September 5, 1901: William McKinley, the first U.S. president to be captured on film, is shown at the Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, one day before his assassination. September 5, 1916: In response to the outcry over The Birth of a…
Read more →Articles by: Jay Steinberg
Skelton Knaggs: A Skelton Key
Cue the aging film geek blog confession, annnd action…this goes back to some Saturday at the dawn of the ‘70s, when Philly’s then-prevalent local TV horror host was airing Universal’s monster-rally opus House of Dracula (1945). Myself, I’d been a…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 08.28.11
September 1, 1902: A milestone in the evolution of the cinema is marked with the release of George Méliès’ fantastic Voyage to the Moon. August 28, 1912: “King of Comedy” Mack Sennett leaves Biograph and forms Keystone Film Company with…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 08.21.11
August 27, 1953: Audrey Hepburn captivates audiences with her Hollywood debut as the runaway princess in Roman Holiday, for which she’ll win an Academy Award. August 27, 1917: The first feature to be directed by John Ford, the Harry Carey–Hoot Gibson western Straight…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 08.14.11
August 18, 1925: MGM settles on the winner of a fan magazine contest to rechristen contract starlet Lucille LeSeur, and adds “Joan Crawford” to the lexicography. August 16, 1926: Up-and-coming starlet Clara Bow inks a deal with Paramount, but refuses…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 08.07.11
August 9, 1930: The Fleischer Studio’s Betty Boop sashays onto the screen (as a dog!) in the cartoon short Dizzy Dishes. August 10, 1950: Director Billy Wilder is accused of biting the hand that feeds him with his darkly funny…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.31.11
August 6, 1926: The first film released with Vitaphone sound, Warner Bros.’ Don Juan, features sound effects and an orchestral score. July 31, 1928: Audiences first hear MGM mascot Leo the Lion’s mighty roar with the studio’s first sound film,…
Read more →Mario Lanza: The Toast of South Philadelphia
The remarkable power of the tenor voice possessed by this native Philadelphian guaranteed him a meteoric arc across the pop culture of post-WWII America and an appreciation that has endured over the half-century since his very premature passing. In 1921,…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.24.11
July 28, 1928: Encouraged by the response to the few minutes of sound in The Jazz Singer, Warner Bros. releases Lights of New York, the first all-talking picture. July 28, 1948: Lon Chaney, Jr. and Bela Lugosi play the Wolf…
Read more →This Week In Film History, 07.17.11
July 17, 1913: An old vaudeville gag is reborn on screen as Mabel Normand becomes the first to throw a pie into “Fatty” Arbuckle’s kisser, in A Noise from the Deep. July 22, 1934: After seeing MGM’s Manhattan Melodrama at…
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