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To start this new year of Monsters and Matinees let’s take a deep breath, exhale all the anxiety from 2020 and laugh. Yes, even here in the world of Monsters and Matinees, we need to laugh and remember that horror and comedy are two sides of the same coin. So this column is dedicated to the monst read more

Classic Movie Travels: Doug McPhail Betty Jaymes and Doug McPhail in Babes in Arms (1939) While Doug McPhail’s name may not be well remembered today, his brief time in the film industry is to be appreciated. Typically appearing in lighthearted musical fare with his booming, melodious voice, read more

Our January Picks on the Classic Movie Hub ChannelJanuary Birthdays and Chasing Away the Winter Blues! It’s that time again… We have our monthly free streaming picks for our Classic Movie Hub Channel at Best Classics Ever (BCE) – the mega streaming channel for read more

“Made in Hollywood”We have FOUR Books to Give Away this month! “Only Jim Bacon could top himself with Made in Hollywood.I thought Hollywood is a Four Letter Town was hilarious until I read this”–Bob Hope It’s time for our next book giveaway contest! CMH will be giving away FOUR COPIES read more

Max Steiner, Fred Astaire, and the RKO Movie Musical(Exclusive by Author Steven C. Smith) In 1933 — the same year he recorded his landmark score for King Kong —Max Steiner achieved another ambition he’d sought since becoming RKO’s musical director: oversight of a sophisticated, successful read more

Can’t Help Singing: A Western Musical! Last December I ended the year here writing on a dark topic, “Noir-Tinged Westerns,” so I thought this December I’d write about something completely different, a color Western musical! That musical is Can’t Help Singing, a 1944 read more

Silents are Golden: Silent Superstars – The One and Only Douglas Fairbanks With his endless energy, impressive athletic skills, muscular physique, and winning smile, Douglas Fairbanks was the all-American role model that the early 20th century needed. His films were good, clean, old-fashioned read more

A Visit to the Lucy-Desi Museum and moreSpecial Guest Post by Lucy fan, Lucy Ortiz When I was born, my parents decided to name me after the I Love Lucy show. As an adult, I realized I had some things in common with the Arnaz-Ball family. My birthday is exactly one week before Desi Jr’s in J read more

My Christmas Eve Programming I’m going to pretend that I’m a programmer for a Classic TV station (you know like Antenna, Me-TV and Decades) and I’ve been given the awesome assignment of planning the Christmas Eve schedule. Let’s say Christmas Eve programming starts at about 6 PM and goes read more

“Have a Festival of Horror” proclaims the full-page magazine ad from 1973. It was in the quarterly magazine called The Film Journal and it literally meant to have a film festival, as in  “hey, buy these movies on 16mm film.” The company – Universal 16 – offered five festivals including read more

Noir Nook: Five Things I Love About Martha Ivers When you think about femme fatales in film noir, who are the first dames to come to mind? Phyllis Dietrichson from Double Indemnity, certainly, and Kathie Moffat from Out of the Past? Cora Smith in The Postman Always Rings Twice? Kitty from The Kil read more

Silver Screen Standards: White Christmas (1954) I’m not really a Christmas person. My overwhelming mood through the holiday season tends to be a combination of anxiety and depression that only lifts when we reach December 26, at which point I heave a sigh of relief. My father’s favorite Christmas read more

Max Steiner and The Birth of Modern Movie MusicExclusive Guest Post by Author Steven C. Smith An international crisis triggers record unemployment. Hollywood executives panic, as movie theaters shut their doors. And one studio faces likely closure, putting all its hopes on a would-be blockb read more

Classic Movie Travels: George Murphy George Murphy Hollywood musicals feature a wide array of performers who excelled in singing and dancing. George Murphy was one of many actors who excelled as a popular musical star, appearing in various Hollywood musicals with other top musical peers of hi read more

Five Unmissable Marlene Dietrich Films The joy of programming a season of Marlene Dietrich films is that she’s wonderful in everything – she had such electric charisma. But I had to whittle my list of favorite Dietrich performances down to just a few key films for the season. Because while you’ll read more

Our December Picks on the Classic Movie Hub ChannelDecember Birthdays and Holiday Cheer! It’s that time again… We have our monthly free streaming picks for our Classic Movie Hub Channel at Best Classics Ever (BCE) – the mega streaming channel for classic movies read more

BFI Southbank’s “Marlene Dietrich: Falling in Love Again”From Europe to Hollywood and back again, the screen’s most enduring love goddess still smolders. CMH is very happy to announce our partnership with the BFI, the UK’s lead organization for film, television and the moving read more

Claude Jarman Jr. Child Star of The YearlingTalks about his film The Sun Comes Up (1949)AND offers Autographed Copies of His Book“My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood” for Purchase In our 5th interview with Charles Jarman Jr, he talks about starring in the family drama The Sun Come read more

Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential ComposerWe have 8 Books to Giveaway this Month! “Gracefully written, this sympathetic portrait captures the prodigious composer’s personality and documents his many milestone achievements, from King Kong to  read more

“Hollywood is a Four Letter Town”We have FIVE Books to Give Away this month! “Frank and Spicy!” – The New York Times It’s time for our next book giveaway contest! CMH will be giving away FIVE COPIES of Hollywood is a Four Letter Town, by syndicated columnist James read more