The Rosebud Chronicles

2005-10-26T23:29:00.000-07:00

Creature remake!

Heeeee’s back! Here’s Reuters’ take on the long awaited update of the 50’s sci-fi classic. See an overview of the chatter that has continued to swirl around the project in the press, including Hellboy’s Del Toro confirming he is definitely not involved at Countingdown.com. For an autographed photo like the one above from Ben Chapman, who played the original gill man, visit his site at The Reel Gillman.

2005-10-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

Porky dies at 71

The mainstream media is almost a week behind on this news, but check out this article from late Friday here. In an October 2000 entry in the Classmate News of John Jay High School, San Antonio, TX, (scroll down to find the proper entry with photos of Porky then and more recently) a longtime friend Dennis Dupriest mentions that it was Porky not Buckwheat who first uttered the immortal word “otay” despite the Eddie Murphy skit. Check also this German site for a full filmography and here for an extensive gallery of young film stars from the 1930’s including the photo above.

2005-10-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

Singin’ Mitchum

Mitchumgirl at the Classic Actors Yahoo Movie Group has created a page of audio files from the handful of his movies in which Mitchum sings including One Minute to Zero; Rachel and the Stranger; Pursued; Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison; Young Billy Young; The Sundowners; The Night of the Hunter; and The Night Fighters. If you can think of any she’s missed contact her through the Classic Actors group, and for more on the record demonstrating Mitchum’s lesser known calypso talents shown above visit this Washington, DC, record collector’s website.

2005-10-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

Widmark to be honored

After 44 years in motion pictures, film noir icon Richard Widmark, who burst onto the screen as psychotic killer Tommy Udo in the 1947 “Kiss of Death” and presaged the rogue cop of the Dirty Harry era in the 1968 police drama “Madigan” with Henry Fonda, is finally getting his due. Read about the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s plans to honor the 90 year old actor this January with their annual Career Achievement Award in this Reuters report and at Cinematical. Read Richard’s bio and an extensive filmography here and here. And for an overview of the actor’s career and more photos like the one above and posters from his films check out Brian W. Fairbanks’ “Richard Widmark: The Face of Film Noir".

2005-10-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Eastwood revisits Iwo Jima--Twice

Remember the scene near the end of the original World War II classic where Wayne’s Sgt. Stryker is taken out by a sniper’s bullet? Contemporary tough guy Clint Eastwood plans to revisit the famous battle not only from the standpoint of the U.S. Marines but from the other end of the sniper’s scope as well. Read the full story on Time Online Edition of the two Iwo Jima’s scheduled for release next fall. And check out more photos like the ones above at this John Wayne photo gallery and at Eastwood: The Worldwide Webpage.

2005-10-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

It’s alive!

The new archives blog for “The Rosebud Chronicles” entitled “The Final Reel” is up and running. Access the site here or through our links section below. And check out more great stills from the 1931 James Wales classic as well as the 1939 Son of Frankenstein and Mel Brooks’ hilarious spoof here. The page is part of an online course on major authors of British Literature at Ole’ Miss. Check out the course introduction here.

2005-10-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

Bogie.com

Growing up watching classic cinema on television and later on video, I inevitably seemed to gravitate towards movies like The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The African Queen and the war film Sahara from 1943. The common denominator, of course, was Bogie. Here’s a great guide to the actor at All Things Bogart. Included are links to other great sites like Mike Rosenberg’s massive Tribute to Humphrey Bogart with photos like the one above, Elizabeth’s Bogart Page at Reel Classics: The Classic Movie Site, The Official Bogart Site, and Norbert Wohnl’s fan site for the Bogie and Hepburn picture The African Queen. Share any Bogie sites you’ve found below.

2005-10-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Buster

I know I’m a couple of days late on this, but according to Lady Neferankh at The-Movies-Of-The-Golden Age, Buster Keaton would have been 110 earlier this week. Check out Neferankh’s Keaton poster tribute above and here. And for more stuff on the silent movie master look here and here.

2005-10-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sci-Fi cinema class?

High school was never like this. Check out this lesson plan for students and teachers using classic and modern science fiction cinema as the text. Here’s the section covering the earliest science fiction films and another from the Golden Age of the 50’s. There’s even a printable worksheet here. Try to overlook the typos and grammar. The idea is an interesting one. For some toys inspired by classic science fiction films like the “Blue Robby” based on the character from “Forbidden Planet” check here. Or to hear samples from the film's soundtrack by electronic music pioneers Louis and Bebe Barron use this link.

2005-09-17T07:13:00.000-07:00

Robert Wise remembered

Reuters’ story on director Robert Wise’s death Thursday afternoon emphasized the director’s contributions to big screen musicals like “West Side Story” and, of course, “The Sound Of Music”. For me and many other fans of 1940’s and 1950’s black and white cinema, however, he may be remembered more for fascinating and extremely watchable movies, even by today’s standards, like “Blood on the Moon”, a fascinating noir western and, of course, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. For the updated Reuters’ story see this link and for a full bio click here. For a lengthy interview from 1998 from the “Conversations with History” series for the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, check this out. Information about Wise’s Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute including the above photo is posted here.

2005-09-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

GWTW still on top

It’s probably no surprise to connoisseurs of the oldies but goodies that the burning of Atlanta still outshines the blowing up of the Death Star for sheer box office charisma. Check out the full story to see how today’s blockbusters stack up against the classics. You can purchase the full report compiled by Screen Digest here, or just check out the raw data for free at this link. Check out photos like this from the original film at this link.

2005-09-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

Dead stars online

Here’s something kinda creepy. Elizabeth of Reel Classics: The Classic Movie Site says it’s got a niche all its own on the net, and I think she’s got something there. Type in your favorite movie star and get a brief bio and information on where he or she is buried. Some entries even have a photo of the gravestone like Bela Lugosi’s above. To check out the famous grave search click here. To visit the Find A Grave homepage for the whereabouts of even more dead people visit this link.

2005-08-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Moses III?

ABC is remaking the Ten Commandments (sort of) and was scheduled to start shooting in May. EEEK! I’m not sanguine about this one. Partially because it’s a mini series for TV. Read more about the project here. And has anyone heard anything further about Paramount’s plan for a remake? Here’s the link. How about a more provocative revision, if we must have one. Say John Singleton directing an all black cast. Andre Benjamin from Singleton’s “Four Brothers” and the music group Outcast could play Pharaoh. The possibilities for Nefretiri are endless. Any suggestions for Moses? Is Denzel Washington too obvious a choice? Seems only fair after Mel Gibson’s European Jesus. Place casting suggestions in the comments section or join our online group here and post them. And to purchase the photo above from the Heston and Co. production click here.

2005-08-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

New Classic Movie Community

Our new classic movies online community is now up and running. The site is dedicated to news and information of interest to fans of classic cinema from the earliest black and white era until the 1970's much like this blog. If you’ve got your own related site that you’d like to share or just want to talk about classic films of any era, including those by the foreign film masters, feel free to participate by clicking here. Also, if, you happen to be in Southern California and want to visit one of Hollywood’s classic old cinema palaces, like the historic 1922 Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood shown above, check out American Cinematheque by clicking here or go directly to information on both of the group’s historic theatres by clicking here and here. For more historical information on the Egyptian Theatre itself go here.

2005-08-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

Kong Reborn

I know I’ll probably never hear the end of this from purists, but I’m kind of looking forward to seeing Peter Jackson’s new take on the big ape due out in December. Chat rooms are buzzing with complaints about excessive CGI (that’s Computer Generated Imagery for those of you who haven’t watched any animation post-Harryhausen) but my seven-year-old, who always complained about the scientific inaccuracy of the carnivorous Brontosaurus in the 1933 original, will love the dinosaurs. And Jack Black looks great as Carl Denham. Just download the trailer here and have a look. For some great pics from the original film like the one above click here and here.

2005-08-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Oompa Loompa Outed

Imagine the Oompa Loompas’ reaction to Ezzy Dame’s deception. They’d sing a little song about a guy who tells fibs and pretends he was in a big budget Hollywood movie when he really wasn’t.

Oompa Loompa doom-pa-dee-da
If you don’t lie then you will go far
Saying you starred in the picture’s untrue
Like the Oompa Loompa doom-pa-de-do

Then they’d probably drop him down a big shute or turn him into a giant blueberry or something. Read the whole sordid affair of an Oompa Loompa that never was here and here. Then, to make matters worse, read the interview by the local newspaper only a short time earlier about what Ezzy thought of Tim Burton’s remake of the classic film he was never actually in here. For more photos of the honest to goodness Oompa Loompas from the original film click here.

2005-08-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Fade In

The idea for this blog is as simple as its title implies for those even remotely familiar with classic cinema or popular culture for that matter. The cryptic opening line of Orson Welles’ 1941 classic Citizen Kane is unforgettable for those who have seen it. This site grew out of a realization that news of interest to fans of classic cinema on the Internet is spread somewhat thin. However, some great sites do exist, such as Nathaniel S. Johnson’s great The Estate of Orson Welles where this image of the 1999 commemorative Citizen Kane postal stamp can be found. Check the site out here and keep checking back at The Rosebud Chronicles for frequent updates about classic film links on the net.