Veronica Lake

Decay is an obvious reason why films are lost. Amnesia makes bigger damage. Yesterday's superstars are sometimes today's unknown.In 1997 in Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential, Kim Basinger played the part of a prostitute made up to look like Veronica Lake to please her customers. An homage to the popularity of one of the most famous Paramount stars of the 40s who, comparatively, fell into oblivion today.Veronica Lake was short (4' 11½), had a crooked...

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Snow White (1916)

I was able to see this film by purchasing a DVD of documentary called Once Upon a Time Walt Disney, At the sources of the Art of the Disney Studios by Samuel Doux. This was available at the Grand Palais of Paris where a unique exhibit of Disney Art and European Art that inspired the Disney artists took place in 2006.It is my pride to own some original artwork from Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Disney produced this first animated color feature...

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Stage Fright

Stage Fright is a grossly underrated film, disavowed by its very own maker Alfred Hitchcock. It seems that the main reason is an opening flashback which reveals the audience events that never happened, leaving the viewer allegedly betrayed about the plot. There is, of course, truth to this and it may be considered that the director did not play by the rules but I honestly feel that this one little fault cannot possibly erase all the other qualities...

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The Avengers

You think only silent movies from before the thirties were lost? Each new medium has to find its way and television wasn't always the HD 3D multichannel marvel that it is today. Once upon a time it was a one channel black and white blurry wonder.As a matter of fact, no doubt viewers were more starry-eyed than we are today, no matter what the screen displayed. You may know that originally, programs were mostly broadcast live, with no way to...

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The White Shadow

My blood boiled when I read this newsflash:Early Alfred Hitchcock effort discoveredCould it be that The Mountain Eagle was discovered after all these years? I had posted previously about this film. Well, no, but the discovery is still a fantastic one: in New Zealand, they found 3 reels (out of 6), from a 1923 film directed by Graham Cutts called The White Shadow. And this is one of the first films on which Alfred Hitchcock started to accumulate jobs...

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