New York City’s Hotel Monterey was apparently built around 1909, and by the time of Chantal Akerman’s 1972 silent experimental film that features the building as the movie’s sole character, the motel had been turned into lower-rent apartments in the midst of a somewhat run-down neighborhood. Akerman’s stationary cameras capture movement, stillness, patterns, light and…
Ann Pennington, Oscar Levant, and Carole Lombard: A Night Parade Followup
Ann Pennington was easily the best human part of this dud of a film — the best part being the amazing art deco, by the way — and her hiked-over-the-hips ostrich feather skirt that did half of the dancing for her was stunning.
The Roger Corman Blogathon: The Day the World Ended (1955)
This post is for Forgotten Classics of Yesteryear‘s Roger Corman Blogathon. This promises to be a great ‘thon with lots of terrific bloggers contributing. Check it out! ***Science fiction was firmly entrenched as a popular film genre by the mid 1950s, but Roger Corman was still pretty new at the biz. Angry that he…
The Beautiful and the Bored: Penelope (1966) and Petulia (1968)
Penelope (Natalie Wood) is a bored housewife who steals things for fun. Her inattentive husband runs a bank, which goes a long way toward explaining her kooky scheme to rob her husband’s bank of $60,000. She confesses this to her psychiatrist (Dick Shawn) and attracts the attention of a police officer (Peter Falk), and…
Already Missing the Daily Mirror
Larry in 2010, recipient of the Courageous Citizens Award. I am heartbroken by this news: The LA Times has put the axe to The Daily Mirror blog. For those who never went, The Daily Mirror was a massive daily blog featuring articles scanned from the archives of the Los Angeles Times newspaper. Every day you…
SLatIFR’s Summer Quiz
Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule is famous for many things: The reviews, the insight, the super spicy nachos, and of course the movie quizzes. I’ve been wanting to do one of these for a long while, but was always stymied on or before question #20 on the list, because I know a lot…
No More Ladies (1935) redux
Somehow, I ended up with a pile of great promotional photos for No More Ladies, so here they are. How’s that for an introduction? “I gots some pictures. Look at them, dammit!” This collar haunts me in my nightmares. Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead near food in that gown. Or inks or liquids or…
Everybody Loves Kay Francis
Please don protective eyewear, as you cannot stare directly into the glamour without jeopardizing your vision.
Holiday Pictures
Holiday pictures, as in pictures to send you off on your government-approved three day holiday. Valid in the U.S. only. The rest of you will just have to enjoy a regular weekend. I’m still cleaning out my Whoops I Forgot To Post This folder, so here we go. Hollywood Hotel: Housewife: Courtesy Film Noir Photos.…
The Bette Davis Project #16: Wagon Train: “The Elizabeth McQueeny Story”
Bette Davis guest starred in three episodes of “Wagon Train,” and BBFF Ivan tipped me off to a rerun of her second appearance in “The Elizabeth McQueeny Story”. This 1959 episode featured Ward Bond in the lead as wagon master Seth Adams leading a wagon train to, er, somewhere in the west. I don’t really…