Raquel Stecher

Charles Boyer
The French Lover
University Press of Kentucky
November 2021
“For generations of film and theater audiences, Boyer was the archetypal Frenchman — cultivated, courteous, and seductive, yet never quite at home in a culture not his own. The sense of loss conveyed in his murmuring baritone voice was the very essence of romance. Women longed to comfort him; men wanted to become his friend.” — John Baxter
Charles Boyer charmed audiences for decades playing suave and debonair leading me...

We lost a bright shining light when Sidney Poitier passed away earlier this month. He left behind a legacy of amazing acting work. Films like The Defiant Ones (1958), A Raisin in the Sun (1959), Lilies of the Field (1963), which earned him an Oscar, the first ever awarded to a black male actor, A Patch of Blue (1965), To Sir, With Love (1967), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967) defined his career, challenged our notions of race and opened doors for many actors to come. In addition to his accomplishments as an actor, he was also a terrific writer. He published

Military vet Will (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter Tom (Thomasin McKenzie) live in a makeshift shelter in the woods outside Portland, Oregon. Will suffers from severe PTSD and wants nothing but to live away from the stronghold of society. He cares for Tom, by teaching her survival skills and selling his psych meds for cash to purchase supplies. Tom and Will are constantly training to keep their lifestyle a secret not only because they are living illegally on public lands but because Tom ...

The Movies, Stars, and Stories of World War II
by Christian Blauvelt
Foreword by Dr. Robert M. Citino
Hardcover ISBN: 978076249992
TCM and Running Press
November 2021
“By the end of the war, motion pictures, having become the voice of the nation, would end up as the definitive American art form– America’s greatest cultural export to the world.” — Christian Blauvelt
During WWII, movies reached the peak of their cultural influence over the American public. Hollywood rallied to support the war e...

Follow me: Out of the Past blog - http://www.outofthepastblog.com Quelle Movies blog - http://www.quellemovies.com Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/RaquelStecher Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/outofthepastblog Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/QuelleMovies#classicfilm #classicmovies #classicfilmreading #moviebooks #filmbooks #biographies0:00 Intro 2:22 Laura 5:24 Olivia de Havilland 8:29 The Essential Directors 12:13 Hollywood Victory 16:00 TBR Mentioned in the video: #ClassicFilmColle...

This breezy pre-code drama, perfectly suited for the palate of a Depression-era audience, was bolstered by its roster of talents. Directed by George Cukor, Girls About Town stars Kay Francis, Joel McCrea, Lilyan Tashman and Eugene Pallette. Francis and Tashman play escorts who work diligently to drain the coffers of their wealthy clientele. McCrea and Pallette are the gold-diggers’ latest targets. The story evolves from comedy to drama as McCrea’s and Francis’ characters enter a high-stakes romance.

Adapted by Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan, Nightmare Alley (2021) is a magnificent adaptation that honors the film noir classic while giving contemporary audiences a grittier and more nuanced look at William Lindsay Gresham's story.
Stan (Bradley Cooper) has a dark past. One he leaves behind as he enters the carnival world. Intrigued and horrified by the resident geek, Stan catches a gruesome performance without paying the required fee. Carnival manager Clem (Willem Dafoe) catches him but ...

Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, who directed such classics as Viridiana, Belle de Jour, and the Academy Award winning The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, was a master surrealist creating films that were odd, perverse and enigmatic. He was a filmmaker who refused to define himself yet also hated hypocrisy and never compromised on his convictions as a storyteller. And somehow he got better over time, with the peak of his creativity coming at the very end of his filmmaking career.
While some o...

I am thrilled to welcome back film historian and writer Sloan De Forest. Her new book The Essential Directors: The Art and Impact of Cinema's Most Influential Filmmakers is available now from TCM and Running Press (check out my review here).
Raquel Stecher: Congratulations on the publication of The Essential Directors! How did you come to write this book?
Sloan De Forest: Thank you! I had already written two books for Turner Classic Movies and Running Press (Must-See Sci-Fi and Dynamic Dames)...

“I’ve never seen anything through. I go from one thing to another.”
Have you ever felt like a complete failure? Like you’re the worst person in the world? These feelings plague Julie (Renate Reinsve), a 20-something college student who isn’t sure what path she wants to take in life. Every new career move leads her to a new guy but she just can’t quite stay put. That is until she meets comic book artist Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie). He’s older, a bit wiser and absolutely smitten with her. As J...

“For more than forty years, these two giants of American literature goaded and supported one another in the agonizing quest to turn life into art.”
A new documentary profiles two literary giants and their lifelong friendship. Directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation is comprised of archival footage and photographs and personal letters and writings by the two authors about themselves and each other. Jim Parsons narrates as Truman Capote and Zachary Quin...

In the holiday classic Christmas in Connecticut (1945), Barbara Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a magazine writer pretending to be an accomplished cook and housewife reporting from a quaint country town. But in reality, she’s a city gal who gets inspiration from her uncle Felix (S.Z. Sakall), a professional chef, and makes up stories at her typewriter. When her boss Alexander Yardley (Sydney Greenstreet) insists that Elizabeth host WWII hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan) at her home for Christmas, Elizabeth has to keep up the ruse to save her job.

Directed by Lee Haven Jones, The Feast is a Welsh horror film that pits the characters’ own greed and selfishness against themselves. Glenda (Nia Roberts) and Gwyn (Julian Lewis Jones) are hosting a dinner party at their home to convince their neighbor Mair (Lisa Palfrey) to take a business proposition from Euros (Rhodri Meilir). Gwyn is a politician who’s made money hand over fist with shady business deals especially when it comes to crude oil. Their sons Gweirydd (Sion Alun Davies) and Guto...

Kristen Stewart shines in Pablo Larraín’s latest drama Spencer. Told over the time span of Christmas and Boxing Day in 1991, the story follows Princess Diana (Stewart) as she has a mental breakdown due to Prince Charles’ infidelity, public scrutiny and the unwavering pressures that come with being a member of the royal family. Princess Diana is someone the audience will already be protective of and Stewart does a fantastic job portraying her not as a victim but of a free spirit trapped in a o...

Director Jane Campion is a force to be reckoned with. Her latest film, the sweeping Western The Power of the Dog, is simply put a masterpiece.
Set in 1920s Montana, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank, a troubled rancher with a domineering streak. He runs a cattle drive with his brother George (Jesse Plemons) who is the polar opposite of him; a much more subdued and gentle soul. When George falls in love with widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst), Phil’s world seems to be turned upside d...