Spellbound with Beth Ann * Page 13 of 21 *

Happy International Women’s Day 2016!

For International Women’s Day, let’s take a moment to remember a woman of words, Anita Loos.

She started screenwriting in the silent era, and she’s credited for elevating the intertitle beyond the functional into an art form….

Beth Ann Gallagher
Anita Loos, Holidays, International Women's Day, Screenwriters
Mar, 08, 2016
0 Comments

The Women Film Critics Twitter List

What else was I up to during my winter blogging hiatus? My most initially time-consuming movie project outside of Spellbound involves Twitter. After articles from Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and Variety bemoaned the lack of women film…

Beth Ann Gallagher
Film Community, Film Critics, Film Twitter, Women Film Critics
Mar, 06, 2016
2 Comments

#52FilmsByWomen

During my recent blogging hiatus, I took a movie-watching pledge that’s perfect to share with you during March, which is Women’s History Month. I pledged to watch 52 Films By Women. I’m watching at least…

Beth Ann Gallagher
#52FilmsByWomen, Directors, Viewing Campaigns, Women Film Directors
Mar, 05, 2016
0 Comments

Book Review: The Ice Cream Blonde

While Thelma Todd’s death often overshadows her work, Michelle Morgan has written the biography the actress deserves. Any book about Thelma must mention her death and the mystery that surrounds it, but Morgan spends…

Beth Ann Gallagher
Biographies, Book Reviews, Patsy Kelly, Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts
Nov, 28, 2015
4 Comments

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

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…

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone celebrating today had a lovely Thanksgiving! What kind of weekend do you have planned? I’ll be using a good chunk of my long holiday weekend to…

Beth Ann Gallagher
Holidays, Lillian Roth, Thanksgiving, Thelma Todd
Nov, 26, 2015
0 Comments

Criterion Blogathon: Judex (1963)

Why the fervor over the Criterion Collection?

When DVD technology was new, I read in Movieline and other magazines filmmakers and actors praising the technology and claiming watching DVDs was like taking a film class….

Beth Ann Gallagher
1960s, Blogathons, Channing Pollock, Criterion, Directors, Édith Scob, Era, Foreign, Francine Bergé, French, Georges Franju, Michel Vitold, Remakes
Nov, 22, 2015
4 Comments

Tab Hunter Confidential at CAIFF 2015

Today we know that Hollywood heartthrob Tab Hunter had a secret. While he was working hard to become an actor appreciated for more than his looks, he was a gay man living in the…

Beth Ann Gallagher
Anthony Perkins, CAIFF, Classic Hollywood, Debbie Reynolds, Directors, Divine, Documentaries, Dolores Hart, Film Festivals, Jeffrey Schwarz, John Waters, LBGTQ, Natalie Wood, Tab Hunter
Oct, 04, 2015
6 Comments

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

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…

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

Friday Fun: Betty Boop in Tokay

The latest music video vixen is–Betty Boop! About 85 years after her first screen appearance, Max Fleischer’s cartoon flapper is back on screens dancing her way through pop rock band Dengue Fever’s video for their single…