Here’s a fascinating little fragment of W.C. Fields and director Mitchell Leisen on the set of ‘The Big Broadcast of 1938’. It’s hard to figure out what this was for. The first section is a little mini-routine between Fields and Leisen–they’re wired for sound so clearly this was meant for
This is a real curio. It’s clips and coverage of a concert that the Jackson 5 did in 1971 at–get this–West Side High School in Gary, Indiana. Imagine that? The Jackson’s coming to your auditorium for a little after school concert? (When I went to High School we once had
Given that TCM is showing all the ‘That’s Entertainment’ movies today, I thought I’d post the L&H magician sequence from MGM’s all-star ‘Hollywood Revue of 1929’. The movie is as creaky and wonderful as its title and while this particular L&H routine isn’t one of their high points, it was
I was surprised to read in Randy Skervedt’s excellent book ‘Laurel & Hardy–The Magic Behind The Movies’ that ‘The Finishing Touch’ (1928) was considered something of a disappointment in its day–Stan Laurel, a notoriously discerning craftsman, apparently felt that it could have been much better. Five years later some of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDZAzkUL5B0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DunNsrvr51A&t=278s Probably the most famous of L&H’s silent films, ‘Liberty’ is an entry into the ‘thrill comedy’ genre as exemplified by the stuntwork of Harold Lloyd’s famous comedy ‘The Freshman’ as well as any number of death-defying stunts performed by Buster Keaton. Part of the machismo of the knockabout comedian
Today’s tour of Culver City in the 1920s also includes the silent L&H classic ‘Big Business’. Shot in 1929, the classic short gives us charming views of the slow-to-be-built Cheviot Hills/Culver City adjacent area, with many empty lots and a few houses under construction that can be seen in the
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkZvopfW85Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgeHDOtW75k&t=94s My three-way tie for greatest Laurel and Hardy short is ‘Helpmates’, ‘Brats’, ‘Music Box’ and today’s film, ‘Hog Wild’. Notice that I said THREE way tie and then mentioned FOUR films. Now having said that, picture me saying it to Stan and Stan counting the ‘three’ titles on his
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB-MRV0Axb8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AczHhFKw7ns&list=RDCMUCsp_AoKt3DdHb65j4ehrDug&index=1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1a_vcMVE3E&t=10s The delightful week between Christmas and New Years is here, the one in which there is no true clock to adhere to since nobody’s really anywhere or doing anything (unless of course you have a job like a real person). My preference for this cherished week has always been
Apropos of yesterdays animated TV credit sequences, I went searching for the original ‘I Love Lucy’ animated opening credits. I found it–but, as is often the case with YouTube, I found something even more interesting on my way. It turns out that a pilot episode of ‘I Love Lucy’ was
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaekCb0HPaEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NyTDmrxhDI&list=PLD8BA093BC69A2754 Here’s a nice peaceful ride down Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills in 1935. This footage was likely shot as rear-projection plates for car driving scenes–studios kept lots of stock footage of this sort on hand as driving scenes were not yet practically done on the road and were instead