What I Learned From Now, Voyager (1942)

Now, Voyager is one of the great melodramas from the 1940s. It is an emotional roller coaster with Bette Davis delivering one of her best performances as Charlott Vale, a repressed, dowdy spinster who is controlled by her dominating mother (Gladys Cooper). A psychiatrist (Claude Rains) intervenes just as Charlotte is about to have a nervous breakdown and helps her transform into a more self-assured woman. Rather than return to her evil mother’s lair, Charlotte embarks on a cruise where she meets a married man, Jeremiah Duvaux Durrance (Paul Henreid) and the two begin a complicated romance. When Charlotte returns home, she must stand up to her mother while dealing with the lingering affects of her romance.

Here are some very important lessons we can learn from Now, Voyager.

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Friday Night Classic: Woman Of The Year (1942)

Last week I shared some of the movies I didn’t understand when I was younger. Add Woman of the Year to that list. I’ve seen this Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn romantic comedy more times than I can count. Every time it dawns on me that this entire movie is all about sex. There is also a World War II subplot centered around a concentration camp escapee. But it gets brushed over in favor of sex. The things you don’t catch on to as a preteen. Continue reading “Friday Night Classic: Woman Of The Year (1942)”

Friday Night Classic: Double Indemnity (1944)

After revisiting movies like The Asphalt Jungle and Heaven Knows, Mr Allison, I have taken a much needed break from anything John Huston-related. This is essentially on how I settled on watching Double Indemnity, a film noir I have not seen in years.

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Rita Hayworth, the Original Sexy Sea Captain

“Oh Rita, what are you wearing?”

The Lady From Shanghai, in addition to being one crazy film-noir, is one massive love letter to Rita Hayworth from her then-husband Orson Welles. Her often-bikini clad body and her wardrobe become an essential part of the movie, symbolizing her role as a seductress and a desperate woman. She also brings to fashion a style that needs to come back: the sexy sea captain. Seriously, what other actress could get away with this ensemble?

Only you Rita, only you.

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