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georgebailey

As far as blogging mentions go, this one’s just swell!  In appreciation to my friend Movies Silently who thinks enough of Once Upon a Screen to bestow upon it this sweet award I write this post… This lovely mention is yet another reminder of the…

Super Sweet Blogging Award

May 19, 2013
25

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FEAT hawks

He averaged a film a year for forty-three years.  He left us comedy gems, legends of the old West, brought together inspired casts that became the stuff of legend, and hailed the greatness of ordinary heroes.  He was Howard Hawks. Seetimaar-Diary of a Movie Lover is hosting…

Howard Hawks in his own words

May 15, 2013
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FEAT kate

“People have grown fond of me, like some old building.” Today I remember a Connecticut Yankee in Hollywood.  Katharine Hepburn would have turned 106 years old on this day and by way of this humble tribute I honor her. If there’s one, definitive who’s who…

The Great Kate

May 12, 2013
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dreams

“A painter paints, a musician plays, a writer writes – but a movie actor waits.” Mary Astor‘s friend, John Huston and actor, Humphrey Bogart went to her house one day with a script in hand.  The script, titled The Maltese Falcon, was written by Huston…

MARY ASTOR – the stuff that dreams are made of

May 8, 2013
35

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tcm

Ghosts and the rapidly beating hearts of film geeks collided. I was in heaven. We descended on Hollywood like moths to flames looking forward to a weekend filled with movies, Hollywood, friends and magic. And we got it all. The “we” is the thousands of…

TCMFF…abide and endure

May 5, 2013
20

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donovan

If you happened upon this blog and noticed my rather schizophrenic post wherein I noted my plans for the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival (TCMFF) prior to the event, you would have seen that Frank Capra’s, 1929, The Donovan Affair was not my first choice…

TCMFF Highlight…THE DONOVAN AFFAIR

April 29, 2013
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Tonight I saw LEGEND up close…and with neither time or energy, I still must share… He seemed to fumble somewhat through his notes as he recanted the many “guys” that paved the way for other “guys” to make it. I’d heard him give a similar…

At AFI…the legend of Sidney Poitier

April 25, 2013
12

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2013

On the record, off the QT, and not very hush-hush… is the fact thousands of us will soon converge on Hollywood for the 2013 Turner classic Movies Film Festival (TCMFF).  Off to Hollywoodland we go, eager to watch some of the greatest stars to ever…

…not very hush-hush…TCMFF

April 21, 2013
10

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monroe

A bit ago I finished casting my votes for this year’s LAMMY Awards.  For anyone not familiar with The LAMMYS, it’s a yearly awards event hosted and presented by The Large Association of Movie Blogs (The LAMB).  The event dictates that members of The LAMB choose…

Once Upon a Screen…A LAMMYS Nominee

April 20, 2013
9

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Turner Classic Movies released the schedule for the upcoming TCM Film Festival (TCMFF) over a week ago. Then there was frenzy.  Twitter was instantly abuzz and I was in the midst of it, reading everything and anything I could get my hands on.  Many bloggers…

What dreams may come…TCMFF

April 13, 2013
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versatile_thumb

I never know exactly how to start posts that result from another blogger’s appreciation of whatever might be presented on Once Upon a Screen. It never fails to blow me away and certainly never gets old. Today is no exception and I am as thrilled…

Versatile Blogger

April 10, 2013
25

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two step

James Cagney’s third picture is an odd little number and it’s my choice for submission to the James Cagney blogathon hosted by The Movie Projector. Cagney was on the brink of superstardom when he appeared in William Wellman‘s, Other Men’s Women (1931).  His next film, Wellman’s, The…

OTHER MEN’S WOMEN – James Cagney Blogathon

April 8, 2013
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Reblogged from cinematically insane: (UPDATES are in italics.) This is something I look forward to – and dread – all year long. Now that the schedule for the upcoming TCM Classic Film Festival has finally been released, the impossible choices must begin. And, with more…

UPDATE #4: My Obsessive-Compulsive Guide to the TCM Classic Film Festival

April 8, 2013
4

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thrill poster

Beverly Boyer makes her debut as spokeswoman for “Happy Soap” by declaring, “I’m Beverly Boyer and I’m a pig” and then proceeds to stammer through a sweet family story about how much her young daughter enjoys the product.  Everyone laughs and she’s humiliated but old…

Day and Garner in THE THRILL OF IT ALL

April 6, 2013
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Reblogged from Citizen Screenings: When Michael of It Rains…You Get Wet asks me to blog about something, I jump!  Even if it results in a major movie migraine! Not only is It Rains…You Get Wet a wonderful blog wherein its author pens insightful film commentary,…

Springtime Movie Quiz

March 17, 2013
3

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calla

A couple of weeks back, in the midst of the 31 Days of Oscar blogathon frenzy, Jim of The Draconic Verses (@DraconicVerses) tagged me with a Liebster Award.  I’m lucky to have received a couple of these mentions from other bloggers during the life of Once Upon…

A Draconic Liebster mention

March 10, 2013
8

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kinopoisk.ru

Crime and criminals have been the focus of motion pictures since the birth of the medium.  However, it wasn’t until the sound era (the 1930s) that gangster films truly became an entertaining, popular way to attract audiences to theaters for a “full” experience, one might…

Scarface: The Shame of a Nation

March 9, 2013
17

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bogie1947

This post was my submission to the December 2012 special, double-issue of The Dark Pages, the newsletter for film noir lovers, which was dedicated to Edmund Goulding’s 1947 classic, Nightmare Alley.  My topic was, “1947: The Year in Noir.”  And what a year it was! _____________________________________________________…

1947: The Year in Noir

March 4, 2013
12

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nightofthehunter1

Awards season always brings out the movie critic in us all. Opining and critiquing become part of daily exchanges in all manner of social media.  The fact that the 2013 Oscars are now history deters Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and its legion of fans not.  We…

OH NO THEY DIDN’T! Ignored by Oscar

March 1, 2013
5

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GeneKelly2

I watched the 85th Academy Awards telecast last night.  Only they weren’t called that.  They were called, “The Oscars” as I noted when “the voice” introduced the telecast at 8:30.  Hmmm…odd, I thought.  But, in my mind they were still the 85th Academy Awards.  I…

“The Oscars” absurd tribute to MOVIE MUSICALS

February 25, 2013
17

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code seal

BREAKING: Today in 1943 American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies. During the Second World War, all forms of entertainment were subjected to the same scrutiny as was the news of the day.  Over the years, however,…

Censoring Movies – a briefing

February 20, 2013
7

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howgreenwasmyvalley1

“How Green Was My Valley”, a novel by British novelist, Richard Llewellyn was published in 1939 and immediately became a best-seller bringing the author international acclaim.  The story is told from the perspective of a young boy (Huw Morgan) and depicts life in a South…

CMBA Blogathon: How Green Was My Valley

February 17, 2013
27

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kane how

The 14th Academy Awards honored American film achievements in 1941. The ceremony was held at the Biltmore Bowl of the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on Thursday, February 26, 1942, only a few months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Bob Hope presided as host.  The attack on…

1942 Oscars – Heart over Brains

February 16, 2013
9

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Reblogged from How Sweet It Was: “I was born in a trunk.  I was raised in a Vaudeville family.  We had lunch for breakfast, dinner for lunch and a show for dinner.  From age five, my appetite for entertainment was keener than my taste for…

The Judy Garland Show

February 4, 2013
hollywood-roosevelt-first-academy-awards

This entry is part of the 31 Days of Oscar blogathon and kicks off my participation in what we hope will be an annual event, which both celebrates our love of film and the Oscars – an event that coincides with the month-long Oscars celebration…

Oscar “Firsts”

January 31, 2013
17

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"Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul." - Marilyn Monroe
I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door. - Joan Crawford
There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn't good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK! - Norma Desmond, SUNSET BOULEVARD
"A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet." - Orson Welles

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