11,729 stories by "Trav S.D."
In observation of the Halloween season, another radio tidbit. In 1951 Bob Hope broadcast this radio version of his recent spook comedy film The Ghost Breakers for the Screen Directo…
Today (according to IMDB) is the 100th anniversary of the release of the Keystone comedy The Speed Kings, a one reel short starring Ford Sterling, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and Barney…
Today is the birthday of that divine character Ruth Gordon Jones (1896-1985 — she shortened her name for show business). She wrote several autobiographical books, plus her early life w…
Best known today via Barbara Streisand's portrayal of her in the musical films Funny Girl and Funny Lady, Brice was actually rather unlike Streisand in appearance. Tall and ga…
In honor of the Halloween season we are pleased to share this classic 1934 Hal Roach spook comedy starring Laurel and Hardy. The Live Ghost is a classic “haunted ship” scen…
Of all the cinematic versions of Robert Louis Stevenson’s perennial horror classic (including the terrific Frederic March one with its pathbreaking onscreen transformations) the 1920 s…
As a premise, an Addams Family Halloween is kind of like Taking Coals to Newcastle, but there’s no such thing as too much Addams so it’s a ride we will gladly take. Dependi…
In honor of the 1920 Halloween season we share Harold Lloyd’s 1920 silent comedy Haunted Spooks, co-starring Mildred Davis. It’s a fairly ordinary spook comedy, with the requi…
Another Halloween themed radio tidbit. In 1945 Boris Karloff guest starred on the Fred Allen show. These radio shots seem to have been a lucrative sideline for him for awhile. The reco…
Originally posted in 2009 Grace Kelly's uncle Walter was one of the few unalloyed racists in big time vaudeville. While many, such as Al Jolson or Sophie Tucker may have put on b…
Originally posted in 2009. Born Jacob Perlman this day in 1895, Jack Pearl is best known for the national catchphrase “Vas You Dere, Charlie?”, which he uttered as the “…
Another vintage tidbit we are sharing to Halloween season. In this 1936 Hal Roach Our Gang/ Little Rascals short Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and Porky want to go to the circus so they l…
Less well known that it might be, the first cinematic version of Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein was made by the Edison Studios in 1910, over twenty years before James Whale’s…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Creep Show, Delancey, Peep Show, Shelly Watson
In further celebration of the Halloween season we share this now-annual classic, the 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween special that also featured Margaret Hamilton, her Pufnstuff counter…
In honor of the Halloween season we are pleased to share this 1921 Buster Keaton short, directed by Eddie Cline. In case you find yourself getting too scared (spoiler alert) the house that b…
I found myself bawling upon learning of the death of Lou Reed yesterday, on the sly, behind a pair of sunglasses. That’s what sunglasses are for. Certainly that’s what HIS sungla…
Another radio treat on the lead-up to Halloween. Here’s Bing Crosby’s Halloween episode of Philco Radio Time with guest stars Boris Karloff and Victor Moore, originally bro…
Today is the birthday of Ronnie and Donnie Galyon (b. 1951), the world’s oldest living pair of conjoined twins. Born in Dayton, Ohio joined from the sternum to the groin, they share a …
All week I’ll be sharing vintage Halloween themed comedy-horror tidbits like this one. This episode of Ozzie and Harriet from 1952 features three narrative threads, including Ozzie Nel…
All week I’ll be sharing vintage Halloween themed comedy-horror tidbits like this one. The Spook Talks is a fairly hilarious Three Stooges short from 1949 (the Shemp era) wherein…
All week I’ll be sharing vintage Halloween themed comedy-horror tidbits like this one. The Spook Chasers (1957) is quite late in the life of the long-running Bowery Boys franchis…
Radio comedian Harold “Hal” Peary (1908-1985) created his popular radio character Throckmorton Gildersleeve on the Fibber McGee and Molly Show in 1935. The big blowhard was…
8:00pm:  Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Much water under the bridge between the original Frankenstein and James Whale’s 1935 sequel. Karloff, who had been uncredited in the firs…
Today is Ned Harrigan’s birthday. From No Applause: The two biggest Irish comedians to come out of the variety scene, becoming the most popular stars of the American theatre of the …
