Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...a bookish edition!

...I was excited to see that Charles Tranberg's ROBERT TAYLOR: A BIOGRAPHY is now available. I thought highly of Tranberg's biography of Fred MacMurray. I'll be picking up the Taylor book later this month.

...A trailer for THE COMPANY MEN (2011) caught my eye at the movies last week. Good cast including Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, and Craig T. Nelson.

...At Classic Movies KC runs through an interesting list of classic film greats who are still living.

...Here's another good-looking new book on a great actor: LLOYD NOLAN: AN ACTOR'S LIFE WITH MEANING by Joel Blumberg and Sandra Grabman.

...Last week the National Film Registry announced its annual list of 25 films which will be preserved by the Library of Congress. The list includes A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (1945), MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1937), THE FRONT PAGE (1931), and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980). While I personally would have liked to see a higher percentage of films made prior to 1960 on the list, I was quite pleased to see THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK on the list, as I believe it's a work of cinematic art at the highest level.

...I came across Susan Cheever's LOUISA MAY ALCOTT: A PERSONAL BIOGRAPHY while browsing in Barnes & Noble recently. Another title for my wish list!

...Posters 51-60 of the "100 Greatest Posters of Film Noir" are now up at Where Danger Lives. There are some real beauties here; my favorite is Robert Montgomery's RIDE THE PINK HORSE (1947), a film I've yet to see.

...I enjoyed this article on the L.A. Dodgers' Casey Blake and his commitment to his hometown of Indianola, Iowa. There's a classic film tie-in -- Simpson College, mentioned in the article, is the home of the Lane Sisters Collection.

...Here's another interesting book; this one is a couple years old, but I was intrigued when I recently saw it in the McFarland catalogue: L.A. NOIR: NINE DARK VISIONS OF THE CITY OF ANGELS. The author is William Hare.

...After seeing THE KING'S SPEECH (2010), I'm interested in checking out the British program BERTIE AND ELIZABETH: THE RELUCTANT ROYALS (2002). It stars James Wilby, Juliet Aubrey, Alan Bates, Eileen Atkins, Corin Redgrave, and one of my favorites, Robert Hardy.

...The Lady Eve reviews Hitchcock's TO CATCH A THIEF (1955), which I wrote about in 2009.

...I've previously written about my interest in the Mitford sisters. One of the latest books from Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, is IN TEARING HASTE: LETTERS BETWEEN DEBORAH DEVONSHIRE AND PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR. Love the cover design! Deborah also published a memoir, WAIT FOR ME!, this fall. (Update: Thanks to Michele for passing on a New York Times review of both books, published December 29th.)

...At 50 Westerns from the 50s Toby reviewed the remastered Warner Archive DVD of FORT DOBBS (1958), starring Clint Walker, Virginia Mayo, and Brian Keith.

...The Caftan Woman shares my love for Deanna Durbin's LADY ON A TRAIN (1945) and also writes about Durbin's CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY (1944), which is on my list to see in 2011.

...Judy offers a detailed review of Robert Taylor and Janet Gaynor in SMALL TOWN GIRL (1936) at Movie Classics. My 2008 review of the same film is here.

Happy New Year, and have a great week!