11,746 stories by "Trav S.d."
Tonight (tomorrow) in the wee hours on Turner Classic Movies: three silent features about circus clowns. 12:45am (EST): He Who Gets Slapped (1924) The very acme of over-the-top storytelling,…
I had the highly pleasurable privilege a few months back of catching a preview of James Habacker’s new movie The Cruel Tale of the Medicine Man  Habacker is the full-on auteur…
Tonight on Turner Classic Movies (for some reason): several comedies about war and international misunderstandings! Conspicuously absent is Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Dr. StrangeloveÂ�…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy Kentucky Kernels (1935). This is an extremely funny movie, written by Kalmar and Ruby, and featuring Span…
Today is the birthday of Laura La Plante (1904-1996). If we fudge a little in filing her under “Stars of Slapstick”, it’s not by much. She got her start in the movies (at t…
Happy Halloween! I’ve been saving this post for today, although I learned the facts that comprise it a few weeks ago. Thus far I have found four accused witches in my American linea…
Filed under: Art Models/ Bathing Beauties/ Beauty Queens/ Burlesque Dancers/ Chorines/ Pin-Ups/ Sexpots/ Vamps, Halloween, HOLIDAYS/ FESTIVALS/ MEMORIALS/ PARADES, Hollywood (History), Movie…
Tomorrow on TCM: Horror All Day and Night for Halloween! (and don’t forget, as we posted this morning, tonight is a bill of Val Lewton films) 7:00am (EST): Dr. X (1932) I  saw…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS, Rock and Pop Tagged: Anna Copa Cabanna, Ghoul-a-go-go, Highway to Hell Brooklyn, Passenger Bar
Today is the birthday of the great Ruth Gordon. (For my full article on her go here). Since we’ve been doing so much Halloween posting, and the big day is tomorrow, I thought I’d…
Today is the birthday of Herschel Bernardi (1923-1986). I’m just gonna give a quick shout out, rather than let another year go by without doing so. Without knowing I was doing so, I fi…
Filed under: Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS Tagged: Halloween, Haunted Hall, Manhattan Youth
Tonight on TCM, several horror films from the hand of RKO screenwriter/producer Val Lewton. 8:00pm (EST): Cat People (1942) "People"? It's just one woman and she may or not be a cat person. …
Today marks the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin/ Keystone comedy Gentlemen of Nerve. This is one of what I call the ad hoc/ improv type silent comedies, shot at an …
Tomorrow on TCM: several horror films by England’s Hammer Studios. I find that as a general rule, though these movies have their moments, one must have more patience than I possess to …
Today is birthday of Anna Case (1888-1984). New Jersey born Case was said to have been the first person to sing at the Metropolitan Opera who hadn’t been trained in Europe. She debuted…
My terrifyingly talented friends at Inappropriate Films shot this amazing and highly original horror film over the summer, with yours truly in a key role. Want proof?: There’s a real s…
Tomorrow on TCM: a grab bag of horror and suspense by mavens Tod Browning, William Castle, Alfred Hitchcock and Roger Corman: 7:45 am (EST): Freaks (1932) The ultimate Tod Browning fi…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS Tagged: Call Me on the Ouija Board, Producers Club
Tonight, in celebration of the Halloween season, TCM will show several Disney classics, most of which (kind of) have a spooky angle. Disney never allows itself to get TOO dark, but there are…
Today is the birthday of the great Elsa Lanchester (1902-1986). Lanchester was still a going concern in my youth (Murder by Death, Willard and all those Disney movies) hence it took…
And now, the latest in our month long series about classic horror which we launched here. John Carradine was identified with several genres, not just horror, but westerns and historical cost…
I had the good fortune to spend a couple of hours as a guest on Jim Melloan’s Radio Free Brooklyn talk show The Truth and Freedom Show last week. I don’t know how we managed to f…
Tomorrow on TCM (for some reason): several movies linked thematically only by their shared quality of EXCESS: All-Star casts, and epic running times: 9:45am (EST): Grand Hotel (1932) I think…
Today is the birthday of Jack Carson (1910-1963). (Not to be confused with Jack Carter!) I was already predisposed to post about Carson on account of his appearing in so many classic show…
