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On July 23, 1937, MGM unveiled in theaters Saratoga, a star vehicle for Jean Harlow, who had died suddenly weeks earlier. Additional shooting was needed to complete the film, which featured the actress alongside Clark Gable. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review, headlined “‘Saratoga’ Warmly Greeted … Jean Harlow’s Last Earns High Praise,” is below:

Jean Harlow’s last picture, Saratoga, cannot be reviewed unemotionally. It can only be reported.

Audience reception at a preview last evening in Glendale was unmistakably enthusiastic. Possibly surprised, but never shocked by the fact that the story is a riotous comedy, each time Miss Harlow’s name appeared on the screen and upon the occasion of her first entrance the house rocked with applause. It was more than cursory hand-clapping. The final hand was in honest appreciation of an honestly entertaining offering, splendidly performed, written and directed.

The production by Bernard H. Hyman, with John Emerson as associate producer,...

Throughout the 96-year history of the Academy Awards, the amount of acting lineups consisting only of first-time nominees has reached 37, or about 10% of the overall total. While that number may not seem high in a general sense, these cases actually outnumber those exclusively involving veteran contenders by a ratio of three to one. However, although this list expanded as recently as 2023, rookie-only acting lineups are gradually becoming less common than veteran-only ones, the amount of which has nearly doubled within the last dozen years.

Whereas 75% of veteran-only acting quintets have involved lead performers rather than supporting ones, almost the exact opposite is true of lineups full of newcomers. For instance, only one existing case of the former kind concerns supporting actresses, whereas the same category has produced 15 rookie-only rosters. The last such group consisted of 2000 winner Angelina Jolie and nominees Toni Collette (“The Sixth Sense”), Catherine Keener (“Being John Malkovich...

When it comes to lone acting Oscar nominations, the category with the fewest examples is Best Supporting Actor. After two consecutive years of there being no new additions to that subgroup, Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) became its 54th member in 2023 after having been largely ignored by other awards bodies over the preceding weeks. He directly followed Tom Hanks, who is the only other entrant from the last five years.

Within the last decade, this club has only grown by seven, with those who preceded Hanks and Henry being Robert Duvall, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, and Christopher Plummer. 2018 marked the fifth instance of two men accomplishing the feat at once, thus tying the category’s record for most bids of this kind in a single year. Contextually, the corresponding Best Supporting Actress record is three, while that of both lead categories is four.

As it happens, the Best Supporting...

The 1935 Best Actor lineup at the Academy Awards featured three Oscar newcomers in the forms of Clark Gable, Frank Morgan (“The Affair of Cellini”), and William Powell (“The Thin Man”), with Gable winning. Then came an 88-year gap. It wasn’t until earlier this year that voters nominated another lineup in this category made entirely out of first-time nominees. That list consisted of winner Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) plus Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Bill Nighy (“Living”), and Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”).

Could history repeat itself quick time, like two delayed London buses arriving at the same time for passengers waiting in the sodden rain of Blighty? According to our Oscars odds chart for Best Actor, Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”) are set to be nominated. Of those names, only...

Palm Springs is where one goes to be seen; neighboring Rancho Mirage, well, not so much. That’s why many A-List Hollywood stars pulled up sticks in the mid-20th century, moving from Palm Springs — and L.A. — to the more discreet Rancho Mirage, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a city this year.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, at least one Marx brother, Bing Crosby, and even the guy who played the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, MGM contracted character actor Frank Morgan, lived there. All were seeking the country club lifestyle away from the party scene and camera flashbulbs.

Lawrence Welk, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore and Barbara Sinatra at the 1972 Dinah Shore Colgate Winner’s Circle in 1972 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

Rancho Mirage also has long been known as the “Playground of the Presidents,” especially...

The last Academy Awards, which saw “Everything Everywhere All at Once” win Best Picture, featured a history-making lineup in the Best Actor category. All five of the nominees were newcomers: Brendan Fraser won for “The Whale” while Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Bill Nighy (“Living”), and Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) all reaped their first bids.

That was the first time this happened since 1935 when there were only three Best Actor nominees: Clark Gable (“It Happened One Night”), Frank Morgan (“The Affairs of Cellini”), and William Powell (“The Thin Man”); Gable won. But after such a long gap between those two records, could we have a case of London buses and see another Best Actor lineup full of newcomers again at this year’s Oscars? Let’s take a look.

Currently, we are predicting that the following five fellows will be nominated for Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon...

There’s no place like prison?

A federal grand jury today indicted a man in the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. Terry Martin is charged with one count of stealing a major artwork — specifically facing a charge of theft of an object of cultural heritage from the care, custody or control of a museum.

The indictment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota in Minneapolis, did not give Martin’s age or hometown, nor did it suggest a potential maximum prison term. It alleges that he stole the revered footwear from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Mn. At the time, the slippers were insured for $1 million, but a current fair-market appraisal value the slippers at $3.5 million, the Justice Department said.

A pair of the ruby slippers from ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ on...

Hedy Lamarr starred in Jack Conway’s Boom Town with Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, and Frank Morgan (in the exhibition) Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Hedy Lamarr: Actress. Inventor. Viennese is an impressive exhibition curated by Danielle Spera (director of the Jewish Museum Vienna from 2010 - 2022) and designed by Stefan Fuhrer (Fuhrer Vienna) at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. You can watch scenes from Georg Jacoby”s Money on the Street with Heinz Rühmann, Carl Boese’s No Money is Needed, Gustav Machatý Ecstasy, John Cromwell’s Algiers (1938), Georg Misch’s Calling Hedy Lamarr (2004), and Hedy Lamarr – An Ingenious Mind (2022).

Danielle Spera with Anne-Katrin Titze on the KaDeWe Group Lamarr building, Rem Koolhaas and his Oma partners: “Ellen van Loon is the architect and she is great to work with …”

Hedy’s beauty was an inspiration for Walt Disney’s Snow White, Batman co-creator Bob Kane’s Catwoman,...

Romantic comedies have been around since the beginning of the film industry, but they’ve had a bit of an up-and-down run over the years. From their heyday in the 1990s to Netflix’s recent efforts to bring them back into mainstream popularity, we thought it was time to take stock and make a list of the ten best romantic comedies ever.

Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers

We compiled a top 10 list and crunched numbers until we arrived at our ultimate list. As you’ll see below, this is an eclectic mix that includes everything from black-and-white classics to modern blockbusters. Each one fits the American Film Institute’s definition—a genre in which “the development of a romance leads to comic situations”—but more importantly, they’re all funny movies with romantic happy endings.

10 Highest-Rated Romantic Comedies on IMDb The Artist (2011) – 7.9 The Shop Around the Corner...

When the 2023 Oscar nominations were announced last Tuesday the 24th, an interesting thing happened. Sixteen of the 20 acting nomination slots were held down by first-time nominees, including all five for Best Actor: Austin Butler for “Elvis,” Colin Farrell for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Brendan Fraser for “The Whale,” Paul Mescal for “Aftersun” and Bill Nighy for “Living.” It was a somewhat stunning development given that all five in the category last year were returnees: Will Smith (“King Richard”), Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield and Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”).

If you’re wondering when happened to be the last time that all of the nominees in the lead actor category were first-timers, try 1935, in the midst of The Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt was President of the United States. Parker Brothers marketed the board game Monopoly for the first time. A...

Tuesday’s Oscar nominations brought the jaw-droppers many expected. Some met with joy, and others with heartbreak.

Social media and awards pundit circles have been touting Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” as an undisputed front-runner for most of the awards season. With a leading 11 nominations, it’s in an excellent position to win the best picture statuette for distributor A24, the same studio that pulled off the memorable “Moonlight” upset over “La La Land” at the 2017 show. A24 led the day for studios with a resounding 18 nominations, with Netflix in second with 16.

The multiverse flick landed expected noms for acting — Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu — but flexed in the artisan races like costume design, original score and original song. However, holding the title of the “one to beat” can bring the claws out of other studios and strategists...

Ernst Lubitsch's 1940 Christmas comedy "The Shop Around The Corner" has a bit of everything: petty workplace drama, an affair, and a most unlikely romance, making for a combination that is both sweet and acidic at once. Everything in it is graced with the so-called "Lubitsch touch," a precise set of innuendo and body language that turns funny or sentimental material into something far greater, and the warmth and melancholy of the holiday only heighten that complex feeling. It also is probably the second-best James Stewart-led Christmas movie, just beneath "It's a Wonderful Life."

While "Shop" would sadly be the only Lubitsch movie with James Stewart playing the lead, the actor's typical affability and relaxed posture made him a natural fit for Lubitsch's sensibilities. Few of the director's other leading men, whether they were Gary Cooper or Don Ameche, could match what Stewart could suggest with a raised eyebrow.

Perhaps this is an experience you felt earlier this year. You walk into your local movie theater, eager to watch "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Maybe it's because it is Sam Raimi's first film since that time James Franco pretended to have an ounce of Frank Morgan's charisma. Maybe it's because you're still invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some way, or perhaps you just thought the trailers looked cool. Either way, you've taken your seat. The trailers finish rolling, and the film has begun.

Then, after a few minutes of tension-building action, you see him. He's sitting next to Benedict Cumberbatch's titular wizard. He's wearing a tan suit, but most importantly, he's wearing the flattest, most skater boy-looking wig you've ever seen in your life. It looks horrible, but beautiful at the same time. You want to rip it off of his head,...

Celebrated cartoonist and screenwriter Daniel Clowes discusses his favorite formative films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Baxter (1989)

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1966) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Ghost World (2001) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Art School Confidential (2006)

Help! (1965) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Gone With The Wind (1939)

Mudhoney (1965) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968)

Common Law Cabin (1967)

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Seven Minutes (1971)

Black Snake (1973)

An American Werewolf In London (1981) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray reviews

Lady In A Cage (1964) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Wild One (1953)

Hush…...

Imagine it: you've made it to the Emerald City, and you finally get the chance to peek behind the curtain. Who's back there? Is that ... Jeff Goldblum?! The not-so-wonderful Wizard of Oz featured in "Wicked" will be played by a familiar face, according to Variety, as Goldblum is apparently in talks to take on the role of the Wizard in the two-part film adaptation of the stage play.

Goldblum will join the star-studded cast of John M. Chu's "Wicked," which will be headlined by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. It's worth noting, though, that this Wizard is far from the same role that Frank Morgan originated in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" movie. In "Wicked," which is based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel, the Wizard isn't an ordinary man pulling some strings, but a dictator. The Wizard's full name is Oscar Zoroaster Diggs, and he uses magic and violence to...

Jeff Goldblum is off to be the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The actor is in talks to join the cast of the upcoming “Wicked” films, as Variety reported.

A source close to the project tells IndieWire that Goldblum is still in early talks.

If confirmed, Goldblum will play the Wizard, depicted in the original Stephen Schwartz stage musical as the beloved but mysterious ruler of the Land of Oz, capable of incredible feats of magic and power. Joel Grey originated the part in the Broadway production based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” Of course, the character of the Wizard originates in L. Frank Baum’s classic 1900 children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and has been portrayed onscreen numerous times, most notably by Frank Morgan in the 1939 MGM film adaptation of Baum’s original work.

Click here to read the full article.

Larry Storch, the manic comic actor who starred as the bumbling sidekick Corporal Randolph Agarn on the 1960s ABC sitcom F Troop, has died. He was 99.

Storch, who got his start as a stand-up comic, did impressions and voiced the all-knowing Phineas J. Whoopee on the classic cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, died early Friday morning of natural causes in his apartment on the Upper West Side of New York, his personal manager, Matt Beckoff, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“If I told you how nice he was, you wouldn’t believe it,” Beckoff said.

Storch was great friends with Tony Curtis — a fellow New Yorker whom he met when they served aboard a submarine tender in the U.S. Navy — and they appeared together in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), Who Was That Lady? (1960), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), Sex...

[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for “Better Call Saul” Season 6, Episode 4, “Hit and Run.”]

One of the ways that “Better Call Saul” keeps you on your toes is reminding you that there’s always another corner of Albuquerque to discover. It’s not all trips to the courthouse or rendezvouses at roadside diners or meetings in law firm boardrooms. So when “Hit and Run” opens with a glimpse at suburbia, as seen through the eyes of a pair of neighborhood folks seemingly more concerned with homeowner’s association to-dos than regional drug trafficking concerns, it’s a reminder that the net can always be cast wider.

Of course, these aren’t exactly ordinary residents counting down the days to the next cul-de-sac bake sale. They’re employees in the ever-widening Gus Fring empire, part of a house-sized security detail with one key directive: keep the Chicken Man alive. It’s the early-2000s American Southwest equivalent...

“It takes a good man to prevent a catastrophe, milady, and a great man to make use of one.”

Gene Kelly, Van Heflin, Lana Turner and Vincent Price in The Three Musketeers (1948) will available on Blu-ray February 15th from Warner Archive. It can be purchased at the Warner Archive Amazon Store Here

Gene Kelly stars as the swashbuckling young French nobleman D’Artagnan who, possessing nothing more than his title, travels to Paris to join The Three Musketeers. D’Artagnan no sooner arrives in the capital, than he insults Athos (Van Heflin), Porthos (Academy Award winner Gig Young) and Aramis (Robert Coote), the most feared of the musketeers. Challenged to a duel by each, D’Artagnan earns their respect with his courage, if not by his fighting prowess. But his courage, skill and wit are quickly needed to help the musketeers thwart a plot by the powerful Prime Minister Richelieu...

Can a Dance Teacher From Boston Dance His Way Out of a Hangman’s Noose? With Help From the Mayor’s Beautiful Daughter, He Just Might! Dancing Pirate (1936), the First Dancing Musical in 100% Technicolor, With Dazzling New Restoration, on Blu-Ray & DVD, Feb. 22nd. The Blu-ray can be preordered Here

:Cinedigm announced today that The Film Detective (Tfd), the classic film restoration and streaming company, will release the first ever 100% Technicolor dancing musical, Dancing Pirate (1936), on special-edition Blu-ray and DVD, Feb. 22.

Charles Collins stars in Dancing Pirateas a dance teacher from Boston who is tricked into joining a band of pirates, leading him to be fitted for a noose in California. Compared to “Douglas Fairbanks in his most acrobatic days,” Collins catches a break when the mayor’s daughter (Steffi Duna) demands the hanging be postponed until he teaches her to waltz.

Dancing Pirate earned an Academy Award nomination for Best...

A review of the Loki season finale “For All Time. Always.” on Disney+ coming up just as soon as I tell you not to kick the door in…

And down the hatch we go again.

The interconnectivity of the Marvel movies and, now, TV series, can be both a feature and a bug. The whole can often feel greater than the sum of the component parts, and there’s real joy to be had from seeing characters and story ideas from one corner of the MCU intermingle with those of another corner.

Warning: The following recap of the season one finale of Loki, “For All Time. Always” contains spoilers.

Instead of burning down the theatrical slate to feed the beast of streaming, one hopes that Disney bosses’ wake up to the fact that it’s series like Loki which are the pumping aorta of an Ott service.

The cliffhanger for Loki just keeps us hungering for more, and rather than keep us guessing, Marvel promptly revealed during the end-credits last night that there is indeed a season 2. It’s the serials which keep streamers alive, not the movies. Those who spent $60M WW on Black Widow aren’t going to buy it again. But it’s a nail-biting series like Loki which creates ‘must-see’ and therefore frosh sign-ups on Disney+.

In addition, as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new plan to connect their Disney+ series with their movies, it’s...

For his first re-teaming sans Ginger, Fred Astaire hot-foots it to MGM and the waiting tap & sweep partner Eleanor Powell, already a terrific box office draw in her own right. These were the days when the caliber of talent in Hollywood justified the exalted, glamorous aura of star status. The story is a backstage mixup with sidebar singing and joke acts, decent dialogue and not much else. But when these two alight on a dance floor — not just ‘a’ dance floor but an enormous expanse of glittering glass — Hollywood hits a too-glamorous-to-be-real peak. The music by Cole Porter includes Begin the Beguine. Just-okay George Murphy is the third wheel on this musical bicycle, with Frank Morgan serving as fuddy-duddy comic relief.

Broadway Melody of 1940

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1940 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date April 13, 2021 / 21.99

Starring: Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, George Murphy, Frank Morgan, Ian Hunter, Florence Rice, Trixie Firschke,...

The Kiss Before the Mirror

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1933 / 1.33:1 / 69 min.

Starring Nancy Carroll, Frank Morgan, Gloria Stuart

Cinematography by Karl Freund

Directed by James Whale

James Whale’s The Kiss Before the Mirror opens on familiar terrain for the director of Frankenstein—a moon-lit backroad littered with crooked trees and clutching branches. A figure tip-toes out of the darkness toward her destination—not a mad scientist’s castle but a swanky post-modern bungalow where her lover waits. The woman catches the moonlight quite well, thank you—she’s played by an incandescent Gloria Stuart and she has just escaped her husband for a rendezvous with a self-impressed roué played by the blankly handsome Walter Pidgeon. The two engage in pre-sex small talk that is so coy, so ear-grating, that it’s clear Whale is preparing them (and the audience) for some awful comeuppance.

Produced in 1933, The Kiss Before the...

CineSavant’s hands-down favorite holiday film, this Ernst Lubitsch classic radiates human kindness in all directions. Nobody is perfect: misunderstandings benign and profound are the gentle impetus for a sweet story that will renew one’s belief that people are basically good. It’s James Stewart’s best pre-war performance, as he fits his character so perfectly; as in last month’s The Mortal Storm he and Margaret Sullavan exude decency and ‘niceness’ even when they’re being rude to each other. Frank Morgan tops his Wizard characterization, and the movie is so generous that it lets the nervy little go-getter William Tracy be the hero of the day. I’m glad this wasn’t re-invented as a sitcom, but they sure ran it through the remake hurdles.

The Shop Around the Corner

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1940 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 99 min. / Street Date December 22, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: James Stewart,...

It’s pretty scary to think that as late as 1940 both Washington and the American public were sharply divided over Nazi Germany. Poland had been overrun and France was about to fall, but MGM waited until June of that year to release this softened adaptation of a novel written as a warning to the world in 1937. Handsomely produced with MGM’s high-gloss production values, it’s remembered as a valiant and courageous anti-Nazi film. Its all-star cast reunited the potent romantic team of James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan for sentimental fireworks.

The Mortal Storm

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1940 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 100 min. / Street Date November 3, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack, Bonita Granville, Irene Rich, William T. Orr, Maria Ouspenskaya, Gene Reynolds, Russell Hicks, Esther Dale, Dan Dailey, Ward Bond, Rudolph Anders, Brad Dexter.

Cinematography: William H. Daniels

Film Editor:...

Helping you stay sane while staying safe… featuring Leonard Maltin, Dave Anthony, Miguel Arteta, John Landis, and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Plague (1979)

Target Earth (1954)

The Left Hand of God (1955)

A Lost Lady (1934)

Enough Said (2013)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Down to Earth (2001)

Down To Earth (1947)

The Commitments (1991)

Once (2007)

Election (1999)

About Schmidt (2002)

Sideways (2004)

Nebraska (2013)

The Man in the Moon (1991)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Casablanca (1942)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

The Night Walker (1964)

Chuck and Buck (2000)

Cedar Rapids (2011)

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Duck Butter (2018)

The Good Girl (2002)

The Big Heat (1953)

Human Desire (1954)

Slightly French (1949)

Week-End with Father (1951)

Experiment In Terror (1962)

They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (1969)

Ray’s Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987)

Airport (1970)

Earthquake (1974)

Drive a Crooked Road (1954)

Pushover (1954)

Waves (2019)

Krisha (2015)

The Oblong Box (1969)

80,000 Suspects (1963)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

It Comes At Night (2017)

Children of Men (2006)

The Road (2009)

You Were Never Really Here...

Burbank, CA, August 22, 2019 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today that 1939’s acclaimed and beloved classic The Wizard of Oz will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital on October 29th. Directed by Victor Fleming (Gone With the Wind) and starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gayle, The Wizard of Oz is widely considered to be one of the most influential films in cinematic history.

Adapted from L. Frank Baum’s timeless children’s tale about a Kansas girl’s journey over the rainbow, The Wizard of Oz officially premiered at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed Gone With the Wind), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman.

Chicago – The Windy City is off to see the Wizard again, as the Grant Park Music Festival celebrates the 80th Anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz” at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. The festivities include a costume party, hosted by Linda Kollmeyer (“The Lottery Lady”), followed by the presentation with a live orchestra accompaniment – on the Park’s giant Led screen – of the classic 1939 film.

The event is free and open to the public in both the “seating bowl” area and lawn, and begins at 6:30pm with the costume party, with the screening at 8pm. For more information, click here.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at Millennium Park

Photo credit: Warner Home Video

At the time of the late 1930s filming of “The Wizard of Oz,” the idea of an event children’s film was brand new. The film stars Judy Garland in...

Our Howard Keel Centennial celebration begins. Here's Nathaniel R...

What is the lasting legacy of Hollywood's biggest musical of 1950, Annie Get Your Gun? The best remembered thing about it may well be its place in Judy Garland's storied career; she was infamously fired well into production, marking in some ways the nadir of her career, and fueling the mythology of that comeback of all comebacks with A Star is Born (1954) after a four year absence from the big screen. But that's not the movie as it exists today, only what could have been. And "could have beens" are many with this troubled production which lost its original star (Judy), its first two directors (Busby Berkeley and Charles Walters) and one key supporting cast member on its way to its final cut.

The first shot of Howard Keel in "Annie Get Your Gun"

Though "Annie Get Your Gun" has had...

Too close for comfort, Frank Borzage’s 1940 drama reunites the stars of The Shop Around the Corner, James Stewart, Margret Sullavan and Frank Morgan, in far more ominous circumstances – the overthrow of Germany by fascist rule. One of the first Hollywood “resistance” films, the movie features Father Knows Best star Robert Young as an up and coming Nazi.

The post The Mortal Storm appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Important life lesson: When you're talking to William Shatner, be very careful what you say, because it could very well come back to bite you in the butt. Case in point: talking to the actor (oh-so-famous for his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek) about his newest project, the animated film The Steam Engines of Oz, in which he plays the Wizard of Oz. Things certainly begin somewhat innocently, with the comment to him that the story is highly enjoyable and the characters engaging and quite charming, while certain elements of the animation are....eh. "How do you spell 'eh'?" he asks good-naturedly, to which I suggest the way it reads here, e-h. All fine and good, until later in the conversation when I foolishly ask him, "What do you feel the strength of this film is?" "I thought it was the animation," Bill, who you'd never suspect is 87 years old,...

Two bickering shop attendants each find solace in the romantic letters they receive from secret admirers. Of course those unknown admirers are themselves and thereby hangs the plot of Ernst Lubitsch’s gently comic masterpiece starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan. Movies don’t get more transparently soulful, touching or funny as this 1940 film. It’s practically perfect.

Considering everything that's been happening on the planet in the last several months, you'd have thought we're already in November or December – of 2117. But no. It's only June. 2017. And in some parts of the world, that's the month of brides, fathers, graduates, gays, and climate change denial. Beginning this evening, Thursday, June 1, Turner Classic Movies will be focusing on one of these June groups: Lgbt people, specifically those in the American film industry. Following the presentation of about 10 movies featuring Frank Morgan, who would have turned 127 years old today, TCM will set its cinematic sights on the likes of William Haines, James Whale, George Cukor, Mitchell Leisen, Dorothy Arzner, Patsy Kelly, and Ramon Novarro. In addition to, whether or not intentionally, Claudette Colbert, Colin Clive, Katharine Hepburn, Douglass Montgomery (a.k.a. Kent Douglass), Marjorie Main, and Billie Burke, among others. But this is ridiculous! Why should TCM present a...

Space Jam and The Wizard of Oz are among our March Family Favourites!Space Jam and The Wizard of Oz are among our March Family Favourites!Jenny Bullough and Adriana Floridia3/3/2017 9:01:00 Am

March is here, and the weather is finally getting warmer! It's not quite balmy enough yet to send the kids outside to play first thing on a Saturday morning though, so if you're looking for something to fill those early weekend hours, check out the great lineup of family movies in our Family Favourites!

Every Saturday morning at 11am in select Cineplex theatres you can watch a family-friendly feature for only $2.99 per ticket, with a portion of the proceeds going towards We.org. Enjoy a classic on the big screen one more time, catch up on a newer release you might have missed in theatres, and discover a new family favourite together!

March 4 – Nine Lives

A...

There was plenty of confusion, fear, and anger on Emerald City Season 1 Episode 3 as Dorothy learns her mother was in Oz, Ana learns secrets about the Wizard, and Tip comes to terms with her new gender.

The biggest question I have this hour is why, after watching East kill herself with the gun in Emerald City Season 1 Episode 1, didn't Dorothy remove the bullets? At least she should have put the safety on, though I would guess that Lucas would have figured out how to work the gun anyway.

Why didn't she just throw it in the water after she told him he shouldn't be playing with it? Oh, wait. We're getting a lesson here on the danger of guns. Dorothy is the irresponsible adult...Lucas is basically a child.

Yeah, I get it. Thank you, Emerald City, for setting us straight on that issue, though I'm going to guess that...

Woo hoo! The pre-Code marvels return for one last go-round -- tales of sin and moral turpitude but also serious pictures about social issues that the Production Code effectively swept from Hollywood screens -- financial crimes and ethnic bigotry. Forbidden Hollywood Volume 10 Guilty Hands, The Mouthpiece, Secrets of the French Police, The Match King, Ever in My Heart DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1932-1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 63, 62, 78, 85, 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 40.99 Starring Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis, Madge Evans; Warren William, Sidney Fox, Aline McMahon; Frank Morgan, Gwili Andre, Gregory Ratoff Rochelle Hudson; Warren William, Lili Damita, Glenda Farrell, Claire Dodd; Barbara Stanwyck, Otto Kruger, Ralph Bellamy, Ruth Donnelly. Cinematography Merritt B. Gerstad, Barney McGill; Alfred Gilks; Robert Kurrie; Written by Bayard Veiller; Joseph Jackson, Earl Baldwin, Frank J. Collins; Samuel Ornitz, Robert Tasker; Houston Branch, Sidney Sutherland, Einar Thorvaldson; Bertram Millhauser, Beulah Marie Dix.

Did you ever see an actor/actress in a famous role and then hear later that they were not the first, or even the second choice to play the iconic part? Many of the legendary movie characters began as a vehicle for a different star than the one who we know-and-love in the part. Here are a few of the greatest examples of famous "Almosts'.

Christopher Walken As Han Solo: George Lucas had a very hard time finding his Han Solo in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). This character was the last of the lead figures to be cast. Lucas’ leading contender at one point was none other than Christopher Walken. Just think about the possibilities in that performance! However, a chance meeting with Harrison Ford (Who was working as a carpenter at the time) inspired Lucas to cast Ford in the part instead, which launched him into super stardom in the 80s.

Exclusive: The distributor is broadening its remit with the acquisition of worldwide rights to Sound Of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story.

The documentary has already played at IFC Center in New York and Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles and will be made available to international buyers at MIPDoc with a focus on distribution in 2017 on digital and broadcast platforms.

Sound Of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story chronicles the life of alto sax player and Charlie Parker protégée Frank Morgan, a musical prodigy who became a longtime heroin junkie, San Quentin prisoner and, ultimately, a jazz legend.

“This beautiful documentary is an amazing testament to the power of music, and we are extremely excited to share Frank’s story with people all over the world,” said Bond/360 COO Elizabeth Sheldon.

“As Bond continues to focus on the art and culture space, this acquisition furthers our presence in the international marketplace for high quality nonfiction films.”

Sheldon negotiated...

Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers…

How do you talk about this movie? How do you talk about this song? Sure, there are star-turns. There are underdog stories. But there is nothing in Hollywood legend so powerfully wedded as Judy Garland and The Wizard of Oz. It's the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle marriage of star and song that comes once every couple of generations. This was the number that would define Judy Garland as she defined it. It would be her biggest hit; one she recorded and re-recorded. It would follow her throughout her career, and outlive her when she died. Every moment before and after in the story of Judy Garland, MGM, and Studio System Hollywood lives in the shadow of "Over The Rainbow."

The Movie: The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939)

The Songwriter: Harold Arlen (Music & Lyrics)

The Players: Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke,...

Hal Roach looks on as technicians install Vitaphone equipment in his studio screening room, ca. 1928. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) 'A Century of Sound': Q&A with former UCLA Preservation Officer Robert Gitt about the evolution of film sound technology Long before multi-track Dolby stereo and digital sound technology, there were the Kinetophone and the Vitaphone systems – not to mention organ and piano players at movie houses. Much of that is discussed in A Century of Sound, which chronicles the evolution of film sound from the late 19th century to the mid-1970s. A Century of Sound has been split into two parts, with a third installment currently in the planning stages. They are: Vol. 1, “The Beginning, 1876-1932,” which came out on DVD in 2007. Vol. 2, “The Sound of Movies: 1933-1975,” which came out on Blu-ray in 2015. The third installment will bring the presentation into the 21st century.

Depraved convicts ! Crazy Manhattan gin parties! Society dames poaching other women's husbands! A flimflam artist scamming the uptown sophisticates! All these forbidden attractions are here and more -- including Bette Davis's epochal seduction line about impulsive kissing versus good hair care. It's a 9th collection of racy pre-Code wonders. Forbidden Hollywood Volume 9 Big City Blues, Hell's Highway, The Cabin in the Cotton, When Ladies Meet, I Sell Anything DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1932-1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 63, 62, 78, 85, 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 40.99 Starring Joan Blondell, Eric Linden, Humphrey Bogart; Richard Dix, Tom Brown; Richard Barthelmess, Bette Davis, Dorothy Jordan, Berton Churchill; Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy, Alice Brady, Frank Morgan; Pat O' Brien, Ann Dvorak, Claire Dodd, Roscoe Karns. Cinematography James Van Trees; Edward Cronjager; Barney McGill; Ray June Written by Lillie Hayward, Ward Morehouse, from his play; Samuel Ornitz, Robert Tasker, Rowland Brown...

Pat O'Brien movies on TCM: 'The Front Page,' 'Oil for the Lamps of China' Remember Pat O'Brien? In case you don't, you're not alone despite the fact that O'Brien was featured – in both large and small roles – in about 100 films, from the dawn of the sound era to 1981. That in addition to nearly 50 television appearances, from the early '50s to the early '80s. Never a top star or a critics' favorite, O'Brien was nevertheless one of the busiest Hollywood leading men – and second leads – of the 1930s. In that decade alone, mostly at Warner Bros., he was seen in nearly 60 films, from Bs (Hell's House, The Final Edition) to classics (American Madness, Angels with Dirty Faces). Turner Classic Movies is showing nine of those today, Nov. 11, '15, in honor of what would have been the Milwaukee-born O'Brien's 116th birthday. Pat O'Brien and James Cagney Spencer Tracy had Katharine Hepburn.

Constance Cummings in 'Night After Night.' Constance Cummings: Working with Frank Capra and Mae West (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Actress Went from Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill.”) Back at Columbia, Harry Cohn didn't do a very good job at making Constance Cummings feel important. By the end of 1932, Columbia and its sweet ingenue found themselves in court, fighting bitterly over stipulations in her contract. According to the actress and lawyer's daughter, Columbia had failed to notify her that they were picking up her option. Therefore, she was a free agent, able to offer her services wherever she pleased. Harry Cohn felt otherwise, claiming that his contract player had waived such a notice. The battle would spill over into 1933. On the positive side, in addition to Movie Crazy 1932 provided Cummings with three other notable Hollywood movies: Washington Merry-Go-Round, American Madness, and Night After Night. 'Washington Merry-Go-Round...

Constance Cummings: Actress in minor Hollywood movies became major London stage star. Constance Cummings: Actress went from Harold Lloyd and Frank Capra to Noël Coward and Eugene O'Neill Actress Constance Cummings, whose career spanned more than six decades on stage, in films, and on television in both the U.S. and the U.K., died ten years ago on Nov. 23. Unlike other Broadway imports such as Ann Harding, Katharine Hepburn, Miriam Hopkins, and Claudette Colbert, the pretty, elegant Cummings – who could have been turned into a less edgy Constance Bennett had she landed at Rko or Paramount instead of Columbia – never became a Hollywood star. In fact, her most acclaimed work, whether in films or – more frequently – on stage, was almost invariably found in British productions. That's most likely why the name Constance Cummings – despite the DVD availability of several of her best-received performances – is all but forgotten.

Virginia Bruce: MGM actress ca. 1935. Virginia Bruce movies on TCM: Actress was the cherry on 'The Great Ziegfeld' wedding cake Unfortunately, Turner Classic Movies has chosen not to feature any non-Hollywood stars – or any out-and-out silent film stars – in its 2015 “Summer Under the Stars” series.* On the other hand, TCM has come up with several unusual inclusions, e.g., Lee J. Cobb, Warren Oates, Mae Clarke, and today, Aug. 25, Virginia Bruce. A second-rank MGM leading lady in the 1930s, the Minneapolis-born Virginia Bruce is little remembered today despite her more than 70 feature films in a career that spanned two decades, from the dawn of the talkie era to the dawn of the TV era, in addition to a handful of comebacks going all the way to 1981 – the dawn of the personal computer era. Career highlights were few and not all that bright. Examples range from playing the...

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ca. 1935. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was never as popular as his father, silent film superstar Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in one action-adventure blockbuster after another in the 1920s (The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad) and whose stardom dates back to the mid-1910s, when Fairbanks toplined a series of light, modern-day comedies in which he was cast as the embodiment of the enterprising, 20th century “all-American.” What this particular go-getter got was screen queen Mary Pickford as his wife and United Artists as his studio, which he co-founded with Pickford, D.W. Griffith, and Charles Chaplin. Now, although Jr. never had the following of Sr., he did enjoy a solid two-decade-plus movie career. In fact, he was one of the few children of major film stars – e.g., Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Angelina Jolie, Michael Douglas, Jamie Lee Curtis – who had successful film careers of their own.

Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Grouch Marx, the bespectacled, (painted) mustached, cigar-chomping Marx brother, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will be delighted, as TCM is presenting no less than 11 of their comedies, in addition to a brotherly reunion in the 1957 all-star fantasy The Story of Mankind. Non-Marx Brothers fans should be delighted as well – as long as they're fans of Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Ann Miller, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Allan Jones, affectionate, long-tongued giraffes, and/or that great, scene-stealing dowager, Margaret Dumont. Right now, TCM is showing Robert Florey and Joseph Santley's The Cocoanuts (1929), an early talkie notable as the first movie featuring the four Marx Brothers – Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. Based on their hit Broadway...

Teresa Wright ca. 1945. Teresa Wright movies on TCM: 'The Little Foxes,' 'The Pride of the Yankees' Pretty, talented Teresa Wright made a relatively small number of movies: 28 in all, over the course of more than half a century. Most of her films have already been shown on Turner Classic Movies, so it's more than a little disappointing that TCM will not be presenting Teresa Wright rarities such as The Imperfect Lady and The Trouble with Women – two 1947 releases co-starring Ray Milland – on Aug. 4, '15, a "Summer Under the Stars" day dedicated to the only performer to date to have been shortlisted for Academy Awards for their first three film roles. TCM's Teresa Wright day would also have benefited from a presentation of The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956), an unusual entry – parapsychology, reincarnation – in the Wright movie canon and/or Roseland (1977), a little-remembered entry in James Ivory's canon.

'San Andreas' movie with Dwayne Johnson. 'San Andreas' movie box office: $100 million domestic milestone today As the old saying (sort of) goes: If you build it, they will come. Warner Bros. built a gigantic video game, called it San Andreas, and They have come to check out Dwayne Johnson perform miraculous deeds not seen since ... George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road, released two weeks earlier. Embraced by moviegoers, hungry for quality, original storylines and well-delineated characters – and with the assistance of 3D surcharges – the San Andreas movie debuted with $54.58 million from 3,777 theaters on its first weekend out (May 29-31) in North America. Down a perfectly acceptable 52 percent on its second weekend (June 5-7), the special effects-laden actioner collected an extra $25.83 million, trailing only the Melissa McCarthy-Jason Statham comedy Spy, (with $29.08 million) as found at Box Office Mojo.* And that's how this original movie – it's not officially a remake,...