11,840 stories by "Trav S.D."
We had a blast at Mob Jews on Saturday night, a collaboration between Jonny Porkpie’s Pinchbottom Burlesque and the Schlep Sisters. And I’ll cut to the chase, I saw nothing to al…
Through the good graces of a Twitter friend we know only as BronxDawn, a volunteer at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, we got a grand tour of the grounds yesterday, with a special concentr…
Tonight (tomorrow morning at 1:30am) Turner Classic Movies will show the Buster Keaton silent comedy short The Sacrecrow (1920). The Scarecrow is one of Keaton’s most perfe…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Harry Langdon comedy short Remember When (1925), directed by Harry Edwards. It starts out at an orphanage where Harry and a girl (Natal…
Today is the birthday of Dorothy Dwan (Dorothy Ilgenfritz, 1906-1981). Â Today she is best known (when she is known at all) as the leading lady and wife of Larry Semon, although the majori…
An adverse reaction to a review I posted here a couple of days ago convinces me of the necessity of this public declaration that I hope will make one thing abundantly clear: unless you have …
Tonight (tomorrow morning really) at 2:15am (EST), Turner Classic Movies will be showing the early Bob Clark film Deathdream, a.k.a. Dead of Night (1974). The under-rated Cla…
Today is the birthday of Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934). Quite at random, a post about two films she made back to back, drawn from my notebooks. Sweet Charity (1969) An all-star effort: music…
This weekend at New York’s Anthology Film Archives: lotsa great Charlie Chaplin movies! Just click on the highlighted movie titles below for my blogposts on each film: Saturday, Apr…
Tomorrow morning at 7:30am, on Turner Movie Classics: a classic sequel of sorts, at least a precedent-setting one: Son of Kong (1933). It’s rare for me to dis a movie of this gen…
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the release date of the still-popular Keystone comedy short Love, Loot and Crash (1915). People like to check this one out for two reasons. (A) …
Filed under: BOOKS & AUTHORS, PLUGS, Singers, Singing Comediennes, Vaudeville etc. Tagged: Lloyd Ecker, Sophie Tucker, Susan Ecker, Ziegfeld Society
We were grateful last night to receive some free passes to see the show currently ensconced in the venue occupying the historic Liberty Theatre, site of the original productions of shows lik…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Doc Wasabassco, Littlefield, Naked Detective, The Case of the Falling Starlet, Wasabassco Radio Mystery Hour
Today is the birthday of Jack Nicholson (b. 1937). Nicholson is not normally associated with the western genre, his career is pretty eclectic, but I do happen to have some notes in my …
Today is the birthday of Ada Rehan (1859-1916). Rehan was one of the great American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. Born in Limerick Ireland as Delia Crehan, she was erron…
 Today at 2:30 pm (EST) on Turner Classic Movies: Hope and Crosby in The Road to Hong Kong (1962) The last Hope and Crosby road picture, ten years since The Road to Bali…and …
Strange but true! Billy Bitzer (Gottfried Wilhelm or “G.W.” Bitzer, 1874-1944) shares a birthday with Edwin S. Porter. The stars were clearly aligned for cinematic innovation on …
Today is the birthday of Edwin S. Porter (1870-1941), a major innovator in the evolution of the American narrative film. A former telegraph operator, he enlisted in the U.S. navy for three y…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Bushwick, Coba Club, Force Majeur, new vaudeville
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy Twenty Minutes of Love. This one is notable for being the first movie Charlie had a hand in directing. As w…
This afternoon on TCM: Two Great Comedies Starring Two Classic Comedians: 3:15pm (EST): The Cat’s Paw (1934) Starring Harold Lloyd, written and directed by Sam Taylor. The Cat…
 Today is the birthday of British actor Donald Wolfit (1902-1968). I first became aware of him when I saw his memorably creepy and strange performance as Dr. Callistratus in Blood of t…
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Keystone comedy Wished on Mabel. Mabel Normand starred in and directed the short, which was improvised and shot in Golden …
A red letter day! Today marks the 100th anniversary of the oldest surviving Harold Lloyd comedy Just Nuts. The Museum of Modern Art has one of the few surviving copies; I had it scree…
