Displaying items by tag: World War II

“It's a Wonderful Life is truly the platinum standard in Christmas movies; the benchmark by which all other entries in the genre are judged.” — Thomas A. Christie, author of The Christmas Movie Book

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the 75th anniversary of the release of It’s a Wonderful Life, the Christmas classic directed by Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and starring James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo) and Donna Reed (From Here to Eternity, The Donna Reed Show).

In 1990 the Library of Congress selected It’s a Wonderful Life for preservation in the National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and in 1998 the American Film Institute (AFI) recognized the film as the 11th greatest movie ever made. The film has been released countless times on home media formats with its most recent release (on 4K UHD) in 2019 (and reviewed here). [Read on here...]

“Patton is the best epic bio pic ever produced.” — Steven Jay Rubin, author of Combat Films: American Realism, 1945-2010

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective commemorating the golden anniversary of the release of Patton, the Best Picture-winning biopic of General George S. Patton starring George C. Scott (Dr. Strangelove, The Exorcist III) in the title role.

Patton — directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes, Papillon) and which also starred Karl Malden (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Streets of San Francisco TV series) as General Omar N. Bradley — opened 50 years ago this month. For the occasion, The Bits features an historical reference listing of the film’s major-market roadshow engagements and a Q&A with film historian Steven Jay Rubin, who reflects on the film five decades after its debut. [Read on here...]