11,839 stories by "Trav S.D."
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Broadway Brasst, Burlesque at Bedford Hall, Maine Attraction
Today marks the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy The Property Man (1914) Something feels original about this film in contrast with most of Chaplin’s …
Tomorrow, August 1 at 2:00pm, as part of its John Ford series, the American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria Queens will be screening the 1939 classic Stagecoach. Nowadays Ford i…
Depending on how you measure it and whom you believe, July 2015 may mark the centennial anniversary of that aesthetic troupe of nymphets known as the Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties, a gaggle …
It’s an exciting time to be a film geek of a certain order (i.e., me). Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind is expected to see daylight sometime next year and now I lea…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the film The Half-Breed (1916), starring Douglas Fairbanks. Based on a story by western writer Bret Harte, it was adapted for the screen by…
Today is the anniversary of the release of the Stan Laurel solo comedy Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride (1925), co-directed by Joe Rock and Scott Pembroke. This comedy was made two years be…
It’s Lisa Kudrow’s birthday today. A gentleman neither asks nor tells a lady’s age — Google it, if you MUST reduce her to mathematics. It’s been a long term goa…
Today is the 101st birthday of Professor Irwin Corey! He’s still alive! I guess he’s still waiting for Socialism. Corey’s is essentially a vaudeville act, although he in…
Today is the birthday of Joe E. Brown — for more on this comedian’s early career see my full bio here. He’s not to everybody’s tastes. Many people I know and respect …
Today marks the anniversary of the release date of the classic W.C. Fields comedy short The Barber Shop (1933). Based on a sketch Fields had performed in Earl Carroll’s Vanities,…
On the whimiest of whims the Mad Marchioness and I recently spent a couple of days in Salem Massachusetts, a jaunt we’d long discussed but through inertia kept deferring. The city is o…
Today is the birthday of Fleming W. Ackerman (1863-1946), known professionally and informally as Colonel Speck. Amazing, but true, he shares the same birthday with General Grant, Jr! Someone…
Today is the birthday of Donald Crisp (1882-1974). For ages I’ve had difficulty reconciling two divergent facts. One is the one most classic film fans know — Donald Crisp way a p…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Roscoe Arbuckle comedy Fatty’s Tintype Tangle (1915). Fatty’s photograph (tin type) is accidentally taken with a w…
Today is the birthday of the great Hollywood character actor Walter Brennan (read more about his early career beginnings here). For better or worse, Brennan is chiefly remembered today almos…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, Drag and/or LGBT, Horror (Mostly Gothic), Indie Theatre, PLUGS Tagged: Dandy Darkly, Dixon Place, HOT! Festival, Trigger Happy
Hey, New Yorkers! Tomorrow at 4:oopm, as part of their John Ford series, the American Museum of the Moving Image will be showing the classic Fort Apache (1948). (Warning: we always inc…
Susan and Lloyd Ecker’s terrific new film The Outrageous Sophie Tucker opens in New York tomorrow. Read my review here in Chelsea Now: http://chelseanow.com/2015/07/outrageous…
Today is the birthday (according to IMDB) of Rufus LeMaire (Rufus Ralph Goldstick, 1895-1950). LeMaire was from a family of brothers who all made a mark in show business; we have previously …
Today is the birthday of Red Skelton (for my full bio on the 20th century comedian go here). I thought I would take the occasion to enhance the Skelton presence on Travalanche by talking abo…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, Magicians/ Mind Readers/ Quick Change, PLUGS Tagged: Coney Island, Magic at Coney
Thanks, talented actress friend Alyssa Simon, for alerting me to the fact that through August 26, August Wilson’s entire ten play Pittsburgh cycle will be available in free radio versi…
Yes, James Cagney was in westerns. Okay, go ahead and laugh — I can’t hear you! And Cagney definitely can’t hear you.  Yes, Cagney was primarily associated with ga…
This weekend, as part of their month long Essential John Ford series, the American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens will be showing three Ford western classics. In the line-up (…
