Tag Archives: 1940s

The Reluctant Dragon

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Morgan R. Lewis

The Reluctant Dragon is a bit of an oddity in the annals of Disney history. Released to theatres in 1941, it tells the story of a boy who finds a dragon which doesn’t devour maidens, doesn’t ravage the countryside, and … Continue reading →

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Holiday Inn

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

Released in 1942, Holiday Inn isn’t precisely a Christmas movie, as the star-spangled poster hints at. In fact, the film covers several major — and minor — calendar holidays, as that is the central conceit of the film. The Holiday … Continue reading →

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Favorite Films: Miracle on 34th Street

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

“I am not in the habit of substituting for spurious Santa Clauses.” It’s almost Christmas, and that means children — and some adults — are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. And while waiting, those people will generally have … Continue reading →

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It Happened on Fifth Avenue

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

It Happened on Fifth Avenue, released in 1947, was directed by Roy Del Ruth, but was nearly directed by Frank Capra, for whom it was originally optioned. Capra instead decided to direct It’s a Wonderful Life, but there are thematic … Continue reading →

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Meet John Doe

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

Frank Capra rather famously mixed Christmas with the concepts of depression and redemption in It’s a Wonderful Life, but it wasn’t his first film to address these concepts in that context. Several years earlier, in 1941, he directed Meet John … Continue reading →

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Beyond Tomorrow

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

Can you imagine, just for a moment, what A Christmas Carol might look like if it were told from the perspective of the three ghosts? That isn’t quite what’s going on in Beyond Tomorrow — released in 1940 and later … Continue reading →

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Three Short Films

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

For today, I’ve got another triplet of short films to review. All three shorts are in black and white, but in other respects, there’s an odd man out in a couple of ways. Two of the films are silents, but … Continue reading →

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Africa Screams

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

Africa Screams is a 1949 Abbott & Costello film, and almost everything about the plot can be determined simply from that sentence fragment. Under direction from Charles Barton, Bud Abbott plays his usual slick salesman persona, while Lou Costello is … Continue reading →

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Five Short Films

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

For today, I have another slew of short films to review. This time I’m tackling five of them at once, largely because a few of them are particularly short — though no less notable for that. There are two live-action … Continue reading →

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Brideless Groom / A Trip to the Moon / The Rounders

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Morgan R. Lewis

Got an assortment of short films to cover today. Rather than give each of them individual full-length reviews — I find it hard to justify giving a 20-minute film an entire day to itself — I thought I would cover … Continue reading →

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