Category Archives: Romance

Vacancy: “Hotel” (1967)

       “HOTEL”    (1967)     While reading Arthur Hailey’s novel “Hotel” (a beach book version of “Grand Hotel”), one gets a similar sensation to that of working on a disappointing jigsaw puzzle: at certain moments in working … Continue reading

Posted in books, Karl Malden, movie reviews, Movies, racism, Rod Taylor, Romance, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Eye of the Needle: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, April 2022 Edition, Vol. 60

Eye of the Needle: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, April 2022 Edition, Vol. 60 You are invited to a very special edition (not really) of this belated edition of the Classic Film Images Photo Quiz in which we celebrate a very … Continue reading

Posted in biography, black cinema, books, Boston, Drive-In Movies, Elvis Presley, Movies, Musicals, Romance, theater, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

When Your Fingers Did the Walking: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2022 Edition, Vol. 411

When Your Fingers Did the Walking: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2022 Edition, Vol. 411      In a world in desperate need of all of the humor one can muster, it never fails to entertain to seek out a … Continue reading

Posted in Cold War, comedy, crime, Drive-In Movies, History, Movies, Musicals, Mystery, photography, Romance, women, writing | 3 Comments

Slippery Slopes: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Feb. 2022 Edition, Vol. -10

Slippery Slopes: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Feb. 2022 Edition, Vol. -10     As the world blithely careens down the precipice of vaudevillian burlesque, led by that old tried and true tacky combination of a cranky baggy pants straight … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, crime, Drive-In Movies, Movies, Musicals, photography, Romance, war movies, women, writing | 2 Comments

Have I Got A Girl For You: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2021 Edition, Vol. 35mm

Have I  Got A Girl For You: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2021 Edition, Vol. 35mm    ‘Tis the season for gift giving and avaricious wishful thinking and while the members of the militant pseudo-feminist movement (“Declare your independence, then … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, black cinema, books, History, horror, Movies, Mystery, Romance, women | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Pedalers: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Oct. 2021 Edition, Vol. 400.6

PEDALERS:  CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, OCT. 2021 EDITION, VOL. 400.6     In deference to the assertions of those who derive from great glee from splashing rain puddles onto the sidewalk strolling CSR editorial staff as they zoom by in … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, Boston, Drive-In Movies, Italian cinema, Movies, photography, Romance, war movies, women, writing | 2 Comments

They Had Lenses Then: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2021 Edition, Vol. 35mm

They Had Lenses Then: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2021 Edition, Vol. 35mm Eschewing the usual mockery of political and social buffoons in the course of shamelessly circuitous introduction, current events demand that a passing dismissal of the criminally … Continue reading

Posted in Audie Murphy, biography, books, Boston, Drive-In Movies, History, Mimsy Farmer, Musicals, politics, Romance, women, writing | 2 Comments

Horse Sense: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, May 2021 Edition, Vol. 6 Hands

HORSE SENSE: CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, MAY 2021 EDITION, VOL. 6 HANDS      If the current pandemic teaches us anything (a supposition which for reasons only a scientific investigation the size of the Manhattan Project might begin to unravel … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, art house cinema, biography, books, Drive-In Movies, Movies, photography, Romance, westerns, women, writing | 3 Comments

Jungle Daze: “Trader Horn” (1973)

“TRADER HORN”  (1973)     The painfully optimistic marketing material announces that this remake of the 1931 African adventure “Trader Horn” is in the grand tradition of “King Solomon’s Mines” and “Mogambo”. For once we are presented with an example … Continue reading

Posted in Africa, biography, books, movie remakes, Movies, Rod Taylor, Romance, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Castle Redux: “Two on a Guillotine” (1965)

        “Two on a Guillotine” (1965)           Clearly taking direction from the horror films of William Castle and employing vividly evident inspiration from his 1959 “House on Haunted Hill”, William Conrad’s “Two on a … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Movies, Mystery, Romance, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

‘Tis the Season of Excess: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2020 Edition, Vol. 3,000,000,000

‘Tis the Season of Excess: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2020 Edition, Vol. 3,000,000,000 If anything might be guaranteed to emanate on a continuous basis from the deeply humanist and selfless communal mindset that is at the core of … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, biography, books, History, Italian cinema, Movies, photography, Romance, Santa Claus, silent movies, westerns, women, writing | 3 Comments

This is No Way to Share Popcorn

Posted in blogs, Boston, British films, cinema, Culture, Film, History, movie reviews, Movies, Romance, women, writing | 1 Comment

All Banged Up and No Place to Go: “Number One” (1969)

        “Number One”  (1969)     Considering the amount of complex psychology involved in both the achieving and the rudimentary maintenance of high level performance in sports, it is surprising how little of this is reflected in … Continue reading

Posted in Charlton Heston, football, Romance, sports, women, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Battle Fatigue: “Le prigioniere dell’isola del diavolo” (1962)

       “Le prigioniere dell’isola del diavolo” (1962)         The mere mention of a film inclusive of the women in the spurious genre of prison films usually conjures salacious images of graciously exploitative shower scenes, jailhouse togs … Continue reading

Posted in Italian cinema, Movies, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Diplomatic Affairs: “Die lady” (1964)

“Die lady”  (1964) Starring Ingrid Thulin, Paul Hubschmid, Nikos Kourkoulos, Claudine Auger, Bernard Verley. Written by Peter Berneis. Directed by Han Albin & Peter Berneis. (aka “Games of Desire”) Ingrid Thulin stars as Nadine, the trophy wife to Elliot, a secretly … Continue reading

Posted in Ingrid Thulin, movie reviews, Movies, psychiatry, Romance, sex, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Is That Snow Falling From The Sky Or Are You Just Glad to See Me?: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2019 Edition,Vol. 6 – 12″

Is That Show Falling From The Sky Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2019 Edition, Vol. 6 – 12″ Not a subscriber to climate change (we here at CSR much prefer the … Continue reading

Posted in black cinema, books, British films, Cold War, crime, Drive-In Movies, History, humor, Movies, Mystery, photography, politics, Romance | 2 Comments

Still Lives: “Kärlekens Krigare” (2009)

     “Kärlekens Krigare”  (2009)     Simon Staho’s “Kärlekens Krigare” ( “Warriors of Love”) is an interesting  use of the limited regressive tools of filmmaking resulting by ignoring just over a century’s worth of accumulated advances in style and … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, movie reviews, Movies, photography, Reviews, Romance, Swedish cinema, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Bump in the Night: “Dracula Sucks” (1978)

           “Dracula Sucks”  (1978)     If a similar exercise in post-“Blazing Saddles” era genre deconstruction by way of by way of a borscht belt savaging of genre tropes were to be inferred by as suggestively … Continue reading

Posted in Annette Haven, books, erotica, horror, Movies, Porno Chic, Romance, vampires, women, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” (2001)

“The Curse of the Jade Scorpion”  (2001)  A veteran insurance investigator and a newly installed company efficiency expert trade barbs while they are unwittingly involved, due to post-hypnotic suggestions, in the very jewel robberies they themselves are investigating. With its … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, crime, Helen Hunt, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, Woody Allen, writing | 1 Comment

The Spy Who Confused Me: “Superseven chiama Cairo” (1965)

      “Superseven chiama Cairo”  (1965)     If imitation were genuinely the sincerest form of flattery, then Ian Fleming’s most popular creation would have merited the author the Nobel Prize for Literature. As it stands, what is entertaining … Continue reading

Posted in books, crime, espionage, Eurospy movies, Italian cinema, Movies, Mystery, Romance, Rosalba Neri, writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

What’s Love Got to Do With It?: “El gran amor del conde Drácula” (1973)

          “El gran amor del conde Drácula” (1973)     Popularly recognized by Euro Horror enthusiasts for his continuing role as lycanthrope Wademar Daninsky, Paul Naschy portrays an unexpectedly sentimental variation of cinema’s favorite vampire in “El … Continue reading

Posted in books, grindhouse, horror, Movies, Romance, Spanish films, vampires, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

25 Pictures in Search of a Theme: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2019 Edition, Vol. 133524.48

25 Pictures in Search of a  Theme: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2019 Edition, Vol. 133524.48s     Since the inception of Chandler Swain Reviews, we have engaged in the constant struggle between the search for Art and depth … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, Boston, Cecil B. DeMille, comedy, History, horror, Movies, Mystery, photography, Romance, women, writing | 1 Comment

Love in a Fog: “The Divorce of Lady X” (1938)

     “The Divorce of Lady X”  (1938)     After a brief immersion in the London fog, the pastel carnival of colors assaulting the viewer’s eyes at the start of Ted Whelan’s “The Divorce of Lady X” is not unlike … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, Laurence Olivier, London, movie remakes, Movies, music, Romance, theater, women, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

No Smoking in Bed: “Fuego” (1969)

      “Fuego”  (1969)        One may accuse the cinematic works of Argentine actor-director Armando Bo of many things, but subtlety is not probable to be high on the list of likely suspects. In the initial clumsily executed … Continue reading

Posted in erotica, grindhouse, Movies, music, Reviews, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Touch and Go: “He & She” (1970)

       “He & She”  (1970)      Matt Cimber’s “He & She” is one of those cannily marketed pseudo-explicit features which skated by the diligently suspicious antennae of community standards by masquerading its exploitative intentions as an educationally … Continue reading

Posted in erotica, grindhouse, movie reviews, Movies, Romance, sex, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Variety is the Spice of Life: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2019 Edition, Vol. 57

Variety is the Spice of Life: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2019 Edition, Vol. 57     In keeping with the CSR tradition of taking an entire month to upgrade, update and perform a much needed Spring Cleaning on the … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, comedy, History, horror, movie reviews, Movies, photography, Romance, sex, theater, women, writing | 8 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Keeping Up With the Joneses” (2016)

  “Keeping Up With the Joneses” (2016) A comedy which intermingles the movie-fed image of spies (i.e., those who carry on covert operations which seem to bring the greatest attention to themselves) with a Hollywood humorist’s vision of suburban America, “Keeping … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, espionage, Movies, Reviews, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Labor Party: “The Mole People” (1956)

         “The Mole People”  (1956)   It’s a curious phenomenon when a cultural industry ignores a particularly prickly subject which merits serious dramatic representation simply through moral cowardice or, more disgracefully, through financial considerations which take into … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, John Agar, movie reviews, Movies, religion, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Farm Hands: “Jennie, Wife/Child” (1968)

     “Jennie, Wife/Child”   (1968)     For the advanced connoisseur of sexploitation sleaze, “Jennie, Wife/Child” is bound to disappoint. But for those truly interested in the cinema in all of its permutations, and the small, unexpected demonstrations of unheralded … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, grindhouse, movie reviews, Movies, music, Reviews, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Lonelyhearts: “Play It Again, Sam” (1972)

  “Play It Again, Sam”  (1972)     It would seem like a smart move to begin the film version of Woody Allen’s theatrical opus “Play It Again, Sam” with the airport finale from”Casablanca”, as the difference in screen image between the … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, film noir, Humphrey Bogart, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, theater, women, Woody Allen, writing | 4 Comments

Knock Offs: “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw” (1976)

       “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw”  (1976)     When bored carhop Bobbie Jo Baker (Lynda Carter) asks charmless drifter Lyle Wheeler (Marjoe Gortner) who his hero is, the answer should be the more accurate “Clyde Barrow” rather than … Continue reading

Posted in crime, Drive-In Movies, Movies, Reviews, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Screwballed: “What’s Up, Doc?” (1972)

                 “What’s Up, Doc?”  (1972)     When a popular genre fades away and then finds a sudden revival in even a singular vehicle, it is natural to consider whether the newer incarnation … Continue reading

Posted in Barbra Streisand, comedy, Movies, Reviews, Romance, writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

67 Years and No Relief in Sight: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2019 Edition, Vol. 1952

  67 Years and No Relief in Sight: Classic Film Photo Quiz, Mar. 2019 Edition, Vol. 1952     Some men are born to greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them, And some just won’t go away. Which brings us … Continue reading

Posted in biography, black cinema, books, British films, comedy, crime, History, Movies, Musicals, Mystery, Romance, women, writing | 7 Comments

The Spy With Alfie’s Face: “The Jigsaw Man” (1983)

         “The Jigsaw Man”  (1983)     Featuring a story which obviously taking its cue from real-life double agent scandals (just where would half of the British espionage films have found their inspiration without Kim Philby?) Terence … Continue reading

Posted in books, British films, Cold War, espionage, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Movies, Romance, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Lure of the Siren: “Carmen” (1915)

          “Carmen”  (1915)      If a proper movie translation of Prosper Mérimée’s novella “Carmen” is to be realized, the film must positively reek of earthiness; it must relay a passion so irresistible in its attraction … Continue reading

Posted in books, Cecil B. DeMille, History, Movies, Reviews, Romance, silent movies, women, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fragility: “David and Lisa” (1962)

     “David and Lisa”  (1962)     Hollywood seems reluctant to ignore a good story about mental illness as the actors are given to unleashing the hounds in roles that are traditional award magnets, while directors are afforded the … Continue reading

Posted in books, children, education, Movies, parenting, psychiatry, Romance, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Concession Stand Bites: “Legend of the Lost” (1957)

“Legend of the Lost” (1957) Starring John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Rossano Brazzi, Kurt Kasnar. Written by Ben Hecht and Robert Presnell. Directed by Henry Hathaway. In Timbuktu, adventurer Joe January (Wayne) is hired by a mysterious man named Paul Bonnard … Continue reading

Posted in John Wayne, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, Sophia Loren, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Concession Stand Bites: “Slaughterhouse-Five” (1972)

“SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE” (1972) Starring Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Valerie Perrine, Eugene Roche, Perry King, Kevin Conway. Directed by George Roy Hill. Written by Stephen Geller based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. When the film of a seemingly unfilmable novel … Continue reading

Posted in books, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, science fiction, World War II, writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Concession Stand Bites: “36 Hours” (1965)

“36 Hours” (1965) Starring James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor, Werner Peters, John Banner, Alan Napier. Written by George Seaton, based on the story “Beware of the Dogs” by Roald Dahl and a story by Carl K. Hittleman & … Continue reading

Posted in books, espionage, History, James Garner, Movies, psychiatry, Rod Taylor, Romance, short stories, World War II, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Concession Stand Bites: “My Little Chickadee” (1940)

“My Little Chickadee” (1940) Starring W.C. Fields, Mae West, Joseph Callieia, Dick Foran, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek, Ruth Donnelly. Written by Mae West, W.C. Fields. Directed by Edward F. Cline. What would appear to be a comic match made in … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, Mae West, Movies, Reviews, Romance, W.C. Fields, westerns, women, writing | Tagged | 1 Comment

Concession Stand Bites: “Upstairs and Downstairs” (1959)

“Upstairs and Downstairs” (1959) Starring Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, Mylene Demongeot, James Robertson Justice, Daniel Massey, Sid James, Joan Hickson, Joan Sims, Claudia Cardinale. Written by Frank Harvey, based on a novel by Ronald Scott Thorn. Directed by Ralph Thomas. … Continue reading

Posted in British films, comedy, movie reviews, Movies, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

True Confections: “Trottie True” (1949)

         “Trottie True”   (1949)     “Trottie True” (stupidly retitled for U.S. distribution as “The Gay Lady”) is a colorful not quite rags to riches story (more like a tale of working class to upper crust … Continue reading

Posted in British films, comedy, movie reviews, Movies, Musicals, Romance, theater, women, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Primitives: “The Lost World” (1925)

           “The Lost World”  (1925)    Based upon the 1912 adventure novel by Sherlock Holmes scribe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry O. Hoyt’s 1925 “The Lost World” presents Conan Doyle’s less well known but equally estimable … Continue reading

Posted in animation, books, movie reviews, Movies, Romance, silent films, silent movies, women, writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Four Dimensions of Greta” (1972)

“Four Dimensions of Greta” (1972) Never at a loss for a gimmick to lure unsuspecting patrons to  fill seats, the 3-D craze arrived on the shores of England about two decades late with “Four Dimensions of Greta”, a film that … Continue reading

Posted in British films, crime, erotica, London, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Romance, sex, women | 3 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Invasion U.S.A.” (1952)

“Invasion U.S.A.”  (1952)  If one can imagine a production of  “The Time of Your Life” reconstituted with “Fail-Safe”, you might get a pretty good idea of the awkward Cold War civics lesson that is “Invasion U.S.A.”, a collection of mismatched … Continue reading

Posted in Cold War, Drive-In Movies, movie reviews, Movies, politics, Reviews, Romance, war movies | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Overcooked: “Coma” (1978)

                     “Coma”  (1978)      In his debut novel ‘Coma’, Robin Cook presented an unlikely set of circumstances concerning a vast criminal conspiracy within a fictitious Boston hospital, that stretched the very … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boston, medicine, Michael Crichton, Movies, Mystery, Richard Widmark, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Big Bang: “Krakatoa East of Java” (1969)

      “Krakatoa East of Java”  (1969)     Seldom have adventure films sunk from their own surfeit of narrative ballast as dramatically as Bernard L. Kowalski’s “Krakatoa East of Java”, a film that juggles so many storylines- ensuring … Continue reading

Posted in disaster films, History, movie reviews, Movies, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Egypt, Unwrapped: “The Mummy” (1932)

     “The Mummy”    (1932)     The first of the major Universal sound horror films which relied upon the invention of screenwriters rather than a direct literary predecessor, Karl Freund’s “The Mummy” enjoys the luxury in the depiction of the … Continue reading

Posted in Boris Karloff, horror, horror films, Movies, Pre-Code Movies, religion, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Floating: “Zeppelin” (1971)

           “Zeppelin”  (1971)     The staggering cost in human lives resulting from global conflicts is reemphasized in Etienne Perier’s World War I adventure “Zeppelin”, one of those myriad cinema fantasies in which the fate of … Continue reading

Posted in espionage, History, London, Michael York, Movies, Romance, war movies, women, writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Vacancy: “Cancel My Reservation” (1972)

           “Cancel My Reservation”  (1972)     Bob Hope’s last starring film role is so wince inducing, audience members may be in danger of developing permanent facial tics. This would-be murder mystery, based on a novel … Continue reading

Posted in Bob Hope, comedy, crime, Culture, Drive-In Movies, Movies, Mystery, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments