Cliff Aliperti's Blog: Immortal Ephemera, page 12

The Woman Accused (1933) Starring Nancy Carroll and Cary Grant

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

Sometimes one scene can save a stinker. That idea makes me think of what Edward G. Robinson did towards the end of Two Seconds (1932), but Robinson’s performance actually escalated over several scenes towards that closing crescendo, and Two Seconds is otherwise okay even before Robinson begins his spine-tingling finish. I didn't feel the same way about The Woman Accused (1933).

Above: Cary Grant and Nancy Carroll in The W...

Classic Movie Monthly #4 Now Available

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas and holiday season! I'm still shocked to have finished wrapping all of my presents on time, what with all of the time I spent trying to wrap up this latest edition of Classic Movie Monthly!

Classic Movie Monthly #4 is now available for your Kindle (or other reading device, see details on Amazon page). In keeping with new tradition, the introduction to the issue is reprinted below...

Stanley Fields Biography — Blustery Thirties Character Actor

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

Above: Stanley Fields in Little Caesar (1931)

Stanley Fields had a voice that matched his face. Either could have been raked over gravel. His movie career lasted just a brief and blustery dozen years, but he still appeared in over one hundred feature film releases. He died a long time ago, a sergeant in the Great War who left us several months before the attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into the second World...

Kirk Douglas Turns 100 — The Centenarians Updated, TCM Snub, Other TV Listings, Etc.

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

Happy 100th birthday to Kirk Douglas, born December 9, 1916.

A little after midnight I added Kirk Douglas to the top of my Centenarians page. The last edit to that page acknowledged the November 12 death of Lupita Tovar—let me say, once again, it’s much more enjoyable adding names to that page, and this year featured the addition of two major stars of classic Hollywood, Olivia de Havilland, and now Kirk Douglas.

While Ki...

Helen Mack — Brief Biography of The Son of Kong Star

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

“Pay particular attention to Helen Mack,” said Picture Play in its review. They weren’t the only ones to notice. It was Mack who earned “the only burst of applause” at Radio City Music Hall’s March preview of Sweepings, according to Motion Picture Herald. Mack’s performance in Sweepings began a busy year for the actress, who only celebrated her twentieth birthday a month before her seventh and final release of 1933, The S...

Classic Movie Monthly #3 Now Available

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

Classic Movie Monthly #3 is now available for your Kindle (or other reading device, see details on Amazon page). In keeping with new tradition, the introduction to the issue is reprinted below so you can get a feel for what's inside.

Introduction

Welcome to Issue #3 of Immortal Ephemera’s Classic Movie Monthly. When I began this project it was with the first three issues all set and ready to go—scrap that “all set” part...

No Man of Her Own (1932) Starring Clark Gable and Carole Lombard

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

Hard-boiled card sharp Gable splits the city to dodge a persistent vice cop and winds up in a hick town highlighted by lovely Lombard, who’s bored to the point of wagering sex versus marriage on a Gable coin toss. The stars ooze charisma in a simple but well-crafted story, pleasing to the eye, and well-paced despite running over eighty minutes. Paramount borrowed Wesley Ruggles from RKO to direct, and they were so pleased...

Scott Allen Nollen Discusses Robert E. Burns, Chain Gang, and His Latest Book

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

Today, author and film historian Scott Allen Nollen pays a visit to Immortal Ephemera for the fourth time over the past five years. Scott was kind enough to take time out to answer several questions about his latest book, The Making and Influence of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Called "one of the most important books covering a single film" by fellow film historian James L. Neibaur, Scott's Chain Gang book arrives j...

Terror Aboard (1933) – Grand Hotel of Murder on the High Seas

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

Terror Aboard was recommended to me a little over three years ago in the comments section of my post about The Witching Hour (1933), another dark Paramount pre-Code release starring John Halliday. Kevin Deany wrote, “it’s almost like a precursor to a later slasher film, minus the gore.” I hunted down a copy right away and found Kevin’s description spot on: who would have thought that the often sleazy, though always debona...

Dracula, Frankenstein 1938 Reissues Revive Universal Horror

Written by Cliff Aliperti and originally published on Immortal Ephemera

I had never really thought about it in such black and white terms, so I was surprised when a recent bout of research showed how definitely the Universal horror film had died in 1936.

I always think of their classic horror era of beginning with Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931, and running through Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948 (happily blaming Universal Horrors for that), so I’ve never much paid attention...