Today I offer two views of this week’s subject Gloria Swanson in the late 1920s/early 1930s. Above is a little reel that jams together a few obscure but interesting snippets of film–it’s a bit of a hodgepodge but I thought worth including in our loose and free-wheeling survey of La
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Roptw1AGp8 I never knew there was a black and white version of ‘The Flintstones’. That’s no doubt because when the show aired in syndication in the 1970s (which is when I saw it) black and white was felt to be undesirable to the children who were watching the show. Far
Above is from a 1965 ‘Flintstones’ episode wherein the children of the Flintstones and Rubbles–Pebbles and Bam-Bam–have their moment in the singer/celebrity spotlight. The song that was chosen for them, ‘Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sunshine In)’ has a curious history. It was written in 1954 by Stuart
Compare and contrast the animated Ann-Margaret as shown in yesterday’s Flinstone’s clip with the real deal. Above is the opening pre-credit A-M number from ‘The Swinger’ (1966), a film that delivers so much less than its title (and title sequence) promises that, if it were a vaudeville show, it would
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXCiS2FpmIc Apropos of yesterday’s ‘Flintstones’ musical moment, here is the hottest cartoon character ever drawn–save for, perhaps, Jessica Rabbit. (Or Petunia Pig, if the BBW world is more your cup of darjeeling). Ann-Margret was square in the middle of her ‘Viva Las Vegas’ fame when this tribute was drawn by
I have no idea why I had a dream last night in which Fred Flintstone was singing the immortal ‘Bedrock Twitch’. I also had a dream in which I was conversing with an English Bulldog, my favorite breed of dog. Perhaps ‘Bedrock’ and ‘Bulldog’ conjoined and turned into ‘The Bulldog
Continuing our little remembrance of the world’s first official crooner, above is a nice profile of Rudy Vallee done for the Today Show by Boyd Matson in the early 80s. Bryant Gumble was then the host and appears—pre-face lift–at the end of the segment. There’s nothing terribly fresh in this
A couple of days ago I posted an interview with Rudy Vallee from 1984 on Skip E. Lowe’s local Los Angeles public access television show. It was the 83 year old Vallee’s last televised appearance–he died two years later after a long illness. Let’s do a little comparing and contrasting
Here’s a neat little four minute clip reel of 1920s New York City footage, most of it focusing on Times Square at night. The clip selection is random and a bit wonky but anything about 1920s New York City is catnip to me so I’d thought I’d share it. (Apparently
Let’s close our reconstruction of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon with the ever popular Jerry anthem, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. Above are two videos–one of Jerry singing it on the 1987 telethon and one of Jerry rehearsing it two years later. Jerry in rehearsal is