Adventures in Blu-ray: Down Three Dark Streets (1954)

It’s another all-nighter for Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Zack Stewart (Kenneth Tobey), who’s got a full slate of cases in his inbox.  His primary investigation is tracking down the whereabouts of fugitive Joe Walpo (Joe Bassett)—a law-breaking miscreant already wanted for gunning down a gas station attendant (William Schallert!) a few days earlier.  Stewart’s…

A little housecleaning

The blog has been fallow for a few days, so I regret the lack of activity...but as we were welcoming in July I received a notice in the mail that Oglethorpe County requested my presence as a Superior Court “traverse juror” the week of August 7.  Yes, it’s the time-honored practice of drawing jury duty;…

What’s up, docs?

A documentary or two (or three, even!) courtesy of downloads from Epix Vault on Demand: Under the Gun (2016) - On December 14, 2012, with the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT that left 20 children and six adults dead, I convinced myself that this would be the time when this…

From the DVR: One Exciting Night (1922)

Wealthy John Fairfax (Henry Hull) returns to his family estate after a sabbatical abroad and while attending a garden party with his "Auntie" (Grace Griswold), is hit with Cupid's arrow after gazing upon one of the hostesses—a young girl named Agnes Harrington (Carol Dempster).  John's barely-disguised romantic affection towards Agnes is reciprocated in kind...though she's…

From the DVR: Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)

You may recall that on Sunday (though it seems so long ago—doesn't it?) I did a post here on the blog that briefly described my happy dance over our free Epix movie channel weekend.  Meanwhile, at the paying gig, I wrote up an anniversary essay on The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, which made its radio debut on June 17, 1947. …

Workin’ for the (freeview) weekend

Good news, everyone!  DISH has bestowed upon us a "freeview" weekend of the Epix movie channel...and that's always most welcome here in the House of Yesteryear because while I'll admit their film offerings may suffer from a mild case of same-ol'-same-ol' (we're only getting the free weekend because Epix is promoting a new series entitled…

Buried Treasures: Big Town (1947)

Back in April, I did a write-up for Big Town After Dark (1947) as one of the blog’s “Overlooked Films on Tuesdays”—After Dark being the third film in a B-picture franchise lensed by independent producers William Pine and William C. Thomas (a.k.a. “The Two Dollar Bills”) and released through Paramount.  The film series was inspired…

Buried Treasures: People are Funny (1946)

Radio producer John Guedel was a man who was in the right place at the right time.  In 1942, he was plying his trade on Red Skelton’s Raleigh cigarettes program when he spotted an article in one of the trades mentioning a show recently cancelled by NBC.  Getting in touch with the ad agency that…

Buried Treasures: Fast Break (1979)

With the premiere of the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter on ABC-TV in the fall of 1975, comedian Gabriel “Gabe” Kaplan became a television star, effectively drawing from elements of his stand-up act (he did routines about his childhood days in Brooklyn, many of which were featured on Kaplan’s album Holes and Mello-Rolls) in a series about a former…

“I hate to break the news to ya…but I think you’re a vampire!”

There’s a straight-to-video feature film—released in 1996—entitled Star Hunter…which I will charitably describe as a homage (French for “rip-off”) to Star Wars and Predator.  The presence of Roddy McDowall and Stella Stevens does not mean that this is a good movie, but what may be of interest to the Thrilling Days of Yesteryear faithful is that the direction of this cheesy…