It's Ms. Captain Marvel!

In anticipation of the upcoming "Captain Marvel" movie, here's a portrait gallery of Carol Danvers in her two Ms. Marvel outfits, and the one she wore after she became Captain Marvel.

Jessica Drew, better known as Spider-Woman decided to pop by to wish Carol success with her movie (which is in State-side theaters on March 7, 2019). Maybe, if fame doesn't go to her head, Carol will visit during an upcoming Spider-Woman Sunday!

Beverley Owen has passed away

Born in 1937, Beverley Owen spent most of her brief acting career appearing on a variety of TV shows during 1963 and 1964. She reached the height of her success when she was cast as Marilyn Munster on the fantasy-based sit-com "The Munsters". Marilyn was the "plain one" in a family who look like monsters out of 1940s horror films.

Owen only appeared in two unaired pilots  and the first 13 episode of "The Munsters", because 1964 was the year she retired from acting to get married and raise her two daughters.
Owen passed away on Feb. 21 2019 at the age of 81.

'Off the Trolley' is a perfect title

Off the Trolley (1919)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, Harry "Snub" Pollard, Sammy Brooks, and Bud Jamison
Director: Alf Goulding
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Unpleasant characters (Lloyd and Daniels) ride a streetcar with the world's most inept driver (Pollard).

Since it's a 100-year-old silent film, some are prone to dismiss "Off the Trolley" as not worth their time. Those people would be missing out on seven minutes of nearly non-stop amazement and laughter... because this one packs in more madness into its brief running time than many feature-length comedies do at ten times the length.

Harold Lloyd plays one of those trickster characters that are lots of fun in comedies and comic strips but you know would be in prison (or dead) if they existed in the real world... and he's in fine form in this picture. From his initial encounter with hotty ticket taker Bebe Daniels on their way to work, through his slapstick escape from an ever-growing crowd of cops, his conflicts with other passengers on the streetcar, and his dealing with would-be robbers, are all incredibly funny and spectacular examples of well-timed physical comedy.

Bebe Daniels is also lots of fun in this film. I'm usually annoyed by insta-romances, but here it seems clear that all she's looking for from Lloyd's character is a "bit of fun"... which is for the best, because even if she had something more in mind, it would end as soon as she discovered what he gets up to and does to her behind her back. (Although, frankly, based on their first interaction, part of me thinks the Daniels and Lloyd characters probably deserve each other.)

Since you're here already, why don't you take a view minutes to check out this great little film, embedded below via YouTube?

'All Teed Up' brings chaos to the golf course

All Teed Up (1930)
Starring: Charlie Chase, Thelma Todd, Dale Henderson, Carl Stockdale, and Tennen Holz
Director: James Horne
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A socially inept banker (Chase) decides to take up golf. A chance encounter, and romantic chemistry, with a young woman (Todd) gets him invited to play on the course of an exclusive private club.

"All Teed Up" is a social comedy that uses golf as its source of humor. When it was made, the sport of golf had transformed from something played by an elite few to a national craze, and everyone from the struggling middle class on up were picking up clubs and knocking balls around. Charley Chase's character seems to be conceived to be a caricature of an average white collar worker hoping to be part of the new Big Thing even if he knows nothing about it. The three men he plays against, and tries to befriend in his inept and highly annoying way, are also caricatures of typical golfers, and they grow so frustrated that this clueless newbie is beating them that they start cheating. Despite the chaos he ends up causing, Chase's character is so guileless that viewers can't help but always be on his side as the film unfolds. Although some of the sequences during the golf game go on for a little too long and become repetitive, they never get boring because Chase's character is so likable. Heck, he's so likeable that you'll find yourself saying "good job" as he finally snaps and throws a temper tantrum (and yes... he does swear to a degree that might give the film a PG rating!)

One of the things that made this film very interesting was the scenes featuring Thelma Todd at the beginning and the end. Although Todd doesn't do much other than react to Chase being goofy, it's a clear demonstration of how well the two played off each other. Her appearance in this film is also a clear example of how she could light up the screen by just being present.

"All Teed Up" is one of several films where Chase and Todd are teamed up. Producer Hal Roach was so pleased with Todd's performance that by 1931 he had given her a comedy series of her own where she was one-half of a female Laurel & Hardy or Wheeler & Woosley team, first with veteran comedienne Zasu Pitts and later Patsy Kelly as her co-stars. Most of Todd's appearances with Chase are included among the 17 films in the Charley Chase at Hal Roach: The Talkies, Volume One set. I'll be reviewing more of these shorts as The Year of the Hot Toddy continues! 

The Amazing Ms. Marvel!

Before she got promoted to Captain, Carol Danvers was a Ms... but she was still a Marvel!

By Gene Gonzales

In preparation for the upcoming "Captain Marvel" movie, here are some portraits of Ms. Marvel as she appeared in 1970s and early 1980s (before Chris Claremont and the editors at Marvel Comics literally had her abused and raped).

By Darrel Young

By Rodrigo Rosa-DeSosa

By Aaron Lopresti



By Buzz

Musical Monday: k.d lang

I'm sure we could all make a list of musicians and singers we feel deserved greater fame than they achieved--or at least were more widely known like certain craptacular pop stars are. My list is a long one, and one of the names on it is k.d. lang. When she recorded what SHOULD have been the title song for the James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies"--it was the main theme for the film's score--I was sure he would finally get the wide fame she was due. Sadly it was not be the case. Although others have followed in lang's stylistic footsteps, and become more widely known, she has remained relatively obscure.

Here's one of k.d. lang's better-known songs. I confess to not understanding how the vaudeville-esque show going on in the video connects with the song (I have an idea, but I am not convinced I'm right), so if you have an idea, I'd love to hear it.

And speaking of "Tomorrow Never Dies", here's the best James Bond main titles song you've never heard. (It was relegated to the end credits of the movie for which it was written and performed. Instead, the film opened with a tepid song performed by Sheryl Crowe.)

'Night of the Demon' is terror-riffic!

Night of the Demon (1957) (aka "Curse of the Demon")
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall McGinnis, Liam Redmond, and Athene Seyler
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

An American (Andrews) travels to England to help investigate a demonic cult, and he finds himself targeted by supernatural forces unleashed by the cult's leader (McGinnis).

"Night of the Demon" is a by-the-numbers horror film where a skeptic is beset by supernatural forces and the only way he can survive is to turn the tables on those who have unleashed them. The fact that it's straight-forward with only one unexpected and shocking moment isn't a strike against it, because the story is expertly paced and structured, and so excellently acted by ever cast member that the predictability of the story becomes irrelevant.

The mood grows increasingly intense as the film unfolds, and the trainyard climax is perhaps one of the best finishes to a horror film I've ever seen. What's better, the film delivers its scares through quality acting, lighting, sparse use of soundtrack music, and perfect pacing; who could have imagined that a piece of paper fluttering away on a breeze could be such a source of suspense? I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes their horror with a minimum of gore.

With all the praise I'm heaping on the film, you may be wondering why I'm only giving it a rating of Eight Stars? It's because of the film's one and only misstep; it establishes right from the beginning that the supernatural powers of the villainious cult leader (played with just the right amount of slimeness and pomposity by the underappreciated character actor Niall McGinnis) are real. While on the one hand, it accelerates the viewer's sense of apprehension for the death-marked hero, it undermines takes away any mystery in the story. We don't even the a startling reveal of the demonic creature, as that, too, is shown to us in the very beginning. It's hard for to judge if the film would have been better with the more standard "is it all a hoax or is it supernatural forces" approach, but I leaning toward thinking it would have. Therefore, I am assigning it a rating of a High Eight.

"Night of the Demon" was released in the United States in 1958 under the title "Curse of the Demon", with a running time that's roughly 7 minutes shorter than the original British version. The most recent DVD release contains both cuts of the film, and I was sure that part of the cut material would be from the opening sequence where we see a character get killed by fire demon. I was wrong; instead, character building bits, and a crucial exposition scene were cut from the film.

Space Girl Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day, and love is in the void between planets.

By Arthur Adams

'Chickens Come Home' is top Laurel & Hardy

Chickens Come Home (1931)
Starring: Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Mae Busch, Thelma Todd, James Finlayson, Norma Drew, and Patsy O'Byrne
Director: James W. Horne
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

When Oliver (Hardy) becomes a candidate for Mayor, an old lover (Busch) resurfaces to blackmail him with a compromising photo. Oliver refuses to pay her off, so his campaign manager (Laurel) tries to neutralize her through other means... which go horribly awry.

You can file this one under "timeless classics", because the storyline of "Chickens Come  Home" is funnier, yet feels just as topical, as whatever the most recent "edgy" and heavy-handed political skit  you might see on late-night television. I would love to see some enterprising filmmaker do a remake of this film with only some minor updates to bring it into modern times, but otherwise keep it as it is--even to the point where the performers' characters are named after them. Given the strong parallels there are between the events of this film and a certain situation with a stripper, a US presidential candidate, and his shady attorney, I think it would be add a lot to the fun of to the film to see the reaction of the obsessed and mentally deficient on both sides of the political spectrum.

As for the film, it's one of the best with Laurel & Hardy that I've seen. Both headliners get to play to their strengths and each major supporting cast member gets their turn at being funny, too. Hardy in particular gets to shine in this film. He has the best material to work with, and he plays nicely off Thelma Todd, who plays Hardy's wife with lots of charm and confused stares. In fact, this film would have been even stronger if Stan Laurel and Mae Busch's roles had been reduced mostly to the scenes they already share with Hardy; while the bit where Stan tries to keep Mae in her apartment is funny, I kept wanting to go back to the Hardy household. It's not that the scene was bad, it's just that the real story was unfolding elsewhere, and I the detour was not welcome.

Everything about this film is very funny. From the business our politically ambitious heroes--they manufacture fertilizer--through their last-ditch effort to hide their attempts to hide their efforts to attempt to hide Hardy's old relationship from their wives, every bit is perfectly performed by the highly talented cast. The one complaint I have about the film basically boils down to one sequence not being as good as the rest of the film (not to mention a little predictable)... so that's a weak complaint indeed.

Trivia: "Chickens Come Home" is a remake of a 1927 silent movie titled "Love 'Em and Weep." Many of the same cast members are featured in both films, with Stan Laurel and Mae Busch playing mostly the same roles, but Oliver Hardy had a bit part in the first version while James Finlayson was the one subjected to the blackmail, where here Hardy has the major role and Finlayson is a bit player.

Felix the Cat learns the Black Bottom

We've all heard of the Charleston dance, and seen it performed in numerous movies, but by 1927, that dance had been replaced as a favorite among America's Dancing Daughters by the Black Bottom. .

The Black Bottom is based on a dance that had been around in black communities of the South since at least the early 1900s--and as it began to gain national popularity, one dancer stated that it was "as old as the hills." It came to national attention when it was performed in variety shows in Harlem and on New York City's Broadway. The most famous performer of the Black Bottom at the time was Ann Pennington, an already famous dancer who rode the Black Bottom craze to even more fame, including numerous bit-parts in films throughout the 1930s.

As the national Black Bottom craze was still climbing--and even going international--Ann Pennington did a shoot for "Photoplay" magazine in which she taught Felix the Cat how to performe the dance. The photos appeared on a two-page spread in the issue of "Photoplay" cover-dated January 1927.

You can read more about the Black Bottom at Wikipedia. Meanwhile, here's Ann and Felix performing the Black Bottom!

Hop down front then doodle back.

Mooch to your left...

...  then mooch to your right.

Do the mess around.

Break a leg until you're near the ground [this is a hobbling step]

Finally, here's video showing performances of both solo and couples versions of the Black Bottom.