Influencers & Inspiration Whereby the influence on set or in the theatre watching someone else’s film, inspires another… Peter Warne (Clark Gable) and Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), on the run and hungry in It Happened One Night (1934). What began as MGM Studios’ attempt to punish Clark Gable ended up making him immortal. MGM loaned the actor out...
Influencers & Inspiration Whereby the influence on set or in the theatre watching someone else’s film, inspires another… Hollywood screenwriter, Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart), and the poor Spanish dancer, Maria Vargas, meet after her number is over in a nightclub in Madrid. Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner) a poor, stunningly beautiful, Spanish dancer is discovered by an American screenwriter,...
by JoAnn DiVerdi – February 2025 Influencers & Inspiration Whereby the influence on set or in the theatre watching someone else’s film, inspires another… Pépé Le Moko (Charles Boyer) and the beautiful Gaby (Hedy Lamarr) obsessed with each other and with the glittering jewels to be found in Algiers (1938). Algiers (1938) tells the tale of French jewel...
Whereby the influence on set or in the theatre watching someone else’s film, inspires another… Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) and Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), two married strangers who experience an extraordinary love in the ultra-romantic, lushly photographed Brief Encounter (1945). Brief Encounter (1945) is an English film about two married strangers, Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) and Dr. Alec...
INFLUENCERS & INSPIRATION Whereby the influence on set or in the theatre watching someone else's film, inspires another... Kitty (Jean Harlow) and Dan Packard (Wallace Berry) battle it out before their Dinner at Eight (1933). Dinner at Eight (1933) revolves around an impending society dinner and the guests who grapple with scandal and secrets, high, low and sometimes...
INFLUENCERS & INSPIRATION Whereby the influence on set or in the theatre watching someone else’s film, inspires another… Ingrid Bergman During the filming of Notorious (1946), starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, director Alfred Hitchcock had the opportunity to observe an interesting relationship. Bergman, when in Europe in 1945 following VE Day, met the dashing war photographer, Robert...
INFLUENCERS & INSPIRATION Whereby the influence on set or in the theatre watching someone else’s film, inspires another… In the market for murder. Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) and Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) in Double Indemnity (1944). Double Indemnity (1944) was written by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, based on the book by James M. Cain. It’s a wonderful...
Classic Film Columnist
I'm a classic film columnist with a special devotion to those shot in black-and-white.
In my columns I celebrate the beauty of classic films and all those who helped to create them. And like all great works of art, I spotlight their continuing ability to influence and inspire.
My columns have appeared in The Catholic Free Press and on the sites 50 Plus CT and Mass Bay Film Project. Locally, I've conducted film programs on the great writer/director Preston Sturges. And, I've also presented my series, "Popcorn Sermons," at The Icon Museum and Study Center.
Follow @JoAnnDiVerdi
