Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney

Juni 28, 2007
He Who Gets Slapped, Joan Crawford, Lon Chaney, Nestor Studio, Norman Kerry, Oliver Twist, Tell it to the Marines, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, The Unholy Three, The Unknown

Lon Chaney has the remarkable distinction of being a character actor who was, at the same time, a star. We are accustomed to thinking of fil...

Now Playing - Spring 1920

Now Playing - Spring 1920

Juni 27, 2007
Clara Kimball Young, Eyes of Youth, Harold Lloyd, Haunted Spooks, now playing, Pathe newsreel

The above newspaper ad was published in the spring of 1920, and tells us as much about the state of the film industry at that time as about ...

Vitascope Hall

Vitascope Hall

Juni 26, 2007
Koster and Bials Music Hall, The Great Train Robbery, Vitascope Hall

On this day in 1896, some 111 years ago, the first permanent cinema was opened to the public. It was called the Vitascope Hall, located on C...

Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Juni 25, 2007
Edmund Gwenn, Edna May Oliver, Frieda Inescort, Gone With the Wind, Greer Garson, Jane Austen, Keira Knightley, Laurence Olivier, Marsha Hunt, Mary Boland, Pride and Prejudice, Walter Plunkett

If you can stomach the ladies’ costumes, it’s not a bad movie. “Pride and Prejudice” (1940) has all the elements of a delightful film includ...

An Eastern Westerner (1920)

An Eastern Westerner (1920)

Juni 21, 2007
An Eastern Westerner, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Noah Young

Harold Lloyd in “An Eastern Westerner” (1920) plays a rich milquetoast (do the younger folk of today even know that word?) who is sent by hi...

Regis Toomey

Regis Toomey

Juni 20, 2007
Gary Cooper, His Girl Friday, Meet John Doe, Regis Toomey, Sister Kenny, Spellbound, The Big Sleep, The Bishop's Wife

Regis Toomey started his film career as a lead, who very quickly drifted into character roles. He previously did musical stage work as well...

The Production Code

The Production Code

Juni 19, 2007
censorship, drug use, Fatty Arbuckle, Hearst newspapers, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Pride and Prejudice, Production Code

The Production Code, established in 1930 but not really enforced until 1934, gave us a world on screen that did not always mirror real life....

Rasputin and the Empress (1932)

Rasputin and the Empress (1932)

Juni 18, 2007
Anne Shirley, Ethel Barrymore, Ingrid Bergman, Irving Thalberg, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Mischa Auer, Rasputin and the Empress, Romanov Dynasty, Russian Revolution

Rasputin and the Empress (1932) is a watershed film in a couple of different respects. First, it unites on film for the only time all three...

The Flag (1927)

The Flag (1927)

Juni 14, 2007
Arthur Maude, Betsy Ross, Francis X. Bushman, Technicolor

The above photo is of the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia. Betsy wasn’t home at the time. Flag Day is celebrated today in the US. Elementar...

Old Movie Buffs

Old Movie Buffs

Juni 13, 2007
Edith Head, Gregg Toland, James Wong Howe, Max Steiner

You know you might be a real fan of old movies when: Though cable news channels constantly cover the latest news about Paris Hilton, Lindsay...

Rear Window (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

Juni 12, 2007
Alfred Hitchock, Alvin and the Chipmunks, General Motors, Grace Kelly, James Stewart, John Michael Hayes, Raymond Burr, Rear Window, Ross Bagdasarian, Thelma Ritter

Rear Window (1954) is shot on one of the most intricate sets ever created for film, and is so much fun I’m surprised someone hasn’t re-crea...

New Charlotte Greenwood Biography

New Charlotte Greenwood Biography

Juni 11, 2007
Charlotte Greenwood, Down Argenetine Way, Famous Players, Grant Hayter-Menzies, Jesse Lasky, Oklahoma, Shirley Jones, So Long Letty, The Gang's All Here, vaudeville

Charlotte Greenwood, in her day one of the foremost comediennes of stage and film, is finally the subject of a biography. Grant Hayter-Menzi...

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) - Part 2

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) - Part 2

Juni 07, 2007
Agnes Moorehead, Barbara Stanwyck, Sorry Wrong Number

In this film, I especially get a kick out of the police desk sergeant trying to amuse a temporarily lost baby who is waiting for her mother ...

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) - Part 1

Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) - Part 1

Juni 06, 2007
Anatole Litvak, Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Lucile Fletcher, Sorry Wrong Number

“Sorry, Wrong Number,” (1948) is an interesting mixture of script dynamics that combine qualities of film, stage, and radio. Lucille Fletche...

The Kid - 1921

The Kid - 1921

Juni 05, 2007
Charles Reisner, Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Jackie Coogan, silent films, The Kid

“The Kid” (1921), Charlie Chaplin’s first feature film, ties together episodic bits in the life of an orphaned child and the Little Tramp wh...

Rosalind Russell - 100th Anniversary

Rosalind Russell - 100th Anniversary

Juni 04, 2007
Billy Gilbert, Cary Grant, Charles Lederer, Gene Lockhart, His Girl Friday, Howard Hawks, John Qualen, Ralph Bellamy, Rosalind Russell, The Women

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rosalind Russell, one of Hollywood’s most sassy fast-talking leads in an age of clever and sa...