Covering the world of classic movies from the silents to the mid 1960s via bios, movie reviews, rare photos and fun trivia.
"Dive! Dive!" Film producer/director Irwin Allen let audiences dive deep into the waters of adventure with Voyage of the Bottom of the Sea , his second of three feature films that he made at 20th Century Fox studios in the early 1960s. Prior to gaining a reputation as "The Master of Disaster" because of his disaster-themed films of the 1970s, Allen tried his hand at writing, producing and…
Watch that coffee, stewardess!! Evidently, Jane Wyman didn't watch Fate is the Hunter otherwise she would have known not to bring coffee into the cockpit! Oh wait, that movie wasn't released until thirteen years after this film, I guess she is excused. Three Guys Named Mike is exactly what you would expect from such a title - one woman debating about the three men in her life all named Mike. One…
We all know Frankie Avalon and Fabian made beach movies, but who would have guessed that Bobby Vinton "The Polish Prince" made a beach movie? Believe it or not, he was a pretty good actor, too.... definitely a notch above Fabian. Surf Party follows the adventures of three young women who travel from Arizona to Malibu in a trailer with the sole purpose of hitting the beach and learning to surf.…
Most film albums feature a variety of themes from different films and title their album with the key theme, such as "Theme from the VIPS and other Film Hits".... but this album struck me as unique because Ferrante and Teicher decided to focus strictly on the music of Cleopatra (1963). Or so one would think with the title "Love Themes from Cleopatra" but if you read the back liner notes you will…
The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit really has no bearing on horse racing but rather covers an event in the equestrian world that has seldom been depicted in the motion pictures - horse jumping. Advertising executive Frederick Bolton (Dean Jones) finds he is up to his neck in bills and in stress. His daughter Helen (Ellen Janov) desperately wants a horse - which he cannot afford - and his boss…
We have been posting some tricky screenshots the past few months, so here is an easy one for summer... a happy singing gypsy! As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here .
There were a number of sweet family films made in the early 1960s and Safe at Home! is one of them. It was released by Columbia Pictures in 1962. The film was publicized as a light-hearted comedy but there really is very little comedy about it, it is just a simple story of a little boy who wants to see his heroes Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris so he can ask them to visit his little league baseball…
"Gadzooks! My husband is going to re-marry?!" Doris Day looks stunned in this scene from the Universal comedy Move Over, Darling (1963) starring Day, James Garner, Chuck Connors, and Thelma Ritter. From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for…
Every month I browse the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to see what goodies are in the making by creative individuals and this month I was pleased to see a series of Laurel & Hardy photobooks compiled by two Englishmen, Patrick and Russ. They appear to be avid fans of the silent comedy duo and these books "Laurel & Hardy Silents" mark the first two volumes in a series of six... along with a…
Melvin Hoover (Donald O'Connor), a photographer's apprentice for Look magazine, wants to impress Judy (Debbie Reynolds), a budding stage actress, and so he claims he is a photographer doing a spread for the magazine. After shooting hundreds of pictures of her, he is reluctant to admit that they won't appear in print. While Judy likes Melvin, she feels she must respond to her boyfriend Harry's…
Gadzooks! This screenshot could be from any film! Aside from the man looking like John Glenn, there are hardly any clues here to even help in identifying this scene - but if you have a crackerjack memory, perhaps you'll guess it anyway. Give it a try! As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here .
I wonder how many people heard of Henry Jerome & His Orchestra? Very few, I'd imagine! And even fewer have ever heard of Geffen Records. So you lucky readers are in for a treat (and an education)! Henry Jerome was a popular bandleader in the 1930s and 1940s who performed on ships, at ballrooms, restaurants, and naturally on the radio. He had a soft, mellow style (influenced by Hal Kemp) with…
"Is this yours, ma'am?" Oops! Someone got tricked into smuggling...and you don't need three guesses to see who's the victim. This mini lobby card is from the romantic-drama Come Fly With Me (1963) starring Dolores Hart, Hugh O'Brian, Carl Boehm, and Pamela Tiffin. If the Frank Sinatra song pops into your head whenever you read that title, you'd be surprised to discover that it is actually another…
"He's gonna make it!" Steven Post (Kurt Russell) is a young mailroom clerk with high ambitions and a lot of enthusiasm. He wants to see UBC, the faltering television studio that he works for, become the leading network but his boss Mr. Wilbanks (Joe Flynn) won't listen to any of his suggestions, one of which is making a series called Abraham Lincoln's Doctor's Dog . Steve's girlfriend Jen (Heather…
Authors Ken D. Jones, Arthur F. McClure and Alfred E. Twomey assembled a nice selection of short bios of some of the lesser-known character actors from Hollywood and British films for "Character People", published by The Citadel Press in 1976. Each encyclopedia-style entry includes a photo of the actor followed by a brief biography and a listing of some of their memorable films. McClure and Twomey…
David Lloyd & His London Orchestra wasn't the most popular name in the instrumental field during the mid-century, but this album – Film Hits (1966) – has some great arrangements of popular film themes and it makes one wonder why he didn't become more popular than he was. Admittedly, he had twelve albums released in the decade including two more film theme albums and two spy-themed albums which…
Now here's a distinguished looking fellow... and he is obviously watching something or someone in the distance. We'll let you ponder what that something could be and who this handsome young man is. If you ponder long enough, you'll remember what film this screenshot is from - and then you'll leave a comment below so everyone will know that you know, or think you know what you know. As always, if…
Yes, it happens every spring - baseball fever. And it hits us sports fans hard. For Professor Vernon Simpson, he becomes a different person altogether when baseball season starts. As the dean of the college where he works says, "Every spring he seems to undergo a peculiar change, he becomes absent minded to a degree. It's like spring fever - only it lasts all summer." 20th-Century-Fox released a…
Joan Crawford always looked elegant, particularly so in MGM's Torch Song (1953) where she plays Broadway star Jenny Stewart. Sitting next to her is another elegant actor - Gig Young. I always considered him a secondary actor until I realized just how many films he made from the 1940s-1960s, often in leading parts. He's always great to watch. From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we…
We're taking a brief break from the monthly British Path é series to put the spotlight on another great archive to be found on Youtube: The Rootes Archive . Unlike the British Pathé series of newsreels, The Rootes Archive focus solely on newsreels and short films/documentaries about automobiles, notably car rallies. The Rootes Archive is a trust founded in 2002 in England that preserves original…
In the early 1960s a plethora of great "motion picture theme" albums were released and honestly, it is hard to choose one over the other when comparing them. Ray Ellis and His Orchestra was not as popular as Ray Conniff or Ferrante and Teicher, but he had a large output and recorded equally stellar music. This album, La Dolce Vita and Other Great Motion Picture Themes , dating from 1961, was…
Lewis Gilbert's version of The Admirable Crichton is a handsome adaptation of one of J.M Barrie's most popular plays which, although often referred to as a "satire", was more than likely Barrie's way of disguising his gentle assault on the British class system. It's also a rather unabashed look at the utter helplessness the uppercrust have when they are thrust in a commonplace situation or, in…
In 1974, Granada Television aired one of the most gripping afternoon adventure serials ever aimed at younger audiences, the nine-part thriller Soldier and Me . This unusually intelligent series plunged its viewers into a world of Cold War spies, urban grit, and genuine danger, proving that teenage drama could be every bit as tense and sophisticated as adult thrillers. Its story begins in a rough…
This screenshot has such a beautiful coloring to it, so springlike, I just couldn't resist posting it as our monthly Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game entry.... although it really isn't impossibly difficult, especially if you know who this actress is! As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here . Good luck!
Alec Guinness, as Father Brown, is pictured with the beautiful 16th-century Benvenuto Cellini silver chess set that Flambeau attempts to steal in this rare still photo from The Detective (aka Father Brown ), released in 1954. You can read our full review of this amusing mystery here . From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection.…