11,836 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of Herschel Bernardi (1923-1986). I’m just gonna give a quick shout out, rather than let another year go by without doing so. Without knowing I was doing so, I fi…
Filed under: Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS Tagged: Halloween, Haunted Hall, Manhattan Youth
Tonight on TCM, several horror films from the hand of RKO screenwriter/producer Val Lewton. 8:00pm (EST): Cat People (1942) "People"? It's just one woman and she may or not be a cat person. …
Today marks the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin/ Keystone comedy Gentlemen of Nerve. This is one of what I call the ad hoc/ improv type silent comedies, shot at an …
Tomorrow on TCM: several horror films by England’s Hammer Studios. I find that as a general rule, though these movies have their moments, one must have more patience than I possess to …
Today is birthday of Anna Case (1888-1984). New Jersey born Case was said to have been the first person to sing at the Metropolitan Opera who hadn’t been trained in Europe. She debuted…
My terrifyingly talented friends at Inappropriate Films shot this amazing and highly original horror film over the summer, with yours truly in a key role. Want proof?: There’s a real s…
Tomorrow on TCM: a grab bag of horror and suspense by mavens Tod Browning, William Castle, Alfred Hitchcock and Roger Corman: 7:45 am (EST): Freaks (1932) The ultimate Tod Browning fi…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS Tagged: Call Me on the Ouija Board, Producers Club
Tonight, in celebration of the Halloween season, TCM will show several Disney classics, most of which (kind of) have a spooky angle. Disney never allows itself to get TOO dark, but there are…
Today is the birthday of the great Elsa Lanchester (1902-1986). Lanchester was still a going concern in my youth (Murder by Death, Willard and all those Disney movies) hence it took…
And now, the latest in our month long series about classic horror which we launched here. John Carradine was identified with several genres, not just horror, but westerns and historical cost…
I had the good fortune to spend a couple of hours as a guest on Jim Melloan’s Radio Free Brooklyn talk show The Truth and Freedom Show last week. I don’t know how we managed to f…
Tomorrow on TCM (for some reason): several movies linked thematically only by their shared quality of EXCESS: All-Star casts, and epic running times: 9:45am (EST): Grand Hotel (1932) I think…
Today is the birthday of Jack Carson (1910-1963). (Not to be confused with Jack Carter!) I was already predisposed to post about Carson on account of his appearing in so many classic show…
 As we promised here, we bought the new Sarah Vowell book the first day it became available; we finished reading it over the weekend. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States is a worthy e…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Vaudeville etc. Tagged: Antique Phonograph, Michael Cumella, WFMU
Today is the birthday of Jackie Coogan ( see my full biographical blogpost here). As they often do, TCM is celebrating his birthday today by showing some of his earlier triumphs such as T…
Today is the birthday of film director Mark Sandrich (Mark Rex Goldstein, 1900-1945). Sandrich studied engineering at Columbia University before breaking into films as a prop master. He bega…
We can’t help noticing that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. If you’re the type who prefers to get away than to be in the thick of things (e.g. Manhattan’s annual H…
And now, the latest in our month long series about classic horror which we launched here, Today I thought we’d focus on someone who wasn’t primarily associated with the horror ge…
Tomorrow is the birthday of Baby Peggy (Diana Serra Cary, 1918-present) . Turner Classic Movies is celebrating with a program of Baby Peggy related films. At midnight (EST), it’s the 2…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Coney Island, Indie Theatre, PLUGS Tagged: Coney Island USA, Dick Zigun, Funhouse Philosophers, Ride Inspector's Nightmare
As we speak, Hurricane Patricia is bearing down on Mexico. It also happens to be the birthday of character actor Frank Sutton (1923-1974). Are you thinking what I’m thinking? What? You…
Today is the birthday of Irish character actress Una O’Connor (Agnes Terese McGlade, 1880-1959). O’Connor got her start at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and spent many years on the…
