11,839 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the all-star Keystone comedy The Knockout (1914), directed by Mack Sennett. The Knockout is one of the premiere boxing comedies. …
Today is the anniversary of thee release date of the 1927 silent comedy feature Running Wild, starring W.C. Fields, directed and co-written by Gregory LaCava. In the film, Fields plays an…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Douglas Fairbanks comedy Reggie Mixes In (1916). "Fresh from college". When we first met Doug he is sleeping in bed, doesn't want to…
Originally posted on hitchcockmaster:Distributor: Universal Studios Release Date: November 05, 2013 Region: Region Free Length: 143 min Video: 1080P (VC-1) Main Audio: English Mono DTS-HD Ma…
I don’t know how it’s possible that I managed not to know about Leela Corman’s 2012 graphic novel Unterzakhn until a few days ago…but I’ve always known he…
Beats hell why I’m so sad to hear about the passing of Vincent T. Bugliosi (1934-2015). I just kind of adored him. His kind of straight-arrow competence without apparent prejudice is s…
Unlike probably nearly other critic, I did not attend San Andreas predisposed to hate it, or scoff at it, or rag on it. The disaster movie is one of my favorite film genres, although p…
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Coney Island, HOLIDAYS/ FESTIVALS/ MEMORIALS/ PARADES, PLUGS Tagged: Coney Island USA, Julie Atlas Muz, Matt Fraser, Mermaid Parade
The other night we watched the charming 1956 movie Friendly Persuasion, with Gary Cooper, Dorothy Maguire, and Anthony Perkins, about a Quaker family whose beliefs are tested when the Civ…
Bear with me, Readers! All this reporting on my ancestry feels self-indulgent, but it’s bearing much fruit — it’s inspiring all sorts of creative writing on the side, some …
You may be seeing more of these “from left field” Beatle posts from time to time. They are bubbling up for the simple reason that, after a break of many decades, I am re-experien…
Filed under: Burlesk, Coney Island, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Brooklyn Babydoll, Coney Island USA, Showcase of Class, Sideshows by the Seashore
We’re a dozen years too late to this party, but a copy of Jessica Glasscock’s 2003 book Striptease fell into our hands recently and we thought it was worth a brief shout-ou…
Our pal Cyndy Fujikawa’s play The Last Vaudevillian opens in previews in L.A. tonight. Cyndy guest blogged about her remarkable show business family in a six part series that sta…
As we’ve written previously (here and here) I have been a major league fan of singer/songwriter/ actor Loudon Wainrwight III Â since I was a teenager. Hearing that he was workshoppin…
Today is the birthday of Memphis Minnie (Lizzie “Kid” Douglas a.k.a. Minnie Lawlers, 1897-1973). To me, she is one of the most incredible figures in blues history, on account of …
Tonight on Turner Classic Movies at 10:15pm (EST), Leo McCarey’s last comedy film Rally Around the Flag, Boys (1958). Although he directed films in several genres, comedy was McC…
Well, this old vaudeville lover is busting at the seams, and you orta be, too. Tomorrow at 10:15am (EST) TCM will be showing the 1930 film Rain or Shine, directed by Frank Capra and starr…
Long time followers know of our affection for mystical horror/ fantasy scribe (and Pride of Providence) H.P. Lovecraft, and may even have read our account of the Providence Lovecraft walking…
It’s Clint Eastwood’s birthday — I happen to think he’s pretty awesome no matter what genre he works in, and he just gets better with age. But westerns were his found…
Tonight on Turner Classic Movies: two John Wayne vehicles from the turn of decades. Warning: we always include spoilers!  8:00pm (EST): The Cowboys (1970) A film with much personal me…
In 1904 the great Russian (and then proto-Soviet) writer Maxim Gorky, in exile from Tsarist Russia, undertook a fundraising tour of the U.S. for the Bolsheviks along with his lover the great…
Another post in honor of Bob Hope’s birthday — Here are some thoughts on 17 random Bob Hope movies (not counting the ones he made with Crosby, which I wrote about here). The Big …
Today being Bea Lillie’s birthday and all I thought I would observe it by paying tribute to one of her very few film appearances, MGM’s Exit Smiling (1926), directed by Sam Taylo…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Women Tagged: Asisan Burlesque Spectacular, Calamity Chang, Drom
