Sunday, March 2, 2014
Jenny Lee and Elvira Snow are the two pinheads in the movie Freaks who are not Schlitzie. Billed betimes as “Pip and Zip” or “Pip and Flip” or “Pippo and Zippo&…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:50AM[SHARE]Saturday, March 1, 2014
In March of 1923, Buster Keaton released The Love Nest, his last silent comedy short (thereafter he moved on to features). The title of the film is misleading. The Love Nest is n…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:19PM[SHARE]In March of 1922, Buster Keaton released one of the most perfectly constructed of his short comedies, Cops. In the film, he plays a most unlucky furniture mover who has the misfortune …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:25AM[SHARE]Today is the anniversary of the release date of Harry Langdon’s 1925 comedy short His Marriage Wow, directed by Harry Edwards, and co-written by Arthur Ripley for Mack Sennett…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:38AM[SHARE]Friday, February 28, 2014
Today is the birthday of film director William Wellman (1896-1975). Responsible for many masterpieces, today we celebrate one we thought would be of especial interest to our readers: 1943…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:12PM[SHARE]Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Buster Keaton talkie Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931). Directed by Eddie Sedgwick, the film was adapted from a sophisticated Broadway fa…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:21PM[SHARE]This month and next our favorite silent comedy screening series The Silent Clowns will be celebrating Charlie Chaplin’s 100 years in pictures by highlighting some of the greatest films…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AM[SHARE]Today marks the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Keystone comedy Between Showers. This funny silent comedy short is one of only a couple where two of my favorite comedy stars Cha…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:30AM[SHARE]Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tonight at 11pm E.S.T. on Turner Classic Movies, a rare chance to see Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in their co-starring 1931 vehicle The Guardsman. The famous theatrical couple mad…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:51PM[SHARE]The Friends of the Loew’s (Jersey City) deserve better than this.  They’re getting railroaded by a bunch of crummy pols. Jersey City wants to sell the Loew’s Theat…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:12PM[SHARE]John Strausbaugh was the editor of the now-defunct The New York Press, when it was, for my money, the most exciting publication in New York City. Nowadays he free-lances, does interest…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:49AM[SHARE]Today is the birthday of the great English actress Dame Ellen Terry (1847-1928). A professional for almost seven decades, her life interacted with almost everyone of consequence in the Engli…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:09AM[SHARE]Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tomorrow morning at 5:15 E.S.T., Turner Classic Movies will be playing a movie I’ve wanted to check out for a long time. Coquette (1929) was not only Mary Pickford’s first …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:32PM[SHARE]In an otherwise terrific piece by Barbara Hoffman in today’s New York Post about a new Basquiat auction and showing at Christies, I came across this humdinger in a quote by Christies&#…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:09PM[SHARE]Today is the birthday of the great comic heavy Stanley “Tiny” Sandford (1894-1961). Sandford was usually an uncredited bit player, often cast as bouncers, cops, bullies, boxers, …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:26PM[SHARE]Today is the anniversary of the release date pf Charlie Chaplin’s last comedy short The Pilgrim (1923). The Pilgrim is essentially a remake of Chaplin’s earlier picturesÂ…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:22AM[SHARE]Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Just a quick note to plug the new soundtrack CD from Chip Deffaa’s recent show Irving Berlin’s America. Michael Townsend Wright (well known to many of our readers) play…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:32AM[SHARE]Today is the release date of the hilarious Laurel and Hardy comedy Twice Two (1933). As the title implies, this is a doubling comedy, a device the team often relied on (see also Brats,…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:20AM[SHARE]Tonight at 6pm at the Film Forum , a real treat for fans of vaudeville, music hall and early cinema, the 1930 British revue film Elstree Calling. “Elstree” was the name of the…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:58AM[SHARE]Monday, February 24, 2014
Today is the birthday of Abe Vagoda (b. 1921) who is indeed still with us (aged 92). This is possible because he was much younger than he looked in The Godfather and on Barney Mille…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:15PM[SHARE]Quick! Change your evening plans! Film Forum is showing Breaking Away tonight at 7:30pm, with a Q & A featuring one of its stars Paul Dooley. When this little movie came out…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:20AM[SHARE]Filed under: Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Coney Island USA, gala, Webster Hall
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:40AM[SHARE]Filed under: Contemporary Variety, Dixieland & Early Jazz, HOLIDAYS, FESTIVALS, MEMORIALS & PARADES, Marches, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Mardi Gras Ball, Two Boots
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:30AM[SHARE]Sunday, February 23, 2014
Today is the anniversary of the release date of one of the most perfect Laurel and Hardy comedies Wrong Again (1929). It wasn’t until relatively late in life that I discovered the t…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18AM[SHARE]Saturday, February 22, 2014
Today is the birthday of the great equestrienne Ella Bradna (1879-1957). The daughter of a circus family from Bohemia, she came to the U.S. with her husband Fred to perform for Barnum and…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:28AM[SHARE]Today is the birthday of the great Hollywood character actor Dwight Frye (1899-1943). Originally a musician, Frye gravitated toward theatre, appearing in 17 plays on Broadway from 1921 throu…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:14AM[SHARE]Today is the birthday of Maurice Costello (1877-1950.). Costello is a major figure in early film history, sadly now forgotten, although his DNA remains very prominent in the contemporary mov…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:01AM[SHARE]Today is the birthday of Sir John Mills (1908-2005). Considered one of the great British stage and screen actors of the 20th century, Mills differs from many in his generation in that he had…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:14AM[SHARE]Friday, February 21, 2014
Today is the anniversary of the hilarious 1931 Laurel and Hardy comedy short Chickens Come Home. In this one Ollie is a prosperous fertilizer merchant who is running for Mayor. Laurel, thoug…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:21PM[SHARE]Today is the anniversary of the release date of the 1936 Mae West comedy Klondike Annie. Partially penned by West herself (based on her 1921 stage play Frisco Kate), the comedy essentiall…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:01PM[SHARE]Today is the anniversary of the release date of The Haunted House a 1921 Buster Keaton short, directed by Eddie Cline. In case you find yourself getting too scared (spoiler…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:07PM[SHARE]Loading more stories…
