Monday, June 28, 2021
Musical Monday with Magnetic Fields
Saturday, June 26, 2021
The terror of the KILLDOZER!
WHEN DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE [optional]
--
Thursday, June 24, 2021
The Avengers: Silent Dust
Starring: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, William Franklyn, Jack Watson, Isobel Black, Joanna Wake, Charles Lloyd Pack
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Rating: Five of Ten Stars
What is also better in many other episodes is the villains. Not only are the ones in "Silent Dust" mostly bland, but their scheme is absolute nonsense and one that had no chance of success (or even resulting in long-term benefit to the villains if anyone had bothered to think things through). And yeah... that's how bad it is--I am complaining about something in an episode of "The Avengers" that doesn't make sense....
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Monday, June 21, 2021
Meet Frances Carroll & The Coquettes
On this Musical Monday, we bring you not just one song, but a full set along with with a floorshow! Check out the Girl Band 1940s-style, along with some really interesting dancing that's a cross between ballet and tap!
Frances Carroll & 'The Coquettes' (1940)
Starring: Frances Carroll, Viola Smith, Eunice Healey, and the Coquettes Big Band
Sunday, June 20, 2021
'The Fatal Note' is a lot of fun
An anarchist tries to assassinate the Little King by rigging a bomb to a grand piano, but the miniscule monarch and his pet dog turn the tables on the would-be killer.
"The Fatal Note" was the first of ten "The Little King" episodes. While it's not exactly a faithful adaptation of the comic strip--while it gets the character designs right, the nature of the story and how it unfolds is far from what one would expect--it is seven minutes of non-stop action and humorous hijinx. The animation here is also among the best you'll find in a Van Beuren produciton, with detailed backgrounds, crowd scenes where almost each character has been given a unique characteristic, and very little looping of footage. (There's some of it during a series of fights up and down a staircase, but the foreground action is so varied that it's not noticeable unless you're the sort of jerk who watches cartoons in order to pick them apart for review fodder.).
Why don't you take a few minutes to see if I'm right by clicking below and sitting back to enjoy yourself with some of the best the Van Beuren Corporation had to offer?
Friday, June 18, 2021
The Avengers Dossier, Page Twelve
ATHENE SEYLER
In "Man-Eater of Surrey Green", Athene Seyler plays a botanist who joins Steed and Peel in a battle to save Earth.
Born 1889, Athene Seyler dreamed of being an actress from a young age, and by 1909, she had already made a name for herself in British theatre. With the coming of film, she pursued the new horizons and once again found success--first in early movies and then in early television as a character actress who could be relied upon to deliver quirky performances that were always as British as British could be.
Seyler was at her busiest during the mid-1930s, but her less-frequent screen appearances as the years wore on were not because she wanted for work, but because she was very picky about the roles she accepted and also because she turned her attention back toward theatre work.
Throughout her eight decades as a working actress, Seyler appeared in every mainstream genre of film and television show, from screwball comedies to dark horror films. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles in "Night of the Demon" (1957) and "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" (1958), as well as her numerous turns as matronly characters in screen adaptations of Charles Dickens stories.
Seyler literally worked as an actress her entire adult life. She make her final stage appearance in 1990, at the age of 101, mere weeks before she passed away.
Aside from her role in "Man-Eater of Surrey Green", she played a different character in an episode that aired in 1964, "Build a Better Mouse Trap".
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Silent Movie Magic Fun
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
A stage magician (Méliès) performs some extreme card tricks.
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
'The Howling Wind' became even more impactful because of Covid-19 paranoia
Starring: Anthony Arkin, Nicky Boulos, and Mark Silverman
Directors: Lorian Gish and Justin Knoepffel
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A strange storm carrying a dust cloud that drives people insane has engulfed a rural county. A gruff farmer (Arkin) allows a young stranger (Boulos) to take shelter with him in his house... but soon discovers he may have made a deadly mistake.