Tag Archives: film based on a novel

a noir road movie in the ’40s (film: Detour – Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945)

‘Detour‘ (1945) is a very special and unusual film in the cinematic landscape of the ’40s. Although it was made in Hollywood, it is not a production of the major studios. The way it was made is closer to what … Continue reading

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Edward G. Robinson at his best (fim: Scarlet Street – Fritz Lang, 1945)

‘Scarlet Street‘, the 1945 film by Fritz Lang, once again demonstrates that many of the secrets of the filmmaking profession were already discovered and used by the masters of cinema of those times. Here is a film made almost 80 … Continue reading

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Altman’s anti-western (film: McCabe & Mrs. Miller – Robert Altman, 1971)

Robert Altman called ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller‘ (1971) an ‘anti-western’ while some critics classify it as a ‘revisionist’ western. The story and the setting are those of the classic films of the genre. We are in a frontier town in … Continue reading

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the only true love of Casanova (film: Een Schitterend Gebrek / A Beautiful Imperfection – Micheil van Erp, 2024)

I seldom get the chance to see Dutch films, and that’s one of the reasons I chose to see ‘Een Schitterend Gebrek‘ (2024 – the English title is ‘A Beautiful Imperfection‘). It’s not a 100% Dutch production, but a co-production … Continue reading

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BB at best (film: Une ravissante idiote – Édouard Molinaro, 1964)

Looking for a comedy to improve my mood, I came across a gem of the genre – ‘Une ravissante idiote‘, the 1964 film by Édouard Molinaro. Many of the French comedies of that period are among my favorites, and now … Continue reading

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Marylin Monroe in the Far West (film: River of No Return – Otto Preminger, Jean Negulesco, 1954)

I chose to watch ‘River of No Return‘, a 70-year-old western film for a few reasons. First of all, because Marilyn Monroe, who has the opportunity to demonstrate her talent as an actress in addition to her physical beauty and … Continue reading

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Hercule Poirot in the Holy Land (film: Appointment with Death – Michael Winner, 1988)

Michael Winner‘s ‘Appointment to Death‘ (1988) is the sixth and last film in the series of adaptations of Agatha Christie’s novels starring Hercule Poirot and starring Peter Ustinov. In several places I read that it is also considered the weakest … Continue reading

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for a piece of metal (film: Cross of Iron – Sam Peckinpah, 1977)

Any good war movie can only be an anti-war movie. This axiom is also confirmed by ‘Cross of Iron‘, the 1977 film by Sam Peckinpah, the only war film by the American director who was a master of western films … Continue reading

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‘The Master’ of our times (film: Master i Margarita / The Master and Margarita – Michael Lockshin, 2023)

Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel ‘The Master and Margarita’ was written between 1928 and 1940, but the writer never saw it published. The first – censored – version of the book appeared in the USSR in 1966. I guess this is the … Continue reading

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cool psychological thriller on the shores of the Lac Léman (film: Merci pour le chocolat – Claude Chabrol, 2000)

In 2000, Claude Chabrol, having turned 70 years old, was entering his last decade of life and cinematic career. ‘Merci pour le chocolat‘ (distributed in the English-language market under the rather funny title ‘Nightcap‘) was the sixth film in which … Continue reading

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