Cinema Maven

Cinema Maven This is a page on Films A-Z, with some TV and Broadway.

It includes stories, reviews, film anniversaries, obituaries, entertainment news, mini-bios, monthly features, tie-ins to AFI's Get the Picture and TCM specials, plus trivia & more.

Day 16 of 30 Days of Hitchcock: FRENZY (1972): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Anthony Shaffer, who based hi...
09/16/2026

Day 16 of 30 Days of Hitchcock:

FRENZY (1972): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Anthony Shaffer, who based his script on the Arthur La Bern novel, Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square, the film stars Jon Finch, Alex McCowen, Barry Foster, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Bernard Cribbins, and Vivien Merchant.

A serial killer whose modus operandi is to strangle his victims with a necktie is loose in London. When Brenda Blaney (Leigh-Hunt) becomes the latest victim, her ex-husband Richard (Finch), a bad-tempered retired RAF officer, becomes the chief suspect. Forced to go on the run, Richard attempts to take refuge with a friend, fruit merchant Bob Rusk (Barry Foster), unaware that Rusk is harboring a secret of his own. Meanwhile, in a subplot, Chief Inspector Timothy Oxford (McGowen), in charge of catching the serial killer, patiently puts up with his wife’s desire to serve him bad French gourmet cooking.

Frenzy marked something of a change for Hitchcock. It was made after the studio system had broken down and Hollywood had entered a new era based on realism, often with more violence. The Hays Code ended and was replaced by the MPAA, which was friendlier to edgier stories. Thus, Hitchcock could introduce more violence. Audiences ate it up: It was one of the most profitable movies he ever made, something he needed after the failure of its predecessor, Topaz. Critics liked it too, praising the screenplay (especially its humor) and the cast. The film didn’t garner any Oscar nominations, but it did earn four Golden Globe nods, including Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Score. It won none of them.

NOTE: I was one of the people who initially didn't care for the film, as Hitchcock did not need to rely on violence to create a sense of suspense or horror. In the past twenty years or so, I've changed my mind, and I think the shock of it compared to his earlier work is part of the point here.

FUN FACT: Michael Caine was Hitchcock’s first choice, but Caine had no desire to play “the part of a sadist who murders women. I won’t play that. I have a sort of moral thing, and I refused to play it.” According to Caine, Hitch never spoke to him again.

Day 15 of 30 Days of Hitchcock: SABOTEUR (1942): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker, the fi...
09/15/2026

Day 15 of 30 Days of Hitchcock:

SABOTEUR (1942): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Joan Harrison, and Dorothy Parker, the film stars Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, Norman Lloyd, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter, Alma Kruger, Dorothy Peterson, and Clem Bevans.

Factory worker Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) is wrongfully accused of setting a deadly fire at an airplane plant in what seems to be an act of sabotage. Kane believes a fellow worker (Lloyd) set the fire; Barry travels across the country to New York hoping to catch the saboteur. Along the way, he is forced to take Patricia Martin (Lane) hostage. But she gradually begins trusting him and becomes his accomplice in his quest to clear his name.

This film is a fun thrill ride that performed very well at the box office and was (mostly) a critical success. Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane—both lesser-known actors than Hitchcock typically cast—deliver good performances. And the finale features yet another one of Hitchcock’s famous landmark finales, this time the Statue of Liberty.

FUN FACT: For the famous climactic scene on the Statue of Liberty, the crew built a full-scale replica of the statue’s hand, torch, and ledge on a soundstage. Actor Norman Lloyd was strapped to a chair on the ground while the camera pulled up toward the ceiling. Lloyd screamed for the entire duration of the single, continuous close-up shot.

09/14/2026

Bob Mackie, the “Sultan of Sequins” known for creating flamboyant, show-stopping looks for divas like Cher and Diana Ross, has died. He was 87.

Day 14 of 30 Days of Hitchcock: LIFEBOAT (1944): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Jo Swerling (from a story b...
09/14/2026

Day 14 of 30 Days of Hitchcock:

LIFEBOAT (1944): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Jo Swerling (from a story by John Steinbeck), the film stars Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn, and Canada Lee.

After a German submarine sinks their ship, several American and British civilians struggle to survive and reach land in their crowded lifeboat. When they find a German officer (Slezak) in the water and rescue him, his presence only adds to the tensions already forming, and eventually those tensions come to a head.

The film was critically lauded, praised for its story, direction, and production design. It has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. John Steinbeck, however, did not like the film adaptation and requested his name be removed from any advertising. It also underperformed at the box office and didn’t make back its budget.

FUN FACT: Hitchcock chose not to use a score for the film, asking, “Where would the orchestra come from?” to which the studio’s musical director asked cheekily, “Where would the cameras come from?”

ANOTHER FUN FACT: This film is usually credited as his first limited-setting film (the others being ROPE, DIAL M FOR MURDER, and REAR WINDOW, though I would argue that THE LADY VANISHES is really the first.

09/14/2026

Happy Birthday this week (September 14 - September 20, 2026) to:

September 14:
Andrew Lincoln (b. 1973 (turns 53))
B**g Joon-ho (b. 1969 (turns 57)) — film director: of Parasite, first Int'l film to win Best Picture
Callum Keith Rennie (b. 1960 (turns 66))
Clayton Moore (1914–1999)
Hal B. Wallis (1898–1986) — film producer
Jack Hawkins (1910–1973)
Kimberly Williams-Paisley (b. 1971 (turns 55))
Mary Crosby (b. 1959 (turns 67))
Melissa Leo (b. 1960 (turns 66))
Nicol Williamson (1936–2011)
Sam Neill (1947–2026)
Walter Koenig (b. 1936 (turns 90))

September 15:
Danny Nucci (b. 1968 (turns 58))
Fay Wray (1907–2004)
Fernanda Torres (b. 1965 (turns 61))
Jackie Cooper (1922–2011) — actor and director
Jean Renoir (1894–1979) — film director
Margaret Lockwood (1916–1990)
Merlin Olsen (1940–2010)
Nipsey Russell (1918–2005)
Oliver Stone (b. 1946 (turns 80)) — screenwriter and film director
Rebecca Miller (b. 1962 (turns 64)) — director and writer
Ron Shelton (b. 1945 (turns 81)) — film director
Tom Hardy (b. 1977 (turns 49))
Tommy Lee Jones (b. 1946 (turns 80))

September 16:
Alexander Korda (1893–1956) — film writer, director, producer
Allen Funt (1914–1999) — TV host
Amy Poehler (b. 1971 (turns 55))
Anne Francis (1930–2011)
Ed Begley, Jr. (b. 1949 (turns 77))
Ernst Deutsch (1890–1969)
George Chakiris (b. 1934 (turns 92))
Guy Hamilton (1922–2016) — film director
Jack Kelly (1927–1992)
Janis Paige (1922–2024) — stage and screen actress
Jennifer Tilly (b. 1958 (turns 68))
Jerry Wald (1911–1962) — screenwriter and producer
Katy Kurtzman (b. 1965 (turns 61))
Lauren Bacall (1924–2014)
Mickey Rourke (b. 1952 (turns 74))
Molly Shannon (b. 1964 (turns 62))
Peter Falk (1927–2011)
Susan Ruttan (b. 1948 (turns 78))
Walt Becker (b. 1968 (turns 58)) — film writer and director

September 17:
Anne Bancroft (1931–2005)
Baz Luhrmann (b. 1962 (turns 64)) — film director
Bryan Singer (b. 1965 (turns 61)) — film and TV director
Danielle Brooks (b. 1989 (turns 37))
David Huddleston (1930–2016)
Dustin Nguyen (b. 1962 (turns 64))
John Ritter (1948–2003)
Kyle Chandler (b. 1965 (turns 61))
Nick Cordero (1978–2020) — Broadway actor
Paul Benedict (1938–2008)
Roddy McDowall (1928–1998)

A special happy birthday to Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (1949 - )

September 18:
Agnes de Mille (1905–1993) — dancer and choreographer
Aisha Tyler (b. 1970 (turns 56))
Alison Lohman (b. 1979 (turns 47))
Fred Willard (1933–2020)
Greta Garbo (1905–1990)
Harold Clurman (1901–1980) — theatrical producer, director, co-founder of the Group Theatre
Holly Robinson Peete (b. 1964 (turns 62))
Jack Cardiff (1914–2009) — film cinematographer
Jack Warden (1920–2006)
Jada Pinkett Smith (b. 1971 (turns 55))
James Gandolfini (1961–2013)
James Marsden (b. 1973 (turns 53))
June Foray (1917–2017) — voice actress
Robert Blake (1933–2023)
Rossano Brazzi (1916–1994)
Tara Fitzgerald (b. 1967 (turns 59))
Tim McInnerny (b. 1956 (turns 70))

September 19:
Adam West (1928–2017)
Bill Medley (b. 1940 (turns 86)) — singer w/Righteous Brothers and film song singer
Frances Farmer (1913–1970)
Jeremy Irons (b. 1948 (turns 78))
Jimmy Fallon (b. 1974 (turns 52))
Joe Pasternak (1901–1991) — film producer
Kim Richards (b. 1964 (turns 62))
Paul Williams (b. 1940 (turns 86)) — actor, singer, film and TV song composer
Rosemary Harris (b. 1927 (turns 99))
Scott Colomby (b. 1952 (turns 74))
Twiggy (b. 1949 (turns 77))
William Hickey (1927–1997)

September 20:
Anne Meara (1929–2015)
Fernando Rey (1917–1994)
Gary Cole (b. 1956 (turns 70))
Jon Bernthal (b. 1976 (turns 50))
Kenneth More (1914–1982)
Rachel Roberts (1927–1980)
Sophia Loren (b. 1934 (turns 92))
Victor Sjöström (1879–1960) — film director

A special happy birthday to Sylvester the Cat (1941 - )

Day 13 of 30 Days of Hitchcock: BLACKMAIL (1929): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Hitchcock and Benn W. Levy...
09/13/2026

Day 13 of 30 Days of Hitchcock:

BLACKMAIL (1929): Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by Hitchcock and Benn W. Levy, from the Charles Bennett novel of the same name, the film stars Anny Ondra, John Longden, Donald Calthrop, and Cyril Ritchard.

When Alice White (Ondra) fights with her boyfriend, Scotland Yard Officer Frank Webber (Longden), on a date, she decides to leave with an artist named Mr. Crewe (Ritchard). When he tries to force himself on her later, she kills him in self-defense, but due to the nature of the attack, she is reluctant to go to the police. Frank tries to help her, while a thief (Calthrop) with blackmail on his mind complicates matters.

This was Hitchcock’s first talkie (it started production as a silent film), Britain’s first (credited) talkie, and was the first European talkie box-office hit, becoming one of the most successful films of the year. It was also critically lauded (it has an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), and in a public poll, viewers voted it the best British film of 1929.

FUN FACT: It was the first of his films to feature the ubiquitous blonde heroine, and the first to feature a famous landmark in the finale (in this case, the British Museum).

ANOTHER FUN FACT: This was not Hitchcock’s first cameo (that film will be coming at the end of the week), but it was his longest cameo.

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