Reel Old Movies

The 2023 Academy Awards are Sunday, March 12, but the first decades of Oscar honors were fertile ground for history-making movies.  Take a look at a few of the best, some of the firsts and a couple of the mosts when it comes to the Academy Awards' golden statuette and the Golden Age of Hollywood.  The first best picture nominees The first Academy Awards took place in 1929, honoring movies made from mid-1927 to 1928.  It was also the only year that two categories for "best" picture were included: One was for "Unique and Artistic Picture" and the other for "Outstanding Picture." The Artistic Picture category was dropped the following year, and the Outstanding Picture would evolve into the Best Picture category today. The movies nominated in each of the categories included: Outstanding Picture: "Wings" ** Won "The Racket" "7th Heaven" Unique and Artistic Picture: "Sunrise"  ** Won ( Watch for free ) "Chang...

On this date in Hollywood history -- March: Jean Harlow's birthday, Cyd Charisse's birthday, "The Covered Wagon" premiered, Steve McQueen's birthday ...  Discover what happened on days throughout March in Hollywood history, from historic film premieres and industry milestones to anniversaries of birthdays/deaths of beloved Old Hollywood figures, and more. (This story will be updated throughout the month)  March 3 The "Blonde Bombshell" Jean Harlow was born March 3, 1911, and was one of the legendary leading ladies of Old Hollywood. She rose to fame with 1930's "Hell's Angels" and would go on to star in two dozen movies before her untimely death just seven years later. Her biggest hits included "Platinum Blonde" (1931), "Red-Headed Woman" (1932), "Dinner at Eight" (1933), "Wife vs. Secretary" (1936) and "Libeled Lady" (1936). "Red Dust," made in 1932, featured Harlow at her most...

On this date in Hollywood history -- February: MGM's first "all-talkie" movie premiered ... Clark Gable's birthday ... Raquel Welch and Burt Bacharach passed away ... Discover what happened on days throughout February in Hollywood history, from historic film premieres and industry milestones to anniversaries of birthdays/deaths of beloved Old Hollywood figures, and more. (This story will be updated throughout the month)  February 1  👯‍♀️”One more crack from you and you’ll be holding a lily!” Bessie Love deals with her critics in “The Broadway Melody of 1929.”  It was the first “all-talkie” musical movie from MGM and won the best picture Oscar. The box office smash, which premiered February 1, also helped set the stage (so to speak) for MGM to dominate the musical genre for decades to come. Anita Page and Bessie Love play two sisters who head to New York with dreams of making it on Broadway. Of course, they encounter some obstacles along the way. … View thi...

[Updated February 2025] As movie studios ramp back up production in 2025, movie theaters aren't relying on classic movie re-releases as much. But a few national re-releases of classic movies are still to be found.  Making the case for re-releases: The Future of Film May Just be Old Movies Here's a list of classic movie re-releases coming soon to a theater hopefully near you. These are roughly pre-1980 movies being released nationally or at least broad regionally.  As always, check out your local independent movie theater: they are gems for classic movie screenings and I cannot track all of those! (My tiny town's old one-screen movie theater recently played a Hitchcock retrospective, for example. The audiences were mostly younger adults which spurred hope for the next generation of classic movie fans.) This list will continue to update throughout 2025 as new movies are announced. January Seven Samurai A Clockwork Orange February Gone with the Wind   |  Related...