1950s

Why it’s time for Carol Reed’s Berlin-set thriller The Man Between to come out of the shadow of The Third Man. Starring James Mason and Claire Bloom, the film captures many scenes of post-war Berlin. The Man Between (1953)? When reviewing Carol Reed’s postwar thrillers, it’s usual to dismiss The Man Between (1953) ... Read More »

The Queen’s Christmas broadcast is a traditional feature of the festive season where the head of state can express her thoughts about the past year. Here is the first speech and today’s speech. 1957 Christmas Broadcast The Queen wrote her first speech with the assistance of advisors. The monarch made ... Read More »

Southern Pacific’s deluxe streamliner Lark was the premiere overnight passenger between San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and Los Angeles. A favorite of businessmen and movie stars. The Lark rivaled such famed overnight all-Pullman trains as the 20th Century Limited, Broadway Limited, Capital Limited and Panama Limited. Premiering on March 2, ... Read More »

The Cunard Line celebrates Christmas with a long and fascinating history. The company was created in 1839 when Samuel Cunard won the Admiralty’s tender to provide a transatlantic mail service to be carried by steamships between Great Britain and North America. The service was inaugurated in 1840 when the steamship ... Read More »

In October 1959, Ruth and Harry Hotz boarded the SS Homeric in New York and sailed south on a seven-day voyage that would turn out to be one of the last cruises to the island until briefly in the late 1970s and then recently. SS Independence, SS Homeric, SS Constitution ... Read More »

David Bowie (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), who starred in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, had a long-standing fear of flying. Bowie sailed aboard Cunard’s QE 2, the Italian Line’s Leonardo da Vinci, P&O-Orient Line’s Oronsay and Canberra along with many other ships.   So while ... Read More »

The De Grasse was the first French merchant ship to restore the North Atlantic service after World War 2. The repairs and refurbishment took close to two years, but when the De Grasse returned to service in the summer of 1947, she was an almost entirely new ship. Upon her arrival ... Read More »

Messageries Maritimes was a French merchant shipping company offering worldwide service. It was originally created in 1851 as Messageries Nationales, later called Messageries impériales, and from 1871, Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes, casually known as “MesMar” or by its initials “MM”. Its rectangular house flag, with the letters MM on a ... Read More »

Raymond Lowey’s basic design philosophy was behind the creation of the interiors for Matson’s luxury liner Lurline and modern ticket office in downtown Los Angeles. These were the ultimate in mid-century design for California’s famous steamship line. Raymond Loewy, whose modern concept of everything from fountain pens to airplanes, ships, ... Read More »