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RT Archives

RT Archives

Even the oldest movies were new once. With the RT Archives, we're digging through newspapers and magazines from the past to find out what the critics said about classic movies -- before they were classics. What did the critics say about your favorites when they were brand new? Take a deep dive into the RT Archives and find out.

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RT Archive Sources

  • Pauline Kael

    Pauline Kael

    Pauline Kael was a prolific film critic at The New Yorker from 1967-1991, whose legacy lives on for her sharp wit, pioneering spirit, and prickly sensibility.

  • Dan DiNicola

    Dan DiNicola

    Dan DiNicola was an Emmy Award winning journalist whose versatility as a reporter, former school teacher, and most notably a film critic garnered him respect, acclaim, and notoriety as a daring voice for the arts.

  • Curve

    Curve

    Curve was a lesbian magazine created by Franco Stevens in 1991 and originally called Deneuve. Its first issue sold out in just six days, evidence of the need for and lack of lesbian media in the ’90s. Curve covered everything in pop culture and lesbian life, from politics and civil rights to music, books, movies, television, and style.

  • Motion Picture Herald (Exhibitors Herald)

    Motion Picture Herald (Exhibitors Herald)

    Originally published as the Exhibitors Herald for Chicago-based exhibitors, this trade ran from 1915 to 1973. By 1930, many acquisitions and mergers expanded the publication nationally – it was renamed as the Motion Picture Herald, with the entire American film industry as its audience. Founder Martin Quigley served as a voice of reason and wariness within the film industry throughout his years at the helm of this mighty influential paper.

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Recently Added Archive Reviews

  • Alice in Wonderland

    Alice in Wonderland (1951)

    It's a great, big hurly-burly of action, color, song and dance which Carroll himself would no doubt be astonished to discover he had inspired.

    Jane Corby, Brooklyn Daily Eagle (July 30, 1951)

  • Out of the Past

    Out of the Past (1947)

    As case-hardened melodrama and an exciting study in violence, "Out of the Past" is a pretty gripping picture.

    W. Ward Marsh, Cleveland Plain Dealer (January 23, 1948)

  • The Magnificent Seven

    The Magnificent Seven (1960)

    Sturges is no Kurosawa, but he makes Seven into the cinematic equivalent of a catchy cover tune that loses some of the original's depth, but adds a snap all its own.

    Keith Phipps, AV Club (January 11, 2006)

  • The Day the Earth Stood Still

    The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

    Out of this world, is probably a good way of describing this thrilling fantasy which makes first class entertainment.

    Reg Whitley, Daily Mirror (UK) (December 14, 1951)