In 2002, my new friend Peter Bogdanovich and I decided to make a CD of songs from the American popular songbook. We both loved the standards from the 30s/40s/50s and Peter was, believe it or not, a pretty good singer. We’d been getting together at my apartment for the past
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcRHhIRO9OI The Columbia Short Subjects department of the 1930s-50s will remain immortal, of course, for being the home of the Three Stooges. But many other comics had series of their own, most have which went straight from the theaters to the home for old crappy movies. They didn’t seem to
I didn’t know this actually still existed or, if it did, exactly how to see it. But here is a lousy but incredibly valuable VHS copy of the 1966 TV show with songs ‘Evening Primrose’, starring Anthony Perkins with songs by Sondheim and a script by James Goldman. Presented on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwC_hvhSVN4 Here’s a Warner Brothers logo from the mid 1930s that I’ve never seen. It’s the same WB in a heart shaped box as always only this one begins from nowhere and dramatically zooms toward the audience. Beyond that, what’s interesting about these credits is the tangle of companies listed
A Youtube artist (and I mean ARTIST) named NASS specializes in taking old documentary footage of New York City and Los Angeles and revitalizing them (footage shot, for the most part, to serve as rear-projection plates for movies–you know, the backgrounds of driving scenes where you can tell the actors
I first met Burt Young (aka ‘Paulie’) in 2012 when I convinced him to do a small but vital role in my movie ‘Rob The Mob’. I won’t go into the whole adventure of meeting this extraordinary man and the friendship that developed and has evolved over the years. That
Here’s a documentary that I never knew about. ‘Last Of The Independents’ is an hour-long doc on director Don Siegel (‘Dirty Harry’, ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ etc.) which features a long interview with Siegel himself. This alone makes it an interesting find as Siegel was not a particularly visible
This post marks the return of my 14 year old weblog (much nicer word than the tired, early 21st century sounding ‘blog’) ‘Movies Til Dawn’, a collection of writings about videos (all provided via Youtube, natch) of all things film/music/junk culture-centric. Thanks to the lame-ass folks at Blogger, the site
Here with the middle section of the 1956 documentary “Music Of the South”, a pioneering work on the orgins of jazz. If this post is your first find on the subject, simply scroll down to the previous post for an explanation of the films history. It’s director was my father
This is getting weird. A month or two ago I was told that we were part of the Rio De Janeiro Film Festival. They wanted to bring me, Andy Garcia, Steven Strait, Emily Mortimer, Julianna Margulies and my producers Lauren Versel and Zachary Matz. Then Andy couldn’t make it on
Take a ride down the Sunset Strip in 1963 and enjoy the cool cars and the already sickening smog. My favorite liquor store, Gil Turner's, was already in business. #HollywoodHills #LosAngeles https://raymonddefelitta.org/historical-footage/drive-west-on-sunset/
Take a trip down the Sunset Strip, heading east and facing south, in 1967. I can smell the rib joint that was on the SE corner of Crescent Heights. Anyone know what I'm referring too? #SunsetStrip317 #Hollywood #LosAngeles #60s https://raymonddefelitta.org/uncategorized/drive-east-on-sunset/
What do Duke Ellington and Cinerama have in common? Find out in this quite fascinating (if I do say so myself) blog entry that I wrote in--yikes--2007. It includes the incredibly strange and beautiful short 'Symphony In Black'. #Jazz #TCM #Cinema https://raymonddefelitta.org/music-jazz/duke-ellington-meets-cinerama/
Dig Rick Moranis doing his wicked Merv Griffin impression in this sketch from the immortal SCTV NBC late night show of the early 80s. Guest appearances by Liberace, Loni Anderson and Yasser Arafat. #television #comedy #Mimicry https://raymonddefelitta.org/film-history/rick-moranis-impersonates-merv-griffin/
I had no idea that Merv Griffin interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on his show in 1967? Did you? A must-watch clip. #television #ClassicTV #MLKDay #MLK #BlackLivesMatter https://raymonddefelitta.org/historical-footage/merv-meets-martin/
