Doubting Thomas

With the exception of Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), I haven’t logged in a lot of movie action lately (the pickings on TCM have either been slim or scheduled at a non-convenient time) so fortunately I try always to keep on hand some public domain TV-on-DVD’s to keep myself entertained. The nice…

“Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to…”

When I was a mere sprout growing up in Ravenswood, WV, Thanksgiving morning meant watching the parades on television—marveling at the balloons and floats that presented my favorite cartoon characters as big as life. Then, once that celebration petered out, it was time for another timeless tradition: a watching (which was more like re-watching with…

Happy Thanksgiving…have some tortilla chips!

Since I’m taking the day off to spend time with the fam and eat until I’m practically sick, I guess that means the blog will sort of be on hiatus until tomorrow. In the interim, I want to wish all the faithful readers of TDOY (all eight of ya) the happiest of holidays. (By the way, the…

Movies I’ve stared at recently on TCM #3

For some odd reason, TCM showcased a mini-marathon of movies Monday afternoon (beginning at 1:45pm) featuring the talents of one Josephine Owaissa Cottle, who classic movie and television fans know much better as the irrepressible Gale Storm. Storm’s movie career started out with a sixth-month contract with RKO Pictures in the 1940s, but when that…

Based on a true story…

And here's the true story: My late grandfather had two dacschunds who would go stark raving gonzo whenever they heard the Jeopardy! theme (the Art Fleming version) on the TV. The reason for this was because "Papa Jack" was a creature of habit: he came home every day at noon from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers…

Well, it looks like I’ll be keeping my left man-teat…

A few posts back, I mentioned the delight of getting the opportunity to see Payment Deferred (1932) with Charles Laughton on TCM’s “Star of the Month” festival and lamenting the fact that my very favorite Laughton film, Hobson’s Choice (1954), would not be a part of this. And then—by gum!—I get this pleasant bit o’news from Criterion… Choice has been available on Region 2…

Minding my peas and carrots and other items of (dis)interest

While the ‘rents and I were still living in Savannah, we would often throw caution to the four winds on rare occasions and order a Chinese takeout feast fit for royalty from a restaurant located in the neighborhood known as the New China Garden Restaurant (12322 Largo Drive). We loved this jernt, particularly since they made fried…

Me and my PayPal

So, as I previously mentioned, I’ve returned to the waiting arms of eBay—where I have been welcomed back into the fold by being feted with wine, women and song…plus they have those little chicken wings you used to find on the buffet tables at Ponderosa, the mere presence of which makes me weak in the…

Movies I’ve stared at recently on TCM #2

I know, I know—there was precious little Alpo on the blog yesterday (more like a hell of a lot of meat by-product, to be honest)…but it’s not like anybody ever reads it on the weekend anyway. Instead, I spent a good bit of time working on putting together a little inventory to hawk on eBay,…

“If you wanna know—ask Joe…”

When I’ve written in the past about old-time radio anthology programs—like Lux Radio Theater and Screen Director’s Playhouse—I inevitably point out my disappointment with the broadcasts because, more often than not, I’ve already seen the movies. This hasn’t always been the case, particularly with Playhouse (which I listened to back in the 80s on Savannah’s WWSA as part of Victor…