What Makes A Classic Film Classic…?

February 28, 2012.Reading time 4 minutes.

That was the question once asked by writer Ted Elrick, his answer coming in the form the essay Classic is in the Eye—and Mind—of the Beholder (as published in DGA News Magazine, Feb. 1992). Elrick gave the daunting task of defining that elusive quality which differentiates a good movie from a classic film to over 100 […]

Call for Entries: The 2012 Laugh and Live Silent Film Festival

June 29, 2011.Reading time 3 minutes.

Next year, an entirely new kind of silent film festival is coming to Hollywood. The Laugh and Live Film Festival, presented by Los Angeles-based film historian Sparrow Morgan, will be the first festival of its kind: focusing on reviving, not just interest in silent film, but the very medium of silent film itself. The Pictorial […]

A Day with Harlow

March 6, 2011.Reading time 6 minutes.

The authors of Harlow in Hollywood: The Blonde Bombshell in the Glamour Capital held a book signing on Club View Drive in Beverly Hills- the former residence of Jean Harlow. I was thrilled to be part of such a distinguished group!

FOR THE LOVE OF FILM NOIR

February 20, 2011.Reading time 1 minute.

The Self-Styled Siren is one the absolute undisputed best blogs on classic film. And this past week, it has played host to a most noble endeavor: For the Love of Film Noir Blogathon. Everyone from the New York Times to Leonard Maltin has been, in at least some form, involved in promoting awareness of the […]

City of Dreadful Joy: Random Ponderings on the Paradoxical Mechanics of a City in Search of Self.

January 3, 2011.Reading time 11 minutes.

Confession: I love Los Angeles. It’s not my favorite city in the world– that crown rests in the heart of my old home across the Pond– but I’ve pretty much reconciled to the fact that I do love Los Angeles. Problem is, I hate L.A. Yes. There is a difference. For me, Los Angeles is […]

Mae Murray in Kodak Color

August 25, 2010.Reading time 3 minutes.

As much as I simply adore silent film sirens, I have never liked Mae Murray. To be brutally honest, the woman scares me. There have been nightmares. Oh yes, there have been nightmares. Forget Joan Crawford or Gloria Swanson. Mae Murray is the dame I would NOT want to be left alone with in a […]

Mae Murray in Kodak Color

August 25, 2010.Reading time 3 minutes.

Frankly My Dear, We * Do * Give a Damn

August 13, 2010.Reading time 1 minute.

The LA Times reported this morning that some of the costumes worn by Vivien Leigh in the film Gone With the Wind, arguably amongst the most iconic creations in film history, have been fading away at a research library in Austin, Texas. The Harry Ransom Center has, however, just launched a public initiative to raise […]

Favorite Website of the Week: Sepia Town

August 6, 2010.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Forget the Flux Capacitor—Time Travel is HERE. Well… virtually. SepiaTown is an ingenious new service that allows users to upload and map historical images from any given place or period. (Think of it as a GoogleMap Street View with a Then and Now function!) We heart SepiaTown and want to live there. Permanently. Starting now. […]

TCM Film Festival 2010: Thanks for the memories!

April 26, 2010.Reading time 3 minutes.

A Star is Born, The Producers, Wild River, Top Hat, Sunset Blvd., Leave Her to Heaven, North by Northwest, The Graduate, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, The Good the Bad the Ugly, King of Comedy, Metropolis … Tony Curtis, Eli Wallach, Eve Marie Saint, Martin Landau, Mel Brooks, Nancy Olson, Buck Henry, Peter Bogdanovich, Leonard […]