4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Nicholas Ray Edition


4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Director and screenwriter Nicholas Ray was born 111 years ago today, in Galesville, Wisconsin.  He would go on to become one of the most influential American directors of all time, making independently-minded films that celebrated rebels and iconoclasts.  The directors of the French New Wave loved him and for good reason.

Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Nicholas Ray with….

4 Shots From 4 Nicholas Ray Films

In A Lonely Place (1950, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Burnett Guffey)

Johnny Guitar (1954, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Harry Stradling)

Rebel Without A Cause (1955, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Ernest Haller)

Party Girl (1958, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Robert J. Bronner)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Arthur Penn Edition


4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

99 years ago today, Arthur Penn was born in Philadelphia.  In the 50s, Penn was one of the new crop of directors who made a name for themselves directing for television.  Like most of his colleagues, he transitioned into film.  Unlike many of his colleagues, he remained a fiercely iconoclastic director, one who was willing to challenge the conventions of Hollywood.  While his early films often struggled at the box office, he was respected by actors and hailed as a visionary by the directors of the French New Wave.

In 1967, he and Warren Beatty changed the course of American cinema with Bonnie and Clyde.  Penn followed up that classic film with movies like Alice’s Restaurant, Little Big Man, Night Moves, and a handful of others.  When he died in 2010, Penn was hailed as one of the most influential (if sometimes underrated) directors of all time.

Today, in honor of the anniversary of his birth, the Shattered Lens offers up….

4 Shots From 4 Arthur Penn Films

Mickey One (1965, dir by Arthur Penn, DP: Ghislain Cloquet)

Bonnie and Clyde (1967, dir by Arthur Penn, DP: Burnett Guffey)

Little Big Man (1970, dir by Arthur Penn, DP: Harry Stradling Jr)

Night Moves (1975, dir by Arthur Penn, DP: Bruce Surtees)

Silk Purse: MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (Columbia 1945)


gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

Columbia Pictures cranked out 52 films in the year 1945, mostly ‘B’ movies with titles like LET’S GO STEADY, I LOVE A MYSTERY, EVE KNEW HER APPLES, ROCKIN’ IN THE ROCKIES, TEN CENTS A DANCE, and THE ADVENTURES OF RUSTY, along with their continuing series featuring Blondie, Boston Blackie, The Crime Doctor, The Durango Kid, and The Whistler. They were programmers, budget jobs, designed to fill a double bill  and a theater’s seats, bread-and-butter movies with no pretenses to reach any artistic heights.

MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS was one of those programmers, a quickie cashing in on the success of the previous year’s hit GASLIGHT. Whereas MGM’S psychological thriller boasted stars Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer directed by George Cukor, Columbia headlined their contract players Nina Foch and George Macready , good, competent actors but hardly box office draws. And in place of Cukor, Joseph H. Lewis sat in…

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