Remember that TV show, Early Edition? The one about the guy who always got tomorrow's news a day early? Well, 1944's It Happened Tomorrow is a pretty similar concept, and as King Solomon once said, there's nothing new under the sun. It all opens in the then-present day, when Lawrence and Sylvia Stevens are celebrating … Continue reading You Saw It Here First
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
In Old San Francisco
Anyone who has ever been to San Francisco, especially between the upper ends of Hyde Street and Market Street nearest the Bay, has probably seen (or at least walked over) the bronze compasses that commemorate the Barbary Coast Trail. The Barbary Coast was the stuff of legend in the nineteenth and early twentieth century with … Continue reading In Old San Francisco
Taking Up Room 