Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...The theme for this year's Lone Pine Film Festival will be The Thrill of It All: The Art of Filmmaking. The festival will be held October 10th through 13th, 2024. Watch the festival site this summer for announcements regarding guests, films, and tours.

...Coming August 13th from Kino Lorber: Ealing Studios' NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (1947).

...The Warner Archive Collection's July Blu-ray releases include IDIOT'S DELIGHT (1939), NORTHWEST PASSAGE (1940), and Elvis in HARUM SCARUM (1965).

...Susan King, who formerly covered classic film for the Los Angeles Times, reviewed TV's ELSBETH for Gold Derby and likens it to a modern-day COLUMBO series. I really enjoyed the character, played by Carrie Preston, on THE GOOD WIFE and am curious to check this series out.

...Coming soon from the Hyperion Historical Alliance: WALT DISNEY & EL GRUPO IN LATIN AMERICA by Theodore Thomas, J.B. Kaufman, and Didier Ghez. Kaufman is the author of the great 2009 book SOUTH OF THE BORDER WITH DISNEY: WALT DISNEY AND THE GOOD NEIGHBOR PROGRAM, 1941-1948. The HHA books are always great. (Thanks to Keith Buczak for this cover image.)

...More Disney news, from Jon Burlingame: There are reel-to-reel tapes of MARY POPPINS (1964) story meetings. Some will be heard on a new podcast, Disney: A Recorded History.

...In my 2021 review of the Academy Museum I mentioned the complete absence of Hollywood's founding titans from museum exhibits, which some in the industry interpreted as an anti-Semitic omission. The Academy pledged to rectify that with a permanent exhibit...but if this report is accurate it has not gone well, being overwhelmingly negative rather than noting their considerable achievements. The Academy said, in part, "We are looking at how to address those concerns best."

...Laurel and Hardy's "Music Box Steps" in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles will be receiving an historic marker.

...Charlie Largent has reviewed Kino Lorber's new Republic Pictures Horror Collection at Trailers From Hell.

...The Max streaming service has hiked the price of its "ad-free" tier to $16.99 a month.

...Last week I revisited two very enjoyable musicals I reviewed here years ago: Deanna Durbin in SOMETHING IN THE WIND (1947) and Alice Faye, Don Ameche, and Carmen Miranda in THAT NIGHT IN RIO (1941). Both recommended for lots of fun.

...Notable Passings: Tom Bower, who played Mary Ellen's husband Curt on THE WALTONS, has passed away at the age of 86. Richard Gilliland, who played her second husband on the show, died in 2021. Judy Norton, who played Mary Ellen, has paid tribute to Bower in a video...Erich Anderson, who played Ellyn's husband Billy in the final season of THIRTYSOMETHING, has died at 67...Actress Betty Anne Rees passed on at 81. Her TV roles included a few episodes as Fred MacMurray's secretary on MY THREE SONS.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my June 1st column.

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