11,841 stories by "Trav S.D."
Today is the birthday of Kay Francis (Katharine Edwina Gibbs, 1905-1968). Most folks in my set discover her from her role as the vamp in the Marx Brothers first film The Cocoanuts (192…
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the hilarious Laurel and Hardy short Oliver the Eighth (1934. In this classic, Laurel and Hardy are barbers. Laurel sees an ad i…
Today is the birthday of William “Shorty” Blanche (1875-1931). Described a little unfairly as a “toothless dwarf” by W.C. Fields biographer James Curtis (see photo…
Among the reassuring pleasures of the age has been Dick Cavett’s blog for the New York Times. Reassuring because Cavett is excellent. He’s always deserved a prominent forum from …
I was tickled pink to get the opportunity recently to (almost) complete my Harry Langdon education by seeing the lion’s share of his extant talkies. (I had already seen some of the fea…
Today is the birthday of the great American portraitist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). His 1889 portrait of Dame Ellen Terry as Lady MacBeth seemed an appropriate painting of his to celebr…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS Tagged: Rock Bar, White Elephant Burlesque
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Roscoe Arbuckle-Buster Keaton comedy short The Garage (1920). This is the last in their historic series of pairings. After this, Arb…
Today is the anniversary of the first release date (in 1924) of the Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle feature-length comedy Leap Year. The release, however, was in France, not the U.…
 Today at 4:oopm (EST) Turner Classic Movies will be showing the late phase John Wayne western Big Jake (1971). A great movie, well constructed and entertaining — yet really …
 Any night I get to have popcorn, hot dogs and soda for dinner is a good night, and the only restaurant I know that serves those all together is the concessionaire at the circus. And amo…
Just learned that Rod Taylor had passed away. I inevitably would have written about him; today seems an appropriate occasion. Taylor was one of the last of the old school leading men, wit…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Vaudeville etc. Tagged: Bushwick, Coba Club, Force Majeure, Sara Valentine, Tanya Solomon, vaudeville
Today is the birthday of Anita Louise (Anita Louise Fremault, 1915-1970). Anita Louise began as a child actress in the early 1920s, briefly on Broadway but also almost immediately in films, …
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Keystone comedy Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916), starring Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Mabel Normand, and directed by …
Not this one! The one above, Miss Molly Pope, is the very definition of ALIVE, which is why she was cast as the most electrifying star of the 19th century, the one and only Adah Isaacs Menke…
Tonight (tomorrow really) at 12:30am eastern, Turner Classic Movies will be showing the seminal 1943 MGM film version of the musical Cabin in the Sky, directed by Vincent Minnelli. Th…
You’ve no doubt heard the name Gary Beeber here many a time. He co-produced the edition of Angie Pontani’s Burlesque-a-pades I got to direct, was the long-time producer of Gotham…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, Jews/ Show Biz, Music, PLUGS Tagged: City Winery, Isle of Klezbos, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Klezmer
I cooked up the idea for this post several weeks ago; events in Paris this morning made me think today would be a good day to finish it up and share it. Most Americans (ranging from the fana…
Filed under: VISUAL ART Tagged: Charlie Hebdo
Tomorrow morning on Turner Classic Movies: Two somewhat idiosyncratic comedies from the depths of the Great Depression! 7:00am (EST) : Sidewalks of New York (1931) Buster Keaton‘s talk…
Last night the Mad Marchioness and myself had ourselves a double header. The first leg was the book launch event for Kevin Fitzpatrick’s new tome The Algonquin Round Table New York: A …
Tonight on Turner Classic Movies, a pair of groovy hippie westerns starring Robert Redford. WARNING: the below contains spoilers! 10:15pm (EST): Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid …
Today is the anniversary of the American release date of Charlie Chaplin feature The Circus (1928). Despite being an estimable hit in its day (the 7th most successful film financially of …
