Around the Blogosphere This Week
Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the internet......The greatly loved Doris Day turned 92 on Sunday, April 3rd. People has an exclusive birthday photo of Doris posing with her dog. Here is my 2014 90th birthday tribute, updated with newer review links.
...Mary Costa, the voice of Disney's SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959), turns 86 today. Mary published a lovely letter to her fans explaining why she will no longer be able to answer her mail. Last month I reviewed Mary's film THE BIG CAPER (1957).
...One more birthday of note: Today, April 5th, is the centennial of the birth of the great Gregory Peck.
...Cowboys and Indians has an interview with James Drury, who among other things recalls once shooting parts of five different VIRGINIAN episodes in a single day.
...John McElwee has a nice piece on PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948) at Greenbriar Picture Shows. I have a vivid memory of seeing JENNIE at the Tiffany Theater in Hollywood as a teen, including the widescreen, tinted storm sequence....Glenn Erickson, aka DVD Savant, has had an advance peek at the upcoming Warner Archive Blu-ray of SUSAN SLEPT HERE (1954) and gave it a terrific review. Also be sure to read Glenn's excellent review of BROOKLYN (2015), which I purchased as soon as it came out on DVD.
...Some readers may recall my questioning a reference to a "rental library" when I reviewed HOME SWEET HOMICIDE (1946) a year ago. This Washington Post article on "circulating" for-profit libraries provided a great bit of history.
...Thanks to Beth I was recently introduced to Karie Bible, who is the official tour guide at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Here's a fun interview with Karie.
...Coming to Blu-ray: The Complete Airport Collection. Thanks to Toby at The Hannibal 8 for the news.
...Please visit my latest post at ClassicFlix. It's an April Fool's theme column recommending favorite comedies.
...The Dodgers' Vin Scully is starting his 67th and final consecutive year calling Dodgers games. Two USC music professors analyzed the musicality in Scully's voice for a fun article in the L.A. Times.
...Attention Southern Californians: The schedule for the 17th Annual Noir City Hollywood Festival is now up! I'll have a detailed post on it in the coming days. We have our tickets for opening night, a double bill of the Argentinian film BITTER STEMS (1956) and last year's most enjoyable discovery, RIFFRAFF (1947). Speaking of which, Brian just reviewed RIFFRAFF at Rupert Pupkin Speaks and says the movie will make his list of Favorite Discoveries of 2016....Notable Passings: Eric Bauersfeld, who as Admiral Ackbar achieved cinema immortality uttering the line "It's a trap!" in RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983), has passed away at the age of 93. Bauersfeld reprised his role as Admiral Ackbar in last year's THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)...Don Francks, who played the male lead opposite Petula Clark in FINIAN'S RAINBOW (1968), has died at 84. The FINIAN'S RAINBOW soundtrack, including Francks' singing of "That Old Devil Moon," has long been a favorite of mine. It was fascinating to learn his daughter is voice actress Cree Summer, who played Princess Kida in ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (2001), which I saw a couple of weeks ago...Steven B. Sample, who was President of the University of Southern California while my daughter attended the school, has passed on at 75. He retired the year she graduated and was chosen to give the commencement speech at graduation.
...For even more classic film links, please visit last week's roundup!
Have a great week!
posted by Laura @ 8:50 PM
5 Comments:
I'm sorry to hear of the passing of Don Francks.
I loved him in Finian's Rainbow. He was an excellent singer, and had a pleasant screen personality. It's a pity that Hollywood didn't use him in any more movies.
You are so good at catching when the Classicflix posts go up! I must go check out your April Fool's Day post.
I saw THE YOUNG IN HEART just the other day (for the first time), great film choice for your ClassicFlix article! I must see IF YOU COULD ONLY COOK very soon, sounds delightful.
And now I'll attempt to share/spam a link for the PORTRAIT OF JENNIE music video I created last year:
Well, that hyperlink didn't work. Here's good ol' cut and paste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnvtwf7fzHU
Mel, I have very fond memories of seeing FINIAN'S RAINBOW on the big screen at an L.A. revival theater years ago and couldn't begin to count how many times I've played the soundtrack!
Thanks, KC! I don't always notice at first but try to catch them! I hope you'll enjoy it. :)
Maricatrin, thank you for taking the time to share that video -- you've even got the tinted scenes in it! Lovely. :)
Delighted you enjoyed THE YOUNG IN HEART. I suspect you'd like IF YOU COULD ONLY COOK a lot! Let me know!
Best wishes,
Laura
Post a Comment
<< Home