CLASSIC FILM SCHOOL
A Resource for The Classic Movie Fan
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF CLASSIC CINEMA
The current featured List is “The British Film Institute’s Top 100 Films”
Current featured Print: Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Hollywood, Ca
About ClassicFilmSchool.com
Classic Film School is designed for the classic film enthusiast.
Whether you’re a novice old movie watcher or a self-proclaimed cinema aficionado, Classic Film School is meant to be a tool to enable and enhance the classic movie viewing experience.
The Film Commentary blog discusses many of the classics that matter, and the 1939 blog focusses on the output of the most exceptional year in film history.
From what is considered to be a “classic” (check out the Must See Lists) to the many venues available to accessing great old movies (the Theaters, TV and Rentals sections), Classic Film School endeavors to encourage an appreciation for yesterday’s movies (check out the Print and Online recommendations).
Enjoy! And remember (to loosely paraphrase Lauren Bacall), an old movie is a new movie if you’ve never seen it before.
WOMAN DIRECTORS MAKING HISTORY: 2/6/10
A lot has been said recently about women
directors and the historical achievement
that now lies within the grasp of one of this
year’s most celebrated, Kathryn Bigelow.
Bigelow has been nominated for an Oscar
as Best Director of the Year for a war
drama, “The Hurt Locker”, about an Army bomb squad serving out the last anxious few weeks of a tour of duty in Iraq.
The film and the director are worthy of distinction, and indeed, all signs point to Bigelow becoming the first woman to actually receive the coveted award come Oscar night. If this moment should come to pass, Bigelow will have a host of notable predecessors to thank for paving the way, and not just the previous three nominees (Lina Wertmuller in 1977, Jane Campion in 1994 and Sophia Coppola in 2004), but every woman who has taken on the demanding role of on set leadership. Long before Wertmuller became the first female nominee for “Seven Beauties”, Ida Lupino had transitioned from screen actress to film director, accumulating 41 film and television credits between 1949 and 1968. A remarkable achievement for a woman of her era that earned her
Featured TV is TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar, showing Oscar nominated films all Month long.
Featured Theater is The American Cinematheque’s Westside arm, The Aero in Santa Monica, CA.
Online Feature
of the Month is
FilmJerk.com.
Rental
Feature of
the Month:
NetFlix.
the distinction of becoming the first female member of the Director’s Guild of America. And long before Lupino there was Alice Guy Blache, who is considered to be the world’s first female director with 329 credits between 1896 and 1920 (most were short two reelers shot in less than a week). In between all of these notable ladies there have been others who have come and gone without their moment of glory, but have been trailblazers all the same. So, whomever the woman may be who finally takes home the trophy that has yet to feel a feminine touch, she will not be alone as she stands with pride upon the world stage - there will be more than a hundred years of hard working womanhood standing alongside her. Here’s hoping that moment comes sooner than later! (Below are some films by female directors)
