The Great Ziegfeld

Here is a movie that, somehow, I had missed seeing.  The Great Ziegfeld (1936) was recently on TCM, so I put it on the DVR.  My wife and I just watched it.  This movie has a huge cast for 1936, and a huge price tag.  It cost $2,000,000 to make, but it took in $40,000,000 and won an Oscar for Best Picture.

No, I won't talk about William Powell, Myrna Loy, or Frank Morgan.  If you are reading a classic movie blog, you already know those names.  Let's look at some smaller parts.

In some very small parts we find Rosina Lawrence (1912 - 1997) and Mae Questel (1908 - 1998) who are both acquaintances of mine.  Rosina played in several Laurel and Hardy films and Little Rascals shorts for Hal Roach.  I attended Sons of the Desert banquets and conventions with her.  A wonderful lady--first class.  Mae was the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl and entertained us at one of the Sons of the Desert conventions.

Look quickly for Vivian Vance (1909 - 1979) in the audience of Anna Held.  It was her second film, and years before "I Love Lucy."  There is also an appearance of William Demarest (1892 - 1983) who has 167 titles on his list, including "My Three Sons."

Another Hal Roach actor in Ziegfeld is Mickey Daniels (1914 - 1970) who was in quite a few of the Little Rascals silent films. 

Nat Pendleton (1895 - 1967) played Sandow the strong man.  Pendleton has over 110 movies on his filmography.  He was in five with William Powell, including the first two Thin Man movies.  He was a strong man in real life and may be the first to display his body as art.  He was an Olympic wrestler for the United States in 1920, winning a silver medal.  In his later career he was in Buck Privates (1941) and Buck Privates Come Home (1947) with Abbott and Costello.

Reginald Owen (1887 - 1972) is cast as Sampston in one of his 142 titles.  Of course, Owen was Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1938 film, A Christmas Carol.  He was also the captain of the ship in White Cargo (1942) with Hedy Lamarr (1914 - 2000).  That must have been a steamy adventure!

Finally Ray Bolger (1904 - 1987) appears as Ray Bolger; and Fanny Brice (1891 - 1951) appears as Fannie Brice, but is credited as Fannie Brice.  Well, that's what IMDb says.

If you are new to classic films, this one is certainly worth viewing.  You can also catch the incredible staging of the song, A Pretty Girl in That's Entertainment (1974).  Could Ziggy have really done that on a theater stage???

Wyatt Earp

I remember from my youth that Wyatt Earp was "brave, courageous and bold."  Last weekend I caught Wyatt Earp on television.  This was the 1994 movie starring Kevin Costner (b. 1955).

I think that this may be the most accurate portrayal of the real Earp, but you have to keep in mind that Earp's real history is very cloudy and many details will never be known.  In both of the recent movies, Wyatt Earp and Tombstone (1993), Morgan Earp dies on a pool table.  In reality he died on a couch where they put him after he was shot.  Also, Josie Marcus, who lived with Wyatt for the rest of his life, was not really that beautiful.  All the actresses chosen to portray her are very definitely beautiful.  And in this movie, Wyatt burns the house where he lived with his first wife, when in reality he sold it for $75.00.  Are the details really necessary?  Take a look at the 'Goofs' link on IMDb for more.

The USA extended version of this film is 212 minutes in duration.  I had the pleasure of watching it on commercial television for over four hours.  Did I say pleasure?  It gave me time to walk the dog and do other chores, since the commercial breaks were close to ten minutes long.

Enough complaining!  This movie had a wonderful cast.  As I may have said before, Costner is best in sports movies, but he also does well in westerns.  All of the major characters are also played by stars including Gene Hackman, Bill Pullman, JoBeth Williams, Tom Sizemore, Mark Harmon, etc.

The real color in this movie comes from the Bit Parts.  Since the cast is so large, let's look at just a few.  Norman Howell played Johnny Ringo.  This was a small part in Wyatt Earp.  In Tombstone, Ringo is much more prominent.  In reality, I don't know how well either of these movies did, but I know that Ringo didn't die at the hands of Earp (as in Wyatt Earp) or Doc Holliday (as in Tombstone). 

Norman Howell is a stunt man.  He is in over 200 movies, but only has acting credits in 20.  I think it was a smart move to cast stunt artists in some of the parts.  His first acting role was in The Cowboys (1972) starring John Wayne. 

Indian Charlie, who is killed by Earp in a creek during the revenge scene, was played by Scotty Augare.  Augare is only in two movies and one TV series, but he was a wrangler for Dances with Wolves (1990) and I bet that is when he came to the attention of Costner.  He is a very handsome man, obviously of Native American lineage.

Ben Zeller played one of the doctors.  If you look closely, you'll find that Zeller was construction coordinator for Dances with Wolves, and was in the cast of Silverado (1985).  Another Costner find?

Did you see Tea Leone (b. 1966)?  She is a dance hall girl in a very small speaking part, only her third movie.  I missed her completely in A League of Their Own (1992), a fact I just noticed while doing this research.

Lastly, at the end of the movie we see young Mackenzie Astin (b. 1973) on the ship in Alaska with Wyatt and Josie.  Astin had the lead role in Iron Will, released the same year as Wyatt Earp.  I liked him in both movies.  He is the son of Patty Duke and John Astin, and now has 46 titles listed on IMDb.

I won't recommend that you put together a list of movies about Wyatt Earp to watch when you are snowed in for a weekend, but that's up to you.  All I know is, "Long may his story be told."

Bond, Jimmy Bond

I suppose that you know by now of my interest in history.  Film history is only one area of research for me.  My wife and I have been studying all sorts of history.  We even had our honeymoon in Gettysburg, PA.

A film series as popular and successful as James Bond had to have a history.  Everyone knows that Ian Fleming (1908 - 1964) wrote the stories about the British super secret agent known as 007.  It is fun to dig a little further.

Fleming wrote 13 novels and two story collections about James Bond.  According to Wikipedia, there have been 22 Bond films released, with a 23rd in the works for release next year.  They also state that the total box office take (so far) has been over $4.8 BILLION.  I'd call that successful.

The very first Bond novel was Casino Royale, written in 1952.  It is also the very first story used for a screen appearance of Bond, but here is where history gets to be fun.  In 1954, Casino Royale was presented on live television, making it Number One of the complete set.  I saw it for the first time this week.

Fleming reportedly sold the story rights for $1,000.  The story was then Americanized.  James Bond became Jimmy Bond, played by Barry Nelson (1917 - 2007), and he was an American spy.  He receives additional help from Clarence Leiter (name changed from Felix Leiter) who was a British spy.  In the later movies and the books, Leiter is American.  You can read my post about Leiter here.

The first Leiter was played by Michael Pate (1920 - 2008), and they spelled his character's name wrong in the credits, as Clarence Letter!  We also see the wonderful Peter Lorre (1904 - 1964) as Le Chiffre, our ruthless villain.  Nelson only took the role as Bond so he could have a chance to work with Lorre.

The female lead was played by Linda Christian (b. 1923).  She gets to kiss Bond, but there is no other hanky-panky.  It was only a one hour program!  She was good in the role as a double agent who lets emotion get involved in her character.  Well done for 1954 television.

Le Chiffre's henchmen were played by Gene Roth (1903 - 1976) who has 267 acting credits, and Kurt Katch (1896 - 1958) with 88 titles.  I suppose I have two more Bit Actor names for research!  These guys and the unidentified third bad guy were nasty!

The special edition set shown in the Amazon link above includes the 1966 spy spoof, Casino Royale, and also the 1954 TV presentation.  It is well worth owning.  It also has an interview with director Val Guest (1911 - 2006) who tells about the confusion of making the psychedelic movie.

In 1954 we had a lot of teleplays presented, and they included some big stars from Hollywood.  "Casino Royale" was one presentation of a series called "Climax!" which aired from 1954 to 1958.  The only problem is that video tape wasn't perfected yet.  Shows were either filmed for later editing and then broadcast, or they were presented live.  Most live shows were recorded on kinescope.  It is a rather crude process where a film camera is aimed at a television monitor.  The results are usually contrasty and have dark halos around some subjects.

The kinescope of this teleplay was lost until 1981 when Jim Shoenberger found it in his collection.  It was labeled "Casino Royale," but he thought it was the 1966 film.  When he saw it was black and white film, he looked more carefully.  Lucky for us this piece of history was re-discovered.

The copy has been released and is worth watching.  The story moves quickly, and it has the telltale signs of being a kinescope, but I enjoyed seeing it.  It is typical of teleplays in the 1950s.  You can tell that the sets are small and whenever you have something live on TV, someone will drop a line or fumble a word.  That's what makes it all so special.

More Marjorie Beebe

A guest post by Ian Craine -

MARJORIE BEEBE is largely forgotten today but in her time she was quite a star. Mack Sennett is on record as saying he believed she had the potential to be the greatest movie comedienne of them all. That’s praise indeed coming from the King of Comedy.

Beebe was a Missouri girl and the family moved to California when she was in her teens. She quickly became known at local cinemas and then at the studios; she was determined to become a movie star. She started out at Universal but soon moved to Fox and appeared in a number of their silent features. At first she played support to other actresses, particularly Madge Bellamy, but her talent for comedy was becoming apparent and she was given her own vehicle in 1928, The Farmer’s Daughter (Arthur Rosson, dir.). She got rave reviews for this; more than one newspaper suggested that she was the best comic actress seen for a very long time.

Mack Sennett was similarly impressed and within the year Beebe had left Fox and joined him. Her work with Sennett was different in two significant ways. Firstly with one solitary exception she stopped appearing in features. Sennett’s speciality was the two reel short and she appeared in at least forty over the next four years. Secondly and perhaps more importantly she was now in talkies. Sennett was experimenting with the new form and Marjorie Beebe was highly versatile. She was adept at old-style slapstick and a mistress of the pratfall. But she was also great with a wisecrack or a put-down.

Photo courtesy of Ian Craine

She would become Sennett’s star turn and two reelers would be written and named for her. She had her own screen persona, Marge Martin (daughter to Andy Clyde’s Pop Martin) but played any number of other roles too, usually on the sassy side…intrepid reporters, flirty wives, gangsters’ molls, club hostesses. Of particular interest are Cowcatcher’s Daughter (1931, Babe Stafford, dir.), Sennett’s nod to The Farmer’s Daughter, which is regrettably lost, with Beebe as a sassy cowgirl; and Doubling in the Quickies (1932, Babe Stafford, dir.) where she plays a Hollywood wannabe much as she had once been herself.

Mack Sennett went bankrupt in 1933 and Beebe’s career went into freefall with him. She went back to features and acted support in a few Westerns but her talents were wasted. She had always been a party girl and a drinker and Sennett had been the one man who seems to have been able to handle her. The second half of the 1930s were not a happy time for her; she had at least three unsuccessful marriages. She retired permanently in 1940 and finally began to find contentment again with her last husband well away from the spotlight.

 
Many thanks to Ian for his insight into ages past and a star who's light would only shine for a short time on the silver screen.

Marjorie Beebe, Part 1

Today I will cover the films of a silent movie star, Marjorie Beebe (1909 - 1983).  Your reaction may be similar to mine when I heard the name.  I said, "Who?"  Here is how this came about.

A few months ago I posted about Andy Clyde (1892 - 1967).  His is a well known name in film and TV.  I received an e-mail from a chap in London who told me about Beebe.  He was actually writing a short bio of her for a magazine at the time, which has since been published in the Journal of Popular Culture.  His name is Ian Craine. 

Marjorie Beebe appears in 79 titles from 1926 to 1939, and was a staple in over 40 films with Mack Sennett, who gave her a real chance starting in 1929.  She made 17 films with Andy Clyde, and played his daughter in many of the 'Pop Martin' movies. 

Her first talkie was a Fox film called Four A.M. made in 1927.  It starred Tyler Brooke (1886 - 1943) who was in several Hal Roach movies, including some with Laurel and Hardy. 

Beebe moved to Sennett in 1929 and her first film there, also with Andy Clyde, was called A Hollywood Star.  About ten of these early films also starred Harry Gribbon (1885 - 1961) who had a long movie career of over 150 films.

Beebe only made one feature while at Sennett.  Hypnotized in 1932 starred the comedy team of George Moran and Charles Mack, a vaudeville act who worked in black face as the Two Black Crows.  Marjorie played a maid, so it must have been a Bit Part for her.  The movie does not get very good reviews.

Photo courtesy of Ian Craine

Her last films with Sennett were released in 1933, and she made a few pictures with other studios until her last appearance on film in Hollywood Cavalcade (1939) starring Alice Faye and Don Ameche.  She played a silent film telephone operator.

So there are the 'nuts and bolts' of Marjorie Beebe to give you some background.  On Thursday I will post a bio of her that was written by Ian Craine specifically for me (and you).  I am sure you will find it interesting and informative.

Actors like Beebe should be remembered for their contribution to the film industry.  Who knows how many people she may have influenced?

Pups is Pups

What a fun evening we had last night.  During the Hal Roach marathon on Turner Classic Movies, I had stuck Pups is Pups (1930) on my DVR.  I thought that an Our Gang short about puppies would appeal to my wife who is a dog lover, and perhaps to our dog, Sadie, who sometimes glances at the TV.  I was right!!!  A friend was over, who is also a dog lover, and the three of us (four, including Sadie) laughed so much that we had to roll the movie back several times to catch some dialog.  Well, Sadie didn't laugh much.

This two-reeler was released in 1930 and was the first of that season.  It starred Bobby 'Wheezer' Huchins (1925 - 1945), Allen 'Farina' Hoskins (1920 - 1980), Jackie Cooper (b. 1922), Norman 'Chubby' Chaney (1914 - 1936), Dorothy ' Little Echo' DeBorba (1925 - 2010), and others.  As soon as I saw the first scene, I remembered the movie, even though it has been years since I had seen it last.

As the story starts, the gang is playing in their makeshift playground, which was probably a work area on the Roach Studio lot.  Five year old Dorothy comes out in a clean dress with her hair in lovely curls and heads straight for the mud puddle to jump in.  This was a running joke in a 20 minute film that was much more complex than you would think possible in such a short amount of time.  When I met Dorothy many years later at a Sons of the Desert banquet, she recanted her recollection of that movie for us!  Sadly we lost Dorothy in June last year at 85 years old.

There are two stories at work in Pups is Pups.  Wheezer has five puppies that he trained to come at the sound of a bell.  The rest of the gang are readying their pets to take them to a fancy dog and pet show in the city, where Farina has secured a job as a page (including a uniform with brass buttons).

We follow Wheezer who has let his puppies get away.  They are attracted to every bell they hear...an ambulance, an ice cream cart, a train crossing, whatever...and Wheezer can't keep up.  Meanwhile, the gang arrives at the pet show where they are not allowed in.  They sneak in anyway and wreak havoc, as you can imagine.

Wheezer is eventually reunited with his puppies in a scene that actually brought tears to my eyes!  He looks like he was genuinely attached to those little guys.  Of course he was only about five years old so that is not beyond a reasonable assumption.  And the gang is back at their play area, as Dorothy takes a final plunge in the puddle.

I decided to look up Pups is Pups in one of my books.  I bought Our Gang, The Life and Times of the Little Rascals many years ago.  It was written by Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann in 1977.  Even my books are getting old!

I had the pleasure of meeting Dick Bann in the 1980s, and he autographed my book.  It is interesting to note that this book, a paperback edition, has the price of $5.95 on the back.  You can't buy a paperback of this quality and content for anywhere near that as of this writing!  The 1984 printing of the book (with the red cover) is still available, and the newest version from 1992 is called The Little Rascals, The Life and Times of Our Gang.  If you love Hal Roach's Rascals as I do, it should be in your collection.  The film descriptions and biographies, as well as the well researched insight by the authors, make this a 'must have' book.

In the book, it is mentioned that Pups is Pups was the first Our Gang comedy to have a full musical score.  The music of Leroy Shield and Marvin Hatley has become synonymous with many Hal Roach comedies, including Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase films, and is instantly recognizable.

There is even mention in the book of something that struck me as quite progressive for the early depression years.  In the Our Gang comedies, we see children of several races, all playing together with total disregard for the color of their skin.  Maltin and Bann go into some detail in the book about this, including comments from Farina Hoskins to back them up.

Pups is Pups appears to be available on some Our Gang DVD collections, and it is usually better to have a collection than just one film from a series.  A word of warning, shy away from any colorized versions.  Adding color does absolutely nothing for these movies.  It should be against the law, actually.

Sunday, February 20, 2011 update:  I received the comment below from Richard Bann on Facebook yesterday.  Thanks again, Dick, for your knowledge and willingness to share.

If you are a member of Facebook, check out Dick's 'Notes' page for a very interesting piece on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), as mentioned below.  (And buy his books!!!)

Richard W. Bann -

"Very nice, Allen, thanks.  Vivendi is now re-releasing the Our Gang DVDs, a few at a time, until they are all for sale as individual DVDs.  Not a boxed set this time.  They are re-mastering the titles where they mistakenly worked from 16mm Blackhawk release prints....Whenever I drive to Paramount, I go right by the church where they filmed the closing scenes for PUPS IS PUPS...If you read the program notes for TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE which I posted on FB yesterday (written for that other Hefner) there is a pretty good story about Bad-Brained Bobby Blake, still making all the wrong kind of news."

A Comedy Tonight!

According to IMDb there were 2,074 comedies released in 1958.  We won't cover them all today.  When you look at the complete list, you realize that TV shows are included.  In fact, that number is not accurate at all.  Listings #3 through #42 are individual episodes of "Leave it to Beaver."  As far as theatrical movies, #1 is Gigi, and the next movie is #50, Indiscreet.  Then you go to "Father Knows Best" up through #88!

I was thinking about No Time for Sergeants from that year.  Sergeants came in at title #456, but there were only eleven movies listed before it.  I guess people were infatuated with television by 1958, but that doesn't excuse IMDb for allowing their computer system to create a misleading list.  There should be a way to filter out the TV shows.

Back to the movie.  I won't bore you with 'Permanent Latrine Orderly' Andy Griffith stories, but it was his second motion picture.  And it was Don Knotts' very first movie, the start of a lifelong friendship between the two.

Nick Adams (1931 - 1968) was well into his acting career and this was just two years before his successful TV series, "The Rebel" as Johnny Yuma.  In 1965 he was in three low-budget horror flix: Frankenstein Conquers the World; Die, Monster, Die; and Invasion of the Astro-Monster.  Sadly, Adams died in 1968 after an accidental drug overdose.

Next we see Murray Hamilton (1923 - 1986) who is a veteran actor with parts in The Hustler (1961), The Graduate (1967) , Jaws (1975) and almost 150 other titles.

Myron McCormick (1908 - 1962) played the drill sergeant.  He was a delight.  He only made about a dozen feature movies, but he is also seen in The Hustler as Paul Newman's mentor/agent.  Look for him on TV, but he was better known as a stage actor.

Here's a name for you.  Malcom Atterbury (1907 - 1992).  Another veteran actor who appeared here as a bus driver.  Don't miss him in two of Alfred Hitchcock's best, North by Northwest (1959) and The Birds (1963), plus a host of television shows. 

We also see Will Hutchens (b. 1930) as a pilot, better known as Sugarfoot on the TV series of the same name.  And Dub Taylor (1907 - 1994), another well known character actor.

Way down on the cast list we find Jamie Farr (b. 1934) in an uncredited role.  It was his fifth movie and he was still acting under his real name, Jameel Farah. 

Now, go watch No Time for Sergeants again.  I know it's been a while since you've seen it.  And watch for all the wonderful Bit Actors who make this a great comedy.

Esther Williams

When thinking of Wonderful, Wet Women, only one name comes to mind for most classic movie fans, Esther Williams (b. 1921), America's Mermaid.  She only made 23 features, but they are mostly memorable, and she worked with some big stars.

Back in the 1970s, during a vacation in Florida, we went to Busch Gardens and saw the Florida shaped swimming pool that she used for a film.  I just picked up a set of her films at Costco, and I am fixing to have an Aqua Esther Weekend.

Her first feature was Andy Hardy's Double Life in 1942 with Mickey Rooney.  It was not an 'Aqua Musical' as her later films were known, but it did show her talent, and more roles followed.

Bathing Beauty in 1944 was her first swim on screen, co-starring with Red Skelton (1913 - 1997).  Esther only made a few films each year, from 1942 to 1955, when the wet screen seemed to wain in popularity.  After that, she was in a few dramas and TV shows, and was featured in That's Entertainment III in 1994.

Her documentaries are as entertaining as her movies.  I have probably seen "Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens" made for TV in 1960, and I would certainly like to see "The Esther Williams Aqua Spectacle" from 1956.

Esther was the star of her films, although she may not have had the biggest part.  In Neptune's Daughter (1949), also with Skelton, she shared the screen with Ricardo Montalban (1920 - 2009), Keenan Wynn (1916 - 1986), Xavier Cugat (1900 - 1990) and Mel Blanc (1908 - 1989).  That's a tough group to act with, but I think only Montalban could swim!  Maybe that makes the rest of the cast Bit Actors.

Williams only made two films with her long time husband, Fernando Lamas (1915 - 1982).  The first was in 1953, Dangerous When Wet.  Then, in 1963 they were both in Williams' final movie, Magic Fountain, which was filmed in Spanish for that market. 

An interesting film at the end of the Aqua Musical era was Jupiter's Darling (1955).  This was a historical/aqua musical, starring Howard Keel (1919 - 2004) as Hannibal and George Sanders (1906 - 1972) as Fabius.  My guess is that it is less than factual.  Especially the underwater ballet with statues that come to life.

Pick up some Esther Williams films and have your own Aqua Esther Weekend.  Load your hair up with Vaseline to keep it styled underwater, and stick to the Aqua Musicals.  You'll have a memorable time with the Best of Esther.  And don't forget to watch for the Bit Actors.

Let's Make Love

1960 was just two years before Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962) died.  It was the year she made Let's Make Love.  This was not one of her best works, especially after just making hits like Bus Stop (1956) and Some Like it Hot (1959).

The movie starred Yves Montand (1921 - 1991) as a billionaire who is mistaken for an actor in a review that includes Monroe as the singer.  The supporting roles are played by Tony Randall (1920 - 2004) and Wilfred Hyde-White (1903 - 1991).

The credits are amazing.  Directed by George Cukor and with a screen play written in part by Arthur Miller (Monroe's husband), there were cameos by Milton Berle, Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly.  I am not sure why I didn't like this movie more than I did.

It was noted in some reviews on IMDb that it was not particularly favored by Monroe or Montand.  A small part as the male singer was played by Frankie Vaughan (1928 - 1999) who only appeared in seven movies.  He was so put off by the experience that he gave up acting.

Vaughan wasn't very good, in my opinion.  He was trying too hard to be Frank Sinatra, but his singing was less than impressive.  He apparently went on to be a headliner in London and Vegas, and he was knighted by the queen a few years later.

I didn't even see any chemistry between Monroe and Montand.  In the movie, Montand was supposed to be smitten with Monroe, and eventually Monroe came around.  What is interesting is that the two, though both were married at the time, did have an affair during the filming.  Maybe they were trying too hard to hide their feelings.

Of course, the best part is looking at the Bit Parts.  Former Stooge Joe Besser (1907 - 1988) plays a comedy writer.  We even see Leonard Breman (1915 - 1986) in a small part as a waiter.  Make sure you check out my earlier posts on Breman.

Let's Make Love is not really a bad movie.  It is a romantic comedy that is a little dated due to the style of 1960.  I think 1960 was a transition between the war years including the boom just after the war, and the free love era that was yet to come.  Movies made in that middle period are a mix of styles, so they didn't easily fit.

Marilyn Monroe is really the standout in this film, turning in a very good, believable performance.  For the fact that this was her second to last film, a year before The Misfits with Clark Gable, it is worthy of viewing.  By this time in her life she must have been troubled, but she still could act and sing.

No Bits Today! But Some Good Links.

I just noticed that my Laurel and Hardy post from a few weeks ago has been selected for reposting on the Movies Unlimited blog, MovieFanFare.  This is my third re-post to their site.  I'm glad they like my writing style.

I have found MovieFanFare to be a great read, filled with other enjoyable stuff like polls and little games.  They currently have a still picture from City Slickers (1991), and you are supposed to add a caption, plus you get to vote for your favorite actor who was nominated but never won a Best Actor Oscar.

Another Blog that is very informative and well written comes from my friend and frequent commenter, The Lady Eve.  She is a movie lover and it is obvious in her Blog.  The topics she chooses are varied and always interesting, and her interviews let you get into the mind of her subjects.

It is wonderful to have these resources to add to your knowledge of how and why movies are made.  The insight provided can only increase your enjoyment of what you see on the screen, large or small.

Make sure you check out the Classic Movie Blog Association as well.  Eve and I are both members, and the variety of subjects found there is amazing.  Scroll down the right side of the CMBA page to link to all of the most recent posts from the members.

Watch for the CMBA Blogathon coming in the spring when most members will post about a movie made in 1939.  Sounds like fun!  That was one of the very best years for classic movies.  Now, how about a classic Bit Actor in a 1939 movie?!?!