Buried Treasures: Behind the Door (1919)

Last week, I climbed this blog’s highest rooftop to announce that Thrilling Days of Yesteryear had agreed to co-host a giveaway sponsored by Flicker Alley: they are going to hand out a Blu-ray/DVD combo copy of their upcoming April 4th release of Behind the Door (1919), a World War I drama recently restored as a collaborative effort by the San Francisco Silent…

Buried Treasures: Breakfast in Hollywood (1946)

One day on Facebook, my chum Jason Togyer—editor of the online Tube City Almanac, The Voice of McKeesport, PA—asked me if I knew the origin of a gag he had heard the great comedy duo of Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding do in a routine: “You win my orchid for today.”  Fortunately for Jase, my synapses…

Buried Treasures: Thank You All Very Much (1969)

Of all the premium channel “freeviews” that we received during the latter part of February and early March, I think the one from Epix was my favorite.  There wasn’t too much on the regular schedule that attracted my interest (though the ‘rents enjoyed the multiple showings of the Indiana Jones movies) …but they have a…

On the Grapevine: The Perfect Clown (1925)

Because I had developed little to no interest in athletics (football, baseball, etc.) in my formative years, my adolescence was occupied by my mania for movies—with a minor in silent film comedy.  As such, my initial education on Larry Semon—who, during his prime, was second only to Chaplin in terms of moviegoer popularity—was fueled by…

Adventures in Blu-ray: Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)

In 1922, motion picture audiences were treated to The Man from Hell’s River, the first of a myriad of feature films and serials starring a German Shepherd that had been rescued from a World War I battlefield by American soldier Lee Duncan.  Following in the paw prints of the earlier silver screen canine known as Strongheart,…

The Eagle has landed

I had originally scheduled a huge silent film epic for review in this space today.  (Okay, it’s not that epic—it was gonna be Way Down East [1920].)  But since my Tales of Wells Fargo DVR project continues apace, I decided to grab something short and sweet for the blog’s silent movie spotlight today…and that’s when I came across a DVD of The…

Grey Market Cinema: Black Tuesday (1954)

Convicted racketeer Vincent Canelli (Edward G. Robinson) has a date with “Old Sparky” (in layman's terms, the electric chair).  He’s not, however, going out alone; the state has a doubleheader planned that evening in that they’ll also be frying Peter Manning (Peter Graves), a man who robbed a bank of $200,000…but unfortunately, killed a cop…

Grey Market Cinema: Here Come the Nelsons (1952)

Beginning on radio in 1944 and continuing until the popular sitcom telecast its last episode on the small screen in 1966, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was one of show business’ greatest misnomers.  Ozzie and Harriet Nelson—“America’s favorite young couple”—may have been involved in the radio/TV endeavors…but their weekly visits into the homes of American listeners/viewers were…

On the Grapevine: Open All Night (1924)

In this space in January, I did a review of the Grapevine Video release of Paths to Paradise (1925)—an unsung silent comedy gem starring Raymond Griffith and Betty Compson.  Since this week’s movie in TDOY’s silent spotlight, Open All Night (1924), also features the dapper Mr. G, I thought I'd preface my remarks by letting those interested know that Grapevine has…