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DVD Spotlight: Joe 90

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Apr 14, 2015

After the dark Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson launched the youth-oriented Joe 90 TV series in 1968. Joe 90 replicates the lifelike puppets, elaborate miniature sets, and--to a lesser extent--the espionage themes from Captain Scarlet. However, the similarities end there, read more

The Five Best Jean Renoir Films

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Apr 11, 2015

My movie blogger friend Richard Finch recently started a Facebook Group on Foreign Film Classics. That inspired me to come up with a "Five List" list for my favorite foreign-language film director. 1. The Rules of the Game (La Règle du jeu) - Best described as a "comic tragedy," Jean Renoir’s read more

Longstreet: The Way of the Intercepting Fist

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Apr 8, 2015

In the 1971 made-for-TV movie Longstreet, James Franciscus played a insurance investigator who lost his wife and sight during an explosion intended to kill him. Determined to find the criminals responsible, Mike Longstreet has to learn first how to live with his blindness. He gets ample support from read more

Cult Movie Theatre: The Girl in Black Stockings

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Apr 6, 2015

Let's clarify one point upfront: There is no girl in black stockings in this 1957 low-budget thriller about a serial killer. Instead, you get Anne Bancroft and Mamie Van Doren before they became stars--plus an eclectic supporting cast, some nifty black-and-white photography, and the famous Parry Lod read more

Danny Kaye Gets Up in Arms

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Apr 2, 2015

Danny Kaye's feature-length film debut is a serviceable musical comedy intended as a showcase for its star and radio singing sensation Dinah Shore. In that regard, Up in Arms (1944) works well enough, though Kaye became a more controlled--and more effective--entertainer in later films such read more

Classic Film Art from the Cafe's Collection: Lillian Gish

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Apr 1, 2015

While going through some old files recently, I found a still of Lillian Gish. I used it as the basis for the digitally-created sketch below. read more

A Visit to the Williamsburg Film Festival

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 29, 2015

With its big star lineup and restoration premieres, the TCM Classic Film Festival has become the annual convention for many classic film fans. However, if you prefer a more intimate setting, a smaller crowd, and the chance to chat with the stars, there are better choices! Last year, I attended the W read more

An Interview with Michael McGreevey: The Actor-Writer Discusses Riverboat, Disney, the Fame TV Series, and The Waltons

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 26, 2015

Michael McGreevy and Sally Field in The Way West. Michael McGreevey made his film debut at age of 7 in the 1958 Jane Powell musical The Girl Most Likely. He would soon become one of the most in-demand child actors of the 1960s. He appeared as a regular on the TV series Riverboat (1959-60) and starr read more

A Blogathon in Celebration of the Inaugural National Classic Movie Day!

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 22, 2015

Last year, a grassroots campaign was started to make Saturday, May 16th, the first National Classic Movie Day. The intent is to celebrate classic films from the silents to the seventies. For our part, the Classic Film & TV Cafe will host a one-day My Favorite Classic Movie Blogathon. After all, read more

An Interview with Actress Lana Wood

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 19, 2015

Lana in Diamonds Are Forever. I recently had the pleasure of meeting actress Lana Wood at the Williamsburg Film Festival. Although best known for playing Plenty O'Toole in Diamonds Are Forever, Ms. Wood has had a long movie and television career, both in front of and behind the camera. Her first cr read more

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with "Darby O'Gill and the Little People"

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 17, 2015

In the picturesque Irish village of Rathcullen, old codger Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe) spends more time in the pub talking about leprechauns than tending to the estate of Lord Fitzpatrick. So, it's no surprise when the landowner decides it's time to replace Darby with the younger Michael read more

This Is Cinerama!

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 14, 2015

Former Paramount special effects technician Fred Waller invented Cinerama, a widescreen process which produces a 165-degree curved image, in the early 1950s. It evolved from an earlier Waller system called Vitarama, which used eleven synchronized projectors to create an illusion of vastness and moti read more

The Five Best Swashbuckler Films

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 12, 2015

One of the challenges with listing “swashbuckler films” is that they form a wide genre that defies easy categorization. Yes, a swashbuckling picture must be adventurous in spirit and include some swordplay. However, that definition cuts a wide swath, so one could include tales read more

DVD Spotlight: Fireball XL5

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 9, 2015

Fireball XL5 holds a special place among Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation TV series. It was the first to be shown in the U.S. and the only one to be broadcast on network television. I was among the youngsters that watched Anderson's space adventure on NBC on Saturday mornings in the mid-1960s. read more

Who Is Nina Van Pallandt?

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 7, 2015

In the Ellery Queen episode "The Adventure of Colonel Nivin's Memoirs." Recently, we were watching an episode of Jim Hutton's TV series Ellery Queen (1975-76) and one of the guest stars was Nina Van Pallandt. I remembered her instantly, but wondered how many people were familiar with the occas read more

Abbott & Costello Meet the Frankenstein Monster...and Dracula...and the Wolf Man*

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 4, 2015

Lou sits on the Frankenstein Monster. Ask a classic movie fan to name their favorite comedians and I suspect only a few would list Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. More likely answers might be Chaplin, Keaton, and the Marx Brothers. And yet, the legacy of A&C is significant. They are often credited read more

The Movie-TV Connection Game (March 2015)

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Mar 2, 2015

What do Travolta and Olivier have in common? We're back with another edition of the connection game. As always, you will once again be given a pair or trio of films, TV series, or performers. Your task is to find the common connection. It could be anything--two stars who acted in the same movie, tw read more

Snack-sized Film Reviews: "Horror at 37,000 Feet" and "Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You"

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Feb 27, 2015

Hey, something's wrong with this plane! The Horror at 37,000 Feet. What can you say about a movie in which William Shatner gives the most credible performance? That’s the challenge with The Horror at 37,000 Feet, a 1973 made-for-TV film with a better reputation than it deserves. It makes read more

The Five Best Ellery Queen TV Series Episodes

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Feb 23, 2015

Jim Hutton as Ellery. A unique literary creation, Ellery Queen is famous as both a fictional detective and a best-selling “author” (as a pseudonym for cousins Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee). Prior to Jim Hutton's well-regarded 1975-76 Ellery Queen TV series, the sleuth did not read more

Seven Things to Know About Thelma Ritter

Classic Film & TV Cafe Posted by Rick29 on Feb 18, 2015

1. Thelma was nominated six times in the Best Supporting Actress category--and somehow never won an Oscar. The nominations were for her performances in: All About Eve (1951); The Mating Season (1952); With a Song in My Heart (1953); Pickup on South Street (1954); Pillow Talk (1960); and Birdman read more
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