Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life is a Christmas stalwart – it’s upbeat message encapsulated in the climactic scene of a deliriously happy James Stewart yelling ‘Merry Christmas’ at passersby in a picture perfect snowy town. And yet…the vast majority of the lengthy run-time is actually rather bleak and depressing. Stewart’s character attempts suicide and…
Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo has been ranked in recent polls of film critics as the greatest movie of all time. I have to respectfully disagree with that. Its not even my favourite Hitchcock film – not by a long shot! I must admit I find it very slow and boring, which is one of the reasons…
Spirit Of St Louis
This is a movie I feel I should have seen, but if so I remember nothing about it. It is a biopic of aviator Charles Lindbergh, and specifically his history-making 33 hour transatlantic flight in the plane of the title. The great Billy Wilder directs, and the 25 year-old Lindbergh is played by the 47…
Rear Window
Rear Window is one of Hitchcock’s greatest movies, indeed one of the greatest movies ever. Hitchcock ingeniously makes full use of the single location set to explore one of his favourite themes: voyeurism. James Stewart plays a photographer with a broken leg, driven to distraction by boredom cooped up in his apartment, who amuses himself…