11,726 stories by "Trav S.D."
Tonight (tomorrow morning really) on Turner Movie Classics: a pair of operatic if silent Lon Chaney “sad clown” pictures, (though neither one directed by Tod Browning): 12:15a…
The team of Gladys Clark and Henry (sometimes “Harry”) Bergman (1887-1962) were prominent in vaudeville throughout then teens and twenties. They often fronted tab shows produc…
Tomorrow and Monday at Film Forum, two exciting programs featuring Diane Baker, from the cast of Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964), William Castle’s Straight-Jacket (1964), and Pat…
Today is the birthday of actor Glenn Hunter (1894-1945). Hunter’s career lasted nearly thirty years, embracing Broadway, vaudeville and films. He was only 19 when he first made it to B…
3:45pm  (EST) Rio Lobo (1970) This is the last movie Howard Hawks directed and the law of diminishing returns applies. The first act is okay:  John Wayne is a civil war colonel o…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Comedy, Indie Theatre Tagged: Acting Class for Comedians, BROOKLYN, Bushwick, Cobra Club
Sunday morning at 11am, the Film Forum in New York will be showing the Beatles’ classic A Hard Day’s Night as part of its Film Forum Jr. series. As we did with our recen…
Today is the birthday of Ray (or Nat) Nazarro (1902-1986). And today I fear I have more questions for you than answers on this subject. But they are interesting questions, so I share them. E…
Could there be a stupider name for this post? No! But I’m sorry, that’s all I could come up with! Today is the launch day for the annual celebration organized by the Netherland-A…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: New York Burlesque Festival, NYBF
Bandleader Meyer Davis (1893-1976) was from the Washington, D.C. area. Â He started out with a musical quintet in high school (after the school band rejected him — his specialty was …
Today is the birthday of Beatrice Curtis (Beatrice Zinn, 1906-1963). Curtis was second generation show biz, the daughter of agent (and former vaudevillian) Jack Curtis and singer…
To date, the most satisfying (jaw-dropping) “read” on the subject of a comic book origin story has been Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay. Joinin…
All day tomorrow on Turner Classic Movies: a little chronological survey of films featuring independent, modern robots on the go! 6:00am (EST): Metropolis (1926) Fritz Lang's silent…
Since I gave them a mention this morning in a previous post, and I’m way overdue to do so, today I thought I’d do a post on Paramount’s series of Big Broadcast films (an…
What with TCM showing Meet the Baron today, I thought it might do to share this little post that will provide a little context for the Three Stooges (who appear in the film) Think ya know…
Today on TCM at 3:15pm (EST): the sheer insanity that is MGM’s Meet the Baron (1933). Meet the Baron was the first (and only) starring vehicle for radio and vaudeville comedia…
Doraldina (Dora Saunders, 1888-1936) began her working life as manicurist in a San Francisco Hotel, then went to New York and Spain to study dance. She became known for popularizing the hula…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Vaudeville etc. Tagged: BROOKLYN, Bushwick, Cobra Club, Force Majeur, vaudeville
Originally posted in celebration of Marxfest, in May, 2014. Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Marx Brothers’ comedy Monkey Business (1931). Monkey Business�…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of W.C. Fields’ very first film Pool Sharks (1915). Most folks don’t know that before he made talkies, Fields had a silen…
What with TCM showing several Abbott and Costello comedies tonight, I thought this might be a logical time to share some thoughts I’d been kicking around about the great movie teams an…
Tonight on Turner Classic Movies, no doubt by popular demand, several of the comedies of Abbott and Costello. 8:00pm (EST) Hold That Ghost (1941) The first of A & C’s many spoo…
Today on Turner Classic Movies at 4:15pm (EST): Catlow (1971) This is an interesting animal — yet another failed attempt by MGM to regain the glory days (or to even stay solvent). A bi…
Originally posted on Archival Research and Rhetoric: Undergraduate REflections:[this is drafty. did not incorporate readings yet] I wanted to know whether there were women who advocated for …
