"Singin'" and "Sunset", Two Parodies of Silent Film

"Singin'" and "Sunset", Two Parodies of Silent Film

April 30, 2007
Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Gene Kelly, Gloria Swanson, silent films, Singin' in the Rain, Sunset Blvd., William Holden

The film industry of the 1920s was parodied twice in the early 1950s with intelligence, wit, and great success. Each film, however, showed ...

Random Harvest (1942)

Random Harvest (1942)

April 26, 2007
amnesia, Greer Garson, identity theft, Random Harvest, Ronald Colman

Two of the most compelling aspects of “Random Harvest” (1942) are the total absence of proof of identity leading to a new life, and the pos...

John Qualen - Character Actor

John Qualen - Character Actor

April 25, 2007
Casablanca, John Ford, John Qualen, Street Scene, The Grapes of Wrath, The Long Voyage Home, The Mad Miss Manton

John Qualen’s portrayal of Muley Graves is one of the iconic features in “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940). He had the ability to play types and...

The Phantom's Changing Face

The Phantom's Changing Face

April 24, 2007
Andrew LLoyd Webber, Emmy Rossum, Gaston Leroux, Gerard Butler, Lon Chaney, Patrick Wilson, The Phantom of the Opera

Lon Chaney’s Phantom in the original 1925 & 1929 re-release of “The Phantom of the Opera” displays one of the most frightening screen im...

Bogart's Cement Shoes

Bogart's Cement Shoes

April 23, 2007
Columbia Pictures, Dead Reckoning, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lizabeth Scott

Humphrey Bogart spent the day at the Columbia Pictures lot shooting “Dead Reckoning,” co-starring Lizabeth Scott, and then went to get his h...

Since You Went Away (1944)

Since You Went Away (1944)

April 19, 2007
Claudette Colbert, David O. Selznick, Hattie McDaniel, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Monty Woolley, Since You Went Away

What if Bill was not killed? What if Anne had started work at the war plant at the beginning of the film and not the end? What if her harm...

Clarence Brown - From Cars to Film

Clarence Brown - From Cars to Film

April 18, 2007
Anna Christie, automobile manufacturing, Clarence Brown, Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, Stevens-Duryea cars

Clarence Brown became a Hollywood director in the days when being a Hollywood director had nothing to do with film school. An extraordinary...

A Bit More on The Music Box Steps

A Bit More on The Music Box Steps

April 17, 2007
Charley Chase, Del Lord, Fay Wray, Laurel and Hardy, Richard W. Bann, The Music Box Steps

A bit more on “The Music Box Steps” (see March 6, 2007). The gag of lugging heavy stuff up terrace stairs which defy LA’s sometimes surprisi...

Lafe McKee

Lafe McKee

April 16, 2007
B-westerns, Frank Capra, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Lafe McKee, Meet John Doe, silent films

Lafe McKee has the astonishing accomplishment of having appeared in 329 movies. He debuted as a film actor in 1912 with “All on Account of ...

Forbidden (1932)

Forbidden (1932)

April 12, 2007
Adolphe Menjou, Barbara Stanwyck, Forbidden, Frank Capra, Jo Swerling, pre-Code movies, Ralph Bellamy

The three leads, the snappy dialogue by Jo Swerling, and impeccable direction by Frank Capra make “Forbidden” (1932) one of the most interes...

Lux Radio Theatre

Lux Radio Theatre

April 11, 2007
Academy Award Theatre, Cecil B. DeMille, Lux Radio Theatre, Manhattan Melodrama, Screen Guild Players, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Screen Director's Playhouse

The Lux Radio Theatre featured film stars from every studio. In radio play scripts adapted from popular films, these actors had an opportun...

Gower Gulch

Gower Gulch

April 10, 2007
Autry Museum of the American West, Daffy Duck, Flower of Gower Gulch, Gower Gulch, Hollywood sign, Porky Pig, Sunset Boulevard, Warner Brothers

Gower Gulch was the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. Hollywood attracted many newcomers in the 1930s hoping for a career ...

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign

April 09, 2007
film industry, Griffith Park, Hollywood sign, Los Angeles

A recent fire in the Griffith Park area of Los Angeles, dramatically close to the Hollywood Sign, brings to mind what an odd history the Sig...

Easter Parade

Easter Parade

April 05, 2007
Bing Crosby, Easter Parade, Fred Astaire, Holiday Inn, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Judy Garland, Marjorie Reynolds

“Easter Parade” (1948) set in 1911-1912, showcases Irving Berlin’s Tin Pan Alley hits, and one hit of the Great Depression, which was the so...

My Dream Is Yours (1949)

My Dream Is Yours (1949)

April 04, 2007
Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Easter, Eve Arden, Holiday Inn, Jack Carson, Marjorie Reynolds, musicals, My Dream Is Yours, Tweety

In My Dream is Yours (1949), we have a film which spoofs radio advertising, the music business, agents, and really has no Easter message at...

Easter In Hollywood - 1949

Easter In Hollywood - 1949

April 03, 2007
Cecil B. DeMille, Easter bonnet, Easter Parade, Fred Astaire, Gene Autry, Here Comes Peter Cottontail, Judy Garland, My Dream Is Yours

Easter in the old movies comes to us in fashion, flowers, and songs. The two films, “Easter Parade” and “My Dream is Yours” give us plenty ...

Easter Films - Sacred vs Silly

Easter Films - Sacred vs Silly

April 02, 2007
Doris Day, Easter, Easter Parade, Geiger Counter Song, Irving Berlin, My Dream Is Yours

With Easter approaching and this week, Holy Week, the most important in the Christian calendar, it’s interesting to take a look at Americans...