Go Ask Alice

It wasn’t quite a year ago today (and admittedly, I’m a little late with this review) but in April of last year silent film historian/accompanist Ben Model—the hardest working man in the 88 keys business—launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce a DVD showcasing the work of silent movie mirthmaker Alice Howell.  Howell, described on the back of the…

Adventures in Blu-ray: Stand-In (1937)

The agenda at a board meeting of prominent New York bank Pettypacker & Sons centers around the sale of Colossal Pictures—a Hollywood independent studio that financier Ivor Nassau (C. Henry Gordon) seeks to acquire for far below its $10,000,000 price tag.  Nassau has made president Fowler Pettypacker (Tully Marshall) an offer of five million, and the senior Pettypacker is seriously considering…

Absolutely Sweet Marie

Fickle Gertie Darling (Marie Prevost) is returning from a French vacay and, as a title card tells us, “wherever she went she brought back something.”  That “something” is a fiancé, Algernon “Algy” Brooks (Franklin Pangborn), who is completely clueless about a hint of scandal in Gertie’s past.  His best bud, lawyer Ken Walrick (Charles Ray), was once engaged…

Overlooked Films on Tuesday: I Met My Love Again (1938)

A wise man once observed: “Youth is wasted on the wrong people.”  (Come to think of it, I believe it was the cranky old fart [Dick Elliott] on the front porch in It’s a Wonderful Life [1946].)  But that’s not the film I want to discuss today—and what's more, that adage certainly doesn’t apply to I…

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…

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. …

“I hate women even when I’m on vacation.”

I know this is going to be hard to believe...but during the early portion of my childhood, I was not the same kidlet who vegetated in front of a TV set that you all know and love today.  (Whoa...talk about an awkward pause.)  I enthusiastically participated in outside activities, particularly those of the variety that…

“Oh, why did I ever begin this dark deception?”

In March of this year, I made the mistake of opening an e-mail I received from Milestone Films.  (Okay, there was no gun placed to my temple...but you'd think I'd learn by now.)  They were advertising a sale on DVDs in their inventory featuring female filmmakers (to celebrate Women's History Month) and one of the…

It’s a Gas-s-s-s, gas, gas…

The news of the apocalypse breaks at Texas’ Southern Methodist University, where a young hippie named Coel (Robert Corff), on the run from the cops, disguises himself as a priest and hides out in a confessional booth.  That’s where he meets Cilla (Elaine Giftos), an assistant to a team of scientists, who informs Coel that…

Adventures in Blu-ray: Crime of Passion (1957)

I don’t mind telling you—when my part-time employer, ClassicFlix, announced in February of this year that they were rolling out their very own DVD/Blu-ray label…I was a tad skeptical.  But their releases have surprised even jaded, cynical ol’ me; they’ve brought back quite a few titles from the Land of Dead DVDs (also referred to…