In Memoriam

Monday was the premier of TCM’s annual memorial reel, “TCM Remembers.” The reel is now available on the TCM website here. As always, it’s a beautiful memorial. Sadly, I learned today of the passing of John Harkness, film critic, author, poker player, and music reviewer. John was someone I knew …

El Brendel

Much of my information came from online sources (listed below) and the book pictured here, Anthony Slide’s Eccentrics of Comedy. Originally, my plan had been to thrill you all with a quick one-two punch, er, I mean series, of El Brendel-related posts. That is, until my plans were waylaid by …

Gloria Grahame

Much of my information on Gloria Grahame comes from the excellent book Suicide Blonde: The Life of Gloria Grahame by Vincent Curcio. I definitely recommend this book for fans of Grahame. It’s out of print, but used copies can be found online in several stores. Grahame was a beautiful, troubled …

The Big Heat (1953)

The Big Heat (1953, dir. Fritz Lang) is the quintessential classic 1950s film noir. The film begins, as they say, at the beginning: The suicide of a police officer and his hard, greedy widow looking to cash in while the body is still warm. She reads her husband’s suicide note and, seeing the opportunity for a payout, decides to blackmail the crime boss who had kept her husband on his payroll. Things go downhill from there.

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