Upon sweeping the four main drama acting categories at the 2021 Emmy Awards, “The Crown” stars Olivia Colman, Josh O’Connor, Gillian Anderson, and Tobias Menzies all joined a special roster of lead or supporting TV academy honorees who were not part of their shows’ original casts. As members of the expansive Netflix series’ second of three distinct ensembles, this quartet and their co-stars were replaced ahead of season five by a new group of actors, some of whom could be added to said exclusive winners club later this year.
According to Gold Derby’s odds, the performer from the sixth and final season of “The Crown” with the best shot at Emmy glory is supporting female frontrunner Elizabeth Debicki. She played the role of Princess Diana for two seasons, finishing the job started by younger season four cast member Emma Corrin. The characters embodied by predicted nominees Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II...
According to Gold Derby’s odds, the performer from the sixth and final season of “The Crown” with the best shot at Emmy glory is supporting female frontrunner Elizabeth Debicki. She played the role of Princess Diana for two seasons, finishing the job started by younger season four cast member Emma Corrin. The characters embodied by predicted nominees Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II...
- 5/3/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Behold — it’s Indiana Jones in embryonic form. Paramount’s South American adventure exploits Peruvian scenery and the ’50s exotica phenomenon that was the unique songstress Yma Sumac. The production receives hearty input from Charlton Heston, Nicole Maurey and Thomas Mitchell, but it’s mostly a relic today. Not because the Raiders films have stolen its thunder . . . because it’s plenty hokey, even for 1954.
Secret of the Incas
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 154
1954 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date August 31, 2022 / Available from [Imprint] / au 39.95
Starring: Charlton Heston, Robert Young, Nicole Maurey, Thomas Mitchell, Glenda Farrell, Michael Pate, Marion Ross, Leon Askin, William Henry, Kurt Katch, Yma Sumac, Booth Colman.
Cinematography: Lionel Lindon, Irmin Roberts
Art Director: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen
Film Editor: Eda Warren
Original Music: David Buttolph
Written by Ranald MacDougall & Sydney Boehm, from stories by Boehm and Boehm Maximum
Produced by Mel Epstein
Directed by Jerry Hopper
Everybody loves a good...
Secret of the Incas
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 154
1954 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date August 31, 2022 / Available from [Imprint] / au 39.95
Starring: Charlton Heston, Robert Young, Nicole Maurey, Thomas Mitchell, Glenda Farrell, Michael Pate, Marion Ross, Leon Askin, William Henry, Kurt Katch, Yma Sumac, Booth Colman.
Cinematography: Lionel Lindon, Irmin Roberts
Art Director: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen
Film Editor: Eda Warren
Original Music: David Buttolph
Written by Ranald MacDougall & Sydney Boehm, from stories by Boehm and Boehm Maximum
Produced by Mel Epstein
Directed by Jerry Hopper
Everybody loves a good...
- 9/27/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In the fall of 2021, the Korean drama series “Squid Game” took the world by storm and rapidly became Netflix’s most-watched program of all time with a first-month viewing hours total of 1.65 billion. It went on to receive 14 Emmy nominations for its first season, including five across four performance categories. Its sole guest acting representative was Lee Yoo-mi, who appears in one-third of the first batch of episodes as one of 456 desperate people participating in a deadly competition.
Lee earned this recognition for her portrayal of Player 240 (Ji-yeong) less than one week before her 28th birthday. This immediately made her the 10th youngest woman ever nominated in the Best Drama Guest Actress category. Three of the younger actresses on the list were added after 2014, with one being the only child ever included in any comedy or drama guest lineup.
The television academy has recognized the work of guest actresses on...
Lee earned this recognition for her portrayal of Player 240 (Ji-yeong) less than one week before her 28th birthday. This immediately made her the 10th youngest woman ever nominated in the Best Drama Guest Actress category. Three of the younger actresses on the list were added after 2014, with one being the only child ever included in any comedy or drama guest lineup.
The television academy has recognized the work of guest actresses on...
- 8/31/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
In the fall of 2021, the Korean drama series “Squid Game” took the world by storm and rapidly became Netflix’s most-watched program of all time with a first-month viewing hours total of 1.65 billion. It went on to receive 14 Emmy nominations for its first season, including five across four performance categories. Its sole guest acting representative was Lee Yoo-mi, who appears in one-third of the first batch of episodes as one of 456 desperate people participating in a deadly competition.
Lee earned this recognition for her portrayal of Player 240 (Ji-yeong) less than one week before her 28th birthday. This immediately made her the 10th youngest woman ever nominated in the Best Drama Guest Actress category. Three of the younger actresses on the list were added after 2014, with one being the only child ever included in any comedy or drama guest lineup.
The television academy has recognized the work of guest actresses on...
Lee earned this recognition for her portrayal of Player 240 (Ji-yeong) less than one week before her 28th birthday. This immediately made her the 10th youngest woman ever nominated in the Best Drama Guest Actress category. Three of the younger actresses on the list were added after 2014, with one being the only child ever included in any comedy or drama guest lineup.
The television academy has recognized the work of guest actresses on...
- 8/31/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Three decades after winning her first Emmy for her lead role in the ABC movie “The Dollmaker,” Jane Fonda earned her second acting nomination for her guest performance on the HBO drama series “The Newsroom.” She eventually appeared on 10 of the show’s 25 episodes as Atlantis World Media CEO Leona Lansing, whose reign over the fictional Acn network’s news team was characterized by an unflinchingly no-nonsense attitude. Many viewers drew comparisons between Lansing and CNN founder Ted Turner, to whom Fonda was married for 10 years.
Fonda’s portrayal of Lansing brought her a total of two Best Drama Guest Actress bids, the second of which she received at age 76. At the time, she was the seventh oldest woman to ever contend for the award, and she now sits at 10th place. All three of the women who have been added to the list in the last eight years are...
Fonda’s portrayal of Lansing brought her a total of two Best Drama Guest Actress bids, the second of which she received at age 76. At the time, she was the seventh oldest woman to ever contend for the award, and she now sits at 10th place. All three of the women who have been added to the list in the last eight years are...
- 8/27/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Three decades after winning her first Emmy for her lead role in the ABC movie “The Dollmaker,” Jane Fonda earned her second acting nomination for her guest performance on the HBO drama series “The Newsroom.” She eventually appeared on 10 of the show’s 25 episodes as Atlantis World Media CEO Leona Lansing, whose reign over the fictional Acn network’s news team was characterized by an unflinchingly no-nonsense attitude. Many viewers drew comparisons between Lansing and CNN founder Ted Turner, to whom Fonda was married for 10 years.
Fonda’s portrayal of Lansing brought her a total of two Best Drama Guest Actress bids, the second of which she received at age 76. At the time, she was the seventh oldest woman to ever contend for the award, and she now sits at 10th place. All three of the women who have been added to the list in the last eight years are...
Fonda’s portrayal of Lansing brought her a total of two Best Drama Guest Actress bids, the second of which she received at age 76. At the time, she was the seventh oldest woman to ever contend for the award, and she now sits at 10th place. All three of the women who have been added to the list in the last eight years are...
- 8/27/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
From 2007 to 2010, the Best Drama Guest Actress Emmy category was dominated by women who made single-episode appearances on the same series: “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” The four-year streak set a record between both female guest categories that still stands a decade later. While three of these actresses were over the age of 68, one – Cynthia Nixon – was just 42.
Nixon earned her prize for her performance in the show’s ninth season premiere episode, “Alternate.” She portrayed a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder whose apprehension on suspicion of child endangerment leads to the uncovering of a complex web of family trauma. At the time of her victory in 2008, Nixon was the seventh youngest winner in her category, and she now ranks 10th.
Since 1963, a total of 35 actresses have won for their roles as guest performers on continuing drama programs, beginning with Glenda Farrell and Kim Stanley, who both won for their appearances on “Ben Casey.
Nixon earned her prize for her performance in the show’s ninth season premiere episode, “Alternate.” She portrayed a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder whose apprehension on suspicion of child endangerment leads to the uncovering of a complex web of family trauma. At the time of her victory in 2008, Nixon was the seventh youngest winner in her category, and she now ranks 10th.
Since 1963, a total of 35 actresses have won for their roles as guest performers on continuing drama programs, beginning with Glenda Farrell and Kim Stanley, who both won for their appearances on “Ben Casey.
- 8/16/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
During the 2010s, sexagenarian character actress Margo Martindale accomplished an impressive feat by becoming a triple Primetime Emmy winner over a span of five years. Her first victory for her supporting turn on “Justified” in 2011 was followed by back-to-back wins for guest starring on “The Americans” in 2015 and 2016. By the time the latter show ended its six-season run in 2018, she had appeared as Kgb handler Claudia on 32 of its 75 episodes.
Being 64 at the time of her second win, Martindale automatically earned a spot on the list of 10 oldest recipients of the Best Drama Guest Actress award, and then further cemented her placement one year later. Nine older women had already triumphed in the category, including one whose win came less than two years before her 90th birthday.
Since 1963, a total of 35 actresses have won for their roles as guest performers on continuing drama programs, beginning with Glenda Farrell and Kim Stanley,...
Being 64 at the time of her second win, Martindale automatically earned a spot on the list of 10 oldest recipients of the Best Drama Guest Actress award, and then further cemented her placement one year later. Nine older women had already triumphed in the category, including one whose win came less than two years before her 90th birthday.
Since 1963, a total of 35 actresses have won for their roles as guest performers on continuing drama programs, beginning with Glenda Farrell and Kim Stanley,...
- 8/14/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Darby O’Gill and the Little People
Blu ray
Disney Movie Club
1959 / 1.66 : 1 / 93 Min.
Starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery
Written by Lawrence Edward Watkin
Directed by Robert Stevenson
A late ‘50s showcase for classic horror films, Shock Theater managed to captivate children and worry their over-protective parents. But the kids knew the score, if you were looking for a real shock, forget Frankenstein and Dracula and put on a Disney movie.
Walt Disney’s assault on our nervous systems began in 1937 with the story of a bloodthirsty crone bent on removing the heart of her trusting rival—that feel-good fable was followed by the huntsman who murdered Bambi’s mom, and the demon-fueled bacchanal in 1940’s Fantasia. Uncle Walt’s reign of terror reached its apex with another kind of mad monster party in 1959’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People—a full moon parade of green-eyed goblins...
Blu ray
Disney Movie Club
1959 / 1.66 : 1 / 93 Min.
Starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery
Written by Lawrence Edward Watkin
Directed by Robert Stevenson
A late ‘50s showcase for classic horror films, Shock Theater managed to captivate children and worry their over-protective parents. But the kids knew the score, if you were looking for a real shock, forget Frankenstein and Dracula and put on a Disney movie.
Walt Disney’s assault on our nervous systems began in 1937 with the story of a bloodthirsty crone bent on removing the heart of her trusting rival—that feel-good fable was followed by the huntsman who murdered Bambi’s mom, and the demon-fueled bacchanal in 1940’s Fantasia. Uncle Walt’s reign of terror reached its apex with another kind of mad monster party in 1959’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People—a full moon parade of green-eyed goblins...
- 5/31/2022
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
What a Halloween treat! Karl Freund stopped directing after this classic, which is a shame — it’s German expressionism’s most exciting foray into classic Hollywood horror of the ’30s. Peter Lorre is incredible as Dr. Gogol, making himself as creepy and repulsive as possible while retaining a giddy audience sympathy. It’s Grand Guignol all the way — macabre, funny and irresistible. The screenplay toys with uncomfortable Body Horror and psychological weirdness; Colin Clive must contend with becoming the recipient of murderous hands. Frances Drake is the beauty that drives Dr. Gogol mad, and comedian Edward Brophy is a highlight in a non-comedic scene. “I have conquered science. Why can I not conquer love?!”
Mad Love
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 68 (86) min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy, Sara Haden, Edward Brophy, Henry Kolker, Keye Luke, May Beatty, Billy Gilbert,...
Mad Love
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 68 (86) min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy, Sara Haden, Edward Brophy, Henry Kolker, Keye Luke, May Beatty, Billy Gilbert,...
- 10/26/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The first James Bond film, ‘Dr. No,” starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord and Joseph Wiseman, opened in England on Oct. 2, 1962. But the 007 classic didn’t open in New York and Los Angeles until May 29, 1963. Let’s travel back almost six decades to look at the top events, movie, TV series, books and other cultural events of that year in James Bond history, which was punctuated by the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22.
35th Annual Academy Awards
Best Picture: “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Director: David Lean, “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Actor: Gregory Peck, “To Kill a Mockingbird
Best Actress: Anne Bancroft, “The Miracle Worker”
Best Supporting Actor: Ed Begley, “Sweet Bird of Youth”
Best Supporting Actress: Patty Duke, “The Miracle Worker”
Top 10 highest grossing films
“Cleopatra”
“How the West Was Won”
“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”
“Tom Jones”
“Irma La Douce...
35th Annual Academy Awards
Best Picture: “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Director: David Lean, “Lawrence of Arabia”
Best Actor: Gregory Peck, “To Kill a Mockingbird
Best Actress: Anne Bancroft, “The Miracle Worker”
Best Supporting Actor: Ed Begley, “Sweet Bird of Youth”
Best Supporting Actress: Patty Duke, “The Miracle Worker”
Top 10 highest grossing films
“Cleopatra”
“How the West Was Won”
“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”
“Tom Jones”
“Irma La Douce...
- 10/8/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
In 2002, comedy series “Malcolm in the Middle” and drama series “Six Feet Under” both scored their first Emmy wins for acting thanks to guest performers Cloris Leachman and Patricia Clarkson. Four years later, both women were honored again for their appearances on the shows’ final seasons and brought each series’ acting win total to two. Leachman was the third woman to win Best Comedy Guest Actress for the same role twice, while Clarkson was the first to do so in the drama category.
Clarkson appeared on seven episodes of “Six Feet Under” as Sarah O’Connor, the younger sister of lead character Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy). She was 42 (33 years younger than Leachman) at the time of her first victory, which made her the sixth youngest winner of the Best Drama Guest Actress award. In the nearly two decades since, she has fallen to 10th place on the list.
Since 1963, a total...
Clarkson appeared on seven episodes of “Six Feet Under” as Sarah O’Connor, the younger sister of lead character Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy). She was 42 (33 years younger than Leachman) at the time of her first victory, which made her the sixth youngest winner of the Best Drama Guest Actress award. In the nearly two decades since, she has fallen to 10th place on the list.
Since 1963, a total...
- 8/29/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
During the 2010s, sexagenarian character actress Margo Martindale accomplished an impressive feat by becoming a triple Primetime Emmy winner over a span of five years. Her first victory for her supporting turn on “Justified” in 2011 was followed by back-to-back wins for guest starring on “The Americans” in 2015 and 2016. By the time the latter show ended its six-season run in 2018, she had appeared as Kgb handler Claudia on 32 of its 75 episodes.
Being 64 at the time of her second win, Martindale automatically earned a spot on the list of 10 oldest recipients of the Best Drama Guest Actress award, and then further cemented her placement one year later. Nine older women had already triumphed in the category, including one whose win came less than two years before her 90th birthday.
Since 1963, a total of 36 actresses have won for their roles as guest performers on continuing drama programs, beginning with Glenda Farrell and Kim Stanley,...
Being 64 at the time of her second win, Martindale automatically earned a spot on the list of 10 oldest recipients of the Best Drama Guest Actress award, and then further cemented her placement one year later. Nine older women had already triumphed in the category, including one whose win came less than two years before her 90th birthday.
Since 1963, a total of 36 actresses have won for their roles as guest performers on continuing drama programs, beginning with Glenda Farrell and Kim Stanley,...
- 8/29/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
The Little Rascals Volume 1
Blu ray – The ClassicFlix Restorations
ClassicFlix
1929-30 / 1.37:1 / 3 Hr. 43 Min.
Starring Allen Hoskins, Jackie Cooper, Mary Ann Jackson
Cinematography by Art Lloyd, F. E. Hershey
Directed by Robert F. McGowan, Anthony Mack, James W. Horne
An epic celebration of the American melting pot, E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime ends with a beginning; an immigrant named Tateh escapes the tenements to produce a string of comedies about mischievous slum kids. It’s a fitting, if fanciful, origin story for Hal Roach’s own series of films featuring footloose small fry; visions of ethnic harmony as idealistic as Tateh himself. Roach’s world view was formed during his early adventures as a jack of all trades—mule skinner, iron worker, and miner. And though he ended up as a movie producer he remained a prospector—one day, thanks to some bickering children, he struck gold. The dispute was...
Blu ray – The ClassicFlix Restorations
ClassicFlix
1929-30 / 1.37:1 / 3 Hr. 43 Min.
Starring Allen Hoskins, Jackie Cooper, Mary Ann Jackson
Cinematography by Art Lloyd, F. E. Hershey
Directed by Robert F. McGowan, Anthony Mack, James W. Horne
An epic celebration of the American melting pot, E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime ends with a beginning; an immigrant named Tateh escapes the tenements to produce a string of comedies about mischievous slum kids. It’s a fitting, if fanciful, origin story for Hal Roach’s own series of films featuring footloose small fry; visions of ethnic harmony as idealistic as Tateh himself. Roach’s world view was formed during his early adventures as a jack of all trades—mule skinner, iron worker, and miner. And though he ended up as a movie producer he remained a prospector—one day, thanks to some bickering children, he struck gold. The dispute was...
- 6/19/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill in The Mystery Of The Wax Museum Available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive
Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill in The Mystery Of The Wax Museum is available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive. Ordering info can be found Here. This is a new, restored version of the film that was shot in the early Two-Color Technicolor process.Here is a video of the Before and After restoration courtesy of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
Bodies are mysteriously disappearing all over town, and a new wax museum has just opened. Is there a connection? But of course! In this horror classic, Fay Wray (King Kong) stars as the intended next victim of a mad wax sculptor obsessed with her resemblance to one of his prior creations. Glenda Farrell plays a quintessential wisecracking newspaper reporter, and noted actor Lionel Atwill is the deranged artist who loses his studio to a fire set by his partner. Filmed in the early Two-Color Technicolor® process, The Mystery of the Wax Museum...
Bodies are mysteriously disappearing all over town, and a new wax museum has just opened. Is there a connection? But of course! In this horror classic, Fay Wray (King Kong) stars as the intended next victim of a mad wax sculptor obsessed with her resemblance to one of his prior creations. Glenda Farrell plays a quintessential wisecracking newspaper reporter, and noted actor Lionel Atwill is the deranged artist who loses his studio to a fire set by his partner. Filmed in the early Two-Color Technicolor® process, The Mystery of the Wax Museum...
- 5/20/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
by Jason Adams
Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away we once went to The Movies. Otherwise known as The Picture Show, it turned out in 2020 there was indeed, as the prophet Peter Bogdanovich foretold, a Last one for us all. The subject of what was everyone's Last Big Picture before the Covid quarantine shut movie-going down has been a popular one -- personally I've kept that information close to the vest because mine (sigh) was the godawful horror twist on Fantasy Island, and let us never speak of that again.
Let's instead focus on one of my best big-screen cinematic experiences of the so-far short-lived year in such things, which was MoMA's January screening of the drop-dead-stunning restoration of the Pre-Code two-color Technicolor fright-flick Mystery of the Wax Museum. Michael Curtiz's 1933 film, was lost for decades until a pair of prints miraculously appeared and got cobbled together beautifully.
Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away we once went to The Movies. Otherwise known as The Picture Show, it turned out in 2020 there was indeed, as the prophet Peter Bogdanovich foretold, a Last one for us all. The subject of what was everyone's Last Big Picture before the Covid quarantine shut movie-going down has been a popular one -- personally I've kept that information close to the vest because mine (sigh) was the godawful horror twist on Fantasy Island, and let us never speak of that again.
Let's instead focus on one of my best big-screen cinematic experiences of the so-far short-lived year in such things, which was MoMA's January screening of the drop-dead-stunning restoration of the Pre-Code two-color Technicolor fright-flick Mystery of the Wax Museum. Michael Curtiz's 1933 film, was lost for decades until a pair of prints miraculously appeared and got cobbled together beautifully.
- 5/19/2020
- by JA
- FilmExperience
For this week’s Blu-ray and DVD releases, we have an eclectic group of titles making their way home on Tuesday. If you missed Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island in theaters, you can finally catch up with it on either Blu or DVD, and for those of you Idle Hands fans out there, you’re definitely going to want to grab a copy of Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition release this week, too.
Mondo Macabro is celebrating Satanico Pandemonium with a brand new 4K transfer of the film, and the Warner Archives Collection strikes gold yet again with their Blu for The Mystery of the Wax Museum.
Other home media releases for May 12th include You Die, A Nun’s Curse, Evil Little Things, The Voices (2020), and Weird Fiction.
Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island
In Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true...
Mondo Macabro is celebrating Satanico Pandemonium with a brand new 4K transfer of the film, and the Warner Archives Collection strikes gold yet again with their Blu for The Mystery of the Wax Museum.
Other home media releases for May 12th include You Die, A Nun’s Curse, Evil Little Things, The Voices (2020), and Weird Fiction.
Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island
In Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true...
- 5/12/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Talk about a worthy title for restoration — somebody up there likes us. Digital tools and film preservation expertise have advanced far enough to revive this marvelous pre-Code comedy-shocker in a form that showcases its wild designs and stylized 2-color Technicolor sheen. Director Michael Curtiz’s adept direction highlights Glenda Farrell’s racy dialogue delivery as well as the spooky, expressionist horrors in Lionel Atwill’s haunted ‘waxitorium.’ To top it off we have fabulous Fay Wray, the talkies’ original scream queen, shrieking her way into the horror hall of fame in the tradition of The Phantom of the Opera. Plus — for once the Warner Archive adds some fine new added value extras.
Mystery of the Wax Museum
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Allen Vincent, Gavin Gordon, Arthur Edmund Carewe.
Cinematography: Ray Rennahan...
Mystery of the Wax Museum
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1933 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Allen Vincent, Gavin Gordon, Arthur Edmund Carewe.
Cinematography: Ray Rennahan...
- 5/9/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
John Cassavetes springs forth as a major 1950s talent in these two ‘Primetime Special’ dramatic plays broadcast live on ABC and CBS. Crime in the Streets is the Reginald Rose classic directed by Sidney Lumet; No Right to Kill is a ‘culture for the masses’ adaptation of Crime and Punishment. Cassavetes’ co-stars are Robert Preston, Glenda Farrell, Terry Moore and Robert H. Harris.
Television’s Lost Classics
Volume One John Cassavetes
Crime in the Streets; No Right to Kill
Blu-ray
Vci
1955-’56 / B&W / 1:33 Kinescope / 2 x 60 min. / Street Date September 11, 2018 / 18.99 (Amazon)
Starring: John Cassavetes, Robert Preston, Glenda Farrell, Mark Rydell, Terry Moore, Robert H. Harris.
Directed by Sidney Lumet and Buzz Kulik
Remember the movie Network, when William Holden’s character says he’s going to write a glowing memoir about his ‘good old days’ in the Golden Era of Live TV in New York? That was in 1975, just...
Television’s Lost Classics
Volume One John Cassavetes
Crime in the Streets; No Right to Kill
Blu-ray
Vci
1955-’56 / B&W / 1:33 Kinescope / 2 x 60 min. / Street Date September 11, 2018 / 18.99 (Amazon)
Starring: John Cassavetes, Robert Preston, Glenda Farrell, Mark Rydell, Terry Moore, Robert H. Harris.
Directed by Sidney Lumet and Buzz Kulik
Remember the movie Network, when William Holden’s character says he’s going to write a glowing memoir about his ‘good old days’ in the Golden Era of Live TV in New York? That was in 1975, just...
- 2/2/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. On July 27, Ronald Colman can be seen in five films from his later years: A Double Life, Random Harvest (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), The Late George Apley (1947), and The Story of Mankind (1957). The first three titles are among the most important in Colman's long film career. George Cukor's A Double Life earned him his one and only Best Actor Oscar; Mervyn LeRoy's Random Harvest earned him his second Best Actor Oscar nomination; George Stevens' The Talk of the Town was shortlisted for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. All three feature Ronald Colman at his very best. The early 21st century motto of international trendsetters, from Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and Turkey's Recep Erdogan to Russia's Vladimir Putin and the United States' Donald Trump, seems to be, The world is reality TV and reality TV...
- 7/28/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Woo hoo! The pre-Code marvels return for one last go-round -- tales of sin and moral turpitude but also serious pictures about social issues that the Production Code effectively swept from Hollywood screens -- financial crimes and ethnic bigotry. Forbidden Hollywood Volume 10 Guilty Hands, The Mouthpiece, Secrets of the French Police, The Match King, Ever in My Heart DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1932-1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 63, 62, 78, 85, 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 40.99 Starring Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans; Warren William, Sidney Fox, Aline McMahon; Frank Morgan, Gwili Andre, Gregory Ratoff Rochelle Hudson; Warren William, Lili Damita, Glenda Farrell, Claire Dodd; Barbara Stanwyck, Otto Kruger, Ralph Bellamy, Ruth Donnelly. Cinematography Merritt B. Gerstad, Barney McGill; Alfred Gilks; Robert Kurrie; Written by Bayard Veiller; Joseph Jackson, Earl Baldwin, Frank J. Collins; Samuel Ornitz, Robert Tasker; Houston Branch, Sidney Sutherland, Einar Thorvaldson; Bertram Millhauser, Beulah Marie Dix.
- 6/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
All hail Frank Tashlin! America's subversive secret weapon of the 1950s made incredible adult live-action cartoon movies that satirized all the sex and vulgarity denied by the mainstream. In Technicolor! Political incorrectness meets lollypop-sweet sentimentality in a farce that transcends good taste. Susan Slept Here Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1954 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date April 19, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Anne Francis, Alvy Moore, Glenda Farrell, Horace McMahon, Herb Vigran, Les Tremayne, Mara Lane, Maidie Norman, Rita Johnson, Ellen Corby, Red Skelton. Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca Film Editor Harry Marker Original Music Leigh Harline Choreographer Robert Sidney Written by Alex Gottlieb from a play by Gottlieb and Steve Fisher Produced by Harriet Parsons Directed by Frank Tashlin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Director Frank Tashlin has finally found an appreciative audience with adventurous film fans, but the charms of his glorious style of filmmaking are unknown to...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Director Frank Tashlin has finally found an appreciative audience with adventurous film fans, but the charms of his glorious style of filmmaking are unknown to...
- 3/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Billy Wilder directed Sunset Blvd. with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett movies Below is a list of movies on which Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder worked together as screenwriters, including efforts for which they did not receive screen credit. The Wilder-Brackett screenwriting partnership lasted from 1938 to 1949. During that time, they shared two Academy Awards for their work on The Lost Weekend (1945) and, with D.M. Marshman Jr., Sunset Blvd. (1950). More detailed information further below. Post-split years Billy Wilder would later join forces with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond in movies such as the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), the Best Picture Oscar winner The Apartment (1960), and One Two Three (1961), notable as James Cagney's last film (until a brief comeback in Milos Forman's Ragtime two decades later). Although some of these movies were quite well received, Wilder's later efforts – which also included The Seven Year Itch...
- 9/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Vivien Leigh ca. late 1940s. Vivien Leigh movies: now controversial 'Gone with the Wind,' little-seen '21 Days Together' on TCM Vivien Leigh is Turner Classic Movies' star today, Aug. 18, '15, as TCM's “Summer Under the Stars” series continues. Mostly a stage actress, Leigh was seen in only 19 films – in about 15 of which as a leading lady or star – in a movie career spanning three decades. Good for the relatively few who saw her on stage; bad for all those who have access to only a few performances of one of the most remarkable acting talents of the 20th century. This evening, TCM is showing three Vivien Leigh movies: Gone with the Wind (1939), 21 Days Together (1940), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). Leigh won Best Actress Academy Awards for the first and the third title. The little-remembered film in-between is a TCM premiere. 'Gone with the Wind' Seemingly all...
- 8/19/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ca. 1935. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was never as popular as his father, silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in one action-adventure blockbuster after another in the 1920s (The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad) and whose stardom dates back to the mid-1910s, when Fairbanks toplined a series of light, modern-day comedies in which he was cast as the embodiment of the enterprising, 20th century “all-American.” What this particular go-getter got was screen queen Mary Pickford as his wife and United Artists as his studio, which he co-founded with Pickford, D.W. Griffith, and Charles Chaplin. Now, although Jr. never had the following of Sr., he did enjoy a solid two-decade-plus movie career. In fact, he was one of the few children of major film stars – e.g., Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Angelina Jolie, Michael Douglas, Jamie Lee Curtis – who had successful film careers of their own.
- 8/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Grouch Marx, the bespectacled, (painted) mustached, cigar-chomping Marx brother, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will be delighted, as TCM is presenting no less than 11 of their comedies, in addition to a brotherly reunion in the 1957 all-star fantasy The Story of Mankind. Non-Marx Brothers fans should be delighted as well – as long as they're fans of Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Ann Miller, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Allan Jones, affectionate, long-tongued giraffes, and/or that great, scene-stealing dowager, Margaret Dumont. Right now, TCM is showing Robert Florey and Joseph Santley's The Cocoanuts (1929), an early talkie notable as the first movie featuring the four Marx Brothers – Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. Based on their hit Broadway...
- 8/14/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Rex Ingram in 'The Thief of Bagdad' 1940 with tiny Sabu. Actor Rex Ingram movies on TCM: Early black film performer in 'Cabin in the Sky,' 'Anna Lucasta' It's somewhat unusual for two well-known film celebrities, whether past or present, to share the same name.* One such rarity is – or rather, are – the two movie people known as Rex Ingram;† one an Irish-born white director, the other an Illinois-born black actor. Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” continues today, Aug. 11, '15, with a day dedicated to the latter. Right now, TCM is showing Cabin in the Sky (1943), an all-black musical adaptation of the Faust tale that is notable as the first full-fledged feature film directed by another Illinois-born movie person, Vincente Minnelli. Also worth mentioning, the movie marked Lena Horne's first important appearance in a mainstream motion picture.§ A financial disappointment on the...
- 8/12/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Adolphe Menjou movies today (This article is currently being revised.) Despite countless stories to the contrary, numerous silent film performers managed to survive the coming of sound. Adolphe Menjou, however, is a special case in that he not only remained a leading man in the early sound era, but smoothly made the transition to top supporting player in mid-decade, a position he would continue to hold for the quarter of a century. Menjou is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Day today, Aug. 3, as part of TCM's "Summer Under the Stars" 2015 series. Right now, TCM is showing William A. Wellman's A Star Is Born, the "original" version of the story about a small-town girl (Janet Gaynor) who becomes a Hollywood star, while her husband (Fredric March) boozes his way into oblivion. In typical Hollywood originality (not that things are any different elsewhere), this 1937 version of the story – produced by...
- 8/4/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Cary Grant movies: 'An Affair to Remember' does justice to its title (photo: Cary Grant ca. late 1940s) Cary Grant excelled at playing Cary Grant. This evening, fans of the charming, sophisticated, debonair actor -- not to be confused with the Bristol-born Archibald Leach -- can rejoice, as no less than eight Cary Grant movies are being shown on Turner Classic Movies, including a handful of his most successful and best-remembered star vehicles from the late '30s to the late '50s. (See also: "Cary Grant Classic Movies" and "Cary Grant and Randolph Scott: Gay Lovers?") The evening begins with what may well be Cary Grant's best-known film, An Affair to Remember. This 1957 romantic comedy-melodrama is unusual in that it's an even more successful remake of a previous critical and box-office hit -- the Academy Award-nominated 1939 release Love Affair -- and that it was directed...
- 12/9/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Honorary Award: Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth among dozens of women bypassed by the Academy (photo: Honorary Award non-winner Gloria Swanson in 'Sunset Blvd.') (See previous post: "Honorary Oscars: Doris Day, Danielle Darrieux Snubbed.") Part three of this four-part article about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Honorary Award bypassing women basically consists of a long, long — and for the most part quite prestigious — list of deceased women who, some way or other, left their mark on the film world. Some of the names found below are still well known; others were huge in their day, but are now all but forgotten. Yet, just because most people (and the media) suffer from long-term — and even medium-term — memory loss, that doesn't mean these women were any less deserving of an Honorary Oscar. So, among the distinguished female film professionals in Hollywood and elsewhere who have passed away without...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A primer on and an interview with Jean-Marie Straub and the late Danièle Huillet, both from the early 80s, top today's round of news and views. Also: Three takes on Orson Welles, an excerpt from a new book on Terence Davies, a review of a new biography of John Gielgud, remembering Austrian filmmaker Florian Flicker, appreciations of two little-known 30s-era actresses, Glenda Farrell and Marjorie Rambeau, Guy Gilles Day at DC's, the trailer for Erol Minta's debut, Song of My Mother, the big winner at the Sarajevo Film Festival—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/24/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
A primer on and an interview with Jean-Marie Straub and the late Danièle Huillet, both from the early 80s, top today's round of news and views. Also: Three takes on Orson Welles, an excerpt from a new book on Terence Davies, a review of a new biography of John Gielgud, remembering Austrian filmmaker Florian Flicker, appreciations of two little-known 30s-era actresses, Glenda Farrell and Marjorie Rambeau, Guy Gilles Day at DC's, the trailer for Erol Minta's debut, Song of My Mother, the big winner at the Sarajevo Film Festival—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/24/2014
- Keyframe
Glenda Farrell: Actress has her ‘Summer Under the Stars’ day Scene-stealer Glenda Farrell is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" star today, August 29, 2013. A reliable — and very busy — Warner Bros. contract player in the ’30s, the sharp, energetic, fast-talking blonde actress was featured in more than fifty films at the studio from 1931 to 1939. Note: This particular Glenda Farrell has nothing in common with the One Tree Hill character played by Amber Wallace in the television series. The Glenda Farrell / One Tree Hill name connection seems to have been a mere coincidence. (Photo: Glenda Farrell as Torchy Blane in Smart Blonde.) Back to Warners’ Glenda Farrell: TCM is currently showing Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939), one of the seven B movies starring Farrell as intrepid reporter Torchy Blane. Major suspense: Will Torchy win the election? She should. No city would ever go bankrupt with Torchy at the helm. Glenda Farrell...
- 8/30/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Martin Balsam: Oscar winner has ‘Summer Under the Stars’ Day on Turner Classic Movies Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winner Martin Balsam (A Thousand Clowns) is Turner Classic Movies’ unusual (and welcome) "Summer Under the Stars" featured player today, August 27, 2013. Right now, TCM is showing Sidney Lumet’s The Anderson Tapes (1971), a box-office flop starring Sean Connery in his (just about) post-James Bond, pre-movie legend days. (Photo: Martin Balsam ca. early ’60s.) Next, is Joseph Sargent’s thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). Written by Peter Stone (Father Goose, Arabesque) from John Godey’s novel, the film revolves around the hijacking of a subway car in New York City. Passengers are held for ransom while police lieutenant Walter Matthau tries to handle the situation. Now considered a classic (just about every pre-1999 movie is considered a "classic" these days), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three was...
- 8/28/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) ultimate movie star showcase – Summer Under the Stars – returns this August for its 11th year as TCM pays tribute to 31 different stars in 31 days.
Sixteen of this year’s stars are being celebrated for the first time duringSummer Under the Stars, including Oscar® winners Joan Fontaine (Aug. 6), Mickey Rooney (Aug. 13), Wallace Beery (Aug. 17), Hattie McDaniel (Aug. 20), Downton Abbey star Maggie Smith (Aug. 22), Charles Coburn (Aug. 24), Martin Balsam(Aug. 27), Shirley Jones (Aug. 28) and Rex Harrison (Aug. 31). Also featured for the first time will be silent heartthrob Ramón Novarro (Aug. 8); legendary French actressCatherine Deneuve (Aug. 12), whose day features six films making their TCM debuts; Ann Blyth (Aug. 16), whose marathon will air on her 85th birthday; and Mary Boland (Aug. 4) and Glenda Farrell (Aug. 29), two outstanding character actresses who never received the recognition they deserved. They will join 15 returning favorites, including Humphrey Bogart (Aug. 1), Doris Day (Aug. 2), Charlton Heston (Aug.
Sixteen of this year’s stars are being celebrated for the first time duringSummer Under the Stars, including Oscar® winners Joan Fontaine (Aug. 6), Mickey Rooney (Aug. 13), Wallace Beery (Aug. 17), Hattie McDaniel (Aug. 20), Downton Abbey star Maggie Smith (Aug. 22), Charles Coburn (Aug. 24), Martin Balsam(Aug. 27), Shirley Jones (Aug. 28) and Rex Harrison (Aug. 31). Also featured for the first time will be silent heartthrob Ramón Novarro (Aug. 8); legendary French actressCatherine Deneuve (Aug. 12), whose day features six films making their TCM debuts; Ann Blyth (Aug. 16), whose marathon will air on her 85th birthday; and Mary Boland (Aug. 4) and Glenda Farrell (Aug. 29), two outstanding character actresses who never received the recognition they deserved. They will join 15 returning favorites, including Humphrey Bogart (Aug. 1), Doris Day (Aug. 2), Charlton Heston (Aug.
- 7/11/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Warner Archive Collection 4th anniversary DVD / Blu-ray releases The Warner Archive Collection (aka Wac), which currently has a DVD / Blu-ray library consisting of approximately 1,500 titles, has just turned four. In celebration of its fourth anniversary, Wac is releasing with movies featuring the likes of Jane Powell, Eleanor Parker, and many more stars and filmmakers of yesteryear. (Pictured above: Greer Garson, Debbie Reynolds, Ricardo Montalban in the sentimental 1966 comedy / drama with music The Singing Nun.) For starters, Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds play siblings in Richard Thorpe's Athena (1954), whose supporting cast includes Edmund Purdom, Vic Damone, frequent Jerry Lewis foil Kathleen Freeman, Citizen Kane's Ray Collins, Tyrone Power's then-wife Linda Christian, former Mr. Universe and future Hercules Steve Reeves, veteran Louis Calhern, not to mention numerology, astrology, and vegetarianism. As per Wac's newsletter, the score by Hugh Martin and Martin Blane "gets a first ever Stereophonic Sound remix for this disc,...
- 3/27/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Glenda Farrell, Little Caesar Little Caesar Review Pt.1 More cogent is the claim that Little Caesar represents a look at American capitalism without the blinders. Rico is like many of the Gilded Age thugs who made violence and murder an accepted practice of business. In much the same way that the Rockefellers and Carnegies avoided being publicly seen with blood on their hands, so too do the big movers and shakers of the city’s underworld. Diamond Pete Montana (Ralph Ince) and the Big Boy (Sidney Blackmer), both of whom are several notches above Rico, survive because they keep low profiles — in the world of Big Business, too, the CEOs that stay behind the scenes survive the longest. Rico, on the other hand, does his Al Capone and John Gotti-like best to court the press and as a result, is doomed. Now, while nowhere near great cinema,...
- 3/31/2012
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
Little Caesar (1931) Director: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell, Sidney Blackmer, William Collier Jr., Ralph Ince, Stanley Fields, George E. Stone, Thomas E. Jackson Screenplay: Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert N. Lee; from a novel by W.R. Burnett Oscar Movies Edward G. Robinson, Little Caesar Little Caesar is a good example of a film that is historically important, but that has dated very poorly. Tony Gaudio's camera work is mediocre, Warner Bros. musical director Erno Rapee's spare soundtrack is garbled, and the acting is for the most part wooden. Even Edward G. Robinson, who became a star in this role, is good — but hardly great. What makes Little Caesar's pedestrianism all the more amazing is that just a few months later James Cagney would burst onto the screen with The Public Enemy, a film that holds up far better cinematically — both technically and aesthetically.
- 3/31/2012
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, The More the Merrier The delightful actress Jean Arthur is Turner Classic Movies' star of the evening tonight. Beginning at 5 p.m. Pt, TCM will show five Jean Arthur movies: The Talk of the Town (1942), History Is Made at Night (1937), The Public Menace (1935), The More the Merrier (1943), and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Directed by George Stevens, The Talk of the Town received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and two for its story and screenplay. (Back in those days there were three Best Writing categories.) Arthur is outstanding as a schoolteacher — this is perhaps my favorite among her performances — torn between a law professor (an equally outstanding Ronald Colman) and an escaped convict (Cary Grant). As a plus, former Warner Bros. contract player Glenda Farrell is excellent in a supporting role. The Talk of the Town is not to be missed. Though much less...
- 3/7/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
While accepting the award for Best Comedy for Bridesmaids at the 2012 Critics Choice Awards ceremony, Judd Apatow ended his speech with the following: "Jerry Lewis [photo] once said that he didn’t think women were funny. So I’d just like to say, with all respect, fuck you." Jerry Lewis' negative comment about female comedians was made at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen in 1998. During a Q&A session with Martin Short, Lewis said "I don't like any female comedians." What about Lucille Ball, Short asked? "No. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." This from the guy who grew up at a time when Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert, Myrna Loy, Marie Dressler,...
- 1/13/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Anne Francis on TCM: Forbidden Planet, Brainstorm, A Lion Is In The Streets Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Summer Holiday (1948) Musical remake of Ah, Wilderness!, about a small-town boy's struggles with growing up. Dir: Rouben Mamoulian. Cast: Mickey Rooney, Gloria DeHaven, Walter Huston, Frank Morgan, Jackie Jenkins, Marilyn Maxwell, Agnes Moorehead. C-93 mins. 7:45 Am So Young So Bad (1950) A crusading psychiatrist tries to help troubled reform school girls. Dir: Bernard Vorhaus. Cast: Paul Henreid, Catherine McLeod, Cecil Clovelly, Anne Jackson, Rita Moreno. Bw-91 mins. 9:30 Am Battle Cry (1955) A group of Marines eagerly await deployment during World War II. Dir: Raoul Walsh. Cast: Van Heflin, Aldo Ray, Mona Freeman, Dorothy Malone, Nancy Olson, Tab Hunter, James Whitmore, Raymond Massey, William Campbell. C-148 mins, Letterbox Format. 12:00 Pm Bad Day At Black Rock (1955) A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family.
- 8/29/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Sybil Jason, Warner Bros.' answer to Shirley Temple, died Tuesday, August 23, according to film researcher and author Scott O'Brien. She was 83. Born Sybil Jacobson on November 23, 1927, in Cape Town, South Africa, while still a small child she moved to Britain with her parents. Thanks to her uncle Harry Jacobson, reportedly a London orchestra leader and pianist to highly popular entertainer Gracie Fields, by the age of five Sybil was appearing in London nightclubs, where she sang, danced, and mimicked Maurice Chevalier. In 1935, Sybil caught the eye of Irving Asher, the head of Warner Bros. London studio, who had spotted her in a supporting role in the British feature Barnacle Bill. Following a successful film test, she was brought to Hollywood, where the now renamed Sybil Jason was to become Warners' answer to 20th Century Fox's box-office goldmine Shirley Temple. Jason, however, failed to catch on despite working with some...
- 8/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Blondell: Q&A with Biographer Matthew Kennedy Pt.1 What did Joan Blondell have to say about the musicals she made for Busby Berkeley? What about Ruby Keeler, James Cagney, and her other fellow contract players? Did she get along with them? [Photo: Joan Blondell in Mervyn LeRoy's Gold Diggers of 1933.] Joan said, not surprisingly, that those musicals were tough. There was extra rehearsal needed for production numbers, and Berkeley was very demanding. But she always spoke well of her fellow contract players. Or at least most of them. She and Keeler were friendly, and they had a happy reunion in New York in the early 1970s when they were both appearing on Broadway. Cagney she adored and admired, and maybe fell in love with. But they were not romantic off screen, only on. She was particularly close to Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, and Glenda Farrell, her costar in several low-budget comedies at Warners. She and [MGM contract player] Judy Garland...
- 8/25/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Blondell. Those who have heard the name will most likely picture either a blowsy, older woman playing the worldwise but warm-hearted saloon owner in the late 1960s television series Here Come the Brides, or a lively, fast-talking, no-nonsense, and unconventionally sexy gold digger in numerous Pre-Code Warner Bros. comedies and musicals of the early 1930s. Matthew Kennedy's Joan Blondell: A Life Between Takes (University Press of Mississippi, 2007) seeks to rectify that cultural memory lapse. Not that Blondell doesn't deserve to be remembered for Here Come the Brides or, say, Gold Diggers of 1933, Footlight Parade, Havana Widows, and Broadway Bad. It's just that her other work — from her immensely touching performance as a sexually liberated woman in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to her invariably welcome (if brief) appearances in films as varied as The Blue Veil, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, and Grease — should be remembered as well.
- 8/25/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Blondell on TCM: Dames, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am The Reckless Hour (1931) A young innocent almost ruins her life for the love of an unfeeling cad. Dir: John Francis Dillon. Cast: Dorothy Mackaill, Conrad Nagel, H. B. Warner. Bw-71 mins. 7:15 Am Big City Blues (1932) A country boy finds love and heartache in New York City. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, Jobyna Howland. Bw-63 mins. 8:30 Am Central Park (1932) Small-town kids out to make it in the big city inadvertently get mixed up with gangsters. Dir: John G. Adolfi. Cast: Joan Blondell, Wallace Ford, Guy Kibbee. Bw-58 mins. 9:30 Am Lawyer Man (1933) Success corrupts a smooth-talking lawyer. Dir: William Dieterle. Cast: William Powell, Joan Blondell, David Landau. Bw-68 mins. 10:45 Am Traveling Saleslady (1935) A toothpaste tycoon's daughter joins his rival to teach him a lesson. Dir: Ray Enright.
- 8/24/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Dames Joan Blondell has always been a favorite of mine, much like fellow wisecracking 1930s Warner Bros. players Aline MacMahon and Glenda Farrell. The fact that Blondell never became a top star says more about audiences — who preferred, say, Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney — than about Blondell's screen presence and acting abilities. As part of its "Summer Under the Stars" film series, Turner Classic Movies is currently showing no less than 16 Joan Blondell movies today, including the TCM premiere of the 1968 crime drama Kona Coast. Directed by Lamont Johnson, Kona Coast stars Richard Boone and the capable Vera Miles. Blondell has a supporting role — one of two dozen from 1950 (For Heaven's Sake) to 1981 (The Woman Inside, released two years after Blondell's death from leukemia). [Joan Blondell Movie Schedule.] Unfortunately, TCM isn't showing the super-rare (apparently due to rights issues) The Blue Veil, Curtis Bernhardt's 1951 melodrama that earned Blondell her...
- 8/24/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
John Garfield, Joan Crawford, Humoresque John Garfield is Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" star on Friday, August 5. TCM will be presenting twelve John Garfield movies, in addition to the 2003 documentary The John Garfield Story. There will be no TCM premieres — but don't blame TCM for that. Garfield was a Warner Bros. star and Warners' movies belong to the Time Warner library; in other words, his films are always available. In fact, I believe the only John Garfield movie that has never been shown on TCM is 20th Century Fox's 1950 drama Under My Skin. [John Garfield Movie Schedule.] Much like Warners' James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and Errol Flynn, Garfield was a tough guy at a tough studio. Come to think of it, even Warners' women were tough: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Glenda Farrell, and, off screen, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Leslie (both of...
- 8/4/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Each year New York residents can look forward to two essential series programmed at the Film Forum, noirs and pre-Coders (that is, films made before the strict enforcing of the Motion Picture Production Code). These near-annual retrospective traditions are refreshed and re-varied and re-repeated for neophytes and cinephiles alike, giving all the chance to see and see again great film on film. Many titles in this year's Essential Pre-Code series, running an epic July 15 - August 11, are old favorites and some ache to be new discoveries; all in all there are far too many racy, slipshod, patter-filled celluloid splendors to be covered by one critic alone. Faced with such a bounty, I've enlisted the kind help of some friends and colleagues, asking them to sent in short pieces on their favorites in an incomplete but also in-progress survey and guide to one of the summer's most sought-after series. In this entry: what's playing Friday,...
- 8/4/2011
- MUBI
Joanne Siegel, the widow of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and the original model for the Man of Steel's love interest, Lois Lane, has died. Siegel passed away on Saturday, Feb. 12, in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 93. While still a teenager, Joanne (born Jolan Kovacs in Cleveland on Dec. 1, 1917) modeled for Siegel and his partner Joe Shuster. According to the New York Times obit, Lois Lane was inspired by the Torchy Blane character played on-screen mostly by Glenda Farrell in a series of B-movies at Warner Bros. in the late 1930s. Lola Lane, then a Warners contract player along with sisters Priscilla Lane and Rosemary Lane, played Torchy in one single 1938 entry, Torchy Blane in Panama. According to some sources, Lane's name was adopted for the comics' newspaperwoman Lois. The first Superman tales came out that same year. Now, if you look at Glenda Farrell, Lola Lane, or [...]...
- 2/17/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
HollywoodNews.com: Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today unveiled the network’s list of 10 Best Comedy Lines from Classic Movies, timed to coincide with the buildup to sister network TBS and Just For Laughs’ second annual comedy festival in Chicago, which begins tomorrow. The list includes lines from a number of memorable comedies, spoken by such notables as Groucho Marx, Mel Brooks, Ginger Rogers, Peter Sellers, John Belushi and Rob Reiner’s mother.
With this latest authoritative list, TCM set out to find lines that leave audiences in stitches. Many of the lines are repeated by even the most casual movie fans, demonstrating their strong foothold in pop culture.
“Great movie quotes frequently make their way into everyday conversation, and that is especially true for lines that make us laugh out loud,” said TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne.
Here are the lines included on TCM’s list of 10 Best Comedy Lines from Classic Movies,...
With this latest authoritative list, TCM set out to find lines that leave audiences in stitches. Many of the lines are repeated by even the most casual movie fans, demonstrating their strong foothold in pop culture.
“Great movie quotes frequently make their way into everyday conversation, and that is especially true for lines that make us laugh out loud,” said TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne.
Here are the lines included on TCM’s list of 10 Best Comedy Lines from Classic Movies,...
- 6/15/2010
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
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