Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Barnes & Noble's annual half-price Criterion Collection fall sale started yesterday! The sale will run through November 29th. A couple weeks ago I took advantage of a flash half-price sale on the Criterion Collection site to pick up the new Blu-ray set containing HIGH SIERRA (1941) and COLORADO TERRITORY (1949).  That would be an excellent sale option for those who don't have it yet!  (P.S. You can read CineSavant Glenn Erickson's take on HIGH SIERRA and COLORADO TERRITORY here.)

...In a review earlier this week I mentioned ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938) will be released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection in December. Also coming to Blu-ray from the Warner Archive in December: IVANHOE (1952), starring Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Fontaine.

...The University Press of Kentucky is republishing NATALIE WOOD: A LIFE by Gavin Lambert in paperback in November. The book was originally published in 2004. I plan to review it here in coming weeks. As an aside, Lambert's 1973 book GWTW: THE MAKING OF GONE WITH THE WIND was one of the first film books I read or owned.

...My friend Karie Bible has written a lovely essay on "The Hollywood Forever Cemetery Cat" for the Palos Verdes Post. Karie and Close Up the cat will also be featured in an episode of a new PBS TV series, World's Greatest Cemeteries.

...Here's Leonard Maltin on Larry Edmunds Bookshop. It was great to see Jeff of Larry Edmunds manning the book sale table at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs last weekend!

...Disney has pushed back its Marvel release calendar. ETERNALS (2021) still comes out next week, on November 4th, followed by SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021) the week before Christmas, but there will not be a Marvel film in March 2022 as originally planned. The first Marvel film next year will be DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS in May, followed by THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (2021) in July and BLACK PANTHER II: WAKANDA FOREVER (2021) in November. THE MARVELS has been pushed back from fall 2022 to early 2023. Additionally, the untitled INDIANA JONES film was pushed back a year, from 2022 to 2023.

...Some of the latest great news from Kino Lorber: The outstanding SO PROUDLY WE HAIL (1943), starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, and Veronica Lake, is "coming soon," and CHINA (1943), with Alan Ladd and Loretta Young, will be released January 4th. Also in the works in the Studio Classics line: A set of Fu Manchu movies.

...Hollywood Boulevard's historic Pig 'N Whistle restaurant, where I've enjoyed many meals over the years, has changed hands, and the new owners are treating the building with a distressing lack of care. They've gutted the beautifully restored building, and it turns out they didn't even have proper permits. The city has issued a stop work order, but the horse is already out of the barn, as the saying goes.

...Changes are coming to the Warner Bros. movie ranch.

...I'm intrigued by the new documentary THE RESCUE (2021), about the boys' soccer team rescued from a flooded cave by uniquely skilled cave divers. Retired Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan Tweeted "No documentary I've seen so far this year has stayed with me like 'The Rescue.'" Brian Tallerico of Roger Ebert.com says "It unfolds with stunning precision." A trailer is here. The movie is from National Geographic so hopefully this will turn up on Disney+ at some point.

...I had no idea that Ann Dvorak's biographer, Christina Rice, was married at Ann's former home several years ago. She tells the great story here.

...L.A. LAW (1986-94) is being "rebooted" with original cast members Blair Underwood and Corbin Bernsen in the cast.

...An Indiewire story by Christian Blauvelt and Kristen Lopez on classic film accessibility has some interesting quotes from people like Pola Chagnon of Turner Classic Movies and Bruce Goldstein of New York's Film Forum.

...At Once Upon a Screen, Aurora writes about "Tricks and Treats from Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard"...Over at Speakeasy, Kristina's written about CHRISTMAS IN JULY (1940)...Raquel Stecher did a video review of two Claudette Colbert films released by Kino Lorber, ARISE, MY LOVE (1940) and NO TIME FOR LOVE (1941)...SWEATER GIRL (1942), which Jessica writes about at Comet Over Hollywood, sounds like fun; Jessica describes it as "an unexpected delight!" Eddie Bracken and June Preisser star.

...Also from Jessica: A Halloween cake from "Mickey Rooney's Halloween Party." The recipe originally appeared in a 1941 issue of Modern Screen.

...Here's an interview with TCM's Alicia Malone at Film Inquiry.  The interview was conducted by Lee Jutton.

...Last May I mentioned a pending remake of THE HOMECOMING (1971), the classic TV-movie which kicked off THE WALTONS.  Original HOMECOMING/WALTONS star Richard Thomas will serve as narrator.  The remake has been announced to debut November 28th on the CW Network.

...I'd love to see Alan Rode's featurette on Indicator's new Region 2 Blu-ray release of GRAY LADY DOWN (1978), which has been reviewed by Glenn Erickson. Alan draws on his years in the navy to deliver what Erickson describes as a "forty-minute talk about submarining, historical accidents and disasters, and various rescue systems..." I need to order it at some point!

...Erickson has also reviewed Kino Lorber's new release of THE MAD DOCTOR (1940), starring Basil Rathbone and Ellen Drew.

...Tyler Malone, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting in Lone Pine, has a new article out on the theme of motive in horror films.

...People has a big list of all of this year's upcoming Christmas TV-movies.

...Notable Passings: James Garner's daughter Gigi announced the passing of her mother, Lois, at the age of 98. Lois, who married James Garner in 1956, was widowed when he passed away in 2014...Actress Betty Lynn (seen at right) passed away in North Carolina on October 16th. She was 95. Best known for her role as Thelma Lou on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW (1961-66), she also appeared in a number of films, including JUNE BRIDE (1948), MOTHER IS A FRESHMAN (1949), and TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL (1951)...Singer Ginny Mancini, the widow of composer Henry Mancini, has passed on at 97. Marc Myers has a wonderful, photo-filled tribute at JazzWax; I highly recommend checking it out to learn about her interesting life...Former Miss America Jo-Carroll Dennison, who appeared in small roles in a number of films and was briefly married to Phil Silvers, has died at 97.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my October 16th roundup.

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