Noel Langley (1911–1980)

A witch and a lost girl fight to the death over a sparkly pair of heels.

Whenever I watch this, I try to imagine what it would be like to see it for the first time. I can never tell, but I do usually notice things that have previously been invisible-due-to-familiarity. One thing I managed to pull out of it this time around was just how good a song and performance "Over the Rainbow" is. I mean, yeah, I've always known it's great, but this time it struck me how much it probably would have show more floored me if I'd never heard it before.

Concept: A
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: A

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 3.6/4 show less

This movie is a classic for a reason, although a few parts of it have not aged well, especially with Miss Gulch. She's portrayed as a villain because... she didn't want Dorothy's stupid dog to bother her? I know that it was the 1930s and it wasn't uncommon to have dogs running loose on farms and etc but Dorothy was not a very responsible owner if she let Toto bother Miss Gulch multiple times.

A wealthy, uncaring man is haunted by Christmas spirits.

I was pretty surprised by how much less moving it is than the Muppet version. But while it doesn't have the emotional weight it needs, a lot of it is fun to watch, thanks mostly to Sim's awesome face.

Concept: A
Story: A
Characters: B
Dialog: A
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 3.2/4

Very well done noir with Howard as an ex-RAF pilot forced to work for bad guy Jones after the war. But when he discovers Jones is not just dealing in contraband, but in drugs, Howard wants out--and ends up being framed. Jones is terrific as the despicable bad guy and Gray is also very effective (and beautiful) as the bad guy's girl who comes to Howard's assistance. Nice rainy London scenes as well. Excellent dialog by screenwriter Noel Langley--who also wrote most of The Wizard of Oz!