Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Release news from Kino Lorber Studio Classics: The Dark Side of Cinema VIII is "coming soon," along with The Dark Side of Cinema VI (due on April 26th) and The Dark Side of Cinema VII. The films in the eighth collection are STREET OF CHANCE (1942), a film starring Claire Trevor and Burgess Meredith which I saw at the 2013 Noir City Film Festival; ENTER ARSENE LUPIN (1944) starring Ella Raines; and TEMPTATION (1946) starring Merle Oberon and George Brent. Can't wait!

...Also coming to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber: A trio of W.C. Fields comedies will be out April 19th, and MURDER AT THE VANITIES (1934) is "coming soon."

...The opening night film has been announced for the TCM Classic Film Festival: A 40th anniversary screening of E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982), with director Steven Spielberg among those in attendance.

...A cookbook I'm looking forward to this fall: HOME IS WHERE THE EGGS ARE by Molly Yeh of the Food Network's GIRL MEETS FARM.

...I was excited to learn that actress Nancy Olson has a memoir, A FRONT ROW SEAT, coming out this fall from the University Press of Kentucky.

...Speaking of books, Raquel Stecher has a new roundup of upcoming movie books at her blog Out of the Past. Among the titles which intrigued me are CINEMATIC STYLE: FASHION, ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN ON FILM by Jess Berry and THE GOLDEN AGE MUSICALS OF DARRYL F. ZANUCK by Bernard Dick. I appreciate the work Raquel puts into compiling these lists, as I always learn about interesting reads!

...The latest Blu-ray reviews by Glenn Erickson include THE NAKED JUNGLE (1954) from Viavision/Imprint, THE CAPTURE (1951) from The Film Detective, and BLACK MAGIC (1949) from ClassicFlix.

...Caftan Woman has a wonderful choice for her "One for February on TCM" column: THE SECRET GARDEN (1949), starring Margaret O'Brien, Dean Stockwell, and Herbert Marshall. Both the original book and the movie are longtime favorites.

...Composer John Williams' birthday is being celebrated by a blogathon hosted by Taking Up Room. I especially enjoyed Rachel's post at Hamlette's Soliloquy listing her Top 10 Williams scores and Ruth's post on E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL at Silver Screenings.

...Notable Passing: Carleton Carpenter, a delightful presence in MGM films such as SUMMER STOCK (1950) and TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE (1950), has passed away at the age of 95. He famously sang "Aba Daba Honeymoon" with Debbie Reynolds in TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE, as well as "Row, Row, Row," seen here. Carpenter also costarred with Lloyd Bridges in THE WHISTLE AT EATON FALLS (1951) which is due out on Blu-ray and DVD from Flicker Alley next month. He had a second career as a mystery novelist. His memoir, THE ABSOLUTE JOY OF WORK, was published by BearManor Media a little over half a decade ago.

...More Notable Passings: Howard Hesseman, who played DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on the classic TV comedy WKRP IN CINCINNATI (1978-82), has passed on at 81...Italian actress Monica Vitti, star of L'AVVENTURA (1960) and LA NOTTE (1961), has died at 90.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my January 29th roundup.

Tweet