Shows / Classic Movie Review
Classic Movie Review
Join the host archaeologist John for classic movies reviews with his own special spin. Using his archaeological background, he connects historic, cinematic, genealogical, and current facts to add a dimension to his reviews that will increase your enjoyment of these classic movies. John tells all for movies over 25 years old. He also presents his world-famous short summaries of each classic movies reviewed. ClassicMovieRev.com
Episodes
- Classic Movie Review
The Big Sleep (1946): Humphrey Bogart's Iconic Film Noir Masterpiece
A Raymond Chandler novel, William Faulkner co-wrote the screenplay, and Howard Hawks was the director. Bogart and Bacall starred in The Big Sleep (1946). The…
- Classic Movie Review
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
Based on a Michener novel, this movie is set during the Korean War. The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) deal with an impossible task, friendship, and love. Starring…
Classic Movie ReviewBattlefield Archeologist Dr. Douglas D. Scott Talks Little Bighorn Battle
Battlefield Archeologist Dr. Douglas D. Scott Talks Little Bighorn Battle for Archaeology and the Movies Series This interview is with Douglas D. Scott. He is…
- Classic Movie Review
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
One of the top movies of all times, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) focuses on the readjustments of three veterans following World War II and the effects it…
- Classic Movie Review
Charles M. Haecker Talks Apaches for Archaeology and the Movies Series
Charles M. Haecker Talks Apaches for Archaeology and the Movies Series Retired National Park Service Archaeologist Charles M. Haecker author of On the Prairie…
- Classic Movie Review
Panic in the Streets (1950)
A very solid Film Noir, Panic in the Streets (1950) is a really exciting movie as Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas race to stop the plague. It is also Jack…
- Classic Movie Review
Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
Listed among the top war films of all time, Twelve O'Clock High (1949), shows very little combat and focuses on PTSD. Gregory Peck and Dean Jagger star. The…
- Classic Movie Review
Dr. David Anderson Talks Science Fiction for Archaeology and the Movies Series
Dr. David Anderson Talks Science Fiction for Archaeology and the Movies Series 18:23 Dr. David Anderson quote on the nature of archaeology! 19:57 End SPREAD…
- Classic Movie Review
Frankenstein (1910)
The first time Mary Shelly's gothic horror tale was committed to film. Produced by Thomas Edison, Frankenstein (1910) is historical and a must for all classic…
- Classic Movie Review
Command Decision (1948)
A great study in leadership as the military commander, played by Clark Gable, must accept huge loses to stop the Nazi jet program in Command Decision (1948)…
- Classic Movie Review
The Man from the Alamo (1953)
A semi-historical western with Glenn Ford and Julie Adams tells of a man being accused of being a coward for leaving the Alamo during the Texas War for…
- Classic Movie Review
Armored Car Robbery (1950)
A short Film Noir where Charles McGraw and William Talman face off on opposite sides of the law. Adele Jergens is a great femme fatale in Armored Car Robbery…
- Classic Movie Review
Dr. Russell K. Skowronek Talks Pirate Archaeology for Archaeology and the Movies Series
Dr. Russell K. Skowronek Talks Pirate Archaeology for Archaeology and the Movies Series I am very excited to have Dr. Russell K. Skowronek join us for an…
- Classic Movie Review
Dr. Julie M. Schablitsky Interview Archaeology and the Movies
Dr. Julie M. Schablitsky Interview Archaeology and the Movies I am very lucky to kick off the Archaeology and the Movies series with Dr. Julie M. Schablitsky…
- Classic Movie Review
Detective Story (1951)
A play with elements of Film Noir. Kirk Douglas and Lee Grant are great in this intense police drama and love story, Detective Story (1951). The Coyote's Tale…
- Classic Movie Review
Olive, the Other Reindeer (1999)
Brew Barrymore leads a talented cast as Olive, the dog that thinks she can save Christmas, after hearing Santa say he will depend on All of the Other Reindeer…
- Classic Movie Review
Holiday Affair (1949)
A Christmas love story with Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, and Wendell Corry in a love triangle. Gordan Gebert is great as Timmy in Holiday Affair (1949) The…
- Classic Movie Review
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
A wonderful Christmas love story, The Shop Around the Corner (1940) has been remade a couple of times as In the Good Old Summertime (1949), with Judy Garland…
- Classic Movie Review
Satan Met a Lady (1936)
A bad comedy remake of The Maltese Falcon (1931) and from the same source as The Maltese Falcon (1941) the makers of Satan Met a Lady (1936) made about every…
- Classic Movie Review
The Maltese Falcon (1931)
The Maltese Falcon (1931) is an early version of the Dashiell Hammett novel starring Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez, and Una Merkel. It is almost as good as The…
- Classic Movie Review
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
A lustful vixen, a dipsomaniac, a tough guy, and a dame that had nothing but bad breaks intersect in The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946) The Coyote's…
- Classic Movie Review
Frankenstein (1931)
A revolutionary piece of filmmaking by Director James Whale who brought Mary Shelly's monster to the screen. Boris Karloff is the Monster in Frankenstein…
- Classic Movie Review
House of Dracula (1945)
It is a classic horror film with John Carradine and Lon Chaney Jr. as Dracula and the Wolf Man in House of Dracula (1945). Frankenstein's Monster was there…
- Classic Movie Review
Them! (1954)
One of the great post atom bomb monster movies. A solid cast and hordes of giant ants make Them! (1954) a great classic sci-fi movie. SPREAD THE WORD! If you…
- Classic Movie Review
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Kung Fu and Chinese black magic as Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) helps his friends fight a 2000-year-old Chinatown demon in Big Trouble in Little China (1986)…
- Classic Movie Review
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
Better than average John Wayne fare with a great story and a lot of exciting dialogue and stunts. You will really enjoy The Sons of Katie Elder (1965). SPREAD…
- Classic Movie Review
The Frisco Kid (1979)
A funny buddy picture that never got the attention it deserves. Harrison Ford and Gene Wilder are hilarious in The Frisco Kid (1979) SPREAD THE WORD! If you…
- Classic Movie Review
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Steven Spielberg directed the most exciting archaeology and Nazi-punching movies ever. Ford is amazing as Indiana Jones, a collector of antiquities in Raiders…
- Classic Movie Review
The Razor's Edge (1984)
Based on W. Somerset Maugham's novel of the same name, this movie follows Larry (Bill Murray) as his searches for the meaning of life, following the WWI death…
- Classic Movie Review
Red River (1948)
This classic western shows the struggle between an old man, played by John Wayne and a younger man, played by Montogomery Clift, set during the first cattle…
- Classic Movie Review
Daughter of the Dragon (1931)
This movie features the great Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, Japanese silent film actor Sessue Hayakawa, and Swedish Warner Oland as Fu Manchu. Wong…
- Classic Movie Review
Mystery Street (1950)
This Film Noir may be the grandfather of all police procedurals. Elsa Lanchester, Ricardo Montalban, and Jan Sterling are excellent in Mystery Street (1950)…
- Classic Movie Review
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The first Sci-Fi films with a big budget, an electronic soundtrack, completely off Earth, and introducing Robby the Robot, Forbidden Planet (1956) is Leslie…
- Classic Movie Review
Three Strangers (1946)
One of the ten films that paired Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, this is a sharp mystery tale. The three strangers make a wish on a statue of a Chinese…
- Classic Movie Review
High Road to China (1983)
Following WW1, a drunken American war hero is hired to fly a biplane for a spoiled socialite in an attempt to find her missing father. The pair, along with a…
- Classic Movie Review
The Narrow Margin (1952)
One of the greatest and purest Film Noirs, this movie is set on a moving train and is suspenseful and tense. Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor are…
- Classic Movie Review
The Phenix City Story (1955)
Based on a true story, this Film Noir, is shot in a gritty style that exposes the seedy underbelly of southern crime in The Phenix City Story (1955). You…
- Classic Movie Review
Westworld (1973)
Michael Crichton wrote and directed this futurist tale of technology gone wild as crazed gunslinger robot Yul Brynner kills guests in Westworld (1973)…
- Classic Movie Review
Go Tell The Spartans (1978)
Not popular when released, it has grown into a Vietnam War cult status film. Burt Lancaster is amazing as the 3 war veteran in Go Tell the Spartans (1978). The…
- Classic Movie Review
Big Wednesday (1978)
This John Milius-directed coming-of-age story is set in the world of California surfers. William Katt, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Gary Busey lead the ensemble…
- Classic Movie Review
The Verdict (1946)
Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre were in nine movies together. Well, I've seen The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Passage to Marseille (1944)…
- Classic Movie Review
The Razor's Edge (1946)
Based on the W. Somerset Maugham novel, this film tests the story of a disenchanted World War I veteran seeking the meaning of life. The Razor's Edge (1946) is…
- Classic Movie Review
The Petrified Forest (1936)
Often listed as a Film Noir, The Petrified Forest (1936), is widely considered to be a precursor to Film Noir. The basic story is a lonely young waitress, a…
- Classic Movie Review
Dark Waters (1944)
Directed by André De Toth, this movie tells a woman that survived a U-boat attack and a delayed rescue that comes to live with her only relatives on a lonely…
- Classic Movie Review
Men in War (1957)
This mantheon film is full of manly men fighting a war. A beaten patrol tries to make it back to their lines as a hardened sergeant and a catatonic Colonel tag…
- Classic Movie Review
Marooned (1969)
A space disaster film with a lot of star power. This movie foreshadowed the Apollo 13 disaster that would happen the next year. You will enjoy Gregory Peck…
- Classic Movie Review
A Man Called Horse (1970)
One of the first major movie that depicts Native Americans as multi-dimensional characters. Richard Harris is pretty good as the English lord captured by Sioux…
- Classic Movie Review
Capricorn One (1977)
A great space conspiracy theory movie with intense aerial scenes between helicopters and a bi-plane. Be sure to see Capricorn One (1977) with James Brolin…
- Classic Movie Review
The Time Machine (1960)
One of the greatest time-traveling movies of all time, The Time Machine (1960), is based on an H.G. Wells story. Rod Taylor and Yvette Mimieux are great as…
- Classic Movie Review
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
One of the best and most well-known sci-fi in the benevolent alien's group. Directed by Robert Wise, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), is a movie that Many…
- Classic Movie Review
Red Dawn (1984)
World War III has come to America as Russians and Cubans invade. Caught behind the lines, a small group of high school students, the Wolverines, fight to save…
- Classic Movie Review
The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)
Your name is Mudd. A highly fictionalized tale of Dr. Sammuel Mudd, who was convicted of helping John Wilkes Booth escape after he assassinated President…
- Classic Movie Review
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)
A highly fictionalized and entertaining war movie about the birth of Isreal. Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) features a great cast led by Kirk Douglas with support…
- Classic Movie Review
WarGames (1983)
This classic 1980s movies give a fresh look at nuclear holocaust and computer hacking. Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, and John Wood lead that cast of the…
- Classic Movie Review
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
This is one of the most beloved and inspiring Christmas movie of all time. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) has a great cast and features a young Natalie Wood…
- Classic Movie Review
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) is a beloved and sacrilegious comedy that is one of the best Christmas movies ever made. The Coyote's Tale, a noir…
- Classic Movie Review
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Using technology from King Kong (1933), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) is a beloved family Christmas story that has shown on television every year since…
- Classic Movie Review
The Prowler (1951)
A gritty crime Film Noir that tells of a homicidal policeman and an illicit love affair. The Prowler (1951) features strong performances by Evelyn Keys and Van…
- Classic Movie Review
Mr. Novak - Chuck Harter Interview
This is an interview with Chuck Harter the author of Mr. Novak. This book is about a television show that ran from 1963-1965. Mr. Harter did a great job on the…
- Classic Movie Review
The Harder They Fall (1956)
A gritty boxing Film Noir without a serious femme fatale. The Harder They Fall (1956) was a tale of corruption and betrayal in the sweet science and was…