LIFE Staff
LIFE Staff's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
National Velvet (1944)
98%
“There are fine performances in National Velvet by 7-year-old Jackie Jenkins, and Mickey Rooney. Best of all is 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor as velvet. ” –
LIFE
Mar 26, 2024
Full Review
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
97%
“Cary Grant handles the role of the paleontologist with his usual comic skill but the real surprise of the picture is Katharine Hepburn.” –
LIFE
Jul 25, 2023
Full Review
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
88%
“Marilyn [Monroe] sings and dances with a surprising technical competence. ” –
LIFE
Mar 7, 2023
Full Review
Frankenstein (1931)
94%
“Excellent performances by Clive, Karloff and Van Sloan. James Whale's direction shows fine imagination. ” –
LIFE
Jan 12, 2023
Full Review
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
99%
“This simple story gives Judy Garland an opportunity to sing the current hit, The Trolley Song... To Margaret O'Brien it gives a chance to enact with naturalness and enchantment the experiences of childhood in a friendly city.” –
LIFE
Nov 10, 2022
Full Review
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
97%
“In this, [Capra] has joined melodrama and background, Hollywood and Washington, fiction and fact, with spectacular success.” –
LIFE
Nov 8, 2022
Full Review
Stalag 17 (1953)
91%
“Raucous and tense, heartless and sentimental, [and] always fast paced.” –
LIFE
Nov 4, 2022
Full Review
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
89%
“In an era of muddled motives and nihilism, Sir Thomas satisfies our nostalgia not only for nobility but also for an age when a man, if he dared risk his head, knew exactly what he was risking it for.” –
LIFE
Sep 8, 2022
Full Review
The Deer Hunter (1978)
86%
“Robert De Niro reclaims his title as our finest young dramatic male star in a devastating anti-war epic. ” –
LIFE
Aug 30, 2022
Full Review
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
82%
“To "say" something and still be entertaining is a most difficult accomplishment. Gentleman's Agreement runs this tricky course well enough to rate as an adult screen success and also to stand a good chance for the Academy.” –
LIFE
Aug 17, 2022
Full Review
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
92%
“When Warner Bros. made The Story of Louis Pasteur in 1935, they pioneered a new kind of serious cinema biography... [Now] the Warners have made The Life of Emile Zola. It is fully up to the standard of its predecessor. ” –
LIFE
Aug 2, 2022
Full Review
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
93%
“[How Green Was My Valley] is not conventional movie fodder. But director John Ford has converted it into one of the year's most beautiful and stirring films. ” –
LIFE
Jul 26, 2022
Full Review
From Here to Eternity (1953)
88%
“Director Fred Zinnemann gets the performance of their careers out of a stable of stars (next page) and splashes on the screen enough of the Jones blend of sex, sentiment, binges, knifings and moral indignation tit insure a box-office bonanza.” –
LIFE
Mar 15, 2022
Full Review
West Side Story (1961)
92%
“Once in a while the fanciful dance numbers seem out of place on New York's workaday streets. But most of the time. United Artists' West Side Story slashes across the screen like a glittering switchblade.” –
LIFE
Dec 1, 2021
Full Review
All the King's Men (1949)
97%
“With frankness rare in Hollywood and with the aid of excellent acting by Broderick Crawford as Willie and Mercedes McCambridge as a tough hanger-on, it rips into the mechanics and morals of politics.” –
LIFE
Nov 23, 2021
Full Review
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
96%
“Bridge on the River Kwai is a spectacularly photographed and thrillingly enacted drama. And it is also a moving, if sometimes mocking, salute to brave men and all they do, both bright and stupid.” –
LIFE
Nov 17, 2021
Full Review
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