Comedies Archives * Spellbound with Beth Ann

Black Friday Treat: The Bargain of the Century (1933)

Beth Ann Gallagher
1930s, Black Friday, Charley Chase, Comedies, Directors, Era, Hal Roach, Holidays, Length, Producers, Shorts, Slapstick, Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts
Nov 27, 2015
2 Comments

Feeling Black Friday fatigue? Here’s a delightful Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts comedy teaming, The Bargain of the Century (1933), that pokes fun at battling for bargains for you! The duo’s slapstick antics bring humor to scenes best experienced secondhand. In their quest for a good deal, the women give and get bruises in a…

The William Wellman Blogathon: Maybe It’s Love (1930)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Collegiate, Comedians & Comediennes, Comedies, Directors, Joan Bennett, Joe E. Brown, Pre-Code, William Wellman, William Wellman
Sep 13, 2015
5 Comments

After William Wellman got sick of his treatment at Paramount Pictures, he showed why his nickname “Wild Bill” stuck. He covered Producer B.P. Schulberg‘s desk in manure and left a note on top of the pile reading: “Here’s what I think of your lousy script!” Despite his bad boy behavior, Wellman was in demand. He could make any…

For the Love of Film Blogathon: The Tin Man (1935)

Beth Ann Gallagher
1930s, Blogathons, Comedies, Era, For the Love of Film, Patsy Kelly, Pre-Code, Slapstick, Thelma Todd
May 17, 2015
8 Comments

I’ve been planning a post on The Tin Man for a while, and the For Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon has provided the perfect push to write about this odd comedy short. Every year the blogathon has a theme, and this year’s theme is science fiction. The Tin Man fits the theme like Frankenstein…

Cinefest 35 Storifyed!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Cinefest, Comedies, Cowboy Films, Documentaries, Drama, Film Festivals, Musicals, Pre-Code, Romantic, Silent Film, War Films, Westerns
Apr 7, 2015
2 Comments

In advance of my write-up of Cinefest 35, I’ve curated an account of the Syracuse Cinephile Society‘s final film festival from my and other attendees’ social media postings. You can read our shared excitement as the festival unfolded and all the great tidbits we shared about the films and our experiences. It was over much too…

Fabulous Films of the 50s CMBA Blogathon: It Should Happen to You (1954)

Beth Ann Gallagher
1950s, Blogathons, Classic Movie Blog Association, CMBA, Comedies, Era, Fabulous Films of the 50s, Jack Lemmon, Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford
May 26, 2014
10 Comments

Garson Kanin originally wrote It Should Happen to You as a vehicle for Danny Kaye. When his creative partner and wife Ruth Gordon read it, she knew who would be perfect for the part—Judy Holliday! The script was rewritten for her. What resulted was part satire on the pursuit of fame and part…

Romantic Comedy Blogathon: Love Crazy (1941)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Comedies, Myrna Loy, Romantic, Romantic Comedy 2014, Screwball, William Powell
May 7, 2014
2 Comments

Love Crazy opens with Steve Ireland (William Powell) singing along with It’s Delightful to be Married. The film reunites him with frequent co-star Myrna Loy, playing his wife Susan. Together in the Thin Man series, they showed screengoers how delightful it was to be married. Their chemistry combined with their characters’ mature relationship with each other…

You Know You’re A Film Fanatic When–Judy Holliday!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Appreciations, Awards, Comedies, Judy Holliday, Oscars, Performances
Apr 5, 2014
0 Comments

You know you’re a film fanatic when you get emotional defending Judy Holliday‘s 1950 Oscar win for Born Yesterday to your husband–and he agrees with you the whole time! Judy had formidable competition that year. She was up against Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, Bette Davis and Anne Baxter for All About Eve, and…

Happy New Year!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Comedies, David Niven, Ginger Rogers, Holidays, New Year, New Year's Eve, Romantic, Screwball
Jan 1, 2014
0 Comments

Wishing you a wonderful New Year’s Eve and New Year! May both be filled with everyone and everything you love–like movies! As a special holiday treat for you, here is a scene from one of my favorite screwball comedies, Bachelor Mother (1939). Its plot seems inspired by Clara Bow‘s It (1927). A salesgirl named Polly Parrish…

The Valley of the Giants (1927) Bill

Saturday night I made a trip back in time to enjoy early cinema; I caught the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum‘s program. Judith Rosenberg, who’s well known in the Bay Area and beyond, she participated in the Master Class for silent film musicians at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, played piano scores for each film….

Accents & Sally’s Diction Lessons from Radio Days (1987)

Beth Ann Gallagher
Comedies, Directors, Judy Holliday, Mia Farrow, Old Time Radio, Woody Allen
Sep 8, 2012
0 Comments

My husband told me he heard a young actress being interviewed who pronounces her Gs the same why I do. More specifically, she uses a hard G when saying words ending in -ing. That means walking would be pronounced as walk-ing-guh. The last syllable is more of a half-syllable and softer in the throat than…

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