11,728 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of Frances Lee (Myrna Tibbets, 1906-2000). Originally from Iowa, she was scouted and hired for Gus Edwards’ travelling vaudeville act. She was a chorus girl in th…
 Today is the birthday of Tyrone Power (1914-1958). Despite his birth into an acting dynasty with roots all the way into the 18th century, despite having been one of the biggest box offi…
 In celebration of Marxfest, every day this month we will be paying tribute to a different Marx Brothers film. While there are only 13 extant cinematic features including the entire t…
Just a quick note (before my coffee even!) to let you know I’ll be on WBAI’s Cat Radio Cafe today (May 5) with Janet Coleman and David Dozer. WBAI is one of the best radio statio…
 In celebration of Marxfest, every day this month we will be paying tribute to a different Marx Brothers film. While there are only 13 extant cinematic features including the entire t…
Today marks the 100th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin’s debut as solo director of a film, Caught in the Rain (1914). The film is a fairly routine little Sennett style Francophile …
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of Laurel and Hardy’s first talkie, Unaccustomed As We Are (1929). The boys hit the ground running in this short; it’s among …
Fresh in the afterglow of last night’s waltz I’d be remiss if I didn’t give big time plugs to the next two exciting Marxfest events happening this very weekend. Tonight and…
Filed under: AMERICANA, Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: All American Burlesque Revue, Angie Pontani, Hoboken Elks, Murray Hill
In celebration of Marxfest, every day this month we will be paying tribute to a different Marx Brothers film. While there are only 13 extant cinematic features including the entire team, …
Today is the anniversary of the release date of Saps at Sea (1940), Laurel and Hardy’s last feature for Hal Roach, and in my view their last good comedy. The boys work at a horn …
In May 1922, Buster Keaton released his comedy My Wife’s Relations, co-directed by Eddie Cline. One of his series of “bad luck” shorts, Keaton is accidentally mar…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Harry Langdon comedy His First Flame (1927). The film was made for Mack Sennett in 1927, but Langdon left the studio so Sennett hung…
Tonight at 7:30pm I’ll be speaking at Coney Island USA about the earliest phase of the Marx Brothers’ career, as a joint presentation of Marxfest and the Congress of Curious Peop…
In celebration of Marxfest, every day this month we will be paying tribute to a different Marx Brothers film. While there are only 13 extant cinematic features including the…
 Today is the anniversary of the release of the 1920 Harold Lloyd comedy An Eastern Westerner, directed by Hal Roach. An Eastern Westerner is one of the more overtly Fairbanks-esque o…
Today is the birthday of Fayette Lodawick “Yankee” Robinson (1818-1884). Originally from Livingston County, NY, Robinson had been a shoemaker before joining June & TurnerR…
In celebration of Marxfest, every day this month we will be paying tribute to a different Marx Brothers film. While there are only 13 extant cinematic features including the entire team, we …
 I was recently asked by a reader to rank Wheeler and Woolsey’s films: which ones are particular favorites? That’s hard for me at this stage. I’ve seen about 2/3 of the…
 Today is opening day of Marxfest! I’ll be using the occasion to write a whole mess of posts about the Marx Brothers over the course of this month. Firstly, for those few of you wh…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the 1915 Keystone comedy Mabel’s Wilful Way [sic]. In this ensemble comedy a young lady (Mabel Normand) is eating with her pare…
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Harry Langdon short Soldier Man (1926). Soldier Man was Langdon’s last short before leaving Mack Sennett to do features. …
Today is the birthday of the much beloved Eve Arden (1908-1990). We’ve written a little about some of her notable projects such as Our Miss Brooks (here and here) and The Moth…
The Mad Marchioness and I had a date night last evening, the first in ages that was any farther than a block from our home thanks to that miserable winter and lots of projects that kept us o…
Yeah, baby! Marxfest launches this week and there’s so much tell about! Tomorrow, April 30 at 3pm, listen to me, talk-show legend Dick Cavett, Harpo’s son Bill Marx and my Marxfe…
