Classic Movie Reviews

“Bicycle Thieves” also known as “Bicycle Thief” 1948 is an Italian drama that presents a Rome family struggling with unemployment, poverty, and the aftermath of World War II. Director Vittorio De Sica captures this subsistence life with exceptional use of black and white cinematography, melancholy music, on location street scenes, untrained actors, and devastating events. The movie won an Academy Award (Special Award) as did Mr. De Sica’s 1946 film “Shoeshine”.Lamberto Maggiorani plays Antonio Ricci who is hired to hang outdoor wall posters in an assigned area, and he must have a bicycle for the work. Antonio’s supportive and strong-willed wife Maria is played by Lianella Carell. Enzo Staiola is masterful as Bruno, Antonio’s 8-year-old son. The large supportive cast enhances this drama of everyday life. This film is unforgettable.

Our podcast covers time travel movies.“Time After Time” 1979 from Director Nicholas Meyer transports us to H.G. Wells and his search for Doctor John Leslie Stevenson known as Jack-the-Ripper. Malcolm McDowell is H.G. Wells, Mary Steenburgen plays Amy Robbins who assists Wells, with Jack-the-Ripper played by David Warner.“Somewhere in Time” 1980 by Director Jeannot Szwarc is the timeless love story between Elise Mckenna and Richard Collier. It unfolds at the Grand Hotel on beautiful Mackinac Island, Michigan. Christopher Reeve plays Richard Collier, Jane Seymour is Elise McKenna, and Christopher Plummer plays William Fawcett Robinson Ms. McKenna’s manager and Mr. Collier’s nemesis. “Somewhere in Time” has unforgettable music composed by John Barry with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for added beauty.Enjoy!Here's the IMDB page for Time After Time Here's the IMDB page for Somewhere In Time Here's a YouTube playlist of 10 memorable scenes from Time After Time

“Sextette” 1978 is Mae West’s last film and showcases her talents and one liners. The movie is a wedding day mash-up of oddball characters, funny situations, antics of ex-husbands, an international peace conference, musical numbers, and a potpourri of stars. Director Ken Hughes created this big budget smorgasbord that sank at the box office.Mae West is Marlo Manners/Lady Barrington the new bride of sixth husband Sir Michael Barrington played by Timothy Dalton. Sir Michael is also a secret agent. Dom DeLuise plays Dan Turner trying to hold everything together while also performing a search and dancing. The ex-husbands include Tony Curtis as Alexi Andreyev Karansky, Ringo Starr as Laslo Karony, and George Hamilton as Vance Norton. The cast includes Alice Cooper as Alice Cooper/Waiter and many cameo appearances. What a film!You can watch Sextette on YouTube here (at least as of this posting).https://youtu.be/swS-9j3BuAE

We incorrectly said Robert Wise never directed a western. Mr. Wise directed these westerns - “Two Flags West” 1950, “Tribute to a Bad Man” 1956, and “Blood on the Moon” 1948. We apologize for our oversight. The creativity of Mr. Wise is seen throughout “Blood on the Moon”.Robert Mitchum as Jim Garry rides into a conflict involving Robert Preston as Tate Riling who has a scheme to profit from a cattle swindle effecting John Lufton played by Tom Tully, reservation food prices, and U.S. Government purchasing costs. Aiding Riling is corrupt Government Agent Jake Pindalest played by Frank Faylen. Lufton’s two daughters Amy and Carol played by Barbara Bel Geddes and Phyllis Thaxter disagree over the motives of Riling and Garry. Walther Brennan as Kris Barden is excellent.