His large catalog of achievements is amazing to me, but also mentioned was his youth-background and its translation into Americana. How in the world did that happen? That's a remarkable issue for me - and seeing that, even at the end of his life, his speech was so heavily accented, and he so enjoyed...

Yes, the money factor - the profitability - is always one point. But the other point is, "How much can we make by leaving them in the vault?" Their profitability question has a variety of possible answers. Their current decision has only one: ZERO profit, total expense of storage, AND they...

Guys - anyone wanna press the limits of Joan Leslie's tolerance for bad behavior? Boy... and that's not even a fiercely raised eyebrow! I can just imagine what happened when she showed fangs! I realize so many of these photos were staged, but they show such an incredible range of facial expressions,...

Christine, I'm always delighted that we've been saved - Western Civilization - from those yellow-devils because Hollywood refused to allow Orientals to lead Oriental stories. Obviously, the public wanted to see those stories, and I've never quiet understood how Hollywood could make the incredibly fa...

http://themoderatevoice.com/59065/killing-comedic-heritage-cbs-reportedly-seals-some-classic-jack-benny-show-comedy-masters/ CBs has decided to bury Jack Benny's TV shows, blaming unknown forces on their decision to refuse to let the Jack Benny Club restore 25 public-domain episodes with the Jack B...

This really is great reading - for me. Thanks. On a vaguely side-note, I've been promoting a syndrome called the GAWI Effect - the Getting Away With It effect. But I saw someone used "CRI Effect" and I thought - what in the world could THAT be? Cranial-Rectal Inversion. Boy. Does THAT soun...

Birdy, I enjoyed LITTLE BIG SHOT, too. I think I may donate too many positive feelings toward films that are stacked up with favorite character actors. As much as Denham is almost-a-villain in KING KONG (cajoling poor Faye Wray with his taunting "Scream, Ann, scream!" camera directions - p...

Gag. I guess Texas qualifies. We've had nothing but swimmin' weather this last week. I keep expecting Texas' annual 2nd Winter to arrive - for 3-4 days.

I have been pleased to that Scam Alerts went up fairly quickly and this is how Wyclef's history of dubious-at-best "charity work" was brought to light. As Haiti's favorite son, he's an anecdote from the "Familiarity Breeds Contempt" Department. Or "...Breeds a belief in gett...

Not intentionally, but I've discovered that I use forums almost exclusively as a source of unknown-film reviews. I have learned enough about each writer's tastes to give myself a better-than-average chance of evaluating an unseen film, and I also find it comforting to know that I can address my view...

My referencing the Beatles is a slap-at-the-face towards the argument that Old Entertainment should be shelved and never reconsidered as a revenue stream. Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong have made this argument for 70 years, but there remains huge amounts of music that isn't in-print and can't be f...

Wendy, that bit of a scene to start GODFREY is one reason I've come to study Pangborn's work. That moment when he touches this hobo's face, like he was putting his hand into fire, knowing it would result in an agonizing experience - his face has to deliver ALL of that meaning so quickly and so perfe...

I enjoy this one as well, and for all of our shared criticisms and opinions, all of those also make up part of my favorable opinions, too. I think the film's aging of her is amazingly correct with how Olivia actually did age, structurally, and I hope Olivia appreciated that. (Mostly, I just love tha...

I think the market for classic films ONLY grows by keeping them on display, somehow. Nothing grows if the seeds are never planted, and the rigthsholders are refusing to let them out. This is why I wish the Public Domain laws would free these. Some studios have given film catalogs to universities for...

I should scratch around and try to find Pangborn's so-called 'biggest role'. But you can never bring BANK DICK up too often. All of Fields' films were collections of scenes - that coincidentally keep the same character names as if that means anything! But Pangborn was seldom given larger roles than ...