Tag Archives: singin’ in the rain

The 13 Worst “Best Picture” Winners

Posted on August 26, 2025 by Mark DuPré

The Oscars started out well, albeit being a group initially designed to keep union activity away, and to continue to grow Louis B. Mayer’s influence in Hollywood. The first year, they even had to address the “popular pic vs. art … Continue reading →

Posted in Film-Related Articles | Tagged A Place in the Sun, A Star is Born, A Streetcar Names Desire, All the King's Men, All the President's Men, American Beauty, An American in Paris, Argo, Around the World in 80 Days, Bradley Cooper, Braveheart, Cavalcade, Chicago, Coal Miner's Daughter, CODA, Crash, Dances with Wolves, Double Indemnity, Driving Miss Daisy, Dune, Forrest Gump, Gaaslight, Ghandi, Giant, Going My Way, Green Book, Guillermo del Toro, Hamlet, Hellboy, High Noon, How Green Was My Valley, Network, Oliver!, Ordinary People, Pan's Labyrinth, Raging Bull, Rocly, Roma, Saving Private Ryan, singin' in the rain, Taxi Driver, Tess, The Artist, The Broadway Melody, The Elephant Man, The Greatest Show on Earth, The King and I, The Power of the Dog, The Quiet Man, The Shape of Water, The Shawshank Redemption, West Side Story, You Can't Take it with You | Leave a comment

Maestro

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Mark DuPré

Maestro, the film directed by, starring, and co-written by middle-aged wunderkind Bradley Cooper, is one of the most anticipated films of the year. Coming as Cooper’s sophomore effort after his wildly successful A Star is Born with Lady Gaga, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Star is Born, Aaron Copland, Adolph Green, All About Ever, Auntie Mame, Bells are Ringing, Betty Comdon, Black Swan, Bradley Cooper, Candide, Capote, Carey Mulligan, Carol Lawrence, Chita Rivera, Fancy Free, Felicia Montealegre, First Man, Good News, it's always fair weather, José Carreras, Josh Singer, Judy Holiday, Kari Te Kanaway, Killers of the Flower Moon, Lady Gaga, Larry Kert, Lily Gladstone, Maestro, Mahler, Matthew Libatique, Netflix, on the town, On the Waterfront, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sarah Silverman, singin' in the rain, Spotlight, Tanglewood, The Band Wagon, The Barkleys of Broadway, The Post, West Side Story | Leave a comment

Show People (1928)

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Mark DuPré

Silent and early sound film star Marion Davies was a wonderful comedienne when given the chance, and perhaps there was no greater opportunity for her to show her talents than in 1928’s Show People, her last major role in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged A Star is Born, Bill Gates, Blazing Saddles, Charles Chaplin, Charles Foster Kane, Citizen Kane, Claire Windsor, Dorothy Comingore, Dorothy Sebastian, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Eileen Pringle, Elon Musk, Estelle Taylor, George K. Arthur, Jeff Bezos, John Gilbert, Karl Dane, King Vidor, Louella Parsons, Mank, Marianne, Marion Davies, Norma Talmadge, Renée Adorée, San Luis Obispo, San Simeon, Show People, singin' in the rain, What Price Hollywood?, William Hart, William Randolph Hearst | Leave a comment

Downton Abbey: A New Era

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Mark DuPré

The Downton movies are comfort food, like a good chicken pot pie on a cold winter day. A New Era is no exception. There is nothing surprising, and there are no real shocks (except one minor but surprising action that … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Captain Phillips, Dowager Countess, Downton Abbey-A New Era, Hugh Bonneville, Julian Fellowes, Kevin Doyle, Maggie Smith, Matthew Goode, singin' in the rain, Tom Hanks | Leave a comment

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg) (French, 1964)

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Mark DuPré

DNow is probably the right time to take a first or second look at The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. There is nothing else like it, not even writer-director Jacques Demy’s next film, The Young Girls of Rochefort, and that one starred … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Agnes Varda, Annette, Brigitte Bardot, Danielle Darrieux, Dr. Zhivago, Edith Piaf, Francoise Dorléac, gene kelly, George Chakiris, I Will Wait for You, Jacques Demy, Jane Fonda, Jeanette MacDonald, Judy Garland, La Vie en Rose, Les Miserables, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Marion Cotillard, Michel Legrand, Michel Piccoli, New Wave, Phantom of the Opera, Roger Vadim, singin' in the rain, Summer of '42, The Sound of Music, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Windmills of Your Mind, Vittoria De Sica, Yentl, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow | Leave a comment

Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Mark DuPré

Broadway Melody of 1936 is the second of four Broadway Melody films. The first, simply called The Broadway Melody (1929) is likely the most famous, as it was the first musical and first sound film to win Best Picture. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, Broadway Melody, Broadway Melody of 1936, Broadway Melody of 1940, Buddy Ebsen, Eleanor Powell, Errol Flynn, For Me and My Gal, Fred Astaire, George White's 1935 Scandals, Ginger Rogers, Jack Benny, Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Morning Glory, Robert Taylor, Sid Silvers, Sing Before Breakfast, singin' in the rain, The Broadway Melody, The Wizard of Oz, Una Merkel, Vilma Ebsen, Wedding of the Painted Doll, You Were Meant for Me, Zoolander | Leave a comment

Two ’50s Films That “Shouldn’t Have Won” Best Picture

Posted on November 28, 2020 by Mark DuPré

(Note: It’s been a while since I’ve written. There was some pandemic going around that seems to have messed things up a while. Plus I’ve been busier than usual. But I hope that retiring from teaching, which I’ve just done, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Anastasia, Argosy Pictures, Around the World in 80 Days, Baby Doll, Betty Hutton, Bus Stop, Cantinflas, Cary Grant, Cecil B. DeMille, Charlton Heston, Come Back, Cornel Wilde, David Niven, Dorothy Lamour, Fred Zinnemann, Friendly Persuasion, George Barnes, Giant, Gloria Grahame, Golden Globes, High Noon, I Vitelloni, Ivanhoe, James Stesart, Jean Hagen, John Ford, Joseph McCarthy, La Strada, Little Sheba, Lust for Life, Michael Todd, Moby Dick, My Cousin Rachel, Pia Zadora, Republic Pictures, Richard III, Seven Samurai, Shirley MacLaine, singin' in the rain, Technicolor, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Greatest Show on Earth, The King and I, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, The Ten Commandments, War and Peace, Written on the Wind | Leave a comment

Two Films from the Fifties: Niagara and Les Girls

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Mark DuPré

Note: It’s been a long time since I’ve had time to write for this space. The pandemic hit hard, as I was just getting accustomed to handling four college courses (two were new). Once we went online, I had to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged A Star is Born, An American in Paris, cyd charisse, Debbie Reynolds, Don Wilson, gene kelly, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, George Cukor, Grace Kelly, Hello Dolly, Henry Hathaway, Hitchcock, How the West Was Won, it's always fair weather, Jack Cole, James Mason, Jean Peters, Joseph Cotton, Joseph MAcDonald, Kay Kendall, Les Girls, Leslie Caron, Lurene Tuttle, Marilyn Monroe, Max Showalter, MGM, Mitzi Gaynor, My Fair Lady, Niagara, Rashomon, Rex Harrison, Richard Allan. How to Marry a Millionaire, Robert Burks, singin' in the rain, South Pacific, Taina Elg, Technicolor, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The Women, True Grit, Vera Ellen | Leave a comment

The Greatest Showman

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Mark DuPré

The Greatest Showman is one of the great movie conundrums of 2017. It was tepidly received my most critics and savaged by others. Yet, over time, it’s become an unqualified popular and financial success. While Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged "The Swedish Nightingale", American Idol, Black Panther, Hugh Jackman, Jenny Lind, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, La La Land, Les Miserables, Michael Gracey, Michelle Wiliams, Oklahoma!, P.T. Barnum, Rebecca Ferguson, singin' in the rain, The Greatest Showman, The Voice, Zac Efron, Zendaya | Leave a comment

2018 Golden Globe Thoughts

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Mark DuPré

Ah, yes, the relatively meaningless Golden Globes. Well, since the shelf life for interest in this first awards show of the season is so very short, I must needs get my thoughts out rather quickly. Again, the Golden Globes only … Continue reading →

Posted in Film-Related Articles | Tagged Allison Janney, American Crime Story, Christian fundamentalism, Christopher Darden, Christopher Nolan, Daniel Kaluuya, Dunkirk, Elizabeth Moss, evangelicalism, Frances McDormand, fundamentalism, Gary Cooper, Gary Oldman (Dark Hour), gene kelly, Get Out, Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes, Guillermo del Toro, High Noon, I Tonya, James Franco, Lady Bird, Laurie Metcalf, O.J. Simpson, Old Testament, Oprah, Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Seth Meyers, singin' in the rain, The Disaster Artist, The Handmaid's Tale, The Martian, The Shape of Water, This is Us, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Time's Up | Leave a comment