Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Last week I shared the great news that Kino Lorber Studio Classics will soon make available a Blu-ray release of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in SAIGON (1947). There were more announcements this week of never-on-DVD rarities coming soon from Kino Lorber, Paramount's THE HOUR BEFORE THE DAWN (1944) starring Franchot Tone and Veronica Lake, and Universal's THE LOOTERS (1955) with Rory Calhoun and Julie Adams. What a thrill that these films will be available for home viewing in high quality prints.

...Also coming soon from Kino Lorber, FORCE OF EVIL (1948), "from a 4K scan of the 35mm fine grain." Three Blu-ray titles were announced for April 18th: HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME (1937), YOU AND ME (1938), and LADY IN A JAM (1942), which I don't believe I'd previously heard was on its way.

...Illeana Douglas has a new book coming this fall: CONNECTICUT IN THE MOVIES: FROM DREAM HOUSES TO DARK SUBURBIA. It will be published October 1st by Lyons Press. Actress Douglas is also the author of the 2015 memoir I BLAME DENNIS HOPPER: AND OTHER STORIES FROM A LIFE LIVED IN AND OUT OF THE MOVIES.

...Stephen Spielberg credits Tom Cruise and his film TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022) with possibly having saved the theatrical industry.

...From Rachel at Hamlette's Soliloquy: "My 10 Favorite Alan Ladd Roles." She mentions some terrific movies.

...The newest CineSavant reviews by Glenn Erickson at Trailers From Hell include IF I WERE KING (1938) from Kino Lorber and CARRIE (1952) from Viavision.

...Vienna pays tribute to Harry Morgan at Vienna's Classic Hollywood.

...Deadline featured an interesting article last week, "The Streaming Purge: Behind the Wave of Library Content Removals and its Impact on the Creative Community."

...Lea Stans has reviewed Buster Keaton in OUR HOSPITALITY (1923) for Classic Movie Hub.

...HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS YOU MISSED: SEVENTY NOTEWORTHY FILMS FROM THE 1930S was praised by Laura Wagner in Classic Images, and given that she is an exacting reviewer, that is high praise indeed. It's by Edwin M. Bradley and was published by McFarland in 2020.

...A Taco Bell Cantina has opened on Hollywood Boulevard. The Cantinas are fancier than regular Taco Bells and serve alcohol. Of particular note to me is the location, in the old Pickwick Books building where my father would take me shopping when I was young. There was a bargain books attic where I found numerous treasures over the years, including my first book on James Stewart's movies, THE FILMS OF JAMES STEWART by McClure, Jones, and Twomey. It was published by A.S. Barnes in 1970.

...Tynan of Four Star Films has reviewed a good pair of Jeanne Crain movies, APARTMENT FOR PEGGY (1948) and TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL (1951). PEGGY, especially, has been a film I've loved since my teen years, when it ran on local television. I first caught TAKE CARE OF MY LITTLE GIRL in 2009.

...An interesting new title I came across: DARKEST CHRISTMAS: DECEMBER 1942 AND A WORLD AT WAR by Peter Harmsen. It was published by Casemate last October.

...Notable Passings: Raquel Welch has passed away at 82...Stella Stevens has died at 84...Film historian Richard Anobile has passed on at 76. For many of us, his books of "screen caps" along with scripts were how we first "saw" classic films like STAGECOACH (1939), THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), and CASABLANCA (1942), "back in the day" when we couldn't watch movies where and when we wanted. I wrote a little about the STAGECOACH book in my 2014 review of the movie...Cookbook author Jean Anderson, whose books included THE DOUBLEDAY COOKBOOK and THE NEW DOUBLEDAY COOKBOOK, has died at 93. She's remembered by Fran McCullough in North Carolina's The News of Orange County...Film and TV music composer Gerald Fried has died at 95.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my February 11th roundup.

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