When I was a little girl, I watched soap operas with my mother, making me a life-long fan of the many subgenres and stylings of melodrama. In addition to the daytime dramas, we faithfully tuned in every Tuesday and Thursday evening to watch Peyton Place, a prime-time soap based on Grace Metalious’s originally scandalous novel. [...]

Each month, my film-discussion group meets for a lively brunch to discuss a topic agreed on in the previous meeting. At the end of September, we will meet to talk about the films and careers of selected female directors. One of the films on the suggested viewing list is the early indie film Wanda, which [...]

As a former editor, I am annoyed that the items listed in the tagline above are not parallel: After all, it should be “Lesbians, Martial Arts, High Heels and Sciences.” But, then again, that is the least of the problems on the sellsheet for Minty the Assassin, a title offered by Cinema Epoch, which specializes [...]

In 1939, Joan Blondell left Warner Bros. for Columbia after her husband at the time, Dick Powell, decided that neither of them was getting their due from Jack Warner. Blondell worked regularly on the radio and on Broadway during the 1940s, only periodically returning to Hollywood. She divorced Powell, the love of her life, in [...]

The Silent Film Society of Chicago launched their Summer Film Festival a couple of weeks ago, and this year’s line-up includes A Girl in Every Port featuring Louise Brooks, Why Change Your Wife? with Gloria Swanson, Heart o’ the Hills starring Mary Pickford, Sunrise with Janet Gaynor, The Cardboard Lover featuring Marion Davies and The [...]

Last week’s post on memorable movie hats for women was fun and enlightening but time consuming because of the laborious process of researching examples. Women’s hats tend to be unique variations on specific styles or one-of-a-kind haute couture designs. To find examples, I wracked my brain to recall films, stars, or female characters that might [...]

At the turn of the 20th century, a woman could be reprimanded by her husband for appearing in public without a hat, which was considered an essential article of clothing. According to the website Fashion Era, a woman once embarrassed her family because she left her house without her hat even though she was merely [...]

During post-WWII Hollywood, film noir emerged to reflect, represent, and even romanticize the corruption, dissatisfaction, and cynicism lurking beneath the veneer of normalcy and optimism that America so desperately clung to after a hard-fought war. A pessimistic genre that is dark in theme and visual design, film noir critiqued or challenged America’s social institutions—law and [...]

Since its inception a couple of years ago, Facets Night School has morphed into more than a midnight movie series. It’s a place where cinephiles can watch and ruminate on a crazy mix of classic, exploitation, genre, and even silent films. The diversity comes from our unique spin on the midnight movie series: Each week [...]