Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...New to the Critics' Choice DVD collection in February 2021: A Bill Elliott Western Triple Feature with three titles from 1941: ACROSS THE SIERRAS, HANDS ACROSS THE ROCKIES, and an Elliott film I don't have in any format, THE RETURN OF DANIEL BOONE.

...Here are an excellent pair of movie-themed holiday gift guides, from Raquel at Out of the Past and Fritzi at Movies Silently.

...Major industry news last week: Warner Bros. will debut its entire slate of 2021 films on both HBO Max and in theaters, where open.  At Polygon Peter Labuza's assessment is that the move is more about WB trying to boost its floundering streaming service than about ramifications from COVID.

...Here's Jessica Pickens on Christmas movies and their remakes for DVD Netflix.

...One of the films Jessica wrote about, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940), will be released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive later this month.  Glenn Erickson has a review.  I'll also be reviewing it here later in the month.

...Glenn has also reviewed THE PUPPETOON MOVIE VOLUME 2.  My copy was due to arrive last week but took a detour to Tucson on its way.  Package delivery this month has been interesting, to say the least!

...DVD Beaver has reviewed the Inner Sanctum Mysteries Blu-ray Collection. My set arrived a few days ago.

...The actor playing the governor of a besieged town in a recent episode of THE MANDALORIAN was former Disney Imagineer Wing Chao, who was named a Disney Legend in 2019.

...I got a kick out of this LEGO version of the house from TV's THE WALTONS.

...There's a new cinematically inspired film, MANK (2020), available on Netflix, concerning Herman J. Mankiewicz's work on CITIZEN KANE (1941). The eminent film historian Joseph McBride takes issue with the film and its attitude toward Welles, while Matthew Dessem breaks down fact versus fiction in the movie for Slate.

...I just bought a brand-new biography on sale from University Press of Mississippi this weekend: SHE DAMN NEAR RAN THE STUDIO: THE EXTRAORDINARY LIVES OF IDA KOVERMAN. This biography of Louis B. Mayer's executive secretary was written by Jacqueline R. Braitman for the publisher's Hollywood Legends series, which has many excellent titles I've enjoyed.

...Here's a review by author James Reasoner at his blog Rough Edges of BARBARY COAST (1935).  It's hard to believe I haven't seen this one yet, given the cast: Joel McCrea, Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Donlevy, and Harry Carey (Sr.), directed by Howard Hawks.

...I was sorry to learn that Matt Patterson, a key member of the Warner Archive Collection team for the last dozen years, was recently laid off as part of Warner Bros.' latest round of corporate downsizing.  Matt has done a lot of great work for the Warner Archive and has been a thoughtful and helpful friend of this blog, and I wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

...Notable Passings: Actress Pamela Tiffin, seen here, has passed on at the age of 78.  I've enjoyed her in several early '60s films, including ONE, TWO, THREE (1961), STATE FAIR (1962), and COME FLY WITH ME (1963). Coincidentally last week I received a DVD order with a Tiffin film I've not yet seen, THE PLEASURE SEEKERS (1964)...Abby Dalton has passed away at 88.  I was first familiar with her from the MAVERICK TV episode "Duel at Sundown," costarring Clint Eastwood, and I watched her for many years on FALCON CREST, which she appeared on as Jane Wyman's daughter from 1981 to 1986...David Prowse, the man in Darth Vader's costume, has died at 85.  While James Earl Jones voiced Vader, it was the physically imposing Prowse portraying him in front of the camera.  George Lucas said Prowse "made Vader leap off the page"...Former Los Angeles entertainment reporter David Sheehan, a fixture on local newscasts for many years, has passed away at the age of 82.

 ...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my November 28th roundup.

Have a great week! 

Tweet