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The Quiet Man
“I’m John Ford and I make Westerns,” said the Maine-born filmmaker in one of the great understatements of all time. Ford didn’t just make Westerns – he was synonymous with them. But did you know that none of his seven Academy Awards were for his trademark genre? To me, that would be like Alfred Hitchcock copping Oscars for directing musicals (or any movies for that matter. The Master of Suspense went zero-for-five in his career.) In addition to scoring awards for wartime docu
May 152 min read
It's a Wonderful Classic
Watching It’s a Wonderful Life is a holiday tradition, like hearing Bing sing “White Christmas” or glugging down Grandma’s egg nog. What may shock you is that the beloved drama tanked upon arrival in 1946, ranking 26th in the year-end box-office recap. Why is it now considered a classic? Because in 1974, the film went into the public domain , meaning TV stations could air it for free – and hundreds did. But Life’s loss (of royalties) is our gain, as its popularity has explo
Dec 1, 20252 min read
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