Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Last month I shared the exciting news about the debut of the Fox Cinema Archives, a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) program akin to the Warner Archive. There doesn't appear to be a central website with information on the Fox releases, but several titles are now available at Amazon, including Gene Tierney and Henry Fonda in RINGS ON HER FINGERS (1942), Tyrone Power and Loretta Young in SUEZ (1938), Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp in FRONTIER MARSHAL (1939), Maureen O'Hara and Rex Harrison in THE FOXES OF HARROW (1947), Tyrone Power as a DIPLOMATIC COURIER (1952), and WAY OF A GAUCHO (1952). I'm especially excited about the latter film, which stars Gene Tierney and Rory Calhoun; it's been on my wish list for a while now.

...I previously reviewed FRONTIER MARSHAL in 2006, RINGS ON HER FINGERS in 2008, and DIPLOMATIC COURIER in 2010. FRONTIER MARSHAL is an especially fascinating film as it helped serve as the basis for John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946).

...SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN (2012), starring Ewan MacGregor and Emily Blunt, was well reviewed but came and went from local theaters so quickly I never had a chance to see it. It will be out on DVD July 17th.

...I was sad to learn that the Cinementals website, which debuted earlier this year, suddenly went dark this week. Will, Jill, Carley and all the contributors were doing a fine job, and I hope that perhaps the site will return at some point in the future. One of the last posts, contributed by Ivan of Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, was an article on one of my top faves, Dick Powell.

...Colin's been blogging up a storm at Riding the High Country. His recent reviews include a Dick Powell favorite, THE TALL TARGET (1951); Audie Murphy's HELL BENT FOR LEATHER (1960), which sounds really interesting; and THE BIG COMBO (1955), an important noir title which I had the pleasure of seeing at a great old Los Angeles movie palace earlier this year. There's a fun discussion of film noir in the BIG COMBO comments, too. Anyone who loves Westerns or film noir should be sure to pay regular visits to Riding the High Country.

...I also love to hang out and enjoy the posts and great discussions at 50 Westerns From the 50s. Where else could you see a heck of a great publicity still like this one?! I immediately arranged to borrow RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO (1954). Dan Duryea makes any movie better.

...Caftan Woman has a marvelous tribute up to "Richard Conte, King of Noir." Love to see the appreciation for this somewhat underrated actor, seen here with Susan Hayward in a still from HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949).

...Another favorite, Ida Lupino, received a lovely tribute from Moira at Skeins of Thought earlier this week.

...John Nolte has an excellent review of the MAVERICK DVD set posted at Breitbart. I like the distinctions he makes between Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford.

...Notable Passing: Noted film critic Andrew Sarris has passed on at the age of 83. I greatly enjoyed his book YOU AIN'T HEARD NOTHIN' YET: THE AMERICAN TALKING FILM, HISTORY AND MEMORY: 1927-1949 which was a gift from my father years ago. Sarris's book THE JOHN FORD MOVIE MYSTERY has been shelved with my Ford collection for more years than I want to count.

...Susan King profiles actor John Amos in the Los Angeles Times. I have a nice memory of Mr. Amos as, thanks to someone on our campus knowing him, he came and spoke to my high school history class, a couple of years after he appeared in ROOTS (1977). I particularly enjoyed him in THE WEST WING.

...While I'm going down memory lane, here's a random fun fact: when I was growing up actor Michael Constantine, then best known for ROOM 222 (1969-74), was said to live in walking distance from my house, though I don't recall ever spotting him myself! His many other credits include PRANCER (1989) and MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (2002).

...As she prepares for her upcoming wedding, Raquelle has been posting photos of long-married Hollywood couples at Out of the Past, including Robert Preston and Catherine Craig, James and Lois Garner, and Ricardo Montalban and Georgiana Young. The beautiful photo of the Montalban family seen here comes from A Certain Cinema.

...Will cookbooks become extinct?

...The Johnny Depp remake of THE THIN MAN (1934) might be on hold, which would be a great relief to Powell-Loy fans everywhere.

...A very happy 1st bloggiversary to Karen at Shadows and Satin! Karen is also the editor of the wonderful film noir newsletter The Dark Pages.

...Attention Southern Californians: This summer the Academy is sponsoring a neat series with a depressing title: The Last 70mm Film Festival. Titles include two of my all-time favorite movies, SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959) and THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965), which I was privileged to see in 70mm last month at the Egyptian Theatre.

...Speaking of SLEEPING BEAUTY, Disney has begun filming MALEFICENT (2014), with Angelina Jolie starring in the title role.

...Cliff Aliperti has researched the life of actress Cecilia Parker, better known as Andy Hardy's sister Marian. You can read his interesting post at Immortal Ephemera.

...Over at Tales of the Easily Distracted, Dorian reviews HUDSON'S BAY (1941) with her trademark whimsy and good humor. HUDSON'S BAY stars Paul Muni, Gene Tierney, John Sutton, and the inimitable Laird Cregar.

...Ordered from Amazon for vacation reading next week: VANITY WILL GET YOU SOMEWHERE, an autobiography by Joseph Cotten.

...Finally, just for fun, here's a new photo of our cat Lila. Isn't she sweet?

Have a great week!