11,841 stories by "Trav S.D."
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, Music, PLUGS Tagged: Charming Disaaster, Metropolitan Room
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Keystone comedy A Thief Catcher (1914). This minor picture features the Keystone Kops, and Ford Sterling (who also directed). …
Herewith is part three of our three part series on Hollywood show biz bio-pics of the studio era. For part one, including an introductory essay, go here, and for part two, go here. As alw…
Wow. I only just heard this morning about the passing of Louis Jourdan (he died on Saturday). The age of social media has done much to expose us to the idiocy of the great mass of mankind, a…
Herewith is part two of our three part series on Hollywood show biz bio-pics. For part one, including an introductory essay, go here. As always, click on the links to learn more about the…
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy A Night Out (1915). This was Chaplin’s second film for Essanay Studios and (in addition to bei…
Now tell me true — would you rather start performances of your intricate, ambitious new spectacle on Friday the 13th, or would you prefer to do so on a day of candy, hearts and flowers…
Today is the anniversary of the release of the Mack Sennett silent comedy feature A Small Town Idol (1921), starring Ben Turpin and featuring an all-star cast including Jimmy Finlayson…
Tonight at 8pm (E.S.T.) Turner Classic Movies will be showing a classic of the western genre, and a high point of Gregory Peck’s acting career, The Gunfighter (1950). Peck pla…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the 1928 Harry Langdon feature The Chaser. Langdon's second (and second to last) directorial effort, The Chaser seems like an attemp…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Ten Foot Rat Cabaret, Under St. Marks
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Stan Laurel solo comedy When Knights Were Cold (1923), produced and directed by Broncho Billy Anderson. The film is a parody of both Dougl…
We found ourselves very much stimulated by Matthew Freeman’s The Listeners (directed by Michael Gardner) at The Brick last night. An extended meditation on the challenges of comm…
Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of the Keystone comedy Mabel and Fatty’s Marrieed Life (not to be confused with Mabel’s Married Life, released 7 months e…
This post has been building for a long time. It came about because as an inevitable by-product of researching my first book No Applause (and for inspiration for my current show Hors…
I feel like an expectant mother whose water is about to break. This week is a climax of sorts, a moment of truth (even as we celebrate artifice). On Friday we begin previews of Horseplay …
Just in time for Black History Month, Stewart F. Lane’s new book Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way comes to market. And guess what? After being available f…
Today marks the anniversary of the release of Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), the film which provided the public with its first glimpse of Charlie Chaplin’s “Tramp” …
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Eddie Cantor comedy If You Knew Susie (1948). This movie is interesting for several reasons. For one, it’s Cantor’s last…
Tomorrow morning on Turner Classic Movies: a welter of Oscar Winning westerns. Warning: I always include spoilers in my notes! 6am: How the West Was Won (1962) This is a movie that I …
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Bushwick, Cobra Club, Force Majeure, Tanya Solomon, vaudeville
Today is the anniversary of the release date of Charlie Chaplin’s landmark feature The Kid (1921). In some ways, The Kid is Chaplin’s most artistically successful film, …
Today is the anniversary of the release date of  Buster Keaton’s 1932 MGM talkie The Passionate Plumber. It was based on the French farce Dans sa candeur naïve by Jac…
Barbara Kahn’s new play Women of the Wind opens tonight at Theater for the New City. It’s about the behind-the-scenes struggles of three women associated with the produc…
Today is the birthday of Peg Entwistle (1908-1932). A moderately successful actress in her time, she is best known for having committee suicide by jumping off the Hollywood sign. As the year…
