Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...New book: NOT TO BE MISSED: 54 FAVORITES FROM A LIFETIME OF FILM by Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan. Turan shared his list and wrote about it in the Times a few days ago. It wouldn't be my list, but it's always interesting to see what others pick, and I appreciated his outside-the-box thinking in some instances, such as including a pair of Greer Garson films and the great Boetticher-Scott Western SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (1956).

...Beautiful Nancy Olson attended a screening of SUNSET BLVD. (1950) at the Million Dollar Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles on May 31st. Here's a great photo. An interview from that evening was posted on YouTube in Parts 1 and 2. She'll be 86 next month and looks fantastic. An amazing lady.

...I've been catching up on reading posts from recent blogathons and loved the tribute to THE PAJAMA GAME (1957) by The Lady Eve as part of the Fabulous Films of the 50s blogathon. It's one of my favorite Doris Day movies, and it's been far too long since I last saw it. In a nice bit of serendipity, my dad just forwarded me a couple of programs autographed by John Raitt from his collection. Raitt was a graduate of our alma mater, the University of Redlands.

...I also especially enjoyed an essay on SON OF FURY (1942) at Kevin's Movie Corner, posted as part of the Power Mad blogathon last month.

...At Cinematically Insane Will McKinley reported on an event with Ben Mankiewicz and his father Frank at New York City's Film Forum.

...Toby of 50 Westerns From the 50s writes about Regalscope Westerns for ClassicFlix. It's a very informative piece. Regalscope was basically black and white CinemaScope.

...The Burger Chef scenes for MAD MEN were filmed at an old restaurant in Rialto, California -- which was actually at one time a Burger Chef.

...Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian, reunited for a Star Wars Weekend at Disney World in Florida.

...How do you decide which movie to watch next? Here's a discussion on that topic at Speakeasy.

...More nostalgia: A look back at the landmark TV series HILL STREET BLUES, which came out as a "Complete Series" set on DVD a few weeks ago. I hope eventually Shout! Factory will release the show in single-season sets, given that I already own the first two seasons.

...Here's Colin on THE FAR COUNTRY (1954) at Riding the High Country. I enjoyed that James Stewart-Anthony Mann Western so much at UCLA last March that I immediately bought my own copy so I can watch it again soon.

...I'm very fond of THE HUMAN COMEDY (1943) which is classic MGM Americana. Here's a lovely post on it by The Nitrate Diva.

...Animal cuteness: This pup on Tumblr tickled my funnybone, and here's an adorable cat photo. My favorite recent animal photo, though, might be the kitten printer that ran out of ink.

...Notable Passings: German actor Karlheinz Bohm, the son of conductor Karl Bohm, passed away on May 29th at the age of 86. Bohm starred as Emperor Franz Joseph I opposite Romy Schneider in the excellent SISSI trilogy. The first two films in the series were reviewed here: SISSI (1955) and SISSI - THE YOUNG EMPRESS (1956)...Clifford Severn, one of a large family of child actors, passed away on June 4th. (Via Boot Hill.) His credits included MGM's A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938), in which he bought the turkey for Scrooge, and he had small roles in MAN HUNT (1941), HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941), and SON OF FURY (1942). A photo of the Severn family can be seen at Classic Movie Kids...Longtime Hollywood gossip columnist Marilyn Beck has died at the age of 85. I remember reading her in the long-defunct Los Angeles Herald Examiner when I was young...I learned this week that writer-producer Juanita Bartlett of THE ROCKFORD FILES died in February, days ahead of her 87th birthday.

Have a great week!