Long before MGM put his story on the screen, Florenz Ziegfeld was dipping his toe into Hollywood. The first film he produced was 1917's The Land of Promise. Starring Billie Burke, the film is a straightforward story of farmers and romance. It's also, unfortunately, lost. Other films were takeoffs of his stage shows, such as Rio Rita or Whoopee. Only … Continue reading End of an Era
Broadway Bound Blogathon: Day Two
Day Two, guys and gals! We've been having a great time so far on Broadway (Read Day One's entries here), and I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm excited to see what our participants have in store for us today. And unlike yesterday, you now have my undivided attention. 😉 So, without … Continue reading Broadway Bound Blogathon: Day Two
The Man Behind the Curtain
While Broadway is considered the pinnacle of a performer's career, in the early twentieth century the Ziegfeld Follies were the pinnacle of Broadway. These lavish shows featured comedy acts, music, and dancing. Most famously of all, there were women in strategically skimpy and unusual costumes walking down stairs as if descending from heaven. To be … Continue reading The Man Behind the Curtain
Presenting Christ (Also, One Week Left!)
Hear ye, hear ye--the Broadway Bound Blogathon is one week away. I repeat, one week. Are you ready? Now, on to today's business... In 1994, my parents and I took a trip to New York and Washington. D.C., for about a week, and that Sunday we went to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Located at … Continue reading Presenting Christ (Also, One Week Left!)
Origins: Missed Opportunities, Porgs and Han Solo
Heads up, people...plenty of snark ahead. I really tried to be even-handed, but it's very difficult to stay that way when certain people insist on making things political. It divides everyone, alienates everyone, and makes civil discourse almost impossible. I have major respect for those who have chosen to keep politics out of things when … Continue reading Origins: Missed Opportunities, Porgs and Han Solo
Becoming Human
Hello, Snake... One of the great things about blogathons is that they can really get a person out of the familiar, and for me, most of Kurt Russell's films are definitely not familiar. Sure, I've heard of him. He's been with Goldie Hawn forever. I saw Stargate. I also saw him play Han Solo in the audition … Continue reading Becoming Human
Needing Release
It's that time of year again... 🙂 About fifteen years ago, my family went through a very tough time. We're OK now, but I'm not going to give any specifics because they aren't mine to give, and anyway, they're complicated. It was all stupidly, abusurdly, needlessly difficult, and I felt like life had sat on … Continue reading Needing Release
The Doors Made Me Do It
Happy birthday to Miss Lupino! This seems to be the weekend for hairpin plots. Yesterday's movie started with newsreel cameras and ended with a South American rescue. Today, well, you'll see... I've reviewed 1940's They Drive By Night before when my blog was a newborn, but it was such a short take that I have no problem … Continue reading The Doors Made Me Do It
Shamedown #4: Too Hot To Handle
Presenting another Shamedown. And another Clark Gable movie. He's getting a lot of exposure this year on Taking Up Room. And in case you missed it before, the whole story of how this got started can be found at Cinema Shame. I don't know about other countries, but in America we hear a lot about women breaking the … Continue reading Shamedown #4: Too Hot To Handle
My First Lon Chaney Movie
It. Is. Time. I'll admit, until this blogathon came around, I hadn't seen any Lon Chaney movies, although I'd seen clips of him. I knew he was a pioneer of both film makeup and horror films, which inspire industry professionals such as Rick Baker to this day. During his life, Chaney was so iconic and … Continue reading My First Lon Chaney Movie
Radio Days
In this age of ubiquitous digital media, it's always interesting to look back at a time when broadcasting was newer, cruder, and a much, much bigger deal. 1941's The Great American Broadcast is a film that does just that. The film opens at an airport in 1919, where pilot Rix Martin (John Payne) taxis his … Continue reading Radio Days
Stage To Screen: Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic play and film, a slightly macabre mix of black humor and irony. Written by Joseph Kesselring, its original run on Broadway was 1,444 performances, and it still holds up today. The story initially seems very simple, but it likes to grab the viewer with lots of gotchas, done so … Continue reading Stage To Screen: Arsenic and Old Lace
Tap, Tap, Tap
Fred Astaire seemed like he had the corner on the whole top-hat-and-tails thing, but he had an equally strong counterpart in Eleanor Powell, who also rocked that particular form of evening attire. Only hers were often trimmed with sequins. Powell's dancing was gutsy, athletic, and precise. One of the roles she tapped her way through … Continue reading Tap, Tap, Tap
Unintended Consequences
And now we present Mr. William Holden... William Holden worked with Billy Wilder five times, whether Wilder was directing or writing, and one of the most classic is the 1954 film, Sabrina. Costarring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, the film is a sweet, graceful story with a healthy amount of Wilder's trademark bite. The Larrabees live on … Continue reading Unintended Consequences
Charlie Goes To Niles
Time for a walk down Memory Lane... Before I moved to Placer County, one of the places I lived in was the city of Fremont, California. It's a patchwork of five little towns that were incorporated into one big town in 1956, and each of those towns-turned-districts has its own distinct flavor. While they're all … Continue reading Charlie Goes To Niles
Who Really Shot Liberty Valance?
Looks like it's high noon... My dad used to rent a lot of westerns when I was growing up, and I remember I felt pretty blah about them after a while. Westerns can be like sci-fi in that they have their own archetype. There are gallops on horseback, shootouts (at high noon or otherwise), peppery women, saloons … Continue reading Who Really Shot Liberty Valance?
The Successful Failure
Greetings, Earthlings... Forty-eight years ago as of April eleventh, Apollo 13 blasted off for the moon's Fra Mauro highlands. The public was ho-hum about it, until things started going wrong. Captain Jim Lovell, Apollo 13's commander, wrote a book about his experiences, formerly titled Lost Moon, and Ron Howard used that as his source material for … Continue reading The Successful Failure
Taking Up Room 