Jim Regan - Site Reviews
The Palace: Classic Films
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Once past the welcome page and a few introductory notes, the visitor can explore the site by way of a "Site Map" (read: index) or a Site Navigator (a content list which opens in its own vertical window). Although these indices can be less than crystal clear as to the contents they represent, this doesn't represent a major problem, since the visitor should really view the entire site.
The most 'educational' stop at The Palace is a collection of articles by Mills and other writers -- some available as PDF files -- covering everything from the roles of the Director and the Writer in moviemaking, to interviews and profiles of such figures as Stanley Kubrick and Humphrey Bogart. (Mills' most recent offering is the timely, "In defense of Elia Kazan.")
Most of these are single page works, though a few examine their subject matter in greater depth, accompanying the text with photo, audio and poster collections, as well as links to related sites. (Screwball Comedy, B Movies, Black Hollywood and Charlie Chaplin are some of the subjects given these 'feature presentations'). Regardless of the article length, though, most offerings are richly illustrated with thumbnailed images -- classic stills, and others worth viewing simply for the quality of the photography.
In fact, images make up the majority of the rest of the site. Film Posters is a collection of more than 60 posters from famous (Ben Hur, King Kong) and not so famous (Sherlock Holmes Faces Death) films dating from 1921 to 1954. 3 Women gathers portraits of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Paulette Goddard, while other pages present more portraits, Film Noir images, and movie stills from films of the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. (All these images are thumbnailed, and open into full screen copies, while the movie titles beneath the stills link to that film's entry in the Internet Movie Database.)
Last among the exhibitions are the Audio Clips - RealAudio files from such films as Sunset Boulevard and the Big Sleep (which includes a clip titled, "Philip Marlowe on manners"). Housekeeping includes Supporting Pages (links to outside articles and sites) and a Visitor Comments page which, to Mills' credit, includes an entry which takes issue with his own opinions about the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Whether Hollywood's best days are long past is an argument about as likely to be settled as the gustatory supremacy of Coke or Pepsi. But with sites like The Palace, we can all benefit from the debate.
The Palace: Classic Films can be found at http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/.
Jim Regan provides 'Today's Links' to the e-Monitor. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.