The Silent Robin: A Tonic for the Soul

Posted by moirafinnie on November 18, 2009

I suppose to the eyes of the world, we were a motley looking crew as the capacity crowd flowed eagerly into George Eastman House‘s Dryden Theatre in Rochester, New York last month. Unlike the first Hollywood premiere of Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (1923) at Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre on October 18, 1922, there were no limos, no gowns, no red carpets, no klieg lights searching the sky, and certainly no hint of a “Day of the Locust” style mob scene. However, there were about five hundred not very glam but expectantly eager people gathered on an October evening for the “World Premiere” of this restored version of the tale in the 21st century starring Douglas Fairbanks in one of his classic roles.

So, who were these people who came out to see this 87 year old film version of the English bandit’s adventures? Among the crowd at this movie were a few who might have been just old enough to have seen a later Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. film in a movie theater, a generous sprinkling of younger cinephiles, middle aged academics, and a delightful gaggle of children of about nine years of age in the audience that Saturday. Once thought lost until it was rediscovered in the 1960s, this film’s “premiere” was a highlight of the seventh biennial conference of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies at the University of Rochester, where the historical and literary permutations of the appealing errant figure of lore were analyzed and, frankly, reveled in by the participants. Accredited scholars and hard core Robin buffs from around the world spent three days discussing the evergreen legend of this “Robin Hood: Media Creature”, trying to discern if the 700 year old hero of Sherwood Forest even existed, while enjoying an extravaganza of multi-media exhibits (including Douglas Fairbanks boots, seen below), early manuscripts, songs, and presentations discussing all aspects of the tale.

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These movies brought to you by the number 11.

Posted by keelsetter on November 1, 2009

Books

Ever wonder if the universe might be sending you a secret message? I’m not one to read tea-leaves or Tarot cards, but sometimes think numerology can be fun. So today I woke up wondering if there could be any significance to it being the first day of the eleventh month of the year. Taking a cue from the popular internet meme that asks people to turn to a specific page in the book nearest them to share an excerpt, I decided to see what films the cosmos might be suggesting I add to my Netflix account by pulling down from my bookshelf all the film books I had that I figured would have plenty of poster art. Then I counted the stack. I’m not making this up: there were exactly eleven books! I was off to a good start. How to proceed? Since it’s the first day of the eleventh month of the year I went to page 11, and from there let my finger fall on the very first film image that followed. With that in mind, I now dedicate the following eleven films to the month of November: READ MORE

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What I Didn’t Know About Hollywood

Posted by suzidoll on July 27, 2009

hollywoodland1 For the past month or so, I have been fact-checking a book called Armchair Reader: Hollywood for a local Chicago publisher, Publications International. Armchair Reader: Hollywood is filled with dozens of articles, tidbits, lists, fun facts, and quizzes on film history and Hollywood lore. I was thrilled to be asked to consult on the book and then serve as the primary fact-checker, though it is a lot of hard work. I have gone to the library more in the past few weeks than I did all of last year. The reward, however, is the fun I am having in learning more about Hollywood and the movies — everything from Hollywood folklore to behind-the-scenes production details on specific movies. I thought I would share a few fun facts, strange stories, and lurid legends. I am sure many of you may already know some of this information but perhaps there will be some odd fact or detail that you have never heard before, and it will make your day.

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The Last Swashbuckler by Peter Bosch

Posted by moirafinnie on July 1, 2009

A Note from Moira:

When I heard the news that Stewart Granger was to be July’s Star of the Month on TCM, I was delighted for two reasons. As regular readers might have guessed, part of my happiness stemmed from my lifelong enjoyment of the adventure films touched on appreciatively in last week’s nod to Errol Flynn in this blog. Such movies also were animated with renewed zest during Stewart Granger‘s high time in British and Hollywood films.

My second reason for joy was the offer by my friend, Peter Bosch, a writer and a recent TCM Fan Guest Programmer to have an interview he’d conducted with Mr. Granger published here. I think Peter, (fondly known to many of us on the TCM Message Boards as Filmlover), does an excellent job of capturing Granger‘s acerbic wit and honesty in this glimpse of the man as he launched his well done autobiography in 1981.

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Learning to Read Moviespeak (and enjoying it)

Posted by moirafinnie on June 10, 2009

stop in for popcorn to go Thanks to my fellow Morlock, my attention was drawn by R. Emmet Sweeney to the “Reading Movies Meme” that started over on The Dancing Image blog, so I decided to take the plunge and mull over the movie books which had the greatest impact on me this week. I hope that readers will list their own faves as well.

While one of the pleasures of movie viewing is that instruction is not required and we can let a film wash over us without intellectualizing the experience at all, once you start reading a bit about the movies, it can be like eating potato chips. It may not make you healthier, smarter or a more joyous human being, but boy, is it addictive. And occasionally enlightening, even when you don’t agree with the writer.
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