Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...Coming to Blu-ray later this year from ClassicFlix: Hopalong Cassidy - The Legacy Collection, Volume 2. The set will contain CALL OF THE PRAIRIE (1936), THREE ON A TRAIL (1936), and HEART OF THE WEST (1936), plus bonus features. There's more info on the movies in this collection from Toby Roan at 50 Westerns From the 50s.

...King Vidor's THE TEXAS RANGERS (1936) will be out on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics in June. It will feature not one but two commentary tracks, one by Toby Roan and the other by Heath Holland and Max Allan Collins.

...As a newly minted Lino Ventura fan, thanks to films such as THE BEAST IS LOOSE (1959), I'm especially interested in BIRDS OF PREY (1968), also coming from Kino Lorber in June. Additional June Blu-ray releases from Kino Lorber include the Brit Noir Collection II, with three films starring Jack Hawkins, and Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films.

...For my fellow fans of TV's GILMORE GIRLS: Hallmark has a new 1000-piece Stars Hollow jigsaw puzzle.

...HUD (1963), starring Paul Newman and Melvyn Douglas, is due out from the Criterion Collection this July.

...Over at Riding the High Country, Colin reviews a favorite film of mine, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (1950). It was directed by Richard Fleischer, who as I mentioned last week is the subject of an upcoming biography.

...Former child actor Ike Eisenmann (ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN) has written a memoir, YOU'LL NEVER BE A STAR! MY FANTASTIC, CHALLENGING JOURNEY TO DISNEY, STAR TREK AND BEYOND. It was published by Bear Manor Media.

...The Studio Ghibli Fest will take place in theaters nationwide again this year, from June through October. Over the years I've seen some great animated films thanks to this annual series. I've enjoyed four of the seven films scheduled for this year's festival and especially recommend PONYO (2008) and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988).

...A few days ago I shared my picks for this year's TCM Classic Film Festival. Here are additional schedule reviews by my friends Aurora (Once Upon a Screen), Karen (Shadows and Satin), Kim (I See a Dark Theater), and Chris (Blog of the Darned). Anyone who's written a similar post is welcome to share the link in the comments.

...Some of the latest Blu-ray reviews by CineSavant Glenn Erickson: THE GAY DIVORCEE (1934) from the Warner Archive Collection, GAMBLING SHIP (1933) and INTERNATIONAL HOUSE (1933) from Universal, and THE MAN WHO RECLAIMED HIS HEAD (1934) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

...Laura Jerrolds, author of LAURA LA PLANTE: SILENT CINDERELLA, has an upcoming book on actress Marian Nixon. The full title is MARIAN NIXON: THE NICEST GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD. Nixon was long married to director William Seiter and after his passing married actor Ben Lyon, who had recently lost his wife, Bebe Daniels. I've enjoyed Nixon in films such as WHAT HAPPENED TO JONES? (1926) and TOO BUSY TO WORK (1932)

...At The Hannibal 8 Toby reports that a VCI Poverty Row Classics set of two East Side Kids has had one of the titles swapped out. As I shared here last month, the films were expected to be EAST SIDE KIDS (1940) and THAT GANG OF MINE (1940). Toby has learned that it seems THAT GANG OF MINE will be replaced by LET'S GET TOUGH (1942).

...This October I'm looking forward to THE UNOFFICIAL DISNEY PARKS RETRO COOKBOOK by Julie Tremaine and Carly Caramanna, published by Harper. (Via Keith Buczak.)

...For Classic Movie Hub's Noir Nook, Karen Burroughs Hannsberry has a great analysis of whether or not Mildred was responsible for her daughter's Veda's defective character in MILDRED PIERCE (1945).

...HERSHEY (2026), due out in November, is a biography of chocolate magnate Milton Hershey and his wife. A few days ago a trailer was released.

...Actress Virginia Huston, best known as Ann in OUT OF THE PAST (1947), was born 101 years ago, on April 24, 1925. Here are some interesting LIFE magazine photos of Huston as a "starlet in training" at RKO. Other familiar faces in the photos include Jane Greer, Martha Hyer, and Nan Leslie.

...April 25th is the birthday of the great Ella Fitzgerald, born in 1917. I'll use this anniversary to recommend (again!) my all-time favorite album, Ella's The Rodgers and Hart Songbook. (Her other "Songbooks" are great also!) In 2022 I was moved to visit her final resting place in Inglewood.

...Notable Passing: I was very much saddened to learn of the sudden passing this week of David Fantle, a Marquette University professor and the co-author of several film books with Tom Johnson, including C'MON, GET HAPPY: THE MAKING OF SUMMER STOCK. Although I didn't know him well, we followed each other on Twitter and I enjoyed our interactions. He will be very much missed.

...More Notable Passings: French actress Nathalie Baye, who appeared in DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA (2022) has passed away at 77...DAYS OF OUR LIVES actor Patrick Muldoon has died at 57. He was in nearly 500 episodes of the long-running soap opera...Actor Richard Donat, the nephew of Robert Donat and brother of Peter Donat, has passed on at 84...Mario Adorf, who memorably played the killer in Robert Siodmak's THE DEVIL STRIKES AT NIGHT (1957), has died at 95...Famed orchestra conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has died at 81...Oscar-winning production designer Dean Tavoularis has passed away at 93. His Oscar was for art direction and set decoration of THE GODFATHER: PART II (1974)...Valerie Lee, who as a child was a Munchkin in THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), has died at 94. It is believed two cast members who worked on THE WIZARD OF OZ are still with us: Priscilla Montgomery Clark, who was another child Munchkin, and Caren Marsh Doll, who was Judy Garland's stand-in and whose feet are said to be seen tapping the heels together in the ruby slippers. Doll, the sister of the late actress Dorothy Morris, remarkably turned 107 on April 6th.

...Please note that Around the Blogosphere This Week will not appear the next two weekends, May 2nd and 9th, while I attend the back-to-back TCM Classic Film Festival and Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival. I anticipate that the column will return on May 16th, although my attendance at the annual McCrea Ranch Cowboy Cookout that afternoon may make it a bit of a challenge; I'll do my best! Anyone who's dreamed of visiting the home of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee and would also like to support the ranch at this annual fundraiser can sign up here.

...It's going to be a busy spring! On May 17th I'll be competing in MouseAdventure at Disney California Adventure. (Last year my team placed 2nd in the Basic division, and we won in 2023; what will this year bring?) Other items on my agenda in May and June include a Dodgers game, a day at the UCLA Festival of Preservation, and the annual Concert in the Rocks concert in Lone Pine, which benefits the Museum of Western Film History.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my April 11th column.

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