For a goodly stretch there, when I was about 20 years old, my very favorite movie in all the world was Roger Corman’s original 1960 Little Shop of Horrors (which is one of the many reasons…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:54AMOn this day in 2011, Professor Hokum W. Jeebs (Robert Stabile, b. 1951) breathed his last. This is a story of the New Vaudeville, but sounds for all the world like something from the Very Ol…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:42AM150 years ago today: the birth of Polar Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922). It gives me particular pleasure to write about him on the day after Valentine’s Day, for Shackleton was …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:24AMAnd though it is Jack Benny’s birthday, and I am developing a longish piece about Benny’s movies, the precipitating cause of this post is that February 14 ALSO happens to be the birthday…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AMSomething appropriate there is about the fact that National Ferris Wheel Day and Valentine’s Day are one and the same. I can’t think of a more romantic date activity than a ride on one o…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AMAccording to the master calendar that makes this blog happen, there are numerous new people I could be writing about on this Fat Tuesday — but I find I want to talk some more about George …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:06AMI say “the other” because the better known David Steinberg was a Canadian stand-up comedian who was popular in the 1970s. The one who concerns us today was David J. Steinberg (1965-2010)…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:36AMI’ve little original to say upon the the topic, but I cannot let it go unobserved: today marks 100 years since George Gershwin premiered his Rhapsody in Blue at Aeolian Hall in New York (F…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:24AMThe R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was incorporated on this day in 1890. I’m not here to celebrate or endorse their product, but RJR did leave a camel print in the shifting sands of show bu…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:42AMHarry Beaumont (1888-1966) is not regarded today as a great cinematic auteur, and perhaps he shouldn’t be in terms of such matter as camera placement, shot composition, and so forth (and t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:02PMToday’s post on Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) goes out to another Carmen M, my friend Carmen Mofungo (Michele Carlo), one of the many performers influenced and inspired by the Brazilian star.…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:02PMI categorically discourage this sort of thing but an acquaintance recently approached me and asked whether the James Murray he saw in some vintage advertising for a vaudeville bill that feat…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:48AMYou see what I did there, right? It wasn’t easy. Just TRY to find an unglamorous photograph of James Dean (1931-1955). Naturally, to focus my search, I went to “as old man in Giant“, c…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:54AMSudden death always feels like a sucker punch, sometimes more than others. I just got the word that Kenyan actor Charles J. (“Charli”) Ouda has passed away at the age of 38. I had the ha…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:24PMToday we pause to acknowledge actress Gloria Talbott (1931-2000). We’ve had a handful of occasion to mention Talbott here, chiefly in relation to her horror films: she has key roles in The…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:54AMThe bad news — my hard drive died so I won’t be churning out a few thousand new daily words for a couple of days. The good news? I’ve just opened up to the public over 900 additional p…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AMThis one is far from an exclusive but the show biz angle lured me in. I’m quite sure I first heard of Ronald Pellar (1930-2013) a.k.a Dr. Dante a.k.a. Ronald Dante a.k.a. Mr. Hypnotist as …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:36AMMelanie (b. 1947) passed away a week ago. I’d already planned a post for her birthday, which is today, so I thought I’d save the obit and let this one, regrettably, do double duty. Melan…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMLaunching today in New York: Sapph-o-Rama, Film Forum’s 30 film series of movies “exploring the eccentric, enduring, and genre-encompassing history of the Lesbian image in cinema”. The…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:42PMA somewhat unusual case to contemplate today: a father and son, both of whom made well-known, well-respected and popular movies in two countries: France and America. Maurice Tourneur (Mauric…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:32AMIt’s quite true, although it must be pointed out that there have been three generations of Drs Bronner since the mid 20th century, and many generations of soap-making Heilbronners before t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:36PMBill Mumy (Charles William Mumy Jr, b. 1954) turns 70 years old today. For someone who has nearly 100 screen credits accumulated over nearly half a century, and has distinguished himself in …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AMMore than once here have we pointed out the real true fact the many theatrical forms that owe their origins all or in part to France: melodrama, farce, vaudeville, burlesque, revues, even th…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:12AMOh, there’s no “dirt” on Tammy Grimes, per se, only information. it’s just wordplay and a shameless headline. Grimes (1934-2016) was an actress/performer whose legend was primarily i…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:54PMWe’ve long since passed 100 posts on the topic of William Claude Dukenfeld, a.k.a. W.C. Fields (1880-1946) on this blog and so we thought we’d mark his birthday (January 29) with this ne…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:02PMYes! Google it and you will find many published books and articles with titles much like this post! I even dropped his name with reference to the many uses of the word vaudeville in my book …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:24AMIf I were any kind of a guy, I’d plug every single episode of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast as they drop, but the naked truth is, I can’t keep up. It’s the only podcast I listen to…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:32AMJanuary 27 was the birthday of stage star Benay Venuta (Benvenuta Rose Crooke, 1910-1995). Old time movie fans will probably know her best from the movie musicals Annie Get Your Gun (1950, a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:48AMIt’s Australia Day, and I’ve already done my big Australia omnibus post, so this year I thought I would do a short piece that flows very naturally out of my recent ones on Martin Sharp a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:36PMJanuary 25 is National Florida Day. Two of my brothers have retired to the Sunshine State, and they keep inviting me to come down for a visit, which I have half a plan to do. The origin of t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:32PMI’m not sure why I never thought to scratch beneath the surface of the career of classic Hollywood director Henry King (1886-1982) before, as I love several of his films. But I’m glad I …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:18AM