The plot against Harry

The following passage kicks off the chapter on comic legend Harry Langdon in Smileage Guaranteed: Past Humor, Present Laughter, the invaluable reference tome written by film historian/friend of the blog Richard M. Roberts: All right...that’s it—hey, you!  Yes, you—come here!  It’s time for a heart-to-heart, mano a mano.  Now I know there’s a lot of…

Book Review: Rediscovering Roscoe – The Films of “Fatty” Arbuckle

In his reference book The Great Movie Comedians, film historian Leonard Maltin writes of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: “It seems tragic that Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle should be remembered today for a scandal in his private life and barely recognized for his contribution to screen comedy.  To be sure, Arbuckle was never one of the comic giants,…

“Never a help—always a hindrance!”

Facebook veterans know that there’s a group on there for every person, place or thing currently in existence (and if it hasn’t been created yet...give it a few seconds) and as a member in good standing since 2009 (my dues are paid up), I know there are some really outstanding Facebook aggregations dedicated to a…

“Ah…the vastness of it all…”

One of my Facebook chums and I were having a chinwag about the latest DVD release from our friends at Kit Parker Films/The Sprocket Vault: Charley Chase at Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume Two 1932-33.  This two-disc collection, which “hit the streets” in mid-July this year (July 16), makes available the 15 two-reel comedies that funnyman…

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 Roku

Let me just state at the start of this post...that when it comes to home entertainment, I’m a physical media disciple.  I like to own movies. I like to own TV shows.  From the time I bought my first VHS player in 1986 with a bonus I received from my then place of employment (despite my…

“Tusch!”

In the small principality of Rutania, young Karl Heinrich (Francis Carpenter) leads a miserable life.  He’s a prince and the heir apparent to the Rutanian throne (occupied by his father, who spends so much of the movie in conference with his cabinet his death in battle sneaks by you)...but Karl spends most of his time…

“The Movie Man/The Movie Man can…”

Back in October 2016, I reviewed a Grapevine Video collection of Lupino Lane shorts that brought a great deal of pleasure into my occasionally dismal existence.  Lane was an acrobatic film comedian (whose antics could rival those of Buster Keaton) who made a most entertaining series of two-reel comedies for Educational Pictures beginning in 1924; he…

I Lost it at the movies

Since 2012, the Library of Congress has hosted an annual workshop known to film fanatics as “Mostly Lost,” in which movie mavens from all walks of life—writers, scholars, activists, filmmakers...and really, just about anyone with a passion for film and its preservation—gather together 'round June at the LoC’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (in beautiful downtown…

Money in the Bank(s)

You may recall in April of this past year that Thrilling Days of Yesteryear beat the drums for a Kickstarter project instigated by the good people at Grapevine Video.  The mom-and-pop label responsible for bringing so many outstanding silent and sound features—with some serials and classic TV thrown into the mix for variety—to Blu-ray/DVD passed around a…