movie pick to celebrate, and we’re jumping back to 1947 to talk about Henry Koster’s “The Bishop’s Wife.” Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we dive into this perennial classic starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven.

It’s the holiday season again which means it’s time for us — Pete and Andy — to talk about another holiday classic! Join us as we talk about Peter Godfrey’s screwball war comedy from 1945, “Christmas in Connecticut.”

In 1948, John Huston managed to crank out two of his most well-known films – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a masterpiece that received many accolades but took a while to warm up at the box office, and Key Largo, a noirish crime film that takes place during a hurricane on the Florida Keys which did great at the box office but didn’t create a big splash in the awards circles.