Classic Movie Club

Christopher Lee may have become famous for his iconic performance as a young, suave, debonair Dracula, but his work went far beyond the Hammer Horror roles he is most often associated with. With a commanding voice, penetrating eyes and his imposing height (six feet, five inches), he often found himself cast as the villain, but like Vincent Price and his other horror contemporaries, the villains Lee played were often the most interesting and layered performance of the film.Jon Spira, the writer/director behind the new documentary, The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee, has made some of the very best and most interesting films about British filmmaking and cinema. His feature work includes the excellent documentaries Elstree 1976, about the actors behind the masks in the original Star Wars, and Hollywood Bulldogs: The Rise and Falls of the Great British Stuntman. His docu-series Reel Brittannia explored the history of British cinema. Mixing traditional documentary filmmaking with animation and puppetry, The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee is brought to life with archival material and new, exclusive interviews with filmmakers such as Peter Jackson, John Landis and Joe Dante, as well as Lee’s niece Dame Harriet Walter, Hammer actress Caroline Munro, and film historian (and former Film Review contributor) Jonathan Rigby, who worked closely with Lee in writing Christopher Lee: The Authorised Screen History. In the course of making the well-researched film, Spira met and interviewed Lee’s closest friends and family. The result is an amusing, eclectic documentary revealing a complex, comprehensive portrait of a cinematic icon.

Classic Movie Club is a multi-platform project focused on everything related to classic film. In addition to our community for movie lovers via Patreon, we’ve also created a regular monthly podcast available to all, where we’ll be covering all things classic movies and interviewing folks about the classics. The podcast will focus on staying evergreen, with interviews and coverage that you can listen to at any time. For news about new releases of classic movies, theatrical re-releases of classics and much more, we encourage you to join the club in earnest and support what we do by visiting us at patreon.com/FilmReview

Founded in 1928 by Eugene Joseff, Joseff of Hollywood has been providing jewellery rentals to movie studios since the Golden Age of Hollywood. Remarkably, Joseff of Hollywood has maintained over 200,000 pieces in their ‘Studio Collection’. A source once reported that up to 85% of the jewellery seen on the silver screen throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s was provided by Joseff of Hollywood. Today, the company lives on, still owned and operated by the Joseff family. A large part of the rental collection is still intact, and the family continues the work started by Eugene and Joan Joseff, renting jewels to productions, as well as continuing the brand’s retail line. Located in the historic Max Factor Building, The Hollywood Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with an extensive collection of more than 10,000 treasures showcasing more than 100 years of film founded by philanthropist and history lover, Donelle Dadigan. The Hollywood Museum’s latest exhibit – Joseff of Hollywood Vintage Movie Costume Jewelry – highlights pieces from the Joseff collection vault, sharing them on public view for the first time. Guests are invited to view Marilyn Monroe’s intricate diamonte bracelet from How to Marry a Millionaire and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the brooch accented with pearls that Billie Burke wore as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz, a necklace worn by Rita Hayworth in Gilda, Clark Gable’s Carnelian and gold watch fob from Gone with the Wind, and much more. Each piece contains a Hollywood history of its own. A white sapphire and amethyst necklace worn by Deanna Durbin in Up in Central Park was subsequently worn by numerous actresses, including Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, and most recently on India Amarteifio in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. The Joseff exhibit is a true glimpse into the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Era and the iconic brand that helped define it.

If you know classic movies, especially films from Paramount Pictures, there’s a good chance you’ve seen her name emblazoned on hundreds of opening titles. Considered one of film history’s great costume designers, Edith Head began working for Paramount in 1924. Head made history as the first female head of a major studio's costume department in 1938, when designer Travis Banton left Paramount. The establishment of the Academy Award for Costume Design in 1949 helped further introduce costume designers to the general public and led to a record-breaking run of nominations and wins for Head. In pop culture, she has been referenced in songs, film and television. She’s been a stamp and a Google doodle, but perhaps the biggest tribute is the character Edna Mode, the superhero costume designer in Pixar’s The Incredibles.The exhibit Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer is organized by The Oklahoma City Museum of Art and presented by The Ann Lacy Foundation. The Head-focused retrospective features 70 costumes that capture Head’s expansive career. Worn by stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Veronica Lake, and Barbara Stanwyck, the costumes represent a broad look at the designs and silhouettes of one of the premiere designers of golden age Hollywood. The homegrown exhibition takes up the museum’s entire third floor, where costumes and sketches showcase Head’s life and work. OKCMOA curatorial assistant Kristen Pignuolo joins Film Review to shares insights about the exhibit and the career of a Hollywood icon.

Devoted to keeping the spirit of cinema alive, London’s The Cinema Museum is the city’s only museum entirely dedicated to the experience of going to the cinema and tells the story behind the rich cultural heritage of moviegoing in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1984, The Cinema Museum is the result of a life-long fascination with cinemagoing by collectors Ronald Grant and Martin Humphries. Set in the historic surroundings of Kennington, The Cinema Museum is a veritable treasure trove of movie memorabilia. It’s a glimpse of another time and an important period of moviegoing history. On display in the museum is a unique collection of artifacts, memorabilia and equipment from decades of exhibition history. With a mission to preserve the history and grandeur of cinema from the 1890s all the way to the present day, the collection highlights that golden period of filmgoing between the 1920s-1960s. Cinema Museum Co-Founder and Director Martin Humphries sits down with Film Review to discuss the origins of the museum and the building’s special link to cinema history.

The desire to share films, whether through a tangible film collection or a collective experience, is a desire that resonates with many a movielover. It’s also a viable career path. Behind the programming at every local community arthouse and repertory cinema is a film programmer making the tough decisions of what movies to show and when. K.J. Relth-Miller, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ Director of Film Programs sits down with Film Review to discuss her origins as a film programmer and share insights into her work through the lens of her current program ​​Forever A Contender: A Centennial Tribute to Marlon Brando.