Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...New from McFarland: JOHN ALTON: ESSAYS ON THE CINEMATOGRAPHER'S ART AND CRAFT, edited by Leon Lewis.

...And new from Black Pawn Press: 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES by Ed Robertson. I have Robertson's 1995 book on the series, as well as his 1994 book on ROCKFORD star James Garner's MAVERICK series.

...Over at A Classic Movie Blog, KC reviews the Warner Archive Blu-ray of MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID (1952) starring Esther Williams, Victor Mature, and Walter Pidgeon. Review coming here in the near future!

...The lovely Debra Paget, who is special to so many of us, celebrated her 87th birthday last week, on August 19th. My 2014 photo tribute to the actress is here; it's been updated over the years with new review links.

...Coming to Blu-ray from the Warner Archive in September: FLYING LEATHERNECKS (1951), starring John Wayne and Robert Ryan.

...The latest trailer for WONDER WOMAN 1984 (2020), currently due in theaters October 2nd, was released today. Also released in the last few days: The trailer for another film starring Gal Gadot, DEATH ON THE NILE (2020), which is due in theaters October 23rd. I plan to see both films, though when and how is of course a bit up in the air at this point. Incidentally, I also hope to review Kino Lorber's new Blu-ray release of DEATH ON THE NILE (1978), releasing in early September.

...Coming from Kino Lorber this fall: APACHE (1954), starring Burt Lancaster and Jean Peters, and a BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY (1979-81) collection, starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray. The Buck Rogers set consists of two TV seasons and a theatrical feature film. A decade ago my husband and daughter had a lovely conversation with Gray at Comic Con, and she couldn't have been nicer.

...Coming in November from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond: FRONTIER FOLLIES: ADVENTURES IN MARRIAGE AND MOTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. In addition to her many cookbooks, I also very much enjoyed her previous memoir THE PIONEER WOMAN: BLACK HEELS TO TRACTOR WHEELS.

...CineSavant Glenn Erickson has reviewed Kino Lorber's new Tony Curtis Collection, which will be reviewed here as well.

...At Riding the High Country, Colin has reviewed Randolph Scott in CORONER CREEK (1948), and as usual there's also a very enjoyable conversation in the comments following his review. For more on this film, I reviewed it here back in 2011.

...Coming December 1st: THE ART OF STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN. This show was such a joy, head and shoulders over the recent movie trilogy. I'm really looking forward to seeing Season 2 on Disney+ this fall!

...I was intrigued by the review of BRONCO BUSTER (1952), starring John Lund and Scott Brady, at Jeff Arnold's West.

...At Cartoon Research Dave Bossert has a preview of his upcoming book 3D DISNEYLAND: LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE. The book, first mentioned here in my July 4th roundup, is due out in mid-October. A signed copy can be ordered at a lower rate than Amazon from Old Mill Press.

...Coming soon to Blu-ray: THE PUPPETOON MOVIE VOLUME 2, a sequel to the wonderful THE PUPPETOON MOVIE. Animation Magazine says the set of 18 films "was made possible by the assistance of Paramount Pictures...and the astounding discovery of several long-lost Pal films from Europe, a few of which will appear on this second volume...all meticulously restored in high definition...All films are from original 35mm Nitrate IB Technicolor prints, or the original Three-Strip Technicolor successive negatives."

...One of my favorite childhood books was VIRGINIA DARE: MYSTERY GIRL by Augusta Stevenson for the Childhood of Famous Americans series. It was a heavily fictionalized story of the first English child born in the New World. After centuries, the mystery of the famous "Lost Colony" of Roanake seems to have been solved.

...Online live on Thursday evening, August 27th: Eddie Muller in Ask Eddie. A recording will also be available on YouTube the following day. (Update: Here is the video link.)

...Notable Passing: Ben Cross, a star of CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981), has died at 72. I also very much enjoyed his miniseries THE FLAME TREES OF THIKA (1981) with Hayley Mills, which was shown in the U.S. on MASTERPIECE THEATRE.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my August 15th roundup.

Have a great week!