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‘Laura’— The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 14
In case you just tuned in, I’m using Louella Parsons’ May 15, 1944, item on Rouben Mamoulian being replaced as the director of “Laura” to take a meandering look at the making of the film, which was...
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‘Laura’— The Making of a Film Noir Classic, Part 19
Page 151 of “Laura.” Novelist Vera Caspary uses the date Friday, Aug. 27, 1941. In case you just tuned in, I’m using Louella Parsons’ May 15, 1944, item on Rouben Mamoulian being replaced as the...
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James Ellroy: ‘Perfidia’ Online
Google Books is offering a extensive preview of James Ellroy’s “Perfidia,” for those who may be curious about it. Amazon is also offering a preview. I have to say I’m not reassured by the first...
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Dec. 7, 1959: Paul Coates Interviews Tokyo Rose
On Dec. 7, 1959, Paul Coates published an interview with Tokyo Rose. She says: “What’s the use? What good is it to talk to the press? Everybody’s mind is made up about me.” A throwback from 2009, when...
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Christmas on the Radio — Jack Benny
Jack Benny at the microphone, a photo listed on EBay for $9.97. Here are some of Jack Benny’s Christmas shows, courtesy of Archive.org. From 1936 | 1938 | 1941 | 1944 | 1947 | 1948
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Who Can Spot the Mistake?
This illustration by Los Angeles artist Jeffrey Smith appeared in the New York Times on Jan. 16, 2016, accompanying a story about an elaborate hoax that occurred in 1941. Who can spot the mistake?
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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Silver Screen Revue Salutes Silent Days
A matchbook from the Wilshire Bowl, listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $9.95. Within just a few years of sound motion pictures becoming the approved film format, silent films became a virtual pariah in...
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Coming Attractions: Chaplin’s ‘The Great Dictator’ at the Alex Theatre With...
Charlie Chaplin, as Adenoid Hynkel, performs a balletic routine with a globe in “The Great Dictator.” John Bengtson, who has performed fabulous detective work in tracking down movie locations in early...
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Mystery photo solved
The correct answer is Caryl Whittier Chessman. A very impressive showing by Duane Laible. I didn’t expect anyone to guess so quickly. Meet the boy bandit gang, which terrorized Los Angeles with a...
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Random story
Jan. 14, 1941 I stumbled across this brief while researching the Boy Bandit Gang:
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Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)
This week’s mystery movie was the 1941 Columbia picture “Texas,” with William Holden, Glenn Ford, Claire Trevor, George Bancroft, Edgar Buchanan, Don Beddoe and Willard Robertson. Screenplay by Horace...
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A Firsthand History Lesson on Pearl Harbor
Note: This is a repost from 2011. In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular...
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A Firsthand History Lesson on Pearl Harbor
Note: This is a repost from 2011. In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)
This week’s mystery movie was the 1941 film “Cheers for Miss Bishop,” with Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edwin Gwenn, Sidney Blackmer, Dorothy Peterson, Sterling Holloway, Donald Douglas, Marsha Hunt,...
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A Firsthand History Lesson on Pearl Harbor
Note: This is a repost from 2011. In 1962, I was a seventh-grader at Washington Junior High School in Naperville, Ill. On Dec. 7, Mr. Humbert, our social studies teacher, put aside the regular...
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