All stories by Trav S.d. on BroadwayStars

Saturday, September 19, 2015

The Four Marx Bros. in "Monkey Business" by Trav S.D.

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…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:20AM[SHARE]

Century of Slapstick #90: Pool Sharks: W.C. Fields' First Film by Trav S.D.

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…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:16AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 18, 2015

On Straight Men, Comedy Teams and Belated Props for Abbott and Costello by Trav S.D.

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…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:44PM[SHARE]

Tonight on TCM: Abbott and Costello by Trav S.D.

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…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:44PM[SHARE]

Today on TCM: Catlow by Trav S.D.

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…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:12AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 17, 2015

I'm not finding what I wanted but found cool stuff along the way by Trav S.D.

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 …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:55PM[SHARE]

Midnight on TCM: I'll Cry Tomorrow by Trav S.D.

Tonight on TCM at midnight (Eastern), as part of their month-long celebration of Susan Hayward, Turner Movie Classics will be showing I’ll Cry Tomorrow, the 1955 bio-pic based on…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:46PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Stars of Slapstick #216: Neely Edwards by Trav S.D.

Today is the birthday of Neely Edwards (Cornelius Limbach, 1883-1965). A quick thanks to Ben Model and Steve Massa for making me aware of this interesting and (in his day) significant stage …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:33AM[SHARE]

The Star Spangled Banner by Trav S.D.

While you were sleeping, Baltimore was shelled by a foreign navy, Washington DC was invaded and the White House burnt down, and America tried to take over Canada. Well, maybe you weren’…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:31AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Tonight! Nerfertitty in Space and Barbarella by Trav S.D.

Here’s why you MUST see Nefertitty in Space: https://travsd.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/nefertitty-in-space-and-why-lola-rocknrolla-is-our-favorite-film-maker/Filed under: African A…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:07AM[SHARE]

Louis Gasnier: From the Champs-Élysées to Poverty Row by Trav S.D.

Today is the birthday of Louis Gasnier (1875-1963). Fairly or fairly, I mentally associate Gasnier with a handful of other directors (William Beaudine, Jean Yarbrough, Norman Taurog) who sta…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:25AM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 13, 2015

Tonight (Tomorrow) on TCM: Harold Lloyd in "The Kid Brother" by Trav S.D.

Tonight (tomorrow morning really) at 12:30am (EST) on Turner Classic Movies:  Harold Lloyd’s 1927 feature The Kid Brother. In The Kid Brother, Lloyd stretched somewhat, venturing in…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:16AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 12, 2015

Tomorrow at Film Forum: Two Seminal Shows by Trav S.D.

Hey New Yorkers! Tomorrow the Film Forum will be showing two very important silent features. Note: this is not a double feature; these are two entirely separate screenings, as you’ll n…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:33AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 11, 2015

Forgotten Shows of My Nonage #88: Barney Miller by Trav S.D.

Please don’t protest that YOU haven’t forgotten the show. This world contains 7 billion people, including 320 million Americans, most of whom are younger than you are.Â…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:45PM[SHARE]

Jason Thomas: The Lost Hero of 9/11 by Trav S.D.

The Destination America network premiered a new documentary special the other night. Since 2002 or 2003 I’ve been working on a piece of writing about September 11 (I haven’t deci…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:15PM[SHARE]

Thoughts on the National September 11 Memorial and Museum by Trav S.D.

Over Thanksgiving weekend last year I went with my boys to see the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The Memorial had been open for three years by that point; the Museum for six mon…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:55AM[SHARE]
Thursday, September 10, 2015

What's Up With the Westerns? by Trav S.D.

The most loyal readers of this blog, i.e., the ones who read all the posts, will have noticed that many months ago a new content stream began to invade our already established content turf o…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:51PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Stars of Slapstick #215: Tammany Young by Trav S.D.

Today is the birthday of Tammany Young (1886-1936). Best remembered today as one of W.C. Fields’ many stooges, the diminutive Young actually worked with most of the major comedians of …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:03PM[SHARE]

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) by Trav S.D.

Today is the birthday of the great Max Reinhardt (1873-1943). A towering giant of 20th century theatre, Reinhardt directed in Berlin and Vienna from 1902 through 1933, when the Nazis made…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:15PM[SHARE]

Of Kentucky and the Colonel by Trav S.D.

Today is the birthday of Colonel Harland David Sanders (1890-1980). I was going to put “Colonel” in quotes, but, no, though the title is honorary it is also actual and legitimate…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM[SHARE]

Tonight on TCM: Thinking Folks' Westerns by Trav S.D.

Tonight on TCM, a very nicely curated menu of thoughtful, mature westerns. Warning: we always include spoilers! 8:00pm (EST): 3:10 to Yuma (1957) Elmore Leonard wrote the story this film …

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:55AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Stars of Vaudeville # 899: Helen Rook by Trav S.D.

This is a photo of a star who burned briefly but brightly in the nineteen-teens. Her name was Helen Rook. I have but a few interesting fragments of information on her; if I uncover more I…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:58PM[SHARE]
Monday, September 7, 2015

R.I.P. Judy Carne by Trav S.D.

Just got word via Steve Stoliar that Laugh-In  “Sock it to Me” Star Judy Carne (b . Joyce Botterill, 1939) has passed on at the age of 76. A native of Northampton, En…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:55PM[SHARE]

R.I. P. Jean Darling by Trav S.D.

I heard from my pal Barry Mitchell last night that Jean Darling has passed away. Among other things, the former child star was one of the original Our Gang. Ironically, I became aware of Ms.…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:19PM[SHARE]

Chaplin & Arbuckle in Their Only Bona Fide Team-Up: The Rounders by Trav S.D.

Today marks the anniversary of the release date of the Keystone film The Rounders (1914), the only honest-to-God co-starring vehicle of Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe “Fatty” A…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AM[SHARE]

Today on TCM: Sergeant Rutledge by Trav S.D.

Today on TCM at 6pm (EST) John Ford’s Sergeant Rutledge (1960). Warning: we always include spoilers! A tremendous movie which ought to be known as landmark and a classic, but comple…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 6, 2015

Today at Coney: Magic! by Trav S.D.

Filed under: Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, Magicians/ Mind Readers/ Quick Change, PLUGS Tagged: Bizarro, Coney Island USA, Gary Dreifus, Lee Alan Barrett, Magic at Coney, Tanya Solomon

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:25AM[SHARE]

Bon Anniversaire, Lafayette! by Trav S.D.

Today is the birthday of Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, Marquis de Lafayette (1757 " 1834), hero of the American Revolution and two separate revolutions in hi…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:25AM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 5, 2015

Today at Coney Island: A Surfeit of Facial Hair by Trav S.D.

Filed under: AMERICANA, Coney Island, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Adam RealMan, Beard and Moustache Competition, Coney Island USA, Don Jamieson

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:58AM[SHARE]

Today on TCM: McLintock! by Trav S.D.

. Today at 5:00pm (EST) TCM will be showing the minor western classic McLintock! (1963). I am tempted to call this movie the best non-spoof comedy western. It’s definitely John Wayn…

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:58AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 4, 2015

Tonight at Coney: Unicycles! by Trav S.D.

Filed under: Acrobats and Daredevils, ACTS, Circus, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Coney Island USA, NYC Unicycle Festival

SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:21PM[SHARE]

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