Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...Gregory Peck will be honored with a postage stamp on April 28th. The stamp features Peck as he looked in perhaps his best-known role, in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962).

...Eddie Muller was interviewed about movie restorations in conjunction with the current Noir City festival in San Francisco. The Lady Eve filed a report on the sold-out opening night screening of Robert Taylor and Audrey Totter in a restored print of HIGH WALL (1947).

...Coming to DVD on March 15th: Season 3 of THE VIRGINIAN. I have the Season 1 tin and it's a wonderful set, with beautiful prints and a nice batch of detailed interviews provided as extras.

...I didn't know the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization has a blog. (Via The Second Sentence.) Speaking of Rodgers & Hammerstein, I recently came across an interesting post from last fall on the recording history of CAROUSEL at Something Old, Nothing New.

...Lou Lumenick discusses recent Warner Archive releases, including James Garner and Kim Novak in BOYS' NIGHT OUT (1962) and June Allyson in THE OPPOSITE SEX (1956).

...Looks like the excellent film noir 99 RIVER STREET (1953) has come to "made on demand" DVD. It can be purchased from Turner Classic Movies.

...Glenn Erickson reviews MGM's THE HUMAN COMEDY (1943) at DVD Savant. The movie was recently remastered and released by the Warner Archive. Erickson likes the movie but has a number of reservations; I liked it even more and picked up the DVD on sale before Christmas. I also love the William Saroyan novel and think it's a shame it's no longer part of the curriculum in California; there are so many depressing books taught in high school these days, it's a shame that they refused to leave room for an uplifting title like THE HUMAN COMEDY.

...Livius reviews Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in RAMROD (1947) at Riding the High Country. RAMROD is an interesting "Western noir" worth catching.

...Over at 50 Westerns from the 50s, Toby links to a wonderful interview with lovely Joan Leslie.

...Colin Firth spoke with the Wall Street Journal about working on his role in THE KING'S SPEECH (2010). Big Hollywood reviewed the movie last week.

...The countdown continues for the 100 Greatest Posters of Film Noir at Where Danger Lives...this week Mark reviews his choices for Nos. 21-30. I think HIGH SIERRA is my favorite of this week's batch.

...At the TCM Movie Morlocks blog, DavidKalat pays tribute to Carole Lombard's performance in MR. AND MRS. SMITH (1941), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. As a fan of both Lombard and her costar Robert Montgomery, I'm curious there wasn't any mention of Montgomery's performance.

...Pleasant Valley Shopping is a wonderful blog filled with photos of old grocery stores and other stores of the past...the Huntington Beach Montgomery Ward's shown in this post from last summer was just razed. Word is they're going to build a Costco on the site.

...Speaking of longtime Orange County sites disappearing from the scene, I was sad that the Paradise Bakery and Cafe closed today at the MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana. I remember when this chain started at Marina Pacifica in Long Beach years ago. There are still locations in several states, with a large number in Arizona, but none left locally. I'll miss their chocolate chip cookies, as well as the ginger molasses cookies they sold in December.

...Notable passing: I just learned this weekend that Regency romance author Elizabeth Thornton passed away last summer. I was especially fond of some of her early books, such as FALLEN ANGEL and THE WORLDLY WIDOW. Here's a tribute from a blogger who enjoys some of the same authors I've liked over the years.

...More notable passings: Georgia Carroll Kyser, the widow of bandleader Kay Kyser, has died at 91...Ice Capades queen Donna Atwood passed away, age 85...and playwright Romulus Linney, father of actress Laura Linney, has passed on at the age of 80.

Have a great week!