Region 2 Cinema: Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)

Last Thursday, when TCM was running their Summer Under the Stars salute to Ida Lupino, I posted a quick comment on Facebook about Ida…well, more like a timeworn joke that I’ve been using since this blog’s been in operation, and I don’t intend to stop now. (It goes: “Ida Lupino was fond of calling herself ‘the poor man’s…

Movies that I’ve stared at recently on TCM #33 (Ida Lupino edition)

(Note: I usually try not to reveal the endings of the movies I review, but sometimes the best-laid plans of mice and men, yadda yadda yadda. In a nutshell—there are spoilers ahead.) Out of the Fog (1941) – To me, it’s a testament to the talent of John Garfield that even though he plays a totally unrepentant…

DVR-TiVo-Or whatever recording device strikes your fancy-alert!

Many apologies for the short notice on this one, but I just got a heads-up from Yair Solan (who, when not participating in the production of the DVD Becoming Charley Chase, sweeps up the floors at The World of Charley Chase) that TCM is rolling out the 1937 Technicolor short Hollywood Party (not to be confused with the 1934 feature…

Two princes

Don Hewitt, the broadcast journalist who became a pioneer in television news with the creation of 60 Minutes, has shuffled off this mortal coil as many of you are by now aware.He passed away at the age of 86, after a long bout with pancreatic cancer. From 1968 to 2004, Hewitt produced the most successful prime-time news…

No question about it—the boy can cipher!

Jethro might buy Nev. casino for Hillbillies plan RENO, Nev. (AP) — Max Baer Jr. is considering buying a closed hotel-casino in Sparks and turning it into Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Hotel and Casino based on the television sitcom he co-starred on during the 1960s. Sparks Mayor Geno Martini confirmed Baer has met with city officials about the possible purchase of the…

Region 2 Cinema: The Saxon Charm (1948)

Theatrical producer Matt Saxon (Robert Montgomery) is a temperamental, autocratic bully whose charismatic magnetism (hence the film’s title) keeps individuals in his thrall even though the smarter ones know they’d be better off putting as much distance between themselves and Saxon as possible. The latest victim to fall into Saxon’s web is novelist-turned-playwright Eric Busch (John…

Pop quiz, hotshot…

My good friend and fellow film blogger Matthew Coniam at Movietone News has dreamed up a nice little quiz in the style of the famous brain-busters created by Dennis Cozzalio at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, and while I don’t want to show any favoritism, I sort of like Matthew’s questions a bit better because they’re more geared…

“Somewhere there’s music/How faint the tune/Somewhere there’s heaven/How high the moon…”

Guitarist and music innovator Les Paul passed away at the age of 94 yesterday, as you may have already read by now, and I honestly can’t add anymore to what’s already been written on the Internets and blogs except that the more reading I do on Paul, the more fascinated I become with the man’s…

It Don’t Get No Better Than This

Laura at Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings mentioned in a post sometime back in mid-July about a new country single that’s been released by Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers, Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down. I got an opportunity to listen to it this morning (downloaded it in mp3 form) and I have to say it’s a…

He was a contendah…

It wasn’t my intention to start this out with something facetious (like the above comic strip panel) but I included it because there’s more than just a kernel of truth involved—more and more I find myself learning of those individuals who’ve left this mortal coil through Facebook posts. However, it is reassuring to know that some…