12,228 stories from Trav S.D.
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Comedy, Hollywood (History), Movies, PLUGS, Silent Film Tagged: BROOKLYN, City Reliquary, silent movies, Slapstick Under the Stars
Today is the birthday of Blanche Payson (Mary Elizabeth Bush, 1881-1964). Payson’s near-giant proportions (6’4″, 238 lbs) made her highly useful in silent comedy, and Mack …
Tomorrow morning on Turner Classic Movies, two comedy classic starring Jack Benny. 7:00am (EST): The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) was Jack Benny’…
Tonight on TCM, two of Mae West’s best movies, interesting shown in reverse order: 9:45pm (EST)  I’m No Angel (1933).  I’m No Angel was the follow up to West’…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the hilarious Charley Chase short Bromo and Juliet (1926) directed by Leo McCarey. In this silent comedy classic Charley plays a you…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Harry Langdon comedy The Strong Man (1926), the very first feature film directed by Frank Capra. In The Strong Man, Langdon play…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Buster Keaton comedy Battling Butler (1926). Some background: Keaton’s recent feature Go West had not done so well, so h…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of W.C. Fields’ very first film Pool Sharks (1915). Most folks don’t know that before he made talkies, Fields had a silent film…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Laurel and Hardy comedy Come Clean (1931). This hilarious short opens with a retread of the opening of their 1928 silent Should M…
Today is the birthday of the gifted comic actor Fred Willard (1939). Most contemporary people know him I imagine from his turns in movie comedies from the last 20 or 30 years. I first bec…
We were much saddened by the recent passing of the late comedienne Joan Rivers, not just because she was a pioneer (for some context on that go here), and not just because she was terr…
It being the birthday of Roddy McDowell (center) it seemed a perfect time to toot a horn on behalf of a favorite show of mine when I was the ripe old age of nine. The Planet of the ApesÂ…
Today is the birthday of the late Roddy McDowell (1928-1998), one of the few child performers to weather the career doldrums of adolescence and enjoy a successful career in adulthood. A seco…
Today is the birthday of the great comedy film producer and director Jules White (1900-1985). White is alternately revered and reviled among comedy and film fans; I am unabashed in my …
Today is the birthday of Dolores Costello (1903-1979). The daughter of stage and screen star Maurice Costello, she began acting in films as a child at age six along with her sister Helene. B…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Laurel and Hardy feature Pack Up Your Troubles (1932). Their second feature for Hal Roach, it is as close as the team came to organi…
The fact that the true "star" of any Mack Sennett film was always the ensemble is evidenced by his studio's most famous legacy (after Charlie Chaplin), the Keystone Kops. The phrase has beco…
This little show is from before my time, but I associate it with a particular time in my life. My high school years coincided with the early ’80s explosion of cable television, which m…
Filed under: Burlesk, Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: A Night of Burlesque, Foxy Vermouth, Francine, Ivory Fox, Kita St. Cyr, Melody Jane, Planned Parenthood of New York C…
As we noted earlier, today is Penny Singleton’s birthday (for more on this star of stage, screen and radio go here). Singleton was best known for her role as the title character in the…
Today is the birthday of Fay Wray (1907-2003). For decades she was unfairly known for only one role, that of Ann Darrow, the reluctant love interest of the title character in King Kong…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the film Rio Rita (1929), the cinematic debut of the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. The movie was an adaptation of the …
A century ago today (according to IMDB)  influential cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay released his creation “Gertie the Dinosaur”. The titles in the clip below are line…
Today is the anniversary of the release date of the Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle comedy The Cook (1918), featuring also Buster Keaton and Al St. John. This is one of the more ca…
Yesterday was so gorgeous we had to take a lengthy constitutional through Prospect Park and came upon the happy surprise of Woman-with-a-Beard Jennifer Miller and her joyous troupe Cirkus Am…
