Author: Becky Gillig

February 19, 2015 / / Main Slate Archive

It Happened One Night

 

Oscar season is upon us and we are all wondering who will take home the big ones: Best Picture, Director, Actor and Actress. In 1935, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was the first film ever to win all four (in addition to Best Writer/Adaptation). No surprise: it was the smash hit of 1934. The film was 24 carat “Capra-corn:” a spoiled heiress on the run, a reporter who can’t catch a break, and a bumpy bus ride that lands the exclusive story of a lifetime (quite literally) in the reporter’s lap. Seizing the opportunity, the reporter Peter (Clark Gable) helps the snobbish Ellie (Claudette Colbert) survive the foreign ways of the common man as she tries to rendezvous and elope with her lover. He wants the exclusive on her story, and she realizes she must comply if she doesn’t want her daddy Alexander to find her. Peter is rough and unapologetic as he educates the society girl on how to survive when you are broke. Thus, the comically unfortunate journey of these unlikely companions begins.

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October 3, 2013 / / Main Slate Archive

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT / THE BIG SLEEP

 

Attending a double feature screening of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT and THE BIG SLEEP is like going to the factory where they make Reese’s. You have the peanut butter (Humphrey Bogart) and the chocolate (Lauren Bacall). Both are independently delicious items, but items nonetheless. Paired together in just the right way, they make an indelible combination that is problematically delicious. It hits the spot. And you will want more. Lucky for you, in a double feature, that is exactly what you get.

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September 11, 2013 / / Main Slate Archive

Much Ado About Whedon

 

Here are the things you should know about how Joss Whedon’s, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, came about:

– Joss Whedon hosts Shakespeare readings at his house.

– Whedon adapted the William Shakespeare play, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, for this production.

– It was shot in 12 days at his house during his short vacation from working on THE AVENGERS.

– The cast is made up of his friends, mostly actors he worked with in the past (Firefly, THE AVENGERS, Dollhouse, Angel) who had attended Whedon’s Shakespeare readings.

– It is in black and white. (But do not be daunted! The black and white removes the film one step from our reality, existing in a world that is both modern and Shakespearean at the same time. Also, it looks pretty.)

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