News & notes

Just a note that I will be taking a short haitus until after Labor Day.

Have been busy archiving treasures I found from my mother's travels to Europe in 1961 (Poland, London, France, Italy and more). I've been piecing together old photos and postcards to match her hand-written journal entries that I recently discovered (see last post on this topic) She took many photos that need to be preserved in acid-free photo albums, and many of the photos will be digitized. Some of ya'll expressed interest in seeing some of the photos, and I'll be sharing those soon. Stay tuned.

Upcoming Capsule Reviews

Some of the movies that I will be writing about soon are -----

Cecil B. Demille's This Day and Age (1935)
Jean Renoir's The Southerner (1945)
Frank Borzage's After Tomorrow (1932)
The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (1996)

Excellent films, all of them, but I'll share more in time.

Cinerama Fest: September 18 - October 4, 2012 in Hollywood, USA

As Laura mentioned on her blog last weekend, a Cinerama film fest is being planned for next month in Hollywood celebrating Cinerama's 60th anniversary! Films showing in the Cinerama Dome on Sept 28-Oct 4 include these rare treasures: This Is Cinerama, Cinerama Holiday, Seven Wonders of the World, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, and more! Read more about the fest on HuffPo here.

Stay tuned...

Dean Stockwell autograph

Met Dean Stockwell yesterday at the Chicago Comic Con - here's the pic I asked him to sign for me: 

Dean with Frank Sinatra in Anchors Aweigh

Marvin Hamlisch, composer (1944-2012)

I was saddened to hear that one of the great composers of our time, Marvin Hamlisch, has died. He has left behind so many memorable scores and songs. 12 Academy Award nominations, total.

Filmography, as Composer

1968 The Swimmer
1969 The April Fools
1969 Take the Money and Run
1970 The Last Warrior
1970 Move
1971 Bananas
1971 Something Big
1971 Kotch (Oscar nomination "Life Is What You Make It")
1973 The Sting (Won Oscar for Score)
1973 Save The Tiger
1973 The World's Greatest Athlete
1973 The Way We Were (Won Oscar for Score and Song "The Way We Were")
1975 The Prisoner of Second Avenue
1977 The Spy Who Loved Me (Oscar nomination for Score and Song "Nobody Does It Better")
1978 Same Time Next Year (Oscar nomination for "The Last Time I Felt Like This")
1978 Ice Castles (Oscar nomination, "Theme from Ice Castles/Through the Eyes of Love")
1979 Chapter Two
1979 Starting Over
1980 Ordinary People
1980 Seems Like Old Times
1982 Sophie's Choice (Oscar nomination for Score)
1982 I Ought To Be In Pictures
1983 Romantic Comedy
1985 D.A.R.Y.L.
1985 A Chorus Line (Oscar nomination, "Surprise Surprise")
1987 Three Men and A Baby
1988 Little Nikita
1989 The Experts
1989 The January Man
1989 Shirley Valentine (Oscar nomination, "The Girl Who Used To Be Me")
1991 Frankie and Johnny
1996 The Mirror Has Two Faces  (Oscar nomination, "I Finally Found Someone")
2009 The Informant!


Related articles:
3 Unforgettable Marvin Hamlisch Songs (and the stories behind them) - Hollywood Reporter

Chicago's Congress Theater: Inside a Golden-Age Movie Palace

The Congress is one of the theaters featured in the photo book "The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz". 

The building - built in the 1920s - still remains but is now used exclusively as a live concert venue. 

According to Cinema Treasures, the theater opened on September 5, 1926,  the first movie shown was the silent comedy "Rolling Home" with Reginald Denny. The opening night also included five vaudeville acts. 

This summer I went to a concert there, and brought along my camera. The interior of this theater is a reminder of the theater's glory days, as you'll see from these shots.  

  

 Like most movie palaces, The Congress once had a huge vertical sign with the illuminated letters "C - O - N - G - R - E - S - S" 

Below, the marquee (not the original).

The lobby is enormous! There is a right and left entrance into the auditorium

The staircase you see leads up to the balcony! Awesome!!

A mix of architectural styles (including Adam and Italian Baroque). Original light fixtures.

Here's a view fromt he balcony. Imagine seeing a vaudeville act on that stage.

Here's a close-up look at the lights. The auditorium and is covered with decorations in stone, terra-cotta, and plaster.

Here's what it looks like coming out of the balcony after the show, with a view of the balcony from above:

Walking down the staircase...you feel like you're in a palace of royalty!

Now I know why people got dressed up to go to the show. Look at this enormous lobby! And to to think that there were many other theaters just like it, but have been demolished.

---

Now, for you country fans, here's a few pics from the concert:

Jamey Johnson sings "In Color" [Music Video]

Merle Haggard takes the stage

The Hag does all his hits - "Silver Wings", "Ramblin Fever", "Pancho & Lefty", etc.  

And does a little fiddling. It was a great show! 

R.G. Armstrong (1917-2012)

Last week, Laura reported the passing of character actor R.G. Armstrong, at age 95. (IMDB page)

In a career spanning five decades, Mr. Armstrong appeared in many films and TV programs, including numerous Westerns. 

Read more about his work at Boot Hill and Westerns All'Italiana.

As mobster "Pruneface" in Dick Tracy

If you've seen Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy, no doubt you remember "Pruneface", the mobster villain from the comics. 

RIP R.G. Armstrong (Westerns All' Italiana)
RIP R.G. Armstrong (Boot Hill)


                                         What movie or movies do you remember him best?

Neon Trees retro music video

The rock band Neon Trees has a new hit song out called "Everybody Talks", and their music video is set in an old-fashioned drive-in with a zombie horror movie on the screen ("Zombie Bikers From Hell"!). Just saw this today and though it was so neat. Check it out here:

(Video directed by Paul Boyd)

Here's what the blog Igor's Lab had to say about the video: 

This video for Neon Trees infectious pop tune "Everybody Talks" is a Hodge Podge of retro-goodness. You have an old school drive-in movie setting with a grindhouseque zombie biker pic playing on the screen. All the while some demon chick is stalking the men at the drive-in and trying to burned them alive when she gets them alone for some odd reason. It shouldn't work but it does and to use a classic line I'm prone to repeat from time to time... A good time was had by all!!!