Hollywood in Costume

Hollywood in Costume

Clifton Webb, Marlene Dietrich, and Elizabeth Allan at a Hollywood theme party held by Basil Rathbone and wife Ouida Bergere in 1935. The theme was “The Person You Most Admire.” Dietrich chose Leda of the famous fable, while her escort for the night, Elizabeth Allen, went as Dietrich.

It’s Halloween on SBBN!

It’s Halloween on SBBN!

Hello everyone, and welcome to another exciting October here at SBBN. Most years we try to do a little something fun for Halloween month, and this year is no exception, but before we get too carried away, let’s give a little love to past Halloween hootenannies: A Very Brief History of a Very Famous Mask:…

S.O.B. (1981)

S.O.B. (1981)

Blake Edwards was mad at Hollywood. He’d gone through some things, man, and now he had a whole lot of beef with the entire cynical, money-grubbing, back-stabbing lot. In 1981, after making a comeback with mega-hits The Pink Panther and 10, he started on a nasty little poison pen letter to Tinseltown called S.O.B., short for “standard operational bullshit,” otherwise known as the way Hollywood always works.

The Delinquents (1957)

The Delinquents (1957)

What sets The Delinquents apart from other low-budget teen flicks of the time is its professional look. It’s clean, even sleek, and without the (usually hilarious) errors one would find in something meant to basically be background noise while teenagers necked in the back seat.

Torch Song (1953)

Torch Song (1953)

If you had to pick one best thing about the camp classic Torch Song (1953) — as if it’s even possible to do so, but let’s pretend — it’s that Joan Crawford’s Broadway diva Jenny Stewart is a stone cold monster.

Demon Seed (1977)

Demon Seed (1977)

Demon Seed, previously available only on DVD, is now also available in Blu-ray from Warner Archive. It’s a heady mix of frightening and campy, the kind of film that would do equally well in a double feature with Alien or with Terrorvision (go go Gerrit Graham film marathon!)