Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Many thanks to Loretta Young's daughter-in-law, Linda Lewis, for alerting me to a new interview she and her husband Chris gave to Anne Helen Petersen of Buzzfeed. Chris and Linda shed new light on the circumstances which led to the birth of Chris's older half-sister Linda, whose father was Clark Gable. As Linda notes in comments at the official Loretta Young Facebook page, the article is stirring a certain amount of controversy -- there's more on that aspect from Lou Lumenick at the New York Post -- however, the Lewises made the decision that it was time to set the historical record straight with complete information as it was related to them by Loretta.

...My friend Lindsay provides a photo tour of the old M*A*S*H set at Malibu Creek State Park.

...There are some great blogathons coming in September: The William Wellman Blogathon will be hosted by Liz of Now Voyaging beginning September 10th; William Wellman Jr. sent Liz a note of appreciation! And Toby has the Republic Pictures Blogathon coming to 50 Westerns From the 50s starting September 18th. I plan to write about WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD (1933) for the Wellman Blogathon and JUBILEE TRAIL (1954) for the Republic Blogathon.

...The 1947 Blogathon hosted by Karen of Shadows and Satin and Kristina of Speakeasy starts today, July 13th, and runs through the 15th. Over 50 bloggers are signed up to participate! I'm really looking forward to reading the entries. (A personal note: Although I'll enjoy reading the posts, I don't plan to participate in any blogathons myself until September, due to an unusually busy summer which includes an out-of-state family wedding in late August. That also explains why these roundups have been a bit more sporadic than usual, but things should settle down again in September!)

...Glenn Erickson's recent reviews at DVD Savant include STORM FEAR (1955), which was produced and directed by star Cornel Wilde. The movie costars Dan Duryea and Wilde's wife, Jean Wallace (THE BIG COMBO); it sounds quite interesting. It's out from Kino Studio Classics. I was also glad to see his appreciation of RIFFRAFF (1947), a Warner Archive release starring Pat O'Brien and Anne Jeffreys which I recently enjoyed.

...Toby of 50 Westerns has a very nice tribute to director George Sherman up at ClassicFlix.

...Amazon has launched a one-hour delivery service in London.

...At Out of the Past Raquel has shared a roundup of reviews submitted to date for her Summer Classic Film Book Reading Challenge. The links include my recent review of THE LIVES OF ROBERT RYAN by J.R. Jones, pictured here. (And congrats to Raquel on her essay on FURY for the Library of Congress!)

...Here's an interview with Jacqueline Lynch about her new book on Ann Blyth, which I also recently reviewed. Jacqueline received a lovely mention of the book from columnist Liz Smith in her column.

...Royalty Watch: If you missed them, the Daily Mail has lovely photos from the christening of Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana of Cambridge, which took place on Sunday, July 5th.

...Over at TCM Movie Morlocks, Susan Doll has posted an essay on Cornell Woolrich, whose books and stories provided the source material for countless terrific film noir titles.

...STAR WARS fans who waited in line up to two days at Comic Con were rewarded with a once-in-a-lifetime experience: a discussion with Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, followed by a surprise concert featuring the San Diego Symphony (and fireworks!). Ford, who turns 73 today, was looking very well after his scary airplane crash at a Santa Monica golf course in March. The hour-long panel is on YouTube (link thanks to my daughter!), and the new "promo reel" shown at Comic Con is at the bottom of this article.

...Here's an article from Wired about how the Library of Congress preserves its film archives.

...Coming soon from the Warner Archive: A 12-film collection of Dick Foran "B" Westerns.

...Kino has announced a mix of DVD and Blu-ray releases for September, including Robert Mitchum in THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY (1959) and James Garner's comedy classic SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! (1969). Details are at ClassicFlix.

...Will McKinley recently posted an excellent piece at Cinematically Insane on TV Land pulling THE DUKES OF HAZZARD from its lineup due to the Confederate flag atop the General Lee. While the show won't ever make a list of my TV favorites, I found the slippery slope here most concerning, especially coming on the heels of my Twitter pal Lou Lumenick's suggestion that GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) now be relegated to museums. (Lou's a great guy but I think he's incredibly wrong on this one.) As Will writes, "...this sort of revisionist censorship runs the risk of having a chilling effect on access to all classic film and television. Because anything that’s old is going to include portrayals and perspectives that may be problematic to contemporary sensibilities. Instead of burying beloved classics on the Internet or in museums, let’s watch and learn from them."

...Attention Southern Californians: The Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa is hosting outdoor "Movie Monday" screenings tonight through August 10th. Titles include THE SANDLOT (1993), MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING (1997), and E.T. (1982). The movies are shown on the side of Segerstrom Hall, as seen in a photo here from Segerstrom. Not sure you want to see a movie outdoors? This great piece by Will McKinley on seeing THE KILLERS (1946) at a park in New York might change your mind.

...Amazing: It snowed in the Sierras last week! In July!

...My latest column for ClassicFlix is a summary of my recent terrific experience covering the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs.

...Notable Passings: Actress Diana Douglas, the mother of Michael Douglas, has died at 92. Her early credits included THE SIGN OF THE RAM (1948) and HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949); her last screen appearance was an episode of E.R. in 2008. There's more at the Daily Mail, including a number of photos...Welsh actor Roger Rees, who played Robin Colcord in later years of CHEERS and British Ambassador Lord John Marbury on THE WEST WING, has passed on at the age of 71. He had been acting on Broadway until late May. In the early '80s he was famous for starring in the play THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, which was an 8-1/2-hour play divided into two sections...Former teen actress Amanda Peterson, who I remember as Richard Kiley and Eva Marie Saint's granddaughter Sunny in the excellent miniseries A YEAR IN THE LIFE (1986), passed away at the age of 43. Her best-known role was in the film CAN'T BUY ME LOVE (1987), costarring Patrick Dempsey. Her family has shared a memorial video available at the People website...Omar Sharif recently passed away at 83. Here is the video tribute by Turner Classic Movies.

...For even more interesting links on classic Hollywood, please visit my June 29th roundup.

Have a great week!