11,836 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of Charles Mack (1887-1934), the senior and more comical member of the blackface vaudeville comedy team “Moran and Mack”, a.k.a. “Two Black Crows̶…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Mack Sennett produced short Her Painted Hero (1915). In this early Polly Moran comedy, Polly moons around a stage door hoping …
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy A Night in the Show (1915). This short from Chaplin’s Essanay period is extremely interesting for…
I never regret a single minute spent in the company of the Mad Marchioness. In fact, when we are apart I am so inconsolable that I must fill the moments as best I can with healing laughter. …
Very saddened just now to Google somebody I admired only to learn that he died eight months ago. Character actor Dan Von Bargen passed away back in March. He was one of several top flight ac…
Today is the birthday of Lester Allen (1891-1949). Allen originally hailed from Utica, New York which leads me to suspect that he got his start on the upstate New York-based Proctor Circuit …
November 16, 2005 was the official pub date for my book No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous. How did it come about? Trying to chase the true genesis of…
Today is the 200th birthday of the trailblazing Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902). I feel compelled to celebrate my family connection to this salutary specimen of humanity if only to off…
Continuing the post from yesterday’s thread… Tuesday, November 10 Today was our last day in New Orleans, but we managed to squeeze in some last minute sightseeing. 711 Royal Stre…
Continuing our thread from yesterday… Monday, November 9 After breakfast at the Deja Vu Bar and Grill  we took a ride on the paddlewheel steamboat the Creole Queen to the near…
Continuing our thread from yesterday... Sunday, November 8 On my birthday we took the romantic St. Charles street car to the Garden District, our first proper jaunt way out of the French Qua…
Continuing our thread from yesterday… Saturday, November 7 Snuck out early again and had a chance to snap a few additional sites. First to the perfectly harmless looking Pirate’s…
Continuing yesterday’s thread... Friday, November 6 Seize the Day! The Marchioness generally sleeps later than me, so on our first full day in New Orleans, I arose and spent an hour or…
I crossed a certain catastrophic birthday threshold the other day and to ease the sting the Mad Marchioness took me for a 5 day debauche in the heart of Crescent City. The Mad Marchioness: I…
Now called Veteran’s Day, November 11 was originally set aside as a day of remembrance for the cessation of hostilities in The Great War, also known as Armistice Day. In honor of the d…
Tonight (tomorrow) in the wee hours on Turner Classic Movies: three silent features about circus clowns. 12:45am (EST): He Who Gets Slapped (1924) The very acme of over-the-top storytelling,…
I had the highly pleasurable privilege a few months back of catching a preview of James Habacker’s new movie The Cruel Tale of the Medicine Man  Habacker is the full-on auteur…
Tonight on Turner Classic Movies (for some reason): several comedies about war and international misunderstandings! Conspicuously absent is Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Dr. Strangelove…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy Kentucky Kernels (1935). This is an extremely funny movie, written by Kalmar and Ruby, and featuring Span…
Today is the birthday of Laura La Plante (1904-1996). If we fudge a little in filing her under “Stars of Slapstick”, it’s not by much. She got her start in the movies (at t…
Happy Halloween! I’ve been saving this post for today, although I learned the facts that comprise it a few weeks ago. Thus far I have found four accused witches in my American linea…
Filed under: Art Models/ Bathing Beauties/ Beauty Queens/ Burlesque Dancers/ Chorines/ Pin-Ups/ Sexpots/ Vamps, Halloween, HOLIDAYS/ FESTIVALS/ MEMORIALS/ PARADES, Hollywood (History), Movie…
Tomorrow on TCM: Horror All Day and Night for Halloween! (and don’t forget, as we posted this morning, tonight is a bill of Val Lewton films) 7:00am (EST): Dr. X (1932) I  saw…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS, Rock and Pop Tagged: Anna Copa Cabanna, Ghoul-a-go-go, Highway to Hell Brooklyn, Passenger Bar
Today is the birthday of the great Ruth Gordon. (For my full article on her go here). Since we’ve been doing so much Halloween posting, and the big day is tomorrow, I thought I’d…
