THE UNSUNG GRANDFATHER OF ‘KING KONG’
Willis O’Brien’s place in movie history is secure. He is the genius who engineered the stop-motion animation that made King Kong come to life in 1933. He made a series of caveman shorts for Thomas Edison in the teens…
JOAN CRAWFORD: NO FEUD WITH FANS
Like many of you, I’ve been watching Ryan Murphy’s compelling series Feud: Bette and Joan and thinking about the women it explores, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The other day a lightbulb went off in my head and I…
NOIR CITY AND BEYOND
I was startled when Eddie Muller reminded a packed audience at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre that the annual Noir City Festival was marking its 19th year. My wife and I have attended at least a handful of shows every one…
CHAPLIN AND ORSON WELLES’ ONE-HIT WONDER
Few actresses have had a mentor as notable as Charlie Chaplin or a launch-pad as prominent as Citizen Kane, yet the name Dorothy Comingore is as little-known today as it was when that milestone movie was released. I was…
MOVIES WORTH SAVING—AND SHOWING
My Dad always loved my definition of a film buff: someone who will intentionally watch a bad movie. My wife and I put that to the test Monday night when we attended the UCLA Film and Television Archives’ Festival…
SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW ‘HIS GIRL FRIDAY’ AND ‘MILDRED PIERCE’
There are few films I know as well—or love as much—as Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday (1940), the director’s fast and furious remake of The Front Page. I’m also well acquainted with the great Mildred Pierce (1945 ) starring…
A FAMILIAR NAME RETURNS TO THE SCENE
Laurel and Hardy are back on DVD, along with Edgar Kennedy, Snub Pollard, and other silent-comedy favorites, and we have Kit Parker to thank for it. If you rented 16mm films in the 1970s and 80s for your school,…
