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I started this blog six years ago as a way to share my passion for classic films and the Old Hollywood era. I used to watch dozens of classic films every month, and every time I discovered a new star I liked I would go and watch their entire filmography. But somewhere along the way, that passion dimmed down. For instance, I watched 73 classic films in 2016, and only 10 in 2020. The other day, I found this film with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. that I had never heard of, and for some reason it made me really excited about Old Hollywood again. It made me really miss the magic of that era and all the wonderful actors and actresses that graced the silver screen. And it also made me think of all the reasons why I fell in love with classic films in the first place. I came up with 80 reasons, which I thought would be fun to share with you. Most of them are just random little scenes or quirky little quotes, but put them together and they spell Old Hollywood to me. This is part one of the 80 reasons w...

The 1930s were a decade of great political and economic turmoil. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the entire world was consumed by an economic downfall called the Great Depression, which led to widespread unemployment and poverty. As a result, authoritarian political movements emerged in several countries in South America and Europe. Notorious among them was Adolf Hitler's Third Reich in Germany, whose expansionist policy resulted in the outbreak of World War II a few months before the end of the decade. In between, Gandhi walked to the Arabian Sea in the Salt March, a civil war established an authoritarian dictatorship in Spain, the Hindenburg exploded over New Jersey, Amelia Earhart became the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Empire of Japan invaded China. (from left to right) Gandhi and his followers during the Salt March (March-April 1930); Japanese troops entering Manchuria (September 1931); the Hindenburg disaster (May 1937); German troo...

Every «Film Friday» throughout February I wrote about a Best Picture winner or nominee in anticipation to the 89th Academy Awards. However, since I didn't have the time to prepare a decent article for today, this week's «Film Friday» is a compilation of all the Best Picture winners and nominees I've written about since starting this blog.   All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Directed by Lewis Milestone | Starring Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim and John Wray All Quiet on the Western Front is widely regarded one of Hollywood's most durable and unforgettable testaments of the cruelty of war. Based on the controversially famous novel of the same name by German author Erich Maria Remarque, it follows a group of young soldiers as they struggle with extreme physical and mental stress during World War I. The film, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. for Universal, was uniformly acclaimed upon release, winning Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for Lewis Milestone, himself a W...