Around the Blogosphere This Week
Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet......Great news, SUSAN SLEPT HERE (1954) is coming out on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive on April 19th. I haven't been a particularly big consumer of Blu-rays but this colorful film, with its fantastic '50s design and decor, seems perfect for a Blu-ray upgrade.
...Just out from the Warner Archive, the 1979-80 TV series YOUNG MAVERICK. This sequel to the classic MAVERICK series couldn't hold a candle to the original, but it was kinda cute and I remember enjoying it. Real life husband and wife Charles Frank and Susan Blanchard starred, with original series guest star John Dehner costarring. (Trivia: a couple years later Charles Frank played astronaut Scott Carpenter in the 1983 classic THE RIGHT STUFF.)
...Two films with appeal for classic film fans are out on DVD and Blu-ray this month: THE PEANUTS MOVIE (2015) will be released March 8th and BROOKLYN (2015) comes out on March 15th. My review of THE PEANUTS MOVIE is here, and my thumbs up for BROOKLYN is here....Leonard Maltin has reviewed the new book by James Curtis, WILLIAM CAMERON MENZIES: THE SHAPE OF FILMS TO COME.
...Here's Karen Burroughs Hannsberry on "Dark Cinema: Good Girls in Bad Company" for ClassicFlix. Karen takes a look at classic crime films starring Jeanne Crain, Cathy O'Donnell, and Jean Hagen.
...Sign-ups for this year's TCM Classic Cruise begin on March 11th. The cruise takes place on the Disney Fantasy from November 12-19, 2016. Guests will be announced soon....The next nationwide screening from Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events will be THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) on March 20th and 23rd. Check the Fathom site for locations. My 2010 review of the film is here, along with photos of jewelry used in the film.
...Congrats to my pals Aurora and Annmarie, who have joined with Rob Medaska for Classic Movies and More, a video series on classic films. New episodes are planned for the 1st and 15th of every month. The intro video is here.
...Lou Lumenick recently interviewed actress Janis Paige for the New York Post. The 93-year-old Paige discussed the prospect of losing her Academy voting rights and reminisced about working with Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson. I recently reviewed Janis in the new Warner Archive releases THE TIME, THE PLACE AND THE GIRL (1946) and TWO GUYS FROM MILWAUKEE (1946)....John Knight, a regular commenter here, has an interesting list of Favorite Discoveries of 2015 now up at Rupert Pupkin Speaks. Check it out!
...I loved Jacqueline's take at Another Old Movie Blog on THE NEW LORETTA YOUNG SHOW (1962-63) and what made it different from typical family sitcoms of the era. Must get to that one and try it out!
...One of my goals is to spend more time listening to classic radio -- I love Dick Powell's RICHARD DIAMOND series -- and here's a great-looking release from Radio Spirits, SUSPENSE AT WORK. It contains 20 episodes on 10 CDs, starring the likes of Richard Widmark, Joseph Cotten, Van Heflin, William Conrad, and Ronald Colman. The program guide was authored by Ivan Shreve of Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, a longtime friend of this blog. ...Speaking of Ivan, he's got a nice piece up at his site on the terrific 1951 version of M.
...Over at 50 Westerns From the 50s, Toby has just reviewed THE DESPERADO (1954). This is a Wayne Morris Western I haven't had time to review yet so I enjoyed Toby's preview! Kudos to the Warner Archive for releasing so many of Morris's films in good-looking prints.
...Having recently watched a video of the opening number of the hot (and unusual) musical HAMILTON, I was quite amused by Hamilpeep. HAMILTON fans should check it out.
...Notable Passings: Oscar-winning actor George Kennedy has passed away at the age of 91. He'll always be beloved to my family for his role as Joe Patroni, the unluckiest airline employee in history, in the four AIRPORT movies. In addition to his long screen career, Kennedy was a decorated veteran...Tony Burton, who played Apollo Creed's trainer in ROCKY (1976), has died at 78. I always remember the scene where he's watching film of Rocky and starts to look at the screen more closely, realizing they will need to take the fight more seriously...Former Disneyland President Jack Lindquist, who spent 38 years working for Disney, has passed on at 88. Lindquist, universally acclaimed as the nicest of men, has a tribute window at Disneyland City Hall, honoring him as "Honorary Mayor of Disneyland." He authored a book, IN SERVICE TO THE MOUSE....For many more recent classic film links, please visit last week's roundup.
Have a great week!
posted by Laura @ 11:10 AM
5 Comments:
Thank you so much for the kind mention, Laura.
Lots of cool stuff to check out. I remember "Young Maverick" fondly and how disappointed I was that the network really didn't give it a fair chance.
Such sad news about George Kennedy. He is one of my family's favorites as well, in numerous movies and television shows. My mom worked with him back in the 60's and said he was one of the nicest actors she ever met.
I was privileged to work with George Kennedy -- for about 15 minutes -- back in 1978. It was a very brief working acquaintanceship, but he was nice, soft-spoken, prepared and professional. He was also HUGE. Online sources I've seen list him as anywhere from 6'2 to 6'4, but from my personal experience (and I'm not small, I was about 6'1 back then) I'd guess he wasn't any less than 6'6.
He was also a very good character actor, and actually delivered what I thought was the funniest line in the whole NAKED GUN series.
You're very welcome, Jacqueline! You've encouraged me to pull out my set. :)
Caftan Woman, it's nice to know someone else remembers YOUNG MAVERICK. I was sad when it was cancelled so quickly.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Deb! So great your mom had worked with him and had good things to say.
Rick, I always enjoy your anecdotes! How neat it is that you also worked with Kennedy briefly, very fun to hear your impressions. Love hearing when someone is a good person off the screen.
Best wishes,
Laura
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