11,907 stories by "Trav S.d."
Of all the great monsters of the imagination (demons, werewolves, vampires, etc) in the cinema witches have traditionally gotten the short end of the broomstick. They ought to be uncanny and…
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the early  Harry Langdon short comedy His New Mamma (1924), directed by Roy Del Ruth. This film is one of the handful Langdo…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the 1915 Charlie Chaplin comedy Work. This is an interesting example of Charlie the low comedian: in his early years there were many times…
Filed under: HOLIDAYS, FESTIVALS, MEMORIALS & PARADES, PLUGS Tagged: Coney Island, Mermaid Parade
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Harold Lloyd comedy Professor Beware (1938). Much like the Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd had several “last films”. Hi…
 Today is the 100th anniversary of the release date of Mabel’s Married Life, directed by Mack Sennett and starring Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. In this film Charlie pl…
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the hilarious Charley Chase short Fluttering Hearts (1927). It’s more than  a Chase comedy though, it’s really an en…
Today is the anniversary of the release of the classic W.C. Fields comedy Poppy (1936), directed by Eddie Sutherland. This film is based on the 1923-24 hit Broadway play that had b…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the classic Charlie Chaplin short The Immigrant (1917). Nowadays the film is almost always talked about in terms of its social commentar…
Today at 5:30pm E.S.T. on TCM, one of the favorite movies of my childhood, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). The Wizard of Oz reigned supreme, of course, but the slot for my second fa…
 Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin film Sunnyside (1919). Sunnyside is a sort of bucolic idyll, or a parody of one, with a rural setting we associ…
As you’ve heard me crow for months, we are in the centennial year of Charlie Chaplin’s motion picture debut. New York’s Anthology Film Archives is acknowledging that benchm…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the 1925 Mack Sennett comedy Super Hooper Dyne Lizzies, directed by Del Lord, and written by Frank Capra, Felix Adler, et al. Though a come…
Just got word that Carla Laemmle passed away yesterday. Her passing severs one of the last links to a great age. Born in 1909, she was the niece of Universal Studios founder Carl Laemm…
Filed under: PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Governor's Island, Jazz Age Lawn Party
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Hal Roach comedy Long Fliv the King (1926). Directed by Leo McCarey and starring Charley Chase, the film is essentially a remake of …
 Today is the anniversary of the release of the Douglas Fairbanks adventure comedy The Mollycoddle (1920). Directed by Victor Fleming, this is one of the better of Doug’s pre…
 Today is the birthday of Lady Duff-Gordon (Lucy Christiana Sutherland, 1863-1935).The fact that she put together an act for vaudeville is probably one of the less important details of he…
 Today is the 100th anniversary of the release of the all-star Keystone comedy Mabel’s Busy Day. This is one of those shorts that, rather annoyingly, nowadays gets marketed and …
Filed under: EXHIBITIONS & LECTURES, PLUGS, VISUAL ART Tagged: Brooklyn Public Library, Making the Mundane Marvelous, Marlene Weisman
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Charlie Chaplin comedy The Fireman (1916). Sometimes even a brilliant comedian will get an otherwise great idea that just somehow is…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature Jitterbugs, directed by Mal St. Clair. Any way I describe this movie will make it sound better than it is. L…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the uncharacteristically crazy Douglas Fairbanks comedy The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916). While Fairbanks was primarily a light co…
 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 co…
MONEY, LOVE, AND SHAME! (“Gelt, Libe, Un Shande”) Sex! Alcoholism! Corruption! Sickness and Death! Weddings! On the night before she is to take her immigrant wido…
