Gable and Colbert make an unlikely couple, but the chemistry works.

It Happened One Night is a 1934 romantic comedy directed by Frank Capra and staring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. The film was a runaway success, sweeping the boards at the Oscars; winning Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay one of only a handful of films to do so, even to this day. The film is still highly rated today being an IMDB top 250 movie, and not yet available on Blu-ray, so I thought I’d have a quick look at the iTunes version.

All of the major players in this production from the director downwards didn’t think much of the film while it was in production. In particular the relationship between Colbert and Capra was icy. It opened to mixed reviews, and marginal business, but after reaching second-run houses, it found it’s audience, and word-of-mouth turned it into a huge hit, Columbia’s biggest to date.

Continue reading →

Leviathan is a 1989 creature-feature staring Peter Weller, directed by George P. Cosmatos written by David Webb Peoples and Jeb Stuart, with Cinematography by Alex Thomson. Since this movie hasn’t had a satisfactory Blu-ray release, I thought I’d take a look at the iTunes HD version.

A deep sea mining crew stumble across the wreck of a Soviet military ship, whose loss apparently hasn’t been recorded. Accidentally exposing themselves to a potent mutagen, the mutated crew members began picking off the survivors one-by-one.

The crew divide the spoils of the Soviet shipwreck.

The supporting cast are all recognizable faces, including Amanda Pays, Meg Foster, Richard Crenna, Daniel Stern. and Ernie Hudson, and Peter Weller adds some weight to the cast. But we are playing strictly for B-movie thrills.

Continue reading →