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Our Howard Hawks-athon this month at Pretty Clever Films continues with a look at A Song Is Born. A carbon copy remake of Hawks’ own screwball classic Ball of Fire (1941). A Song Is Born stars Danny Kaye, in the role originated by Gary Cooper, with Virginia Mayo taking on the Barbara Stanwyck role read more

I recently watched Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, which co-starred the adult children of John Wayne and Tyrone Power. So, I thought it'd be fun to write about actors that were the children of classic film stars. The challenge with this kind of post is narrowing the topic to a manageable size. read more

By Fritzi Kramer on March 16, 2014 in Blog, Feature, Silent Movie Review Professor Moriarty is up to his usual wicked tactics. This looks like a job for Sherlock Holmes! You know, that well-known college student. Wait, what? John Barrymore takes an unorthodox, romantic approach toward the famous sl read more

If there was something I wanted to shout from the rooftops after having seeing Get a Horse! was “Thank God for Disney (as a company) not completely forgetting Mickey Mouse’s roots but also fighting to keep him relevant and update his image.” Of course, I knew that there were new ag read more

The New York Times is reporting today that Hal Douglas passed away this past Friday as a result of complications of pancreatic cancer. The name is one that is unfortunately not very likely known, though his voice spoke to generations of movie-goers. Hal Douglas, you see, was one of the great narrato read more

The New York Times is reporting today that Hal Douglas passed away this past Friday as a result of complications of pancreatic cancer. The name is one that is unfortunately not very likely known, though his voice spoke to generations of movie-goers. Hal Douglas, you see, was one of the great narrato read more

“What’s Up Doc?” final film screened in screwball comedy series April 12, 2014 When: Saturday, April 12, 2014 4:00 p.m. Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street I can’t think of a better film to end our screwball comedy series than with WhatR read more

“What’s Up Doc?” final film screened in screwball comedy series April 12, 2014 When: Saturday, April 12, 2014 4:00 p.m. Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street I can’t think of a better film to end our screwball comedy series than with WhatR read more

The historic Napa Valley Opera House on Main Street in Napa, California, first opened its doors in 1880 with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. Those doors closed in 1914, the theater having sustained damage from San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake and changing times - vaud read more

I have just received confirmation that for the second year in a row, Backlots will have the honor of providing official press coverage for the TCM Classic Film Festival, April 10-14 in Hollywood. The TCM Classic Film Festival is perhaps the biggest festival focusing on classic films in the country read more

The historic Napa Valley Opera House on Main Street in Napa, California, first opened its doors in 1880 with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. Those doors closed in 1914, the theater having sustained damage from San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake and changing times - vaud read more

The historic Napa Valley Opera House on Main Street in Napa, California, first opened its doors in 1880 with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore. Those doors closed in 1914, the theater having sustained damage from San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake and changing times - vaud read more

By Fritzi Kramer on March 9, 2014 in Blog, Feature, Silent Movie Review A beggar, a caliph and a bandit find themselves enmeshed in a very strange adventure. Secret romances, revenge and murder all play a part. With a scruffy protagonist and the love story pushed to the background, you can think of read more

While I feel it’s a bit thematically similar to last year’s Paperman there’s no doubt that The Blue Umbrella is another very strong Disney/Pixar short. It’s especially impressive in its animation technique, which looks nearly photo-realistic at times, and is, of course, visua read more

“The Lady Eve” 5th film in Screwball Comedy series screened March 11, 2014 When: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 6:30 p.m. Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street The Lady Eve (1941) Father and daughter con artists (Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck) travel on t read more

“The Lady Eve” 5th film in Screwball Comedy series screened March 11, 2014 When: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 6:30 p.m. Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street The Lady Eve (1941) Father and daughter con artists (Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck) travel on t read more

Turner Classic Movies is getting an unexpected present for their twentieth birthday: competition. On February 3, Sony Pictures Television launched getTV, a broadcast television network devoted exclusively to classic film from the 1930s through the 1960s. At launch, the channel is available in 44 per read more

As Big Men opens, it’s clear what the message will be. There are two quotes about the nature of greed and human-kind’s proclivities toward it. The first explains that greed is easily deflected, and that it’s always the “other guy” who is truly greedy. The second is fro read more

By Fritzi Kramer on March 2, 2014 in Blog, Silent Movie Review Snow-skinned princesses and dwarfs combine forces once more in the straightforward version of the classic fairy tale. 1910′s favorite Marguerite Clark is the title character, Creighton Hale is the prince and a very young Richard B read more

In my intermittent posts on the blog lately I have neglected to mention this year’s Oscar-nominated shorts. If you’d like to see the films either ahead of, or just after tomorrow’s Academy Award ceremonies. You can find information on a number of streaming/on demand options here. read more