Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...At Greenbriar Picture Shows, John McElwee alerts readers to a forthcoming book, NOTHING SACRED: THE CINEMA OF WILLIAM WELLMAN by John Andrew Gallagher and Frank Thompson. It's a deluxe edition which will cost a pretty penny (consider yourself forewarned!) but it sounds amazing. The book news is accompanied by a photo-filled post on Wellman's ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI (1951), starring Clark Gable, with more Wellman posts coming to the Greenbriar site in the next few days.

...Belated birthday wishes to the great Marge Champion, who turned 98 on September 2nd. My 2014 birthday photo tribute may be found here.

...The SISSI movies starring Romy Schneider are coming to Blu-ray in October. (They'll also be shown on TCM October 18th!) Thanks to Ashley for the tip, and another shout-out of thanks to Ashley for her assistance helping to keep my older reviews updated with new DVD and Blu-ray release links.

...Chris Erskine of the Los Angeles Times recently wrote about one of our Lone Pine food stops, the Frosty Chalet. We'll be back in Lone Pine next month for the Lone Pine Film Festival! Festival plans are taking shape, including Harry Carey Jr.'s daughter Melinda introducing one of my favorite movies, WAGON MASTER (1950). Alas, I won't be at the screening myself, as I'm already signed up for a locations tour for Robert Mitchum's NEVADA (1944), being shown in honor of his centennial this year. This year's festival guests include Ben Mankiewicz, Bruce Boxleitner, William Wellman Jr., Wyatt McCrea, Ed Faulkner, Bruce Davison, Scott Eyman, Rob Word, and Ed Hulse, and that's not the complete list!

...The schedule for UCLA's Latin American Cinema in Los Angeles series has been posted, and it looks fascinating. The festival opens September 23rd and runs through December 10th. I'm hoping to attend some screenings! Stars include Maria Felix, Pedro Armendariz, Arturo de Cordoba, Lupita Tovar, Gilbert Roland, Tito Guizar, and Dolores del Rio.

...Amazon has announced plans to build a "second headquarters" outside Seattle. Irvine and Los Angeles are interested, but I have trouble believing Amazon would open the new location in a state which is such an expensive place to do business.

...There's a new book out which sounds interesting, STORYBOOK STYLE: AMERICA'S WHIMSICAL HOMES OF THE 1920s, by Arrol Gellner and Douglas Keister. As explained in this article, "storybook" style architecture has Hollywood roots.

...L.A.'s Angels Flight Railway, a famed backdrop in many film noir classics, reopened last week after a four-year hiatus, only to shut down days later due to a broken part. It's expected to reopen soon.

...Over at Filmstruck/TCM's Streamline blog, Susan Doll has written about two of my favorite Fox film noir titles, LAURA (1944) and FALLEN ANGEL (1945).

...Fans of Dennis Morgan will love the story of the founding of Two Strike Park in La Crescenta, shared by Melanie at L.A. Explorer last year.

...The Hallmark Channel will be building on its great success with a third channel debuting October 1st and a streaming service coming October 3rd. The streaming service will be $5.99 a month. Incidentally, this year's Hallmark Christmas movie season launches October 27th. 21 new Christmas movies are coming to the Hallmark Channel, with a dozen more coming to Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Stay tuned to the site It's a Wonderful Movie for all the latest Hallmark movie info.

...I really enjoyed this article on what it took to keep H.E.B. grocery stores running in Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

...The Criterion Collection's upcoming Olympic documentary collection is most impressive.

...Here's a podcast interviewing executives of Homer Laughlin, makers of colorful Fiestaware.

...The Hamner family home in Virginia which inspired the setting of THE WALTONS has been purchased. The "Waltons Hamner House" will be open year-round and have guided tours available.

...Julie Andrews says she's writing a second volume of memoirs, a followup to her 2008 book HOME.

...Props to Kristen Bell of FROZEN (2013) who was stuck in Orlando during Hurricane Irma and decided to help turn lemons into lemonade for many evacuees, singing FROZEN tunes in a local hurricane shelter and calling bingo games for senior citizen evacuees staying at her hotel. Bell was certainly living up to the motto posted on her Twitter account, "be kind. do good. spread joy."

...Royalty Watch: Lovely news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their third child, and hopefully Kate will be feeling much better before long...Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her husband, Chris O'Neill, are also expecting baby number three...Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden have welcomed their second son, Prince Gabriel...Prince George's first day of school photo was very cute...Princess Mako of Japan, granddaughter of the emperor, has announced her engagement. Mako's father, Prince Akishino, is second in line to the throne. As tradition dictates, Mako will lose her royal status upon marrying.

...Notable Passings: The great Barbara Cook passed on last month. Cook was the original Broadway leading lady of one of my all-time favorite musicals, SHE LOVES ME (1963), not to mention being the original Marian the Librarian in Broadway's THE MUSIC MAN (1957). The 1962 studio cast album of SHOW BOAT with John Raitt is one of my earliest LP listening memories...Legendary Disney Imagineer "X" Atencio has died at 98. Atencio was hired by Disney as a teenager in 1938; he retired in 1984 but remained a consultant. He was not only an artist, he cowrote the classic theme song "A Pirate's Life for Me" for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and "Grim Grinning Ghosts" for the Haunted Mansion.

...For additional recent links on classic movies and more, please visit my August 7th link roundup.

Have a great week!