Around the Blogosphere This Week

Random news and musings from the Internet...some of these items are more than a week old, but still good reading!

...Leonard Maltin calls attention to the new book SINGIN' IN THE RAIN: THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN MASTERPIECE by Earl J. Hess and Pratibha A. Dabholkar. In his journal Mr. Maltin expresses some reservations about the book's research, especially too much reliance on IMDb, but his overall review is positive. Click the title of this post for the book's Amazon link. Those wanting to know more about the making of the film can't do better than THE WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT, republished as MGM'S GREATEST MUSICALS, a 1975 profile of MGM's Freed Unit by Hugh Fordin.

...Carrie reports at Classic Montgomery that James Stewart will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame today.

...Classic film fans in Southern California may want to check out the series "Bigger Than Life: James Mason on Film" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The series began Friday night and runs through August 1st. Susan King has more.

......Scary times ahead if nationalized health care passes: read every word of this analysis by Betsy McCaughey. And then call your representatives in Congress and tell them to stop the insanity.

...Here's a good-looking cookbook coming September 1st: COOK'S COUNTRY BEST LOST SUPPERS. That one's going on my cookbook wish list!

...Moira and Jacqueline took a fresh look at the work of actor Robert Young in late May. As I've written here before, over the last couple years I've acquired an entirely new appreciation of Young and another famous "TV dad," Fred MacMurray. For those interested in trying more of Young's work, three diverse titles I've enjoyed are RICH MAN, POOR GIRL (1938), CLAUDIA (1943), and CROSSFIRE (1947).

...My faves, the Gatlin Bros., have a new single, "Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down," available from iTunes and Amazon. Johnny and June Carter Cash were instrumental in Larry Gatlin getting his start in the music business.

...Here's an interesting post at Dear Old Hollywood about the Los Angeles locations in STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET (1961), which is part of my long list of "Movies To Watch Soon." Last summer I linked to a very interesting post by Jacqueline on the same movie.

...Last summer I also posted a bit about Emma Thompson writing the screenplay for a remake of MY FAIR LADY. Looks like it should be released in 2010.

...Something Old, Nothing New has some interesting YouTube video of scenes from a Mary Martin performance in SOUTH PACIFIC, filmed at London's Drury Lane Theatre in 1952. This show will always have special meaning for me since I played the "Mary Martin role" myself back when I was a 9th grader. :)

...I've very much been wanting to watch MRS. MIKE (1949), which I've not seen since I was a teenager...probably around the time I played Nellie in SOUTH PACIFIC! It stars Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes and was based on one of my favorite books, which remains in print decades after it was first published. As I recall, the film wasn't entirely faithful to the book but was nonetheless a good movie. Old VHS copies sell for a small fortune on Amazon. Lo and behold, Movies Unlimited is selling it on DVD! I wonder if it's in public domain and how the print looks...

...Speaking of hard-to-find movies, does anyone know how to get a copy of Ann Blyth's SALLY AND SAINT ANNE (1952)? It's a film I recall fondly, having seen it several times growing up, but it seems to have vanished. Since I'm a MAVERICK fan I really enjoyed Jack Kelly as one of Sally's very Irish brothers. The movie also stars Edmund Gwenn, John McIntire, Gregg Palmer, and Hugh O'Brian.

Have a wonderful weekend!