Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945, 111min)

This potent mixture of melodrama and film noir was nominated for six Oscars and features a standout performance by Joan Crawford. When police interrogate restaurateur Mildred Pierce (Crawford) after finding her second husband dead, will her obsession with her selfish oldest daughter (Ann Blyth), cause Mildred to sacrifice herself to protect her child?

Joan Crawford is queen.

Mildred Pierce 1940s Michael Curtiz Joan Crawford

ben-alexander:

silvercinema:

The worst movie poster I have ever seen for the 1944 production of Jane Eyre

LOLWUT.

I love the novel and have yet to see a film version. Weird. Haha.

Elizabeth Taylor as a child is absolutely gorgeous but a terrible Helen Burns. Sometimes the studio era brought about some effed up casting.

This is, I think, the 4th version of Jane Eyre I’ve watched? It’s a bit obnoxious thius far.

Jane Eyre 1940s Orson Welles Joan Fontaine Elizabeth Taylor

Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940, 130min) (via classicactresses)

The only Alfred Hitchcock film to win an Oscar for Best Picture, this mystery stars Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, a widower whose hapless second wife (Joan Fontaine) moves into his mansion only to find the memory of his first wife still governs the household. Intimidated by the home’s hostile staff, the living Mrs. de Winter begins to go mad in Hitchcock’s eerie adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s Gothic classic.

—-“I’m asking you to marry me, you little fool.”
I love this movie, but those aren’t really romantic words :)

Rebecca 1940s Joan Fontaine Laurence Olivier Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock

Hamlet (Laurence Olivier, 1948, 153min)

In 15th century Denmark, young Prince Hamlet (Laurence Olivier) schemes to avenge his father’s death when his uncle, Claudius, murders the prince’s father, promptly weds the queen and ascends to his dead brother’s throne. But Hamlet — uncertain how to best carry out his mission — allows his anguish and indecision to lead to more carnage. Olivier earned the Best Actor Oscar for his definitive performance as the melancholy Dane.

So, so blonde. Hamlet is definitely my favorite Shakespeare play — let’s see how this version holds up against Gibson’s or Branagh’s

Hamlet 1940s Laurence Olivier Jean Simmons

gladtoseeyou:

(via fuckyeahsubtitles:nfedriany:thelovelybones)

Just watched this and it was just adorable.

Shop Around the Corner 1940s Ernst Lubitsch Jimmy Stewart James Stewart Margaret Sullavan

Les enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise, Marcel Carné, 1945, 163min), 1945

Often considered the classic epic of French film, Children of Paradise is the tragic tale of vastly different men who all fall for the same woman (played by Arletty). This romantic saga takes place amid a theatrical community in 19th-century Paris, set against a backdrop of intrigue, duels and murder that allegorizes occupied France. Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur and María Casares co-star in this Oscar-nominated film for Best Original Screenplay.

Normally I am creeped out by mimes, but I kind of want to cuddle up with Jean-Louis Barrault. And all these men are falling for a 50 year old woman — go France!

Arletty Children of Paradise Jean-Louis Barrault Les enfants du paradis María Casares Pierre Brasseur 1940s Foreign