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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Beth Ann Gallagher
Dancers, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gower Champion, Holidays, Marge Champion, Musicals, Romance, Valentine's Day
Feb 14, 2013
5 Comments

For Valentine’s Day, here is one of my favorite romantic scenes from a musical. The film Lovely to Look At, a remake of Roberta, may not be memorable as a whole, but it showcases some imaginative dance sequences featuring Marge and Gower Champion. While they had the unenviable task of replacing Ginger Rogers and Fred…

A Movie Manifesta

Spellbound by Movies is a passion project. I fell in love with movies at a young age. As an only child I might have been more susceptible to their lure. I was making up my own stories already, and I grew up in a place rich with history, which meant listening to others’ stories. Seeing…

Elsa Lanchester, What A Character!

Beth Ann Gallagher
Blogathons, Classic Hollywood, Elsa Lanchester
Sep 2, 2012
2 Comments

This month I’m participating in the What A Character! Blogathon. Organized by Paula of Paula’s Cinema Club, Kellee of Outspoken & Freckled, and Aurora of Once Upon a Screen, the blogathon celebrates those character actors and actresses whose impact on classic film warrants as much attention and discussion as any star’s. My subject is Elsa…

Back from the Rodeo & Will Rogers’ The Ropin’ Fool

Beth Ann Gallagher
Cowboy Films, Novelty Films, Silent Film, Westerns, Will Rogers
Jul 20, 2012
0 Comments

Yesterday I went to my first rodeo at the Stanislaus County Fair. Keeping today’s post in a cowboy theme, here’s an excerpt of Will Rogers‘ The Ropin’ Fool. This novelty, silent short from 1922 was written and produced by Rogers and directed by Clarence G. Badger. There is a slight plot that provides the frame…

Quick Impressions from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival–Night One

Beth Ann Gallagher
Clara Bow, Film Festivals, San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Silent Film
Jul 14, 2012
2 Comments

I’m overstimulated with images and sounds and staying up too late. That can mean only one thing–I’m attending the 17th annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Well, most of it. Sometimes sleeping or eating has taken a priority over screenings or hobnobbing with friends old and new. Here are some quick impressions of the fest…

For the Love of Film (Noir): The Mechanical Man of CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS (1953)

bethanngallagher
Blogathons, Film Noir, Film Preservation, Out-of-Print-in-the-US, Unreleased to DVD
Feb 17, 2011
3 Comments

John H. Auer‘s CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS is an odd hodgepodge of a film. It crosses noir with docudrama with the guardian angel film. Its villains, Hayes Stewart, Lydia Biddel, and Penrod Biddel, are far more compelling than the lead Johnny Kelly. He’s a cop dissatisfied with his life. His hardworking wife Kathy Kelly fears he’s distant due…

For the Love of Film (Noir): Christmas Holiday (1944)

bethanngallagher
Blogathons, Film Noir, Out-of-Print-in-the-US
Feb 14, 2011
11 Comments

Any holiday can bring out the worst in people, but Christmas Holiday really isn’t about the supposedly joyous season. It’s a noir, so how can it be? A soldier’s Christmas leave provides the frame for the story. He”s just been jilted by his sweetheart, and he’s angry, so angry that he has to call upon…

For the Love of Film (Noir) Bloggers

It’s almost time for you to put on your reading glasses! In one week, the For the Love of Film (Noir) blogathon starts. From throughout the film blogosphere, writers are banding together for a great cause–to raise funds for film preservation. Every day more bloggers are answering the call to write about and raise funds…

Le Schpountz (1938)

This weekend a cattle call was held for Steven Soderbergh’s new film Contagion. I thought about going and trying to be an extra. Then I read an article about Saturday’s casting session. Thousands of people showed up. All were hoping to be caught on camera a moment and thus be immortalized or at least earn…

In Memoriam

I went to the Cerrito Oscar party. Last year was my first time attending. Once I saw the Oscars on the big screen, I couldn’t go back. I love the audience interaction with the telecast. Shushers are not welcome because they’d only interrupt the communal experience. Old time audiences were not silent. They vocally shared…

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