Monday, December 26, 2011

Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...a Boxing Day Edition!

...Happy birthday to fabulous film noir leading lady Audrey Totter, who turned 93 on December 20th. Totter's excellent films include HIGH WALL (1947), LADY IN THE LAKE (1947), THE UNSUSPECTED (1947), THE SAXON CHARM (1948), THE SET-UP (1949), and TENSION (1949). I've linked in the past to an interview she gave about her career; it's delightful.

...There's a very nice new blog celebrating the career of Ricardo Montalban. I especially enjoyed looking at photos of Montalban and his lovely wife, Georgiana Young, in this slide show and an old issue of Life magazine.

...Donna Reed's TV children, Shelley Fabares and Paul Peterson, reminisce about her and Carl Betz in the Los Angeles Times. I was both touched and impressed by Peterson's comment, "Donna and Carl were very much aware of the difficulties on other family shows. They made a commitment to Shelley and me as surrogate parents to be on our side and be with us for the long haul. They kept that commitment up to their deaths. Donna's last few words [were] to make sure Shelley's birthday present was wrapped and ready for delivery. That is true!"

...Coming to DVD on May 1st: Season 6 of THE VIRGINIAN. So far I own Season 1, and it's a real pleasure that this series is receiving such beautiful DVD releases. I hope to buy more!

...WE BOUGHT A ZOO (2011), starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, has received some excellent reviews. It's gone onto my list of movies I'd like to see.

...Kristina has a wonderful piece up on Ella Raines and PHANTOM LADY (1944) at Speakeasy. Raines is a relatively unappreciated talent who deserves to be better known.

...JavaBeanRush recently posted a link for a short but sweet video interview with dancer Marge Champion. She seems to exemplify thinking positive!

...Mark has reviewed THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (1940), starring Vincent Price, George Sanders, and Margaret Lindsay, at Cin-Eater.

...The 1962 TV series GOING MY WAY, starring Gene Kelly and Leo G. Carroll, is now out on DVD.

...Dorian has a most enjoyable post up on Bogart and Bacall in THE BIG SLEEP (1946) at Tales of the Easily Distracted. It was part of a Humphrey Bogart blogathon; lots more Bogart links are posted at Forever Classics.

...Leonard Maltin recently gave an interesting interview describing the process of updating his annual MOVIE GUIDE.

...Glenn Erickson shares his picks for The Most Impressive Discs of 2011 at DVD Savant. His choices include Warner Archive's THE CONSTANT NYMPH (1943) (which he just reviewed) and Criterion's SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957).

...Over at 50 Westerns from the 50s, Toby recently posted a review of Victor Mature in ESCORT WEST (1958). It's a nice, cozy little Western which I enjoyed last summer.

...The Girl With the White Parasol recently reviewed the Gainsborough Pictures costume melodrama THE WICKED LADY (1945), starring Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, and Patricia Roc: "This movie is pure fun from start to finish."

...Karen profiles John Payne at Shadows and Satin. Musicals, Westerns, film noir -- Payne could do it all.

...Notable Passing: Pedro Armendariz Jr. has passed away at the age of 71. Armendariz Jr. was an actor, following in the footsteps of his namesake father; his credits included ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO (2003) and THE LEGEND OF ZORRO (2005). The senior Armendariz, who died in 1963, appeared in John Ford's THE FUGITIVE (1947), FORT APACHE (1948), and 3 GODFATHERS (1948).

...Coming next week at Another Old Movie Blog: THE LAS VEGAS STORY (1952) with Victor Mature and Jane Russell, and MEET ME IN LAS VEGAS (1956).

...Screen Snapshots shares thoughts on a visit to the Hollywood Heritage Museum and the Lasky-DeMille Barn.

...For another big batch of recent links, please visit last Saturday's post, A Christmas Eve Roundup.

Have a great week, and Happy New Year!

6 Comments:

Blogger mel said...

Shelly Fabares was apparently born into show biz - not only was she Donna Reed's daughter but also Nanette Fabray's niece!

I'm off to read the piece in the LA Times.

Thanks for the link, Laura!

10:14 PM  
Blogger Aubyn said...

Nice to know that Audrey Totter's still with us. She's always an unexpected pleasure, in whatever film she's in.

Thanks for all the links and thank you so much for the mention.

5:02 AM  
Blogger Jacqueline T. Lynch said...

Thanks for the link. Love that poster.

I was also quite taken with the comments by Donna Reed's TV "kids". Nice story.

5:28 AM  
Blogger DorianTB said...

Laura, I really appreciate your kind plug for my BIG SLEEP blog post over at TotED, especially during this slow week between Christmas and New Year's. You're the best -- thanks a million and then some!

I very much enjoyed your items about LADY IN THE LAKE's Audrey Totter and and the Christmas movie round-up! Glad to hear Paul Peterson and Shelley Fabares had such a good relationship with TV parents Donna Reed and Carl Betz, too; it always pleases me to find out actors and performers I like are decent folks in everyday life.

Thanks again, Laura, and Happy New Year to you and yours from all of us here at Team Bartilucci H.Q.!

12:28 PM  
Blogger James Corry said...

Laura, you might be interested to know that the Season 6 "opener" for "The Virginian" is an episode titled "The Reckoning" and it guest starred Charles Bronson, Dick Foran and a very young Charles Grodin. The music score was written specifically for this episode by Bernard Herrmann (He scored 4 "Virginians" in all)and was written at a time when the "old guard" was finding it very difficult to get work in feature films. The music is a knockout and by FAR better than anything we get in the most major of feature film releases today.....

Have a great 2012 and keep up the wonderful work!

Brad

8:57 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thank you all so much for the kind comments! I'm a bit behind on answering as holiday gatherings have continued for us this week. :)

You're all very welcome indeed for the links! It's a pleasure to point others in the direction of such enjoyable posts.

Brad, that's absolutely fascinating about Bernard Herrmann scoring THE VIRGINIAN. I'll be sure to mention that tidbit to my husband, who is very interested in film and TV composers. Thank you!

And thanks to you, Brad, and all my readers for the regular visits and encouragement. You're all terrific!

Best wishes,
Laura

4:42 PM  

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