Love Letters to Old Hollywood

As one of the most underrated stars of classic Hollywood, Van Johnson has a filmography that merits more attention than it has usually gotten. While he didn't often appear in so-called masterpieces, to me the significance of Van's work is the sheer joy he gave his audiences. Important Films aren't what he was about but rather entertainment; if it provided you with an escape, that is all that seemed to matter. While I would argue that most of Van's films deserve a watch -- if only to see his remarkable talent -- I decided to choose six that I would recommend. These films are not perfect, but I love them and I wanted to give them a shoutout so maybe you can check them out and fall in love with them, too. Murder in the Big House  aka Born for Trouble (1942) As Van's second film and his first starring role, it isn't likely you'd know about this murder mystery unless you're a Van obsessive. Which is a shame because it is a surprisingly good, zippy little fil...

  It's one of my favorite times of the year: my annual Van Johnson blogathon! For the next three days, a wonderful group of bloggers will be joining me to honor this delightful man and his 105th birthday. If you're a participant, please leave me the link to your post below and I'll update the roster as quickly as I can! Realweegiemidget Reviews |  Superdome  (1978) Caftan Woman |  Brigadoon  (1954) Champagne for Lunch |  Confidentially Connie  (1953) Taking Up Room |   Three Guys Named Mike  (1953) 18 Cinema Lane |  Plymouth Adventure  (1952) Silver Screenings |  The Last Time I Saw Paris  (1954) Crítica Retrô |   In the Good Old Summertime  (1949) KN Winiarski |  Easy to Wed  (1946) Love Letters to Old Hollywood |  Six Underrated Van Films Dubsism |  Battleground  (1949) Whimsically Classic |   Van's appearance on  I Love Lucy MovieRob |  Miracle in the Rain  (1956) M...

 If you subscribe to my blog, first of all: THANK YOU. Secondly, you may have heard about how Feedburner, the email subscription service many bloggers use, would no longer be supported on Blogger after this past July. Since I was one of those unlucky people using Feedburner, you haven't been receiving new posts from me these past few weeks in your inbox. I tried to figure out a new email service before Feedburner became defunct, but as someone who isn't super tech savvy and who has needed to prioritize my job, it got pretty overwhelming and I had to put the search on hold. The good news, though, is that I was finally able to dedicate the time to figure this situation out and I've just finished setting up a new subscription service! If you have subscribed before, you should still be subscribed (and you should've received this post as an email). Please check your spam if you haven't gotten anything or try signing up again.  If you would like to subscribe, there is a...

It's a bright, beautiful morning at the Higgins' Arkansas dairy farm. Giving us what may be the sunniest opening to a film ever, the Higgins family -- comprised of Pop (William Demarest), Ma (Charlotte Greenwood), cute little pipsqueak Junior (Donna Corcoran), middle daughter Suzie (Barbara Whiting), and the eldest child, Katy (guess who?) -- leaves the house one by one as they sing "I Got Out of Bed on the Right Side" and march to their swimming hole for their daily exercise routine. When it comes time to jump in the water, though, Katy only dips her toe in and turns her attention to the book she brought, which is such a fun bait-and-switch. Esther Williams is going to read about farming instead of swim?! Finally, Pop tells Katy to do her laps before breakfast. She begrudgingly obliges, and in she goes, baseball cap and all, doing a simple but wonderful underwater swim -- until she suddenly hears some advertisement jingle that breaks her out of her peaceful rou...