News

Marc Allégret: From André Gide lover to Simone Simon mentor (photo: Marc Allégret) (See previous post: "Simone Simon Remembered: Sex Kitten and Femme Fatale.") Simone Simon became a film star following the international critical and financial success of the 1934 romantic drama Lac aux Dames, directed by her self-appointed mentor – and alleged lover – Marc Allégret.[1] The son of an evangelical missionary, Marc Allégret (born on December 22, 1900, in Basel, Switzerland) was to have become a lawyer. At age 16, his life took a different path as a result of his romantic involvement – and elopement to London – with his mentor and later "adoptive uncle" André Gide (1947 Nobel Prize winner in Literature), more than 30 years his senior and married to Madeleine Rondeaux for more than two decades. In various forms – including a threesome with painter Théo Van Rysselberghe's daughter Elisabeth – the Allégret-Gide relationship remained steady until the late '20s and their trip to...

Simone Simon: Remembering the 'Cat People' and 'La Bête Humaine' star (photo: Simone Simon 'Cat People' publicity) Pert, pretty, pouty, and fiery-tempered Simone Simon – who died at age 94 ten years ago, on Feb. 22, 2005 – is best known for her starring role in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie classic Cat People (1942). Those aware of the existence of film industries outside Hollywood will also remember Simon for her button-nosed femme fatale in Jean Renoir's French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938).[1] In fact, long before Brigitte Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret, and Barbarella's Jane Fonda became known as cinema's Sex Kittens, Simone Simon exuded feline charm – with a tad of puppy dog wistfulness – in a film career that spanned two continents and a quarter of a century. From the early '30s to the mid-'50s, she seduced men young and old on both...

The Fall of the House of Usher

Directed by Jean Epstein

Written by Jean Epstein, Luis Buñuel, and Edgar Allen Poe

France, 1928

It’s hard to imagine that the house of Usher actually acts as a “house”. There’s very little in terms of warm, domestic quality about it: the halls are long and foreboding, the rooms are empty and grand, and it doesn’t seem accustomed to guests. Rather, its ornate decorations and intense lighting suggest something more of an Arthurian castle, full of fairy-tale supernatural qualities lurking in its grounds. Villagers shy away and whisper to themselves when someone utters the name “Usher”; a lone dog runs away at the property’s perimeter — the house’s haunted aura pervades anything that even dares think about it.

An unnamed visitor rides to this doomed estate of the demented Usher for little explained reason (not uncommon for the actions from...

Shine on, kids! The full schedule for the Stanley Film Festival, which runs at the iconic and historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Co, April 24-27, has been announced; and we have all the details you need right here. Dig it!

From the Press Release

The Stanley Film Festival (Sff), produced by the Denver Film Society and presented by NBC Universal's Chiller, announced today its Opening Night film and several special event highlights and experiences taking place at the four-day event (April 24-27, 2014).

The Stanley Film Festival celebrates the best in independent horror cinema at the hotel that inspired The Shining. The Festival will host a full slate of films, panels, competitions, and special events - all at the beautiful and historically haunted Stanley Hotel.

The Stanley Film Festival will open Thursday, April 24, with a Gala Presentation of an original documentary from EPiX, Doc of the Dead. Directed by Colorado...

The Stanley Hotel launched its first annual Stanley Film Festival last year and put together an impressive group of horror films and guests. After initially announcing Doc of the Dead as their opening film, we now have the full programming list, which includes screenings of The Sacrament, Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead, and much more:

“The Stanley Film Festival (Sff) produced by the Denver Film Society (Dfs) and presented by Chiller, announced today its full line-up and schedule. As previously announced, Doc of the Dead will open Sff. The festival, taking place April 24-27, will close with the mockumentary from Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), What We Do In The Shadows, about a house of vampires trying to get back in touch with modern society. Throughout the four-day celebration of the best in horror cinema, Sff will showcase a full slate of features, shorts, panels,...