The last picture of the great director Elia Kazan, The Last Tycoon is also one of his weakest, an unsuccessful adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished final novel, about Monroe Stahr, a brilliant and efficient studio executive (based upon Fitzgerald’s experiences with MGM wunderkind Irving Thalberg). The sensibilities of director Kazan and his scribe (the […]

Last Summer, directed by Frank Perry and written by his wife Eleanor, based on a novel by Evan Hunter, is a poignant coming-of-age tale about a group of aimless, pleasure-seeking teens, who get together for sex, drugs and music on Fire Island. They include the timid, overweight Rhonda (Catherine Burns), who’s manipulated into bad behavior […]

In this popular version of the James Fenimore Cooper novel, directed by George Seitz and adapted by Philip Dunne, Randolph Scott plays Hawkeye, a scout raised by the Indians.  Hawkeye rescues the daughter (Binnie Barnes) of a British officer from the evil magua (Bruce Cabot) during thw French and Indian War. Production values are lavish, […]

Frederic Lonsdale’s play has been adapted into the big screen several times, in 1929 with Norma Shearer, in 1937 with Joan Crawford, and in 1951 with Greer Garson. In this early sound, directed by Sidney Franklin from a scenario by Hans Kraly and Claudine West, Shearer plays an American jewel thief, who her way into […]

Political and romantic intrigues run parallel and then intersect in FrancoisTruffaut’s critical and commercial success, “The Last Metro,” which was inspired by Jean Marais’ memoir about the joys and pains of a Parisian troupe during WWII. In his multi-nuanced narrative, Truffaut blends effectively artistic ambitions, popular storytelling, and technical excellence, resulting in a high-quality but […]