Tag Archives: David Lean

The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)

Posted on June 25, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Don’t let the date of the film put you off. This is a delightful dramedy about England’s most notorious king and his six wives. While creaky and primitive by today’s standards, the film itself is a riot and very enjoyable. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Alexander Korda, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Best Actor, Binne Barnes, Brief Encounter, Broadway Melody of 1938, Charles Laughton, Come to the Stable, David Lean, Elsa Lanchester, Emeric Pressburger, Everley Gregg, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Great Expectations, Jane Seymour, Katherine Howard, Katherine of Aragon, Katherine Parr, Maria Corda, Merle Oberon, Michael Powell, Oscar, Pygmalion, Robert Donat, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Last of the Mohicans, The Private Life of Henry VIII, The Trouble with Angels, Thomas Culpepper, Wendy Barrie, Witness for the Prosecution | Leave a comment

Ryan’s Daughter

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Fifty-five years after its release, 1970’s Ryan’s Daughter surely needs another look. The reputation of this David Lean-directed film has suffered over the years for a couple of key reasons: its own genuine weaknesses plus the breadth of its scope. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged 49th Parallel, A Passage to India, Academy Awards, awards, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter, Christopher Jones, David Lean, Doctor Zhivago, film, Freddie Young, Great Expectations, Hayley Mills, Hobson's Choice, In Which We Serve, It Was a Good Time, John Mills, Julie Cristie, Lawrence of Arabia, Maurice Jarre, movies, Noel Coward, Oliver Twist, Omar Sharif, One of Our Aircraft is Missing, Oscars, Peggy Ashcroft, Pygmalion, Robert Mitchum, Ryan’s Daughter, Sarah Miles, Summertime, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Sound Barrier, Trevor Howard | Leave a comment

Tiger Bay (1959) and Hayley Mills

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Mark DuPré

My first celebrity crush was blonde ingenue Hayley Mills. If you are older or have seen old Disney movies, you may remember her from 1960’s Pollyanna and/or 1961’s The Parent Trap—the original one. Those were probably the first two films … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged A Fistful of Dollars, Anton Yelchin, BAFTA, Brittany Murphy, Chadwick Boseman, Clint Eastwood, David Lean, entertainment, film, Great Expectations, Hayley Mills, Heath Ledger, Hollywood, Horst Buchholz, In Which We Serve, J. Lee Thompson, James Dean, John Mills, kitchen-sink drama, Life is Beautiful, Liza Minnelli, movies, New Wave, news, Noel Coward, Omar Shariff, Pollyanna, River Phoenix, Roy Boulting, Ryan's Daughter, So Well Remembered, The Guns of Navarone, The Magnificent Seven, The Parent Trap, West Side Story, Whistle Down the Wind | Leave a comment

Dune: Part Two

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Mark DuPré

Science fiction is not my thing—so hard to connect with for me. Plus, movies that have so many characters doing so many things can get confusing for me. That said, Dune: Part Two is the best mainstream film of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Austin Butler, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Nolan, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, David Lean, Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two, Dunkirk, Florence Pugh, Gladiator, Greig Fraser, Hans Zimmer, Inception, Intersellar, James Brolin, Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men, Patrice Vernette, Peter Jackson, Rain Man, Thanos, The Batman, The Blind Side, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Lion King, The Whale, Timothée Chalamet, Timothe, Zendaya, Zero Dark Thirty, Zsuszanna Sipos | Leave a comment

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Whales of August (1987)

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Mark DuPré

Sometimes, seeing two films in a short period of time can lead to fascinating insights and comparisons that would otherwise not have presented themselves. I just saw Lawrence of Arabia (1962) in a movie theater on a large screen (thank … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Alec Guinness, Ann Sothern, Anthony Quinn, Bette Davis, David Lean, Dr. Zhivago, Freddie Young, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Ivanhoe, Lawrence of Arabia, Lillian Gish, Lust for Life, Mary Steenburgen, Mogambo, Nicholas and Alexandra, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Peter O'Toole, Ryan’s Daughter, The 49th Parallel, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, The Whales of August, Vincent Price | Leave a comment

The Lost City of Z

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Mark DuPré

Finally caught up with what many critics considered one of the great films—as well as one of the most unsung—of 2016, though it wasn’t released in the US until 2017. It was stunningly beautiful, slow but in the best sense, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged American Sniper, Charlie Hunnam, David Lean, Fifty Shades of Grey, James Gray, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kristen Stewart, Percy Fawcett. The Immigrant, Robert Pattison, Sienna Miller, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Lost City of Z, Tom Holland, Twilight, We Own the Night | Leave a comment

49th Parallel (AKA The Invaders)

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Mark DuPré

49th Parallel is a propaganda film that doesn’t feel like one, though it is as potent as any persuasive film could be. (It was called The Invaders when first released in the U.S.) It’s also an unusual combination of star … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged 49th Parallel, Anton Walbrook, Canada, David Lean, Dr. Zhivago, Eric Portman, Freddie Young, Glynis Johns, Laurence Olivier, Lawrence of Arabia, Leslie Howard, Nazi, Nazis, Niagara Falls, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Raymond Massey, Ryan’s Daughter, St. Lawrence River, The Invaders, Third Reich | Leave a comment

Watch on the Rhine (1943) and In Which We Serve (1942)

Posted on July 6, 2017 by Mark DuPré

My excursions into the films of Powell and Pressburger brought me back into the world of the 1940s, and specifically, World War II. My next film to see is 49th Parallel (also known as The Invaders in the U.S.), which … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Bernard Miles, Bette Davis, Brief Encounter, Casablanca, Celia Johnson, Dashiell Hammett, David Lean, Dr. Zhivago, East of Eden, Elizabeth Taylor, Great Expectations, Guy Green, Humphrey Bogart, In Which We Serve, John Mills, Lawrence of Arabia, Lillian Hellman, Michael Wilding, Noel Coward, Paul Lukas, Powell and Pressburger, Raymond Massey, Richard Attenborough, Ronald Neame, The 49th Parallel, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Invaders, Watch on the Rhine | Leave a comment

The Revenant

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Mark DuPré

Cold. Beautiful. Brutal. Fierce. Intense. Stunning. Violent. And that’s just Tom Hardy’s performance. But seriously, The Revenant (recent winner of the Golden Globe for Best Picture/Drama) is a far-reaching work of art that is worth seeing while falling just short … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged All is Lost, Atonement, Birdman, Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, Brooklyn, David Lean, Domhnall Gleeson, Dr. Zhivago, Emmanuel Lubezki, Ex Machina, Gladiator, Golden Globe, Gravity, John Wayne, Lawrence of Arabia, Leonardo DiCaprio, Montana, Old Boy, South Dakota, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Terrence Malick, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Maze Runner, The Passion of the Christ, The Revenant, The Searchers, The Tree of Life, To the Wonder, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter | Leave a comment

Brooklyn

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Mark DuPré

Brooklyn is a lovely, adult, gentle and well-made film that’s anchored by one of the best, if not the best, female performance of the year. In many ways, it’s the complete opposite of this year’s most raucous well-made film, Mad … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged About Time, Atonement, Billy Elliott, Brendan Gleeson, Brief Encounter, Brooklyn, Closed Circuit, David Lean, Deborah Messing, Deliver Us from Evil, Dohmnall Gleeson, Educating Rita, Eilis, Emory Cohen, Ex Machina, Hanna, Harry Potter, Indian Summers, Intermission, Jim Broadbent, John Crowley, Julie Walters, Mad Max: Fury Road, mise-en-scene, New York Film Critics Circle, Saoirse Ronan, Smash, Spotlight, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Lovely Bones | Leave a comment