Aug 18, 2008
Monday Serenade: Get Happy
Filmed months after the completion of the rest of the film, this closing number from Summer Stock (1950) shows a slender, happy and buoyant Judy Garland. The number was a far cry from the rest of the production, where she had been bloated, ill and prone to mood swings--reportedly due to her increased dependency on drugs. It was her last film for MGM, the studio where she had grown up.
Aug 17, 2008
Classic Links
Giving Kim Novak her due-- New York Times
Giving Doris Day her due-- Detroit Free Press
Celebrating Mae West’s Birthday-- Mae West Blog
Hitchcock makes a cameo in drag?-- Telegraph
A classic movie starter kit-- TCM/ Movie Morlocks
Advertising: For 60 Years, the Ad Game Has Been Fodder for Scripts-- New York Times
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Aug 15, 2008
Classic Links
Audrey Hepburn morphed with Marilyn Monroe. Weird, but sort of pretty!-- Morph Thing
Universal to release all three versions of Orson Welles’ A Touch of Evil-- Zoom in Online
Tilda Swinton’s classic film festival-- Inverness Courier
Olympic Movies You’ve Never Seen-- Cinematical
Aug 13, 2008
Quote of the Day
Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.
-Joan Crawford
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Classic Links
Bette Davis: underrated horror queen?-- AMC
Cary Grant home on track to be named historic site-- Mydesert.com
Four Alfred Hitchcock Secrets-- Mental Floss
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Aug 11, 2008
Classic Links
Mae West biography review-- Film in Focus
New Joan Blondell Biography-- Twenty Four Frames
The oldest restaurant in Hollywood-- Iamnotastalker’s Weblog
Celebrity Ads for Lustre Cream-- Found in Mom’s Basement
A Toddler’s Review of the Classics-- Cinema OCD
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Aug 10, 2008
Aug 9, 2008
Classic Links
Night of the Hunter outtakes to screen at UCLA Film & Television Archive festival-- LA Times
Phillip French’s Screen Legends: Joan Crawford-- The Observer
Mere glimpses of Marilyn in exhibit-- Seattle Times
Taylor hopeful of leaving hospital soon-- Times Now
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Aug 8, 2008
Classic Links
Remembering Hollywood's Hays Code, 40 Years On-- NPR Online
Busby Berkeley: Sex and the Single Girl-- Los Angeles Times
Is the Golden Age of DVD Over?-- Onion AV Club
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Busby Berkeley: Sex and the Single Girl-- Los Angeles Times
Is the Golden Age of DVD Over?-- Onion AV Club
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Aug 6, 2008
Classic Links
Roger Ebert writes about the discovery of more Metropolis footage--Sun Times
Classe Tous Risques on DVD--Onion AV Club
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Aug 5, 2008
Jul 6, 2008
Classic Links
TCM Salutes Rosalind Russell in July-- TCM.com
A Blast of Silence on DVD-- The Onion AV Club
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Jul 4, 2008
Jul 2, 2008
Quote of the Day
Hollywood money isn’t money. It’s congealed snow, melts in your hand, and there you are.
-Dorothy Parker
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Classic Links
How David Lean's Sex Life Shaped His Films-- The Independent
Sally Field is TCM’s guest programmer for July-- TV Squad
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Jul 1, 2008
Classic Links
A documentary about blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo-- Onion AV Club
Roger Ebert writes about Triumph of the Will (1935)-- RogerEbert.com
The Leading Ladies of David Lean-- The Independent
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Jun 30, 2008
Classic Links
King Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the WorldNPR Online
Meet the original magician of the silver screenThe Independent
Saluting AFI's Great American Genre Films: Part 2NPR Online
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Jun 24, 2008
Classic Links
The Furies (1950) finally makes it to DVD-- The Onion AV Club
One Man’s Journey (1933), starring Lionel Barrymore, full-length, in the TCM media room-- TCM.com
Shoot! I didn’t even know this existed--Reuters.com
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Jun 23, 2008
Classic Links
Tippi Hedren in the Birds Barbie doll (wow, creepy!)-- Den of Geek
Rare Monroe footage fetchs $60,000 at auction-- Malaysia Star
TCM celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Screen Actors Guild-- TCM.com
Story of the Scene: The Wizard of Oz-- The Independent
Monkeys deserve stars too-- The Independent
Rare Monroe footage fetchs $60,000 at auction-- Malaysia Star
TCM celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Screen Actors Guild-- TCM.com
Story of the Scene: The Wizard of Oz-- The Independent
Monkeys deserve stars too-- The Independent
Jun 22, 2008
Quote of the Day
My mother and I could always look out the same window without ever seeing the same thing
-Gloria Swanson
Jun 21, 2008
Jun 20, 2008
Classic Links
Leslie Caron Gets a Star On the Hollywood Walk of Fame-- Hollywood Today
Rogert Ebert talks with Paul Newman (1995)-- RogerEbert.com
High Noon DVD Review-- The Onion AV Club
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Jun 17, 2008
Cyd Charisse, 1921-2008
Goodbye to Cyd Charisse, the beautiful actress-dancer. She was famous for her long legs, the centerpiece of her fluid, confident style. Charisse was a teenage dancer with the Ballet Russe before she brought her modern grace to several MGM musicals, including Band Wagon(1953), Brigadoon (1954) and Silk Stockings (1957). She also seduced Gene Kelly in one of the most memorable numbers in Singin’ in the Rain (1952). Though Charisse even claimed herself that she was really a dancer who did a little acting, she was good in the few dramatic roles she did, including East Side, West Side and the film noir Tension (both 1949).
However, it was dancing that made her a star. Here are two of her best MGM numbers: one of her first, “Broadway Melody”, from Singing in the Rain and one of her last, “Red Blues”, from Silk Stockings.
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AFI’s 10 Top 10
Tonight the American Film institute will count down the top ten movies in ten categories on CBS. It is the eleventh annual special for AFI and it looks like they've definitely run out of good ideas for specials. I'll still watch it out of curiosity, but I have the feeling a lot of the same movies from other specials will show up again. I'd love to see a special where they somehow come up with an entirely new list. I don't know what theme they could build that on, but I think it is the only way to keep the concept fresh.
Jun 16, 2008
Classic Links
Three Books About our Affair with Movies-- NPR Online
Criterion Collection Releases The Thief of Bagdad on DVD-- The Onion AV Club
Warren Beatty Honored by AFI-- CBS News
Criterion Collection Releases The Thief of Bagdad on DVD-- The Onion AV Club
Warren Beatty Honored by AFI-- CBS News
Jun 9, 2008
Monday Serenade: Dearly Beloved
Though she was most famous for playing the Gilda-style vamp, Rita Hayworth was even more appealing in musicals. She started her career as a dancer, and while she wasn't in the top ranks of hoofers, her fluid, graceful style is deserving of more attention. However, she didn't sing, that's Nan Wynn on vocals.
In this scene from You Were Never Lovelier (1942), one of the two appealing musicals she headlined with Fred Astaire, she sings Dearly Beloved. Her younger sisters watch her hopefully, for if her love leads to marriage, their father will give them permission to marry their boyfriends as well.
Quote of the Day
Somebody told me I should put a pebble in my mouth to cure my stuttering. Well, I tried it, and during a scene I swallowed the pebble. That was the end of that.
-Marion Davies
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Jun 8, 2008
Jun 7, 2008
Jun 5, 2008
Mel Ferrer, 1917-2008
Goodbye to Mel Ferrer, the actor, director and producer who despite all he did in his long career, is best known as the first husband of Audrey Hepburn. Perhaps he wouldn’t have minded, as he claimed to be a reluctant subject of the spotlight, though you wouldn’t know it to see his performances. From the intense emotion of his leading roles in Lili (1953) and War and Peace (1956) to the light flirtation of his turn opposite Ingrid Bergman in Elena et les Hommes (1956), he never seemed less than comfortable in his own skin as a performer. His contributions to the movies and the stage were intelligent, warm and full of honest emotion.
Obitutaries:
The Hollywood Reporter
Reuters
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Jun 4, 2008
Jun 3, 2008
Quote of the Day
Everyone tells me I've had such an interesting life, but sometimes I think it's been nothing but stomach disturbances and self-concern.
-Cary Grant
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Jun 1, 2008
Rare Marilyn Monroe Movie Up for Auction
Behind the scenes footage of Monroe’s last completed movie The Misfits will be auctioned next month at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. The bids for the 47-minute silent 8mm film will start at $10,000 to $20,000.
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May 30, 2008
Classic Links
Roger Ebert’s Great Movies: My Man Godfrey-- Chicago Sun-Times
Kirk Douglas and Wife Dedicate 400th Playground-- Celebitchy
A Box Full of Joan Crawford-- NPR Online
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May 21, 2008
Classic Links
Neighbors fight Von Trapp Hotel--San Francisco Chronicle
Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine still don’t get along?—The Independent
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May 19, 2008
John Phillip Law, 1937-2008
"I've had more kicks out of playing far-out things. It's like putting on a funny face and going out in front of people and going, 'yaaaaaa!'" –John Phillip Law in the Los Angeles Times, 1966
Good bye to John Phillip Law, the prolific actor who acted on Broadway, and in Hollywood and Italian films. He became famous in the Russians are Coming the Russians are Coming (1966), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for most promising newcomer. He is best remembered for colorful 60’s and 70’s flicks such as Barbarella (as Pygar the blind angel, his best-known performance), Danger: Diabolik, Skidoo (all 1968) and The Love Machine (1971). He also had the “honor” of having two of his movies, Diabolik and Space Mutiny (1988), spoofed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. His brief appearance in CQ (2001), a movie which paid tribute to the colorful movies that kept him famous, showed that he was very much the same as he was when he first found fame: tall, blonde and handsome with a deep, appealing voice and striking presence.
LA Times Obituary
Death Rides A Horse at Internet Archive
Lots of great clips with Law on Deep Ape
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May 13, 2008
Classic Links
Tina Sinatra on new Frank Sinatra DVDs-- Cinematical
James Garner recovering from a minor stroke--Reuters
Now available full-length in the TCM media room, Laurel and Hardy in “A Chump at Oxford”--TCM.com
Apr 22, 2008
Classic Links
Groucho sightings in Seattle--Film.com
The famous Hollywood sign is threatened?--Chicago Sun Times
TCM Assembles Star-Studded 2008 Line-up of Original Specials and Festivals--The Futon Critic
RIP: Reel Important People -- April 22, 2008--Cinematical
Disney Animator Ollie Johnston Remembered--NPR Online
The famous Hollywood sign is threatened?--Chicago Sun Times
TCM Assembles Star-Studded 2008 Line-up of Original Specials and Festivals--The Futon Critic
RIP: Reel Important People -- April 22, 2008--Cinematical
Disney Animator Ollie Johnston Remembered--NPR Online
Apr 21, 2008
"Double Harness" Free on TCM
The 1933 pre-code soaper Double Harness is available for free viewing on TCM. Starring the always underrated Ann Harding and a typically pitch-perfect William Powell, it's one of the most pleasing current features of the TCM website's Media Room. After you view the flick, check out the huge library of shorts, trailers and movie clips. Quite addictive, and the player is a step above YouTube in quality if not quite up to DVD standards.
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