Geoffrey Johnson

RIP Claudia Cardinale. Her natural beauty and Mediterranean temperament were evident since her very first roles in films like I soliti ignoti. A down-to-earth goddess with the most pristine smile.

I saw it last month in the Lima Film Festival and liked it very much! Loved the elegant pace of the political thriller, the period reconstruction and the framing (far from Mendonça’s usual trippy style). Moura is Oscar worthy.

RIP Robert Redford. His passing feels like the most melancholic sunset. Thanks for the films you directed, for Sundance, for your strong convictions and for enlightening the screen throughout a beautifully coherent career. His star quality was evident since early roles like The chase.

Happy Mel Tormé centennial! Love his velvety voice and his great swing. I remember him singing Rodgers & Hart’s timeless classic “Blue moon” in Words and music.

La Notte Antonioni 1961

Happy Dickie Moore centennial! I liked him very much as little Peter Ibbetson in Henry Hathaway’s surreally romantic film. It was great to see him as a young man in such masterpieces as Heaven can wait and Out of the past.

Capucine, Magali Noël y Federico Fellini en el estreno de "Fellini Satyricon" en la Mostra de Venecia de 1969.

Happy Peter Sellers centennial! A true comedy genius, one of the few that came after the silent era, he was a master of characterization, physicality and line delivery. His scene with the spinning globe in The Pink Panther is hilarious, no matter how many times you’ve seen it.

Happy Brigitte Federspiel centennial! Loved her beautiful performance as one of the devotely religious, repressed sisters in Babette’s Feast.

RIP Giorgio Armani. From the epitome of 80s cool elegance that is American Gigolo to exquisitely crafted films by directors like Tarantino -Inglourious basterds- and Scorsese -The Wolf of Wall Street-, his impeccably cut suits were always a standout. An era-defining designer.

RIP Jacques Charrier. He was the face of juvenile nonconformism in Marcel Carné’s depiction of late 50s Parisian rebel youth in Les tricheurs. A sensitive actor when given the chance, he was great as the struggling young journalist obsessed with a bourgeois couple in Claude Chabrol’s L’oeil du malin

Happy Anne Jackson centennial! She gave a chilling performance as a housewife turning mercilessly pragmatic under pressure in The journey.

RIP Graham Greene. A character actor who always left his mark, he excelled at embodying dignity, empathy or authority in films like The green mile, Transamerica or Molly’s game.

As irmãs Joan Bennett e Constance Bennett, 1930.

Beautiful thread on How green was my valley.

Happy Maurice Pialat centennial! I love the tangible quality of his films. Be it the raw portrayal of teenage passion in À nous amours or the miracle of naturalistic filmmaking that is Van Gogh, he always achieved an outstading sense of immediacy.

Happy Donald O’Connor centennial! An eye-catching performer since a very young age -as in Beau geste-, his role as Cosmo Brown in Singin’ in the rain is a testament to his many assets: athletic dancer, hilarious comedian, effortlessly charismatic…

RIP Eusebio Poncela. Be it passionate as in La ley del deseo, flamboyant as in Martín (Hache) or sinister as in Intacto, his distinctive screen presence always stood out. Both intense and cerebral, he was the kind of actor you can’t take your eyes off.

Happy Robert Mulligan centennial! From romantic comedy in Come September to social drama in To kill a mockingbird to a mix of both in Love with the proper stranger, he directed several films I love dearly. Love the elegant simplicity of his style.

Happy Honor Blackman centennial! From fin de siècle beauty in So long at the fair to mighty Greek goddess Hera in Jason and the Argonauts to British lady in Bridget Jones’s diary, her inmarcesible beauty graced the screen for many years.

RIP Terence Stamp. From Wyler to Soderbergh, his seductive presence graced the screen for 60 years. He was great as the incarnation of sex as a subversive of bourgeois morals in Teorema. His swansong was, appropriately, that love song to Swinging London that is Last night in Soho.

Happy Mike Connors centennial! He was a big TV star, but I also remember him in one of my favorite thrillers, Sudden fear.

Happy Arlene Dahl’s centennial! It was great to see her display her musical talents in Three little words. And loved to see that glorious red hair in Technicolor!

I have an essay for @filmsradiance.bsky.social in World Noir Vol 4, on CHNOUF (1955, Henri Decoin), aka Razzia sur la Chnouf elsewhere. This darkly cynical and enjoyably twisty crime saga stars the immortal Jean Gabin; Lino Ventura and Albert Rémy as hitmen; plus Lila Kedrova and Magali Noël.

Happy Barbara Bates centennial! Her claim to immortality has to be the final scene in All about Eve, where she plays Eve’s eager succesor wannabe, Phoebe. I also remember her as Elizabeth Taylor’s rival in Rhapsody.

They had faces then. Remembering Dolores Del Rio, born in Mexico on today's date in 1904. Marlene Dietrich once called her "the most beautiful woman who ever set foot in Hollywood." #botd

Ginger Rogers on location at Monterey, California for “Primrose Path” (RKO, 1940). Photo by John Miehle.

Happy Jacques Sernas centennial! Be it as part of the decadently fascinating universe of Fellini’s La dolce vita or as the heroic Russian officer in 55 days at Peking, you could count on him to light the screen with his dashing presence.

Happy Mikis Theodorakis centennial! A committed artist, much of the appeal of classics such as Zorba the Greek, Z and Serpico has to with his vibrant music.

Ruth Chatterton and Cole Porter at the Cocoanut Grove, Los Angeles, 1936.

Gloria DeHaven performing at the Mocambo in 1954.

Here are 10 things you should know about Gloria DeHaven, born 100 years ago today. She enjoyed success in the theatre, pictures, recordings, radio and television.

Happy Gloria deHaven centennial! It was lovely to see Gloria play her mother Carter in Three little words, one of my favorite movie music biopics. Love seeing her in great shape as one of the Loretta’s beauty parlor gals in Murder she wrote.

RIP Alan Bergman. A wonderful lyricist, his words enhanced the impact of the opening scene in In the heat of the night, as well as the melancholy in The happy ending (“What are you doing the rest of your life?”) and The way we were.

Helen Hayes and Lillian Gish attend the opening of Uncle Vanya at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City, 1973

Hallway, Italian Restaurant (1922) by Guy Pène du Bois

Lauren Bacall and Ginger Rogers at the "Night of 100 Stars" benefit held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in 1982.

Totally agree

Happy birthday, Ginger Rogers! Shown here in her best performance, as Ellie May Adams in PRIMROSE PATH (Gregory La Cava, 1940).

Thrilled to say that I have two essays—one on Lawrence Huntington, the other on the great Alberto Cavalcanti—in GREAT EXPECTATIONS: BRITISH POSTWAR CINEMA, 1945-1960; published to coincide with the retrospective at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival. notesoncinematograph.blogspot.com/2025/07/Brit...

RIP Kenneth Colley. He’ll always be Admiral Piett to me, the only Empire officer who survived Darth Vader’s anger in The Empire strikes back. He was also part of Aki Kaurismäki’s universe in films like I hired a contract killer.

Happy Farley Granger centennial! From Hitchcock and Ray to Minnelli and Visconti, he worked with several masters throughout his career. A daring actor who didn’t shy from playing ambiguous -sometimes amoral- roles, as in Rope.

RIP Lalo Schifrin. From his playfully nostalgic score for Cool hand Luke (my favorite Schifrin work) to the ominously dramatic one for Voyage of the damned, he created tangible atmospheres with his beautiful music.

Happy Virginia Patton centennial! Her small but crucial character determined George Bailey’s fate in that tímeless classic that is It’s a wonderful life.

Happy June Lockhart centennial!!! Love her as the kind, wholesome Lucille Ballard in Meet me in St. Louis (and as the Robinson matriarch in Lost in space). One of our last links to Hollywood Golden era.

RIP Lea Massari. Her enigmatic beauty and indelible presence were perfect to trigger the mystery in Antonioni’s masterpiece L’avventura. Loved her serene grace and allure in Les choses de la vie, a beautiful role in one of my favorite films.

I've made a list of people and accounts I like, that post mostly about art and art-related stuff with little or no current affairs. The discussion the other day about people being intimidated by the news-heavy vibe on Bluesky made me finally do it. bsky.app/profile/self...

Happy Maureen Stapleton centennial!!! Her irruption in Lonelyhearts has to be one of the most electrifying late 50s film debuts. From innocent victim to sex-driven femme fatale, she blew the rest of the prestigious cast of the screen.

Happy Audie Murphy centennial! The most decorated American combat soldier of World War II, he was a good dramatic actor in films like The quiet American, which suited his idealistic heroism.