Archive 527

September 12, 2021

Jane Powell has died

Star of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Nancy Goes to Rio, and A Date with Judy, among others.

Jane Powell had 46 credits for movies and TV altogether.

Obits at:

The star of Hollywood golden-age musicals – ABC 13

The star of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Yahoo News

Jane Powell dazzled in broadway musicals – Broadway

She made us want to sing – Houston Chronicle

Star of Growing Pains and Royal Wedding – Comicbook

The 'girl next door' – Roger Ebert

Jane Powell, actress of the Golden Age - Deadline

Filmography – Jane Powell at IMDB

How "Mommie Dearest" wrecked the reputations of both Joan Crawford and Faye Dunnaway

Story at UK Telegraph blames it on "scenery chewing."

The classic screwball comedy as medicine – Bend Bulletin

A nice selection of films are briefly discussed. The titles are:

1. The Awful Truth - 1937
2. Bringing Up Baby - 1938
3. His Girl Friday - 1940
4. It Happened One Night - 1934
5. The Lady Eve - 1941
6. My Man Godfrey - 1936

1930's All Quiet on the Western Front to screen in Fayetteville, Arkansas Sept 21 – NWAOnline

Showgirl in Hollywood – 1930

"I'm 32, and in this business when you're over 32, you're older than those hills out there."

Alice White plays a young understudy in a theater play in New York City that is in the progress of closing down as a flop. A sleazy film director (John Miljan as "Frank Buelow") is in the city on a scouting trip from the film studio he works for and promises Dixie a film contract, and though Showgirl in Hollywood completely avoids telling us there is a quid pro quo going on here, an "exchange" is implied in other ways. When White's character reaches Hollywood only to discover the promise of a film contract is null and void, the reaction of the studio executive in charge (Mr. Otis played by Ford Sterling) is that this isn't the only time Director Buelow has run this scam on young women and abused his position (and, implied, the young women).

More on Showgirl in Hollywood 1930

Moscow’s oldest operating cinema – Russia Beyond

The ‘Khudozhestvenny’ movie theater on Arbat Square is one of the world’s oldest cinemas still in operation. The picture palace has survived the 1917 Russian Revolution, World War II, the era of stagnation in the 1970s and the tumultuous Perestroika in the 1980s.

The Pioneering African-American Women of Silent Cinema – Film School Rejects

Movie project Mr. Shaw Goes To Hollywood will feature the milieu of 1933 Hollywood

Film is about how the Shaw play Pygmalian was a highly sought-after property, long before it became My Fair Lady later – story at Deadline Hollywood

Venice film festival features "Old Henry," homage to classic Westerns

Story at Deadline Hollywood

Jean-Paul Belmondo has died

Obituaries:

Star of 'Breathless,' dies at 88 – SF Gate

Remembering Jean-Paul Belmondo, the Suave French Film Icon Who Inspired Spielberg and Tarantino – Variety

Jean-Paul Belmondo, Magnetic Star of the French New Wave, Dies at 88 – Seattle Times

France mourns 'national treasure' Belmondo, New Wave cinema star – Reuters

Criterion coming releases on HD Disk

Criterion web site pages:

La Strada – 1951 – The Federico Fellini movie about a carnival strongman (Anthony Quinn) who learns he can't control events or people the way he thinks he can, with tragic results. Releases November 2, 2021.

Melvin Van Peebles 4-film set – set features Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, The Story of a Three Day Pass, Watermelon Man and Don’t Play Us Cheap - Releases September 28, 2021.

The Incredible Shrinking Man – 1957 – A "disaster" film from the fifties that's not about things getting bigger, but smaller, much smaller. A thoughtful screenplay and good special effects make this one of the best sci-fi films of an era that was packed with sci-fi. Releases October 19, 2021.

High Sierra – 1941 – Directed by Raoul Walsh and featuring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino. Releases October 12, 2021.

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