Here are 10 things you should know about David Landau, born 145 years ago today. After three decades on the stage, his film career was exceedingly brief, but he made his mark as a heavy in those four years.
Tag: Horse Feathers
10 Things You Should Know About Nat Pendleton
Here are 10 things you should know about Nat Pendleton, born 127 years ago today. It might seem as if he was in the cast of every movie Hollywood produced in the 1930s and ’40s, but there were a few he couldn’t fit into his schedule.
In Search of the Mysterious Mr. Moskowitz
One of the joys of being an old-movie buff is when an actor in a bit part sparks your interest and you start to do a little research on him or her, which causes you to tumble down a rabbit hole of odd facts and coincidences. Sometimes one finds unlikely connections between that unfamiliar performer and some much bigger names—such as when, say, Groucho Marx, Lee Tracy, and Walter Winchell have a connection to…Milton Wallace?
We recently attended a screening of Blessed Event (1932), a classic precode comedy in which Lee Tracy plays a character that was obviously inspired by gossip columnist Walter Winchell, who was all the rage back then.
We were especially excited to attend the screening, as we had been informed that some footage that had long since been excised from the picture had been restored. Reportedly, it had been there all along, but only in the print that belonged to the Library of Congress. Virtually no one knew about it till Bruce Goldstein, director of repertory programming at NYC’s Film Forum, screened the print at the TCM film festival and realized what a find he’d uncovered.
For those not familiar with Winchell, we’ll catch you up just a bit: A former vaudevillian, he turned to a scandal-mongering form of journalism when his performing career wound down. His popular newspaper column was syndicated and he had a huge following on national radio, too. He was known for coining any number of phrases still used today, including the above-cited “blessed event” used to signal the pending birth of a baby (the guardians of broadcasting decency in those days were convinced that American ears were too tender for that oh-so-coarse term “pregnant”).
Winchell’s broadcasts included remotely broadcast performances by bands and singers around the country, and right before switching to those remote locations, he would blow a siren whistle and say, “Okay, America!”
In the film, as the title suggests, Tracy’s Winchell-esque character relies on the same “blessed event” catchphrase that Winchell used. But in the restored scene, a short, middle-aged, somewhat stereotypical (though not, in our opinion, disparagingly so) Jewish man, played by one Milton Wallace, shows up at the newspaper office to give Tracy a “blessed event” tip: He, Mr. Moskowitz, and his wife are soon going to have their seventh child and he thinks maybe Tracy would want to put that into his column.
Spend New Year’s Eve with the Marxes & the Charleses
What are you doing New Year’s Eve? We’re not referencing the classic song of that name (a favorite of ours, by the way); we’re asking the question. Because Turner Classic Movies has arranged a day of programming that, for our money, negates any need to even think of joining the inebriated hordes who’ll be out on the town, paying too much to have too little fun. Stay home instead, and enjoy the Marx Brothers all day and Nick and Nora Charles (and Asta, too) all night!
The Marx Brothers‘ first—and finest—seven pictures will air (slightly out of order, which is a bit of a head-scratcher) beginning at 8:15 a.m. ET, followed by all six Thin Man movies (which are being shown in proper order) beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
It’s nearly 23 hours of programming, so you’ll want to get plenty of rest tonight.
Happy Birthday, Groucho Marx!
Today marks the 123nd anniversary of the birth of the great Groucho Marx.
All of the movies Groucho made are available on DVD, and there are some terrific collections of his hilarious game show, You Bet Your Life, available as well.
Most, if not all, of the books he wrote are available, too.
So it’s up to you how you do it, but really, don’t you think you should spend some time with Groucho on his birthday?
We think so, too.
Just to help you out in a pinch, here are the very memorable first few minutes of Animal Crackers (1930), the Marx Brothers’ second movie, filmed at Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens: