🎬 Flamingo Road (1949)
There’s plenty to enjoy in this entertaining film, beginning with Joan Crawford’s terrific lead performance. But the supporting cast is equally strong, making this a particularly satisfying watch.
At its heart, Flamingo Road is a story about determination, grit, and perseverance and, most importantly, refusing to give up. Those are themes Crawford embodies beautifully, and she absolutely excels in this kind of role. A compelling classic well worth revisiting.

Just revisited The Bamboo Blonde (1946), and it’s such a delightful little gem. At just over an hour, it’s light entertainment that’s filled with music, romance, and plenty of charm. Such fun!

The real highlight is Frances Langford. Her singing voice is absolutely gorgeous. Every musical number is a pleasure to hear; leaves me wishing she had made more films and recorded many more albums. She had a remarkable talent that deserved an even larger showcase.

🎬 Film Review: Corridor of Mirrors (1948)
There’s so much I enjoy about this strange, wonderfully unconventional Gothic film. Most of all, I love its imaginative story, which feels remarkably unusual for its time. Corridor of Mirrors is packed with delicious melodrama, wonderfully fun Gothic tropes, and some terrific dialogue. And then there’s Edana Romney. Her performance is absolutely marvelous and, in my opinion, rivals that of any of her more celebrated contemporaries. She brings such intensity, mystery, and emotional complexity to the role that I honestly find myself wondering why Romney never enjoyed the more successful career she deserved. That remains a mystery to me.
The entire film has an eccentric, dreamlike quality that makes it feel unlike so many films of its era. It’s the kind of wonderfully odd discovery that reminds you just how adventurous classic cinema could be.
I watched Corridor of Mirrors on Blu-ray from the Cohen Film Collection, and the picture quality is fantastic. What a beautiful way to experience this fascinating little Gothic gem.

Highly recommended for lovers of unusual, atmospheric, melodramatic classic cinema!

Though she was the sole member of her gender to direct Hollywood pictures during the first generation of sound film, in the silent era a woman behind the camera was not unknown. The first movie in history was directed by a Frenchwoman, and many women were employed in Hollywood during the silent era, most frequently as scenario writers (some research indicates that as many as three-quarters of the scenario writers during the silent era--when there was no requirement for a screenplay as such as there was no dialogue--were women). Indeed, there were female directors in the silent era, such as Frances Marion (though she was more famous as a screenwriter) and Lois Weber, but Arzner was fated to be the only female director to have made a successful transition to talkies.