Tonight's Movie: Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK is compelling viewing from its very first moments, as Andre Previn's score combines with William C. Mellor's dazzling widescreen cinematography of a train hurtling through the desert to convey a tremendous sense of excitement.

That excitement doesn't let up even when the train slows to a halt, as the viewer is immediately curious to learn why the townspeople of the desert burg of Black Rock are so stunned that the train has stopped. It's 1945, and John J. Macreedy (Spencer Tracy), a one-armed veteran, gets off the train. The townspeople are hostile, and they grow only more so when Macreedy starts asking uncomfortable questions as he searches for a man named Komoko.

It seems that the town of Black Rock harbors a terrible secret. Is the one-armed man strong enough to stay alive while finding the answers he seeks? And will anyone in town help him?

Although I often discuss plots in some detail, in this case to say much more about the story and Macreedy's character might spoil it for those who have yet to see the movie. This is one of my favorite Tracy performances, playing a gutsy, cagey, and resourceful man despite his handicap.

This film has a fantastic cast, boasting not one, two, three, or four, but five Oscar-winning actors: Tracy, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, and Lee Marvin, who among them accumulated a total of eight Academy Awards. The movie also stars one of Hollywood's truly great actors, who should have won an Oscar at some point, the one and only Robert Ryan.

The cast also includes Anne Francis and John Ericson as a brother and sister mixed up with Ryan and his pals. Walter Sande and Russell Collins round out the main cast.

Besides an interesting story acted by superior talent, the movie has a terrific look, with outstanding widescreen photography in the area of Lone Pine, California; Black Rock was built outside of town, and additional action scenes were filmed in Lone Pine's distinctive Alabama Hills. The effective use of CinemaScope is one of the movie's chief pleasures, a key element in the film's powerful style.

The film isn't perfect; for instance, I felt that the Anne Francis character was vaguely written, lacking in back story and motivation. I tend to prefer short films, but at just 81 minutes, this one could actually have stood a few more minutes fleshing out the characters. That said, it's an excellent movie which is very entertaining and made with great craftsmanship.

This film was directed by John Sturges, whose best-known films include THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960) and THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963). Sturges films previously reviewed here: THE WALKING HILLS (1949), RIGHT CROSS (1950), MYSTERY STREET (1950), ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO (1953), THE SCARLET COAT (1955), BACKLASH (1956), SADDLE THE WIND (1958), and ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968).

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK has been released in a superb widescreen DVD. Extras include a commentary track. The DVD can be rented via Netflix. The film is also available on Amazon Instant Video.

It's also been released on VHS multiple times.

This film can also be seen on Turner Classic Movies. The trailer is here.

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK was the fourth title on my personal list of "unseen classics" to watch in 2011. It follows SHANE (1953), DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), and SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941). One more film and I'll be halfway to my goal!

January 2017 Update: BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK is now available on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive.

February 2017 Update: My review of the Blu-ray is here.

Around the Blogosphere This Week

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

...A reminder that this Wednesday, November 9th, TCM is sponsoring screenings nationwide celebrating the 50th anniversary of WEST SIDE STORY. Check online for local theaters showing the film that day.

...At the TCM Movie Morlocks blog, Keelsetter interviews Ernesto Acevedo-Munoz, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Acevedo-Munoz has been digging into the papers of director Robert Wise at the University of Southern California while researching a forthcoming book on the film.

...With the 50th anniversary in mind, WEST SIDE STORY fans who missed it previously may want to visit my December 2010 review of an excellent book on the film by Barry Monush. WEST SIDE STORY books I haven't had time to check out yet: SOMETHING'S COMING, SOMETHING GOOD: WEST SIDE STORY AND THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION by Misha Berson and WEST SIDE STORY: CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON AN AMERICAN MUSICAL by Elizabeth A. Wells.

...John Greco reviews KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (1952) at Twenty Four Frames. This noir stars John Payne, Preston Foster, and Coleen Gray, who recently celebrated her 89th birthday.

...Last month Criterion released THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939) on DVD. Mick La Salle has a brief, enthusiastic review at the San Francisco Chronicle, and last month Kristina posted much more on this film at Speakeasy.

...The informative TVShowsonDVD website just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Congratulations!

...Check out this list of 10 Favorite Dana Andrews Films at Sidewalk Crossings, and while you're there, why not share your favorite titles?

...The new Amazon Kindle Lending Library program is causing a stir in the publishing world. Forbes asks whether the program will help or hurt publishers and authors. PC World links to Amazon's library list and shares the info that the program works with Kindle devices, but not Kindle apps.

...In other Amazon news, the Amazon Christmas Corner is up and running.

...Over at Out of the Past, Raquelle's been reading up a storm of late. Here's her review of Piper Laurie's autobiography, LEARNING TO LIVE OUT LOUD.

...Classic Movie Man takes a look at Irene Dunne starring in the 1931 version of Edna Ferber's CIMARRON. I went through a major Ferber phase when I was in junior high, also reading SHOW BOAT, SO BIG, and my favorite Ferber book, GIANT.

...The Lady Eve shares thoughts on another film based on a best-selling book, REBECCA (1940).

...One of my favorite modern-day actors, Stanley Tucci, was widowed in 2009. He's just announced his engagement to Felicity Blunt, the sister of his DEVIL WEARS PRADA costar, Emily Blunt.

...The TCM Classic Movie Trivia book is now available, just in time for Christmas shopping.

...Reviews, reviews, and more reviews: Java's Journey looks at HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949)...MacGuffin Movies liked ADVISE AND CONSENT (1962)...The Hollywood Revue looks at UNION DEPOT (1932)...and Sidewalk Crossings reviewed BACKGROUND TO DANGER (1943).

...Drew Barrymore will be the new cohost for the Essentials series, which begins airing in March 2012. Next year's lineup for the series includes TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), THE THIRD MAN (1949), GILDA (1946), and SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959). Several newer films are on the list, including KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979) and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977).

...Mark shares a terrific selection of Burt Lancaster film noir posters and stills at Where Danger Lives. I'm looking forward to hearing more about his next Top 100 countdown!

...I loved the film noir IMPACT (1949), which starred Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, and Helen Walker. It had especially interesting location photography in Northern California areas, so I was delighted to see that Robby has a brand-new post with many photos and details on the movie's locations. Larkspur, California, which stands in for Larkspur, Idaho, in the film, appears to have changed very little since the '40s. IMPACT is available at Netflix Watch Instantly.

...Notable Passing: British-born big band singer Beryl Davis has passed away at the age of 87. She performed with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band, George Shearing, and Benny Goodman. In the '50s she joined Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming, and Connie Haines to sing gospel music. Here's a sample, thanks to YouTube:



...Sending continued best wishes to Caftan Woman as she recovers from her run-in with a garbage truck. She tells the story of this unfortunate event with a wonderful sense of humor, which hopefully bodes well for as fast a recovery as possible!

Have a great week!

Tonight's Movie: Sullivan's Travels (1941)

As I recounted last month, at the start of 2011 I made a list of 10 classic films I've not yet seen, with the goal of finally catching up with them in 2011. So far I've crossed SHANE (1953) and DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) off my list, and what better day than Joel McCrea's birthday -- and the grand opening of his ranch to the public -- to finally see SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS?

I've seen numerous films written and/or directed by Preston Sturges over the years, including his other collaborations with Joel McCrea: THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942), which never fails to make me laugh despite countless viewings, and the rather odd THE GREAT MOMENT (1944), the story of a dentist inventing anesthesia, which as a teenager I saw in 35 millimeter at the Vagabond Theater in Los Angeles.

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS is the story of John Sullivan (McCrea), a director of money-making silliness such as ANTS IN YOUR PANTS. He longs to make a serious picture about suffering humanity, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? -- a title later borrowed for a 2000 Coen Bros. film starring George Clooney -- but decides that first he must learn what it's really like to be poor. And so he becomes a hobo and begins his "travels," along with way pairing up with a girl (Veronica Lake) who buys him breakfast.

Much of this film really tickled my funnybone. I loved the fast-paced dialogue in the early going, McCrea's deadpan delivery (he may be underappreciated as a comedian), and I thought Veronica Lake was brilliant in an original performance. There were some great set pieces, and some lines that have to be seen in context to be appreciated, such as Sullivan sighing over his seeming inability to get very far away from Hollywood. And although I tend to prefer verbal to physical humor, there was also a very funny slapstick sequence involving a bus which reminded me a bit of the train sequence in the following year's THE PALM BEACH STORY.

However, the film stopped working for me in its last third. I know I'm in the minority, given the reviews I've read over the years, but the film came to a screeching halt for me at that point, when the comedy stops and one tragedy follows another, becoming downright unpleasant. It's kind of ironic that while these scenes are used to make the film's ultimate point about the importance of laughter, they are the very kind of dreary O BROTHER, WHERE ARE THOU? scenes that Sullivan decides against making.

Many critics have found the film's mixture of comedy and drama brilliant, but on this first viewing, my honest reaction is that the combination was unexpected and awkward. Some films can straddle a variety of genres and work regardless -- HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT (1937) is one of the most notable examples -- but the contrast between scenes such as the really marvelous sequence which finds McCrea, Lake, Eric Blore, and Robert Grieg all in a swimming pool, with the later scene of the chain ganged McCrea nearly dying in a "sweatbox," was too jarring for my taste. I started out watching one type of film and ended up watching something completely different.

Nonetheless, this is a unique film, with a terrific first hour and a lot of humor and substance, which will be worth revisiting in future years. Perhaps it will strike me differently on a later viewing, as sometimes happens. And although I generally disliked the film's last half hour, as a Disney fan I did enjoy the use of a Disney cartoon to make the point that the world needs more laughter.

The large cast includes many Sturges "regulars," including William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Robert Warwick, Porter Hall, Roscoe Ates, and Chester Conklin. It runs 90 minutes.

This Paramount film has been released as part of the Criterion Collection. It comes with a wealth of extras, including a commentary track and the documentary PRESTON STURGES: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN DREAMER. This DVD can be seen via Netflix.

It's also on DVD as part of the Preston Sturges Filmmaker Collection.

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS has also had a release on VHS.

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS will next air on Turner Classic Movies on November 22, 2011. The trailer can be seen on the TCM website.

Joel McCrea Ranch: The Grand Opening

Today I was privileged to attend a very special event, the Grand Opening of the new Visitors Center at the Joel McCrea Ranch in Thousand Oaks, California.

Today's opening was celebrated on the 106th anniversary of Joel McCrea's birth.

It was especially neat that our family could enjoy this day with two longtime friends of this blog, Deborah of Sidewalk Crossings (check out her list of favorite McCrea films) and commenter Jane ("Simple Gifts") and her husband. It was wonderful to meet them in person; it's no surprise that Joel McCrea fans are good people!

The McCrea Ranch is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was on this cattle ranch that Joel and Frances Dee McCrea lived and raised their three sons, working as ranchers and farmers when they weren't making movies. It's an oft-told anecdote that when Joel listed his occupation on his tax returns, he didn't fill in "actor," but "rancher."

The McCreas eventually sold off some parcels of the land, which formed a significant part of what is now the city of Thousand Oaks, and they donated other portions to various nonprofit groups such as the YMCA. 225 acres of the ranch were donated to the Conejo Recreation and Park District, which is working with the McCrea Ranch Foundation to preserve this remarkable slice of California ranching and film history.

Inside the Visitors Center, the McCreas' grandson Wyatt introduced the excellent movie which explains the ranch's background. Wyatt lives on the ranch and has been instrumental in leading the effort to restore and preserve the ranch for future generations.

The informational film is hosted by Bruce Boxleitner, a familiar face to TV Western fans (HOW THE WEST WAS WON). It includes home movie footage, with portions narrated by Joel's voice telling about his childhood.

I was quite impressed with what has been accomplished to date in terms of displays:

There are family photos throughout the center which give a glimpse of the McCreas' homey, simple life on the ranch. I was very taken with this photo of Frances and one of her sons, which hangs in the Visitors Center:

After the film and the tour of the center, birthday cake was served and there was time for a chat with Wyatt, who has inherited his grandfather's friendly and personable demeanor:

Scenes around the ranch:

I was told that in her later years, when navigating around the family home became more difficult, Frances Dee moved into the one-time bunkhouse, a small home which can be just glimpsed behind this carport. The McCreas may have been extremely wealthy, due to their careers and land investments, but they lived a very unpretentious lifestyle.

I remember in a wonderful interview with my friend Carrie, Peter McCrea recounted that Frances would take a bus into Los Angeles, where she volunteered at a soup kitchen. The McCreas opened their home to strangers, including soldiers Frances saw hitchhiking on Thanksgiving Eve, and they also took in countless animals in need, at one time caring for over two dozen cats! Some older local folks were at today's event and shared their memories of Joel's friendliness and good manners. (As a side note, it's rather wonderful that Joel shares his birthdate with another of the nicest men to ever appear in the movies, Roy Rogers.)

The Ranch gift shop had several nice items for sale to benefit the foundation, including T-shirts, notepads, buttons, and water bottles. I told Wyatt I believed there were many classic film fans across the country who would like to support the ranch by buying items from the shop, and he told me that at some point in the future items will be available for purchase online.

At present the Ranch is only open on special dates -- upcoming events at the Ranch include a screening of Joel and Frances in the marvelous FOUR FACES WEST (1948) on February 11, 2012 -- but as the Foundation expands, the hope is to bring additional buildings up to code for visitors and establish regular hours of operation which will give the public greater access.

Needless to say, I can't recommend strongly enough that fans of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee make it a point to visit the ranch at the earliest opportunity. I look forward to making return visits as more of the ranch becomes accessible to the public.

Recent local news articles on the ranch: "McCrea Ranch Visitor Center Completed" (Ventura County Star, September 9, 2011); "Late Movie Star's Pristine Ranch Preserved for Future Generations" (Thousands Oaks Acorn, August 18, 2011).

For more information, or to make tax-deductible donations, visit the Joel and Frances McCrea Ranch Foundation.

March 2013 Update: A Visit to the McCrea Ranch. An update and more photos!

February 2014 Update: THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943) at the McCrea Ranch.

2017 Update: A Visit to McCrea Ranch (and McCrea Blu-ray News!). Post includes links to a video interview with Wyatt McCrea and to a fellow blogger's post with photos of our latest visit to the ranch.

2019 Update: Here's an account of a new visit to the ranch for Classic Movie Hub.

Happy Birthday to the King of the Cowboys

November 5th, 2011, is the centennial of the birth of Roy Rogers, one of the truly great men of the film business, both onscreen and off:

Thanks for everything, Roy!

Tonight's Movie: The Gay Falcon (1941)

The perfect ending to a rainy November day in Southern California: a win by the USC Trojans football team, followed by homemade chocolate chip cookies and George Sanders as THE GAY FALCON.

Between 1939 and 1941, Sanders had starred as Simon Templar in RKO's series of SAINT mysteries, based on the character created by Leslie Charteris. In 1941 RKO was having difficulties dealing with Charteris and decided to move Sanders and his frequent SAINT costar, Wendy Barrie, into a brand-new yet very similar series. This time around Sanders starred as high society sleuth Gay Lawrence, aka "the Falcon." (Charteris, incidentally, was not amused, and sued RKO.)

Lawrence (Sanders) is engaged to Elinor (Anne Hunter, later known as Nina Vale), but when he's supposed to be settling down to a respectable life as a stockbroker, he just can't help becoming involved in trying to solve a diamond theft and a murder.

Gay's attempts to become a one-woman man are also thwarted as his smooth demeanor attracts women like honey, including pretty Helen Reed (Barrie), who helps him solve the mystery.

That's about all there is to this fast-paced 67 minutes, but it's quite an engaging little "B" movie, with charming performances by Sanders and Barrie, as well as a witty script. THE GAY FALCON may have been the lower half of a double bill back in the '40s, but seen today there is a great deal to appreciate.

Aside from the fine lead actors, the film has an excellent cast, starting with three-time Best Supporting Actress nominee Gladys Cooper. Notable character actors such as Arthur Shields, Edward Brophy, Allen Jenkins, Lucile Gleason, and Turhan Bey are also in the cast.

Moreover, the movie was photographed by the great Nicholas Musuraca (OUT OF THE PAST). The film was directed by Irving Reis.

A bit of interesting trivia about Wendy Barrie: according to James Robert Parish's THE RKO GALS, she was born Margaret Wendy Jenkins, with her middle name having been inspired by the famous literary creation of her godfather, J.M. Barrie. When Wendy became an actress, her professional name was created by combining her middle name with her godfather's last name.

There's also an interesting bit of trivia regarding familial connections and the FALCON series. In Sanders' fourth FALCON film, THE FALCON'S BROTHER (1942), he turned the series over to his real-life brother, Tom Conway, who played Tom Lawrence. Conway carried on the series with great success, starring in nine more films between 1943 and 1946.

I watched a recording of THE GAY FALCON from Turner Classic Movies, but there's great DVD news: Warner Archive recently released the first seven FALCON films in The Falcon Mystery Movie Collection, Volume 1. The titles include Sanders in THE FALCON TAKES OVER, which was based on Raymond Chandler's FAREWELL, MY LOVELY.

Based on this first film in the series, the Warner Archive set should be well worth purchasing. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Tonight's Movie: Danger Signal (1945)

The Warner Bros. stock company is in fine form in DANGER SIGNAL, a lesser-known film noir which deserves rediscovery. Although there are some minor weaknesses in the plot, the excellent acting, suspenseful atmosphere, and striking black and white cinematography by the great James Wong Howe make this a must-see for noir aficionados.

The opening scenes of DANGER SIGNAL inescapably call to mind Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), as Ronnie Mason (Zachary Scott) escapes from a boarding house, leaving behind the body of a dead woman.

Ronnie's wallet is full of the dead woman's cash, and he hops a train for California, where he rents a room in the sunny suburban home of the Fenchurch family. The SHADOW OF A DOUBT theme continues as evil, under a charming mask, walks into the home of a family too nice to recognize the threat.

Ronnie sweeps Hilda Fenchurch (Faye Emerson), who works as a typist, off her feet...until Hilda's little sister Anne (Mona Freeman) returns home from a mountain sanitarium where she's been treated for a lung disease. When Ronnie learns that Anne is due to inherit $25,000, he quickly turns his attentions from Hilda to Anne.

The more Hilda uncovers about Ronnie, the more distressed she becomes, ultimately turning to one of her clients, a psychiatrist (Rosemary DeCamp), for advice on how to deal with a man who seems increasingly frightening.

I thought this was a terrific little film, with an atomospheric, compact plotline and excellent acting. I was hooked from start to finish, particularly by Faye Emerson's performance as shy, hardworking Hilda, who can't quite believe that dashing Ronnie is romancing her. (Of course, she also hasn't noticed the interest of the absent-minded professor played by Bruce Bennett, who would be a far better match for her.) Hilda's shy delight, followed by crushing disappointment as she realizes Ronnie is two-timing her with her own sister, is riveting.

Scott cornered the market on slimy heels in the '40s, and he's at his best here. He conveys a man who receives a perverse pleasure from his ability to manipulate those in his orbit.

Mona Freeman is also excellent in a role which conjures memories of Ann Blyth's Veda in the same year's MILDRED PIERCE (1945); in each film, Scott romances a too-young girl while the girl willfully ignores the fact that she will break the heart of a close relative. Curiously, DANGER SIGNAL and MILDRED PIERCE, which were both Warner Bros. films, came out within just about a month of each other. And even more curiously, as I finished writing this paragraph I read that Ann Blyth was originally cast as Anne! It would have been a bit odd if there were a Scott-Blyth pairing in both films, and this gives Freeman a strong opportunity in a role far different from her irrepressible Miriam in DEAR RUTH (1947) and its sequels.

I had a few quibbles with the film's storyline; the ending, which involves the husband (John Ridgely) of the dead woman from the film's opening scene, seemed almost too easy; I had a little trouble believing the distressed Hilda's plans near the end of the film; Mona Freeman's Anne seems to change personalities with a baffling ease, switching back and forth from sophisticated young woman to carefree teenager; and I couldn't help thinking, as the film closed, that both girls would have suffered strong psychological repercussions.

I also thought there might have been a missed opportunity to build suspense; it would have been great, for example, if at some point near the end Hilda had seen the police flyer about Ronnie. And just what was Ronnie contemplating doing the night he tried to enter Hilda's room?

Perhaps if those issues had been addressed, the film would have reached the next level of success and be better known today, but nonetheless, I enjoyed it tremendously.

Rosemary DeCamp, who is especially lovely in this film, deserves particular praise for her warm, confident portrayal of the German-accented psychiatrist. Accents seem to have been a DeCamp specialty; she was also completely believable as an Austrian refugee in HOLD BACK THE DAWN (1941). She was also particularly good as a Red Cross aide in PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945). Each time I see DeCamp's work, I find her more impressive.

With DeCamp's psychiatrist attempting to diagnose what makes Scott's character tick, DANGER SIGNAL represents yet one more example of Hollywood's mid-'40s fascination with psychological issues. The theme popped up in musicals such as LADY IN THE DARK (1944) and comedies like IT HAD TO BE YOU (1947), but it seemed to be used with greatest regularity in suspense films. Other examples of "film noir meets psychology" reviewed here in recent months include CONFLICT (1945), THE LOCKET (1946), SHOCK (1946), THE DARK MIRROR (1946), and DISHONORED LADY (1947). The best-known example of a mid-'40s suspense film with psychological themes is perhaps Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND (1945).

The DANGER SIGNAL cast also includes Richard Erdman (CRY DANGER), Mary Servoss, Joyce Compton, Virginia Sale, and Robert Arthur.

DANGER SIGNAL was directed by Robert Florey. The screenplay was based on a novel by Phyllis Bottome. The running time is 78 minutes.

DANGER SIGNAL does not appear to have had a release on DVD or VHS, but it can been seen on Turner Classic Movies, which notes in its online article that "Scott has no peer when it comes to playing a smarmy seducer." Indeed.

Recommended.

March 2018 Update: DANGER SIGNAL is now available on DVD from the Warner Archive. My review of the DVD may be found here.

Coming to DVD: Humphrey Bogart: The Columbia Pictures Collection

Last month Turner Classic Movies announced a partnership with Sony to release Columbia films in the TCM Vault Collection.

The first release, the Jean Arthur Comedy Collection, is now available.

The second release in the series will be Humphrey Bogart: The Columbia Pictures Collection, available on November 28, 2011.

The films in the set will be LOVE AFFAIR (1932), TOKYO JOE (1949), KNOCK ON ANY DOOR (1949), SIROCCO (1951), and THE HARDER THEY FALL (1956).

All five films have been restored and remastered. The films will include introductions by TCM weekend host Ben Mankiewicz, as well as stills, lobby cards, and posters.

Film Noir Classics Vol. III and UPA Jolly Frolics will be coming from TCM/Sony in 2012. The film noir collection will contain five titles, including the great gothic noir MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945). The Jolly Frolics set will include MADELINE (1952) and Mr. Magoo cartoons and include introductions and commentaries by Leonard Maltin. I'll share more information on those sets, including release dates, as it becomes available.

A reminder for Bogart fans: THE LEFT HAND OF GOD (1955), also starring Gene Tierney, is out this month in a limited edition from Twilight Time. Glenn Erickson gave it a very favorable review at DVD Savant.

A Maverick Reading List

I've really been looking forward to James Garner's autobiography, which arrived today from Amazon:

Based on what I've seen just skimming over the pages a bit, it's going to be a great, fast-paced read.

Making this release even better is the news that a biography of Garner's MAVERICK costar, Jack Kelly, is due out from author Linda Alexander in the next few weeks. Kelly may be a relatively lesser-known actor than his MAVERICK brother, but his work on that show was beloved by many, and it's wonderful to see him receive his due in the form of a biography.

The book is titled A MAVERICK LIFE: THE JACK KELLY STORY, and it will be published by Bear Manor Media. Alexander is also the author of RELUCTANT WITNESS: ROBERT TAYLOR, HOLLYWOOD, AND COMMUNISM, which I reviewed in 2008. I'll be sharing more about the Kelly book as news is available.

When factoring in the new autobiography by Julie Adams, who guest-starred in two memorable episodes of MAVERICK -- "Brasada Spur" is a particular favorite -- fans of that classic show have much good reading to anticipate!

Update: Here's a review of the Garner book published by the Los Angeles Times.

DVD Sale News

Here's info on two major DVD sales for those of you are are collectors or would like to get started on Christmas shopping!

Barnes & Noble's half-yearly Criterion sale starts today and runs through November 21st.

All Criterion DVDs are 50% off. The B&N membership discount card saves an additional 10% off in-store purchases. (The discount is no longer valid online.)

Note that the B&N website has a handy feature on each DVD's page, enabling buyers to have DVDs reserved for pickup at the counter of the local store.

I'm considering adding THE MAKIOKA SISTERS (1983) to my collection...just $9 and tax after my B&N discount. I'm also considering SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957).

In other sale news, I received a delivery today from Deep Discount with a flyer advertising that the fall edition of their twice-a-year 25% off sale starts this Thursday, November 3rd, and runs through November 20th.