You may need to search for some of these. In my opinion, it’s worth it.
- PICCADILLY (1929). What could be better than seeing a gorgeous black-and-white exactly as it was seen in 1929?…which is to say not in black and white. This rare theatrical-release version is tinted blue for the exterior shots at night, where stately vehicles discharge elegantly clad customers in front of a posh London nightclub. The interior sparkles with warm, peachy brilliance from its amber tint. The absolutely luscious Jameson Thomas, as the swanky nightclub owner, drips elegance with every move. Anna May Wong, the immigrant kitchen worker who claws her way from rags to riches, is the consummate femme fatale. Finally, the newly composed music for the soundtrack is magnificent.
- NOTORIOUS (1946). Hitchcock directed this sizzling noir with a notorious Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, and Claude Rains.
- THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947). Poor Orson Welles is no match for Rita Hayworth.
- SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950). How can you resist a film that starts with the camera looking up from the bottom of a swimming pool at the main character…who’s floating face down, dead, and about to tell us how he got that way?
- LIMELIGHT (1952). You thought The Little Tramp was a soulful charmer in silent films? Wait till you hear Charlie Chaplin talk! He wrote and directed this story of a fading performer that fits him like the proverbial glove.
