Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Actress Margaret Lockwood was born on this date in 1915. She passed on in 1990. Visit the Margaret Lockwood Society on Facebook to enjoy lovely photos of this wonderful actress. I strongly encourage my readers to explore her movies, including those I've reviewed here: THE LADY VANISHES (1938), BANK HOLIDAY (1938), RULERS OF THE SEA (1939), SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES (1939), NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH (1940), THE MAN IN GREY (1943), and LOVE STORY (1944). The latter film, one of my favorite Lockwood titles, is currently available on YouTube.

...I had a fantastic time this afternoon seeing Robert Mitchum, Linda Darnell, and Jack Palance in SECOND CHANCE (1953) at the World 3-D Film Expo at the Egyptian Theatre. I first reviewed the movie over six years ago, and I enjoyed it even more seeing it on a big screen in 3-D. Mitchum makes a wonderful knight in shining armor in this film, and I also enjoyed the location shooting in Taxco, Mexico, which I visited with my high school choir. The aerial cable car sequence was as effective as expected in 3-D!

...My friend Lindsay of Lindsay's Movie Musings recently spent a day with other classic film bloggers taking in the Cinecon Festival at the Egyptian, and she shares her thoughts on the experience at her blog.

...Raquel just reviewed SAUL BASS: A LIFE IN FILM AND DESIGN. I've got to read this one, it sounds fascinating and should also be a visual treat. Congrats to Raquel for making her goal of reading and reviewing six books this summer, and thanks to her once more for hosting the Summer Reading Classic Film Book Challenge.

...Lou Lumenick has reviewed a new 3-D version of THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) for the New York Post. Lou also Tweeted yesterday that Fox is looking at possibly releasing THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) to 3-D. I'm not sure how I feel about that...I'm not really comfortable with converting classic films of decades ago into that format, though I've seen a couple relatively recent Disney movies in effective 3-D conversions. On the other hand, if Fox shows the 3-D version in theaters and new viewers are exposed to the film, that's all to the good.

...Actor Norman Lloyd officiates at a wedding! Fun story.

...Will considers CASABLANCA (1942) vs. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944) at Cinematically Insane. His post intrigued me as I fell in love with TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT at a young age, years before I ever saw CASABLANCA.

...Physician and Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Charles Krauthammer has a book coming out next month, THINGS THAT MATTER: THREE DECADES OF PASSIONS, PASTIMES, AND POLITICS.

...Does Irene Dunne hold the record for starring in films which were remade? I suspect she does. Here's an article by Andre Soares at Alt Film Guide. As an aside, there's a transcript of an interview with Dunne in a book I reviewed yesterday, ROMANTIC COMEDY IN HOLLYWOOD: FROM LUBITSCH TO STURGES.

...Leonard Maltin announces the publication of his 2014 Movie Guide: The Modern Era.

...Glad to hear from Glenn Erickson at DVD Savant that the new Fox Cinema Archives DVD of ME AND ME GAL (1932) looks really good. This pre-Code stars Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. I've had good experiences with prints for films like THE MAN I MARRIED (1940), SECRET AGENT OF JAPAN (1942), and DEEP WATERS (1948), but as Glenn notes, stay away from widescreen-era films in this line as Fox continues to frequently put them out in pan and scan.

...A photo just because it's cute! One of our cats actually likes to sit on a similar part for our Roku because it's warm.

...Here's an interesting piece on Tom Conway at Radio Spirits.

...Jacqueline takes me down memory lane at Another Old Movie Blog. I used to anxiously await my Dad getting home from work with the new TV Guide, which I would then read page by page by page, circling movies as I went!

...Here's an interesting CD from TCM: MARIO LANZA: THE TOAST OF HOLLYWOOD.

...Earlier this year I bought Classic Westerns, an excellent 10-film set of Universal Westerns. At the time I purchased it, I think the cost was less than a dollar a movie. I just came across a similar 10-film War Collection released in June, which is also a low, low price. Titles include WAKE ISLAND (1942), TO HELL AND BACK (1952), BATTLE HYMN (1957), and JET PILOT (1957)

...Notable Passings: Dancer Dante DiPaolo, one of the "town dancers" in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954), has passed on at 87. DiPaolo was the widower of Rosemary Clooney. (Via Boot Hill; note that the photo at Boot Hill is actually of Kelly Brown, who played Carl.)...Cal Worthington, a unique Southern California TV commercial icon for decades, has died at 92...Writer-Musician Don Nelson has passed away at 86. Nelson, who was 21 years younger than his brother Ozzie, wrote a couple hundred episodes of THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET as well as other sitcoms such as THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR and NANNY AND THE PROFESSOR. He was also a singer and saxophone player.

Have a great week!