The Passing of Donna Hill and the End of 2024

2024 has ended on a sad note for many classic film fans. Fellow classic movie fan, blogger, and film historian Donna Hill died in her sleep this past Friday. She was familiar to many in the classic film buff community as "rudyfan" on Twitter, Bluesky, and other social media services. She had run the blog Strictly Vintage Hollywood since 2008.

While Donna loved the whole of the Golden Age of Hollywood, she was particularly fond of silent films, on which she was an expert. I swear she knew more about Rudolph Valentino than anyone I know, and had even written a book on him (Rudolph Valentino The Silent Idol: His Life in Photographs). She was also a fan of Dorothy Gish, whom she had been researching at the time of her death. She maintained a website dedicated to Dorothy Gish called The Dorothy Gish Project, with the goal of publishing a book on Miss Gish.

In addition to silent cinema and later classic movies, Donna was also a fan of  British television. She loved animals and she frequently posted pictures of her beloved cat William H. Powell. While I did not know Donna well, I know that she had many close friends in the classic film buff community. She was always upbeat and supportive, and one could always count on her on saying something positive about one's work. I don't think I ever heard her say anything negative about anyone. It is certainly sad to know she's gone and her death is a sad loss for the classic movie fan community. My condolences go out to her friends and family.

Anyway, 2024 was certainly a mixed bag for myself and I am guessing for many other as well. For me it seemed to be the Year Technology Rebelled. My ancient desktop started acting up in June, forcing me to use our even more ancient laptop. For a period from late September to October, my phone consistently displayed a moisture warning, making it impossible to charge. Right now the laptop cannot seem to recognize my phone, making transferring files using a USB cable impossible. That would not be a problem if the laptop was Bluetooth capable. Regardless, I had more problems with technology this year than many others. June proved to be a rather bad month for me in other ways beyond the old desktop acting up. It was early in the month that I had a fever that waylaid me for several days even as A Shroud of Thoughts turned 20. I have to think it was Covid.

Here I must stress that 2024 wasn't all bad. As I just mentioned, A Shroud of Thoughts turned 20 years old on June 4 2024. It is still hard for me to believe that I have been writing this blog for over 20 years now. Indeed, I have been writing this blog longer than most jobs I have held. I also finally published my book on Christmas in film and television, A Merry Little Christmas: Essays on Christmas in Film and Television.

Another major change would come about for me and many others on the social media front. Many of us have not been happy with Twitter since its current owner took over in 2022. This past November the current owner's support of a certain very controversial candidate, as well as changes to Twitter's "block" function and changes to its Terms of Service that would allow its AI to be trained on people's tweets proved to be the straws that broke the camel's back for many. To sum it up, many classic film buffs abandoned Twitter for Bluesky. I abandoned Twitter as well, although I'd had a Bluesky account to which I posted regularly since October 2023. Bluesky seems to have revitalized the classic film buff community, including TCMParty, where social media is concerned, and many have noted it feels like Twitter in the old days. 

This year saw the passing of many beloved celebrities, and it seemed to me that it was more than usual. Among the actors who died this year were Glynis Johns, Chita Rivera, M. Emmett Walsh, Barbara Rush, Dabney Coleman, Janis Paige, Anouk Aimée, Martin Mull, Shelley Duvall, Bob Newhart, James Darren, John Amos, Mitzi Gaynor, Tony Todd, Earl Holliman, many others. The music world lost such artists as Eric Carmen, Steve Lawrence, Duane Eddy, Richard M. Sherman, Françoise Hardy, Duke Fakir,and Quincy Jones. Among the great directors we lost this year were Norman Jewison, Roger Corman. We lost two great comic book artists, Ramona Fradon and Trina Robbins, both who made inroads in the industry for women. We also lost the artists Greg Hildebrandt and Don Perlin.

With regards to movies, it would seem that many pundits may have been wrong about the "superhero fatigue" that was much discussed last year. This year the second highest grossing movie was Deadpool & Wolverine. I have to wonder if people simply aren't tired of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (while both Deadpool and Wolverine are Marvel characters, they are not part of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe). Animated movies seemed to dominate the top ten highest grossing movies this year, including Inside Out 2 (the highest grossing movie of the year), Despicable Me 4, Moana 2, and Kiung Fu Panda 4 all made the top ten highest grossing movies this year.

With regards to television, it seems to me that the broadcast networks and cable channels are becoming redundant. Once again it seems the shows most talked about by people were on streaming services. Shōgun was on Hulu. X-Men '97 was on Disney+. True Detective: Night Country was on Max. Landman is on Paramount+. I can't really think of any shows on the broadcast networks that received much in the way of buzz. With regards to the cable channels there were only a few, such as Dark Winds on AMC.

It is difficult to say what 2025 will bring, although I have to admit I haven't much hope for the coming year. On a personal level I hope to get more books out. I am also going to launch a Substack newsletter.. I do hope all of my readers have a happy New Year.

The Late Great Linda Lavin

Linda Lavin, who was best known to TV viewers as the title character on Alice and who had a successful career on Broadway, died yesterday, December 29 2024, at the age of 87. The cause was complications from lung cancer.

Linda Lavin was born on October 15 1937 in Portland, Maine. Her mother was a radio personality and singer who had sung with Paul Whiteman's band. Her father operated a furniture business. She had wanted to be an actor from when she was very young. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1959 with a degree in theatre arts. It was a few months after her graduation that she moved to New York City. It was only a little later that she was appearing off-Broadway in a revival of George and Ira Gershwin’s Oh, Kay!.

Linda Lavin went onto a successful career on stage. She made her debut on Broadway in A Family Affair in 1962. In the Sixties she appeared on Broadway in The Riot Act, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman, Something Different. Cop-Out, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, and Paul Sills' Story Theatre. In the Seventies she appeared on Broadway in Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Paul Sills' Story Theatre, and The Enemy is Dead.

After several years during which she appeared in movies and on television (including the show Alice), she returned to Broadway with Broadway Bound in 1986. Later in the decade she she appeared in Gypsy. In the Nineties Miss Lavin appeared in The Sisters Rosensweig, The Diary of Anne Frank, and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife. In the Naughts she appeared in The Tales of the Allergist's Wife, Hollywood Arms, and Collected Stories. In the Teens she appeared in The Lyons and Our Mother's Brief Affair.

Linda Lavin made her television debut in an episode of The Nurses in 1962. The following year she guest starred on the daytime anthology series The Doctors and later on the series CBS Playhouse. In 1967 she played Gloria in a television production of Damn Yankees.

It was in 1974 that she began played the recurring role of Detective Janice Wentworth on the hit sitcom Barney Miller. She left Barney Miller in 1976 when she was cast as Alice Hyatt on the sitcom Alice. The show proved to be a hit and ran for nine seasons. During the Seventies she guest starred on the shows Rhoda, Harry O, Phyllis, Family, Kaz, and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour.

In the Eighties she continued to star on Alice. She appeared in several TV movies, including A Matter of Life and Death, Maricela, and A Place to Call Home. In the Nineties she starred on the sitcoms Room for Two and Conrad Bloom. She guest starred on the show Touched by an Angel. She appeared in such TV movies as A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story and For the Future: The Irvine Fertility Scandal.

In the Naughts Linda Lavin was the voice of Mama Bird on the animated series Courage the Cowardly Dog. She guest starred on the shows The Sopranos, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and The O.C. In the Teens she was a regular on Sean Saves the World, 9JKL, and Yvette Slosch, Agent. She guest starred on the shows The Good Wife, Bones, Mom, Madame Secretary, Santa Clarita Diet, Brockmire, and Room 104.

In the 2020s Miss Lavin was a regular on the show B Positive. She was a guest voice on Bob's Burgers. She guest starred on the shows Elsbeth and No Good Deed.

Linda Lavin not only worked on stage and television, but movies as well. She made her feature film debut in The Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984. In the Eighties she appeared in the films See You in the Morning (1989) and I Want to Go Home (1989).  In the Teens she appeared in the film The Back-Up Plan (2010). In the Teens she appeared in movies Wanderlust (2012), The Intern (2015), My Bakery in Brooklyn (2016), Manhattan Nocturne (2016), How to be a Latin Lover (2017), and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019). In the Twenties she appeared in the film Being the Ricardos (2021) and provided a voice for the film Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick (2022).

Linda Lavin was a remarkable actress. Her role as Alice on the sitcom of the same name was a pioneering one. Quite simply, Alice was the first sitcom to focus on a single, working class mother. Alice was intelligent, persevering, and compassionate, and Linda Lavin played the role well. Of course, she also appeared on another iconic sitcom, Barney Miller, although only during the first two seasons. Detective Wentworth was dedicated and strong-willed. Miss Lavin played the role so well that she could have gone from playing a recurring character to a regular had she not taken the lead role in Alice.

Of course, Linda Lavin played many other roles on television, as well as in movies as well. She had a highly successful career on stage. Over the years she won multiple Drama Desk Awards, Obie Awards, a Tony Award, and a Theatre World Award. She was inducted into American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2010. Linda Lavin was a truly great actress who gave many, many great performances.

TCM Spotlight in January 2025: Was It All a Dream?

Next month's TCM Spotlight is "Was It All a Dream?." Every Friday in January 2025, Turner Classic Movies will be showing movies that feature dreams or dream-like sequences. As part of TCM Spotlight: Was It All a Dream?, TCM will be showing some truly great films, from The Manchurian Candidate (1962) to Sherlock, Jr. (1924). Below is a schedule of the movies being shown every Friday night. All times are Central.

Friday, January 3:
7:00 PM Spellbound (1945)
9:00 PM The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
11:15 AM Nightmare (1956)

Saturday, January 4:
1:00 AM Murder, My Sweet (1944)
2:45 AM Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Friday, January 10:
7:00 PM The Wizard of Oz (1939)
9:00 PM The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953)
10:45 Jack and the Beanstalk (1945)

Saturday, January 11:
12:15 AM:: My Dream is Yours (1949)
2:15 AM Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
4:00 AM Carefree (1938)

Friday, January 17:
7:00 PM Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
8:00 PM The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
10:00 PM Artists and Models (1955)

Saturday, January 18:
12:00 AM Billy Liar (1963)
1:45 AM Tom, Dick and Harry (1940)
3:15 AM The Feminine Touch (1941)

Friday, January 24:
7:00 PM Oklahoma! (1955)
9:30 PM Cabin in the Sky (1943)
11:30 PM The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)

Saturday, January 25:
1:00 AM The Kid (1921)
2:30 AM I Married an Angel (1942)
4:00 AM Turn Back the Clock (1933)

Friday, January 31:
7:00 PM 8 1/2 (1963)
9:30 PM Wild Strawberries (1957)
11:15 PM  Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

Saturday, February 1:
1:15 AM The Last Wave (1977)
3:15 AM Eraserhead (1977)

The Late Great Olivia Hussey

Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet in the movie Romeo and Juliet (1968) and Mary, mother of Jesus, in the mini-series Jesus of Nazareth, died yesterday, December 27 2024, at the age of 73.

Olivia Hussey was born Olivia Osuna on April 17 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her father was Argentine opera singer  Andrés Osuna (who used the stage name Osvaldo Ribó). Her mother, Joy Hussey, was an English legal secretary. Her parents separated when she was only two years old. When she was seven years old she moved with her mother and brother to London. There she attended the Italia Conti Academy for five years. Shew as 13 years old when she began acting on stage, taking her mother's maiden name for her stage name.

Olivia Hussey made her television debut in an episode of Drama 64. She made her film debut in The Battle of the Villa Fiorita in 1965. That same year she appeared in Cup Fever (1965). In 1966 she played Jenny in a production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie on the West End. The play brought her to the attention of director Franco Zeffirelli, who cast her as Juliet in his film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (1968). The film proved to be a huge success.

In the Seventies Olivia Hussey played Mary in the limited series Jesus of Nazareth. On television she also appeared in the mini-series The Bastard,  as well as the TV movies The Pirate and The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther. She appeared in the movies All the Right Noises (1971), H-Bomb (1971), The Summertime Killer (1972), Lost Horizon (1973), Black Christmas (1974), Death on the Nile (1978), The Cat and the Canary (1978), Virus (1980), and The Man with Bogart's Face (1980).

In the Eighties Olivia Hussey guest starred on Murder, She Wrote and Hallmark Hall of Fame (the presentation The Corsican Brothers). She appeared in the TV movies Ivanhoe (1982) and Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990). She appeared in the mini-series The Last Days of Pompeii and It.She appeared in the movies Turkey Shoot (1982), Distortions (1987), The Jeweller's Shop (1989), and Undeclared War (1990).

In the Nineties Miss Hussey provided the voice of Talia al Ghul on the TV shows Superman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond. She was also a guest voice on Pinky and the Brain. She guest starred on Lonesome Dove: The Series and Boy Meets World. She appeared in the movies Quest of the Delta Knights (1993), Save Me (1994), Ice Cream Man (1995), Bad English I: Tales of a Son of a Brit (1995), The Gardener (1998), Shame, Shame, Shame (1998), and El grito (2000). She provided a voice for the movie The Lord Protector (1996).

In the Naughts Olivia Hussey played the title role in the TV movie Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She appeared in the movies Island Prey (2001), Headspace (2005), Seven Days of Grace (2007), Tortilla Heaven (2007), Three Priests (2008), and I am Somebody: No Chance in Hell (2008). Her final appearance was in the film Social Suicide in 2015.

Olivia Hussey provided voices for several Star Wars video games.

Olivia Hussey was a remarkable actress. For many she will remain the quintessential Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, a performance that was particularly impressive given her age. She would go onto give several other great performances. She was particularly impressive as Mary in Jesus of Nazareth, playing the role with a humility while at the same time seeming otherworldly. She also gave a great performance as Rosalie Otterbourne in Death on the Nile (1978), the sulky and secretive daughter of the flamboyant Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury). She played Rebecca of York in the 1982 television adaptation of Ivanhoe well. That the "final girl" became a trope common to slasher films may be due in part to the strength of  her performance as Jessica Bradford in Black Christmas (1974). Olivia Hussey was an incredible actress and one who left her mark with several iconic roles.

The 100th Birthday of Rod Serling

Yesterday marked 100 years since the birth of Rod Serling. He was born on December 25 1924 in Syracuse, New York. Today Rod Serling is best known as the host, creator, and producer of the classic television series The Twilight Zone. He also remains well-known for the horror anthology show Night Gallery.Of course, even before The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling was an established and well-respected television writer.

After having worked in radio, Rod Serling sold his first television script in 1953, the episode "Long Time Till Dawn" to Kraft Television Theatre. It would be another script for Kraft Television Theatre that would prove to be Rod Serling's breakthrough teleplay. "Patterns" aired live on Kraft Television Theatre and proved to be so much of a success that it was re-staged on February 9 1955. "Patterns" won Rod Serling his first Emmy Award for Best Original Teleplay Writing. Rod Serling adapted his own teleplay as the movie Patterns (1956).

Rod Serling would follow "Patterns" with other highly successful teleplays, including "Requiem for a Heavyweight" for Playhouse 90, "The Comedian" for Playhouse 90, and "A Town Has Turned to Dust" for Playhouse 90. Rod Serling would adapt his teleplays The Rack (1956),  Incident in an Alley (1962), and Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Rod Serling's work in television would lead to work in the movies beyond adapting his own teleplays. He wrote such films as Saddle the Wind (1958), The Yellow Canary (1963), Seven Days in May (1964), Assault on a Queen (1966), and The Man (1972). He wrote the initial script for Planet of the Apes (1968), and Michael Wilson's final script retained the surprise ending from Rod Serling's original script.

As a writer Rod Serling often found himself in conflict with the sponsors of the television shows for which he wrote. He sometimes had to re-write his scripts when a sponsor objected to some of its content as being too controversial. An example of this was the interference he ran into with his script "A Town Has Turned to Dust" for Playhouse 90. The original script was inspired by the murder of Emmett Till and dealt with the lynching of a lack man in a present-day Southern town. Rod Serling was forced to change the setting of "A Town Has Turned to Dust" to a border town in the late 19th Century and the victim to a Mexican. Even then Rod Serling had to make changes to the teleplay, as sponsor Prudential Insurance objected to its ending.

It was Rod Serling's constant struggles with sponsors that led him to him to create The Twilight Zone. Mr. Serling believed that he could deal with more controversial topics and would would receive less interference from sponsors through an fantasy/science fiction/horror anthology series. The Twilight Zone proved critically acclaimed and, while not necessarily a hit in the ratings popular with viewers. It won Rod Serling two more Emmy Awards for writing and one for Best TV Producer/Director. The Twilight Zone has had a lasting impact. Not only has it been revived several times, but it would inspire other genre shows.

Following The Twilight Zone Rod Serling would continue to work in television. He created the short-lived Western The Loner and the horror anthology Night Gallery. He wrote the television movies A Carol for Another Christmas (1964) and The Doomsday Flight (1966).

Sadly, Rod Serling did not take particularly good care of himself. He smoked multiple packs of cigarettes a day. He had a heart attack that required hospitalization on May 3 1975. He would have another heart attack only two weeks after being released from the hospital. It was then on June 26 1975 that he underwent open heart surgery. Unfortunately, he had a heart attack while on the operating table. He died two days later, on December 28 1975. He was only 50.

Rod Serling was ahead of his time. In many ways, he is still ahead of this time. Even beyond having created The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling would have a huge impact on television. He would inspire and influence future television creators, including Aaron Sorkin (creator of The West Wing), David Chase (creator of The Sopranos), and Matthew Weiner (creator of Mad Men). Rod Serling believed television could go beyond mere entertainment and his teleplays often dealt with serious themes .At a time when it was not fashionable to do so, Rod Serling argued against racism and for racial equality. He was strongly opposed to war, something that often found its way into his teleplays. One hundred years since  his birth and nearly fifty years since his death, Rod Serling remains well-known and well-respected.

Merry Christmas 2024

Here at A Shroud of Thoughts on many holidays I post vintage photos. Christmas is no different. Here then are this year's Christmas-themed, Old Hollywood pictures.

Here is Joan Blondell with a wreath and candles.

Next, Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel are having a disagreement over who'll kiss Marion Byron under the mistletoe.

Debbie Reynolds is a real doll.

Alice White is relaxing on Christmas.

Mitzi Gaynor is delivering presents.

And here is Ann Miller with multiple gifts!

Merry Christmas!

The 20th Anniversary of The Polar Express (2004)

Following its release on November 10 2004, The Polar Express (2004) seemed to have a lot going against it. It received decidedly mixed reviews from critics. Some critics claimed the film's character animation fell into the uncanny valley. Audiences at the time may have agreed with the critics, as The Polar Express (2004) proved to be a disappointment at the box office. Despite this, over the years The Polar Express (2004) has developed a following, to the point that there are some who consider it a Christmas classic.

The Polar Express (2004) is based on the children's book of the same name by Charles Van Allsburg. Like the movie after it, the book The Polar Express told of a boy who travels aboard a train to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus. Inspiration for The Polar Express went in part back to Charles Van Allsburg's childhood. Pete Marquette 1225 is steam locomotive which was owned at one point by Michigan State University. Growing up Charles Van Allsburg attended nearly all of Michigan State University's home football games and remembered playing on the train as a kid. The Polar Express proved to be a success. It made the New York Times bestseller list and was awarded the Caldecott Medal. It has since become regarded as a classic.

Among the many parents who read The Polar Express to their children was actor Tom Hanks. It was in 1999 that he optioned the book in the hope that he could play both the conductor and Santa Claus. In 2000 Castle Rock Entertainment agreed to co-produce the movie with Tom Hanks's Playtone Company. It was in February 2002 that Robert Zemeckis signed on to produce The Polar Express. He would also become the film's director. Robert Zemeckis co-wrote the screenplay with William Broyles Jr. As the book The Polar Express was only 32 pages with illustrations, Messrs.Zemeckis and Broyles had to expand the plot a bit.. Minor characters in the book, such as Hero Girl, the Lonely Boy, and Know-it-all became more prominent in the film than they had been in the book, and new character, a hobo calling himself "the King of the North Pole" was created for the movie.

Based on a fantasy children's book, The Polar Express presented the producers with some special challenges. The book featured some action that would be impossible to re-produce in a live-aciton movie.  Making The Polar Express as a live-action movie would also mean losing the magic of the book's artwork. At the same time, making The Polar Express as an animated movie would mean losing the humanity of the characters. Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks then decided that The Polar Express should be made using motion capture technology., whereby the movement of people would be recorded and then animated. In some ways it similar to rotoscoping, the technique pioneered by animator Max Flesicher whereby animators traced over live action footage. The cost of making the movie using motion capture necessitated binging in another studio to produce the film. Universal turned the chance to co-produce The Polar Express, but eventually Shangri-La Entertainment, agreed to do so.  The Polar Express became the first feature-length movie made entirely with motion picture technology. It also marked the first time that motion capture was for both the performers' facial expressions and body movements. Previously it had only been used for body movements.

Principal photography on The Polar Express (2004) began on March 21 2003. Shooting the film involved seventy motion capture cameras which  surrounded a green screen stage.Principal photography for The Polar Express took only thirty eight days, an impossibility had it been shot as a live-action movie.

As to the train in the film, the Polar Express itself, it was based on  Pete Marquette 1225. Not only did the locomotive serve as a model for the movie's train, but sounds from the engine were recorded to be used in The Polar Express (2004). Dennis Braid, executive director of the Steam Railroading Institute who own Pete Marquette 1225,  lent several items to be used for the movie, among them a bulb and valve gear from Pete Marquette 1225.

The Polar Express (2004) premiered at the 40th Chicago International Film Festival on October 21 2004. Later that month it was shown at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival on October 20 2004, and its Hollywood premiere was on November 7 2004. The Polar Express went into wide release in the United States on November 10 2004. In addition to the standard 35mm format, The Polar Express was also released in 3D for IMAX theatres.

As mentioned earlier, reviews for The Polar Express (2004) were mixed. Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, stating, "...it has a haunting, magical quality." Richard Roeper also gave the movie good marks, commenting that it "...remains true to the book, right down to the bittersweet final image." Other critics gave The Polar Express (2004) overly negative reviews. Peter Travers of The Rolling Stone referred to The Polar Express (2004) as "...a failed and lifeless experiment in which everything goes wrong." Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star wrote, " "If I were a child, I'd have nightmares. Come to think of it, I did anyway." Stephanie Zacharek of Salon also thought The Polar Express had ventured into uncanny valley territory,  commenting, "I could probably have tolerated the incessant jitteriness of The Polar Express if the look of it didn't give me the creeps."

Initially audiences did not seem to embrace The Polar Express (2004) either. In its opening weekend it earned only $23.3 million and came in second to The Incredibles (2004), which had come out a week earlier. For its second weekend, The Polar Express (2004) dropped by 33%, making a gross profit of only $15.7 million. While the film was underperforming at standard theatres, it was doing very well at IMAX theatres. In fact, it would hold the record for the highest IMAX gross of a film until it was overtaken by Avatar in 2009.

While The Polar Express (2004) would be a disappointment at the box office in its initial release, it would be helped by strong word of mouth so that it would do relatively well in its re-releases over the years. The December 10 2011 issue of Variety it was reported that Warner Bros.' holiday re-issues of The Polar Express had $182.2 million in domestic grosses since 2004. While the film had been a disappointment at the box office upon its first release, in the end it had become very profitable and one of Warner Bros.' most successful movies of the Naughts. It has also come to be regarded by many as a Christmas classic.

The Polar Express (2004) still has its share of detractors. There are still those who maintain its human characters are unsettling, that the film ventures into the uncanny valley. Despite this, there are many who have come to love the film and it is regarded by some as a recent holiday classic. Indeed, in recent years it has done very well on various streaming venues. There may always be those who are critical of The Polar Express (2004), but it seem clear that it had developed a large following who love the film.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984): A Christmas Controversy

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is not a classic by any stretch of the imagination. It was not particularly original either. There had been movies featuring killer Santas before. Indeed, while it has a cult following, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) may be best remembered for the controversy surrounding it upon its release on November 9 1984.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) centred on Billy Chapman (Robert Brian Wilson), who suffers psychological trauma after witnessing his parents killed by an armed robber dressed in a Santa Claus suit. After his parents died, Billy spent the rest of his childhood in an rather abusive orphanage ran by the Catholic Church. Once reaching adulthood, Billy becomes a serial killer who dresses in a Santa Claus suit.

The origins of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) go back to 1981 when Scott Schneid, then training to be an agent at the William Morris Agency, received a screenplay titled He Sees You When You're Sleeping by Paul Caimi, who had completed a Harvard writing seminar during which time he wrote the screenplay. As it turned out, Scott Schneid had attended the same prep school as Paul Caimi's older brother Bill. At the time Scott Schneid was not familiar with any of previous movies featuring killer Santas, so he agreed to read Paul Caimi's script.

Although Scott Schneid thought the script was not particularly original, he sent it to Dennis Whitehead, who would also become one of the producers on the film. Dennis Whitehead decided that they could actually do something with the concept of a killer Santa in He Sees You When You're Sleeping. Scott Scheid and Dennis Whitehead then took the idea of a killer Santa from He Sees You When You're Sleeping, and developed a while new movie project with Michael Hickey as the writer. Eventually Tri-Star Pictures agreed to finance and distribute the movie, which received the working title Slayride.

It was Ira Barmak, who had a deal to produce B-movies for Tri-Star, who approached Charles Sellier about directing the film. Charles Sellier had produced the feature film The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams and the subsequent television series of the same name, making him something of a surprising choice to direct a slasher film. Under the working title Slayride, the movie was shot in thirty-two days on a budget of $750,000. It was in post-production that the film was finally titled Silent Night, Deadly Night.

As mentioned earlier, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) was not particularly original. Ghost stories had been a part of Christmas since at least the Victorian Era. Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is a famous example of this. Horror beyond ghost stories has been linked to Christmas well before the release of Silent Night, Deadly Night. The classic British horror anthology film Dead of Night (1945) had a sequence set at Christmas. Black Christmas (1974) was a pioneering slasher film set at Christmas. Even the idea of a killer Santa was not particularly original. It was perhaps the EC Comics story "...And All Through the House," from The Vault of Horror no. 35 (February-March 1954) that pioneered the idea of a killer Santa. It was adapted for the 1972 Amicus Productions portmanteau horror movie Tales from the Crypt. The year 1980 saw two movies featuring killer Santas. To All a Goodnight (1980) had a limited release in January of that year. Christmas Evil (1980) was released in November 1980. None of these films, not Tales from the Crypt (1972), not To All a Goodnight (1980), not Christmas Evil (1980), generated any controversy. Unfortunately, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) did.

So why did Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) generate so much controversy where previous killer Santa movies had not? The reason was simply that Tri-Star was a bit unwise as to when they bought time  for TV spots adverting the movie. The TV spots aired at times, such as Sunday afternoon, when entire families, including children, might be watching television. One of the TV spots aired during a Green Bay Packers football game. Others aired in between episodes of such family friendly fare as Little House on the Prairie.

By the time Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) was released on November 9 1984, protests were already rising. They appear to have begun in the Milwaukee area, where a protest group known as "Citizens Against Movie Madness" was organized. Tri-Star pulled the TV spots, but it appears to have been too little, too late.  While Silent Night, Deadly Night initially did well on box office, but it was not long before theatres began dropping the film. By November 15 1984 three theatres in Milwaukee, two theatres in New York City, and one in New Jersey, stopped showing the movie. News articles published on November 24 1984 reported that Tri-Star had dropped distribution of the film.

Despite the controversy over the film, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) would not disappear. While a release on home media by RCA in early 1985 was cancelled due to the controversy, it was released on VHS and Betamax in 1986. Despite the controversy, Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) proved successful enough to have two sequels and two more Christmas-themed horror movies using the "Silent Night, Deadly Night." A loose remake of the movie, simply titled Silent Night, was released in 2012. A reboot was announced last month.

As mentioned above,the controversy over Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) most likely emerged because of the TV spots promoting the movie aired when families, including children would be watching. It probably did not help that the television advertisements emphasized Billy killing people while dressed as Santa Claus. Of course, the TV spots for Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) might not have had quite the same impact had the movie come out a few years earlier or a few years later. The 1980s saw many Americans shift towards conservativism. Such people would probably not look kindly on a movie about a killer Santa, especially not one advertised during family television time. As it was the Eighties was an era for moral panics over everything from Satanism to alleged backmasking in rock music. It is for these reasons that Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) became a cause célèbre , whereas previous killer Santa movies, such as Tales from the Crypt (1972) and Christmas Evil (1980) did not.

Since its release Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) has become a cult film, even if only a very few would regard it as a classic, even in the slasher movie genre. Regardless, it is remembered as possibly the most controversial Christmas movie of all time and one of the most controversial movies of the Eighties. It might never make most lists of the greatest movies of all time, but it will certainly always be remembered.

Perry Como's Christmas Television Specials

When many people think of Christmas television variety specials, Bing Crosby or Andy Williams might come to mind, but the all-time champion when it came to Christmas television specials may well have been Perry Como. Perry Como not only did Christmas specials on television before Bing Crosby and Andy Williams, but he did more of them for a longer period of time.

Like Bing Crosby before him, Perry Como's career began on radio. He was the host of The Chesterfield Supper Club five times a week. It would be through The Chesterfield Supper Club that Perry Como would host his first Christmas TV show. On Christmas Eve, 1948 The Chesterfield Supper Club was simulcast on both radio and television. Perry Como hosted The Chesterfield Supper Club on television until it ended its run, hosting a Christmas episode of the show each year. Afterwards, he hosted The Perry Como Show from 1955 to 1959 and then Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall from 1959 to 1967. Like The Chesterfield Supper Club, both The Perry Como Show and Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall featured Christmas episodes.

While Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall ended its run in 1967, Perry Como would continue to appear on American television screens each Christmas for literally decades. It was in 1968 that he hosted his first Christmas special that was not part of a regularly scheduled program, although it was still called The Perry Como Show. In 1969 Perry Como hosted the Christmas edition of The Hollywood Palace. It was in 1971 that he hosted  Perry Como's Winter Show. He would host The Perry Como Winter Show in 1972 and 1973. In 1974 the name of Perry Como'sYuletide special would be The Perry Como Christmas Show.

It was in 1975 that Perry Como hosted the first of his Christmas specials set in a specific location, Perry Como's Lake Tahoe Holiday, Over the next 19 years Perry Como would host Christmas specials in Mexico, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Austria, the Bahamas, Paris, England, and yet other locations. His final Christmas special was set in Ireland and was called Irish Christmas. It aired in 1994, 46 years after Perry Como first hosted a Christmas show.

Starting with The Chesterfield Supper Club in 1948, Perry Como very nearly hosted a Christmas show, either a Christmas edition of a regularly scheduled programme or a Christmas special, every single year. From 1948 to 1994 there were only few times he did not do so. What makes this even more remarkable is that for much of this time he also hosted specials at other times of year, such as Easter and summer. While Bing Crosby might be better known for his Christmas television specials, Perry Como did far more of them and for a longer period of time.

The 56th Birthday of My Dearest Vanessa Marquez

There are those people who enter our lives and leave us forever changed. That was Vanessa Marquez for me. For many years we were in nearly constant contact, through social media, text messages, and phone calls. We had many things in common, from a love of classic movies and television to being fans of Star Wars and Star Trek. We grew very close. I worried about her when she was sick and, in turn, she worried about me. I confided in her things I told no one else. Quite simply, with Vanessa Marquez, I could be myself. I honestly think she found something even I could not find, the real me. Ultimately, Vanessa was the most important person in my life aside from my parents and my siblings. I certainly love her more than anyone else I knew.

It is because of this that December 21 is a difficult day for me. On the one hand, I am happy because it is the birthday of Vanessa Marquez, the one woman I love more than anyone else. She enriched my life more than anybody else and so the day is certainly one to celebrate. On the other hand, Vanessa has been dead for over six years. I can't wish her a "Happy Birthday" as I once did, nor can I make an electronic birthday card for her. To a degree, December 21 serves as a reminder that my Vanessa is gone, and that does cause me pain.

It is perhaps a mark of how important Vanessa is to me that as an actress she made an impression on me, often out of proportion to the roles she played. Vanessa appeared in the only episode of the obscure sitcom Nurses that I can clearly remember, "The One After the Earthquake." I could not only remember the plot of the episode and that Vanessa was remarkably pretty, but the circumstances under which I saw the episode. Nurse Wendy Goldman was my favourite character on ER and I noticed when she disappeared after the fourth season. I can only think that I picked up on something about Vanessa in the various roles she played, something that made me realize we might have a lot in common, that she could be a kindred spirit.

Regardless, the plain truth is that I cannot adequately say how special Vanessa was and still is to me. To me she was the most remarkable person I have ever known, and not because she was a famous actress. She was not simply talented and beautiful. Vanessa was very intelligent, much more so than I have ever been. Not only did she have an excellent memory, but her reasoning ability could often be remarkable. Vanessa was also warm, loving, and caring. She could remember the most trivial things about her friends, things that others might well forget. She worried about her friends when they were sick, and she was always the first one to take up for her friends if one of them was attacked. Vanessa also had an excellent sense of humour. Obviously one can see her gift for comedy in the television shows and movies in which she appeared, but she was also capable of making jokes spontaneously during conversations. She had the most beautiful laugh, and when talking with Vanessa, she laughed often. Even if Vanessa had never been a famous actress, regardless of what job she may have done in her life, Vanessa Marquez would have been a remarkable human being.

Vanessa certainly had her problems, but I could never have asked for a better friend than her. And I loved her more than anyone else I have ever known. I have missed her ever since she died, but on her birthday, today, I always find myself missing her a little more. One of the things I have always regretted about my friendship with Vanessa is that I never told her I loved her, how very much I loved her. I only hope that somehow, some way, she knows that now. I never loved anyone as much as Vanessa Marquez.

TCM Remembers 2024

Today Turner Classic Movies released their 2024 edition of TCM Remembers, their annual in memoriam for those who have died in the past year. In some ways TCM Remembers 2024 is one of the more dififcult to watch, given how many beloved stars died this year. In fact, I only made it to Barbara Rush, fairly early in the video, before I began to tear up. So many of my favourites died this year. In addition to Barbara Rush, we lost Roger Corman, Donald Sutherland, Bob Newhart, James Earl Jones, Mitzi Gaynor, and Teri Garr. I suspect there aren't many, if any, classic film buffs who will make it through this year's edition without shedding a few tears.

The 60th Anniversary of the TV Special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was not the first animated Christmas special, but it has aired longer than any other on broadcast network television. It has aired every single year on a broadcast network since its debut on December 6 1964, over sixty years ago. So popular is the special that. I imagine there are a few who think Rudolph originated with the TV special. Still more might think that he originated with the classic song written by Johnny Marks. In truth, Rudolph's origins go back to a Montgomery Ward advertising campaign.

In 1939 Montgomery Ward asked copywriter Robert L. May to develop a a holiday tale that they could give away to shoppers. May came up with the idea of a reindeer named Rudolph who was an outcast because of his red nose. May's story differed considerably from both Johnny Marks's song and the Rankin Bass TV special. Rudolph was not one of Santa's herd of reindeer and did not grow up at the north pole. Since Rudolph was not one of Santa's reindeer, he did not pick Rudolph out from his herd on that foggy Christmas Eve. Instead Santa found Rudolph when he was delivering presents at Rudolph's home. Santa thought that the nose could help him finish his deliveries in the thickening fog and adopted the reindeer. Regardless, Rudolph the Reindeer was a hit. Unfortunately, May saw none of the money from the merchandising of the character, whose copyright belonged to Montgomery Ward.

Eventually, in 1947, Montgomery Ward's president Sewell Avery gave May the copyright to his creation. May had copies of the original story printed in 1947 and 1948 saw a 9 minute theatrical cartoon based on the tale, produced by the great Max Fleischer. It was 1949 that really brought the Red Nosed Reindeer to fame. May's brother in law, songwriter Johnny Marks, wrote the famous song based on the story, changing it considerably in the process. After being turned down by a number of artists, the song was finally recorded by Gene Autry in 1949. It became Autry's biggest hit and the 2nd best selling song at the time (only to "White Christmas").

This brings us to the Sixties and the TV special. In 1955 Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass founded Videocraft International, later renamed Rankin/Bass. Initially they produced television commercials, although they wanted to expand into both feature films and TV shows. In 1960 they did exactly that, producing a series of 130 stop motion cartoon shorts under the title The New Adventures of Pinocchio. They followed this in 1961 with a series of limited animation shorts entitled Tales of the Wizard of Oz, based on the works of L. Frank Baum.

As it so happened, Arthur Rankin Jr. was a neighbour of Johnny Marks. It was Rankin who suggested to Marks that the song could be adapted as a TV special produced using stop motion animation. Marks was reluctant, fearing that the special could endanger the success of his biggest hit song, but eventually Rankin won him over. In fact, Marks even wrote new songs for the special, including "We Are Santa's Elves," "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Silver and Gold."An instrumental version of Johnny Marks's hit "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," originally recorded by Brenda Lee, even appears in the special.  The script, written by Romeo Muller, drew upon Marks's song for inspiration, and expanded on the story considerably.

The hour long Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer special took a year to make, with many hours devoted even to the shortest of sequences. While still in production, Rankin pitched the special to sponsor General Electric. General Electric bought time on NBC. It debuted on NBC in 1964 under the title The General Electric Fantasy Hour: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The special was an immediate hit and aired on NBC every year until 1972, when it moved to CBS. This year Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer returned to NBC for the first time in 53 years.

Considerable changes would be made to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer over the years. The original version that aired in 1964 included a scene towards the end of the special in which Yukon Cornelius discovers a mining vein of peppermint. At the same time the original version of the special did not include the sequence in which Santa rescues the toys from the Island of Misfit Toys. A writing campaign convinced Rankin-Bass to change the ending and it was altered so that Santa did indeed save the Misfit Toys. As result, the scene in which Yukon Cornelius discovers a peppermint mine was cut from the special due to time constraints.

This would not be the only change made to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for its airing in 1965. The song "We're a Couple of Misfits," sang by Rudolph and Hermey the Elf, was replaced with the song "Fame and Fortune," although it still used much of the same animation. Over the years, snippets of the special would be cut to make room for commercials, including the instrumental bridge for the song "We are Santa's Elves" and some of Sam the Snowman's dialogue. It was in 1998 that many of these cuts were restored and "We're a Couple of Misfits" replaced "Fame and Fortune" in the special. While it still aired on CBS, in 2019 the cable channel Freeform also began airing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Freeform reintroduced even more of the material that had been cut or changed over the years, including the scene in which Yukon Cornelius finds peppermint. When Freeform first aired it in 2019, it was then the first time in 55 years that the peppermint mine scene was seen on television. This year NBC would follow Freeform's lead in including the scene in which Yukon Cornelius discovers peppermint.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has aired on broadcast network television every year since its debut in 1964. Along with Frosty the Snowman, it is the only Christmas special to have aired each year on a broadcast network without interruption. I have to think people will still be watching it sixty years from now.

The Thin Man (1934) Turned 90

Dashiell Hammett's best known work may be The Maltese Falcon, but his most successful work could well be The Thin Man. The 1933 novel The Thin Man led to the 1934 movie of the same name. The Thin Man (1934) would prove to be a hit at the box office and would lead to five sequels, a radio show, and still later a television show. The Thin Man (1934) was released on May 25 1934, so that the movie is now ninety years old.

Like the novel upon which it is based, The Thin Man (1934) is set at Christmastime. It centres on retired private detective Nick Charles, who is hired by Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O'Sullivan) to investigate the disappearance of her father, Clyde Wynant (Edward Ellis). Nick finds himself, sometimes unwillingly, assisted by his wife Nora (Myrna Loy), a socialite who finds Nick's detective work exciting. Also helping Nick is the Charles's wire terrier Asta (Skippy).

As mentioned earlier, The Thin Man (1934) was based on the novel of the same name. The novel's beginning go back to 1930, when Dashiell Hammett started a manuscript that he abandoned. In that original manuscript, the hero was a private eye called John Guild, who is searching for a missing scientist in a small community in San Francisco. The style of the manuscript was hard-boiled, much like his work for the pulp magazine Black Mask. When Dashiell Hammett returned to the book, he had decided to move away from the hard-boiled style. The West Coast setting was tossed out in a favour of Manhattan. John Guild was no longer the novel's protagonist (although Hammett kept the name for a homicide detective in the novel), but instead retired private detective Nick Charles and his socialite wife Nora. The project had gone from another hard-boiled work to a sophisticated comedy of manners. As to Nick and Nora, they were based on Dashielll Hammett himself and Lillian Hellman, with whom he was then in a relationship.

The Thin Man was published in a condensed form in the December 1933 issue of Redbook (which was not yet a women's magazine). It was in January 1934 that the book was published by Alfred A. Knopf. While Hammett never wrote a follow up to The Thin Man, the novel would not be the last time that people saw Nick and Nora Charles. It was nearly as soon as the novel was published that MGM bought the film rights for $21,000 (which would be $501,920.68 today).

MGM did not have to look far for a director for The Thin Man. Director W. S. Van Dyke was a fan of murder mysteries and conceived a film version of The Thin Man as soon as he learned MGM had bought the rights to the novel. It was W.S,. Van Dyke who was responsible for the inspired idea of casting William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. He had just directed the two actors in Manhattan Melodrama (1934). Despite this, MGM had their doubts about William Powell and Myrna Loy. MGM thought that William Powell might be too old and too strait laced to play Nick Charles. As to Myrna Loy, prior to The Thin Man she had primarily played "exotics" and femme fatales.

Producer Hunt Stromberg hired husband and wife team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett to write the screenplay. W.S. Van Dyke's instructions to the screenwriters was to concentrate on the witty banter and Nick and Nora more than the murder mystery itself. While The Thin Man was made before the MPAA began more strictly enforcing the Production Code on July 1 1934, Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett still had to clean up some of the book's content for the film adaptation.

MGM apparently regarded The Thin Man simply as another programmer. Not only did it only have a budget of $231,000, but it was shot over eighteen days. As it turned out, The Thin Man proved to be a roaring success. It was released on May 25 1934 to positive notices. Variety liked the film, noting, "What appears to have been the most successful part of the Hackett-Goorich team's adaptation is that they captured the spirit of the jovial, companionable relationship of the characters, Nick, retired detective, and Nora, his wife." Film Daily also gave a positive review, writing, "The screen seldom presents a more thoroughly interesting piece of entertainment than this adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's popular novel. The rapid fire dialogue is about the best heard since talkies, and it is delivered by Powell and Miss Loy to perfection." The New York Times included The Thin Man on their list of the ten best films of 1934 at the end of the year. Audiences loved The Thin Man as well. It made $1.4 million at the box office.

The success of The Thin Man would lead to five sequels, the first being After the Thin Man in 1936 and the last being Song of the Thin Man in 1947. The success of the "Thin Man" films would also lead to a radio show.The Adventures of the Thin Man debuted on NBC on July 2 1941. Les Damon was the original voice of Nick Charles, and was followed by Les Tremayne, Joseph Curtin David Gothard, and Bill Smith. Claudia Mrogan voiced Nora for the whole of the run. The radio show ultimately ran until September 1 1950. The success of the movies would also lead to a television series, The Thin Man, starring Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk. It ran for two seasons on NBC.

While The Thin Man is often counted among the greatest movies ever made, it is not often counted among the greatest Christmas movies ever made. Despite this, it is very much a Christmas movie. Nick makes reference to waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas shopping. The movie features a Christmas Eve party and the next day we get to see Nick and Nora celebrate Christmas morning together, with the two exchanging presents and giving Asta one. The Thin Man also takes place for nearly the whole of the Christmas season, starting not long before Christmas and climaxing on New Year's Eve.

Regardless of whether one thinks of The Thin Man as a Christmas movie, it is certainly one of the most influential films of all time. It established both William Powell and Myrna Loy as stars. It also started an entire franchise, that included movies, a radio show, and a TV show. It was added to the United States National Film Registry in 1997. Even today Nick and Nora Charles are still many people's favourite movie couple.

The 70th Anniversary of White Christmas (1954)

For many people the movie musical White Christmas (1954), starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, has become a holiday tradition. Not only does the film air regularly on such TV outlets as AMC, but it is also widely available on streaming. There can be no doubt that many families make a point of watching White Christmas (1954) at least once during the Yuletide. White Christmas (1954) premiered on October 14 1954 in New York City, making the film seventy years old.

White Christmas (1954) owes its existence to another movie or, more precisely, a song from another movie. The film takes its title from the hit song "White Christmas"from the movie Holiday Inn (1942). According to columnist Erskine Johnson in the December 21 1954 issue of the Los Angeles Mirror, Irving Berlin wrote the melody for what would become "White Christmas" in August and then shelved it until he was signed to compose the songs for Holiday Inn. According to Irving Berlin in the December 14 1954 issue of the Los Angeles Examiner, he wrote "White Christmas" for a revue he was considered producing, changed his mind, and then shelved it until it was used in Holiday Inn (1942).

Bing Crosby performed the song well before the release of Holiday Inn, first performing it on Christmas Day on The Kraft Music Hall. He later recorded  the song on May 18 1942 at Radio Recorders, Inc. in Los Angeles with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers. It was released on July 30 1942 as part of a set of six 78 rpm discs titled Song Hits from Holiday Inn. Neither Irving Berlin nor Bing Crosby initially had high hopes for the song. In fact, it was generally believed that "Be Careful, It's My Heart (the Valentine's Day song from Holiday Inn) would be the big hit from the movie. Despite this, "White Christmas" started to take off. It reached the top spot on Your Hit Parade in October 1943. It spent eleven weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard charts. In the end it proved to be the biggest selling single of all time.

Such success did not go unnoticed, and it was as early as 1948 thar composer Irving Berlin suggested a movie based on the song "White Christmas." Paramount, which had produced and distributed Holiday Inn, liked the idea and the studio was preparing White Christmas (1954) as early as 1949.  The plan in the beginning was reunite the stars of Holiday Inn (Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire) for another musical with songs by Irving Berlin. From Holiday Inn Irving Berlin took the idea of an inn as a setting for White Christmas (1954). For other inspiration Irving Berlin drew upon an unproduced musical, Stars on My Shoulders, that he had written with Norman Krasna.

Paramount's hopes for a Holiday Inn reunion would be dashed. Fred Astaire turned down the film. The role of Phil Davis (which would have been played by Fred Astaire) then went to Donald O'Connor. It was not long before production was set to begin, that Donald O'Conner fell ill and had to quit the film. He was then replaced by Danny Kaye. Initially Bing Crosby turned down the role of Bob Wallace in White Christmas as well, as he was mourning the death of his wife Dixie Lee, although he relented after only a few weeks. It was Bing Crosby who  suggested singer Rosemary Clooney for the role of Betty Haynes. She had already had several hits, including "Come On-a My House" and "Half as Much." It was choreographer Bob Alton who suggested Vera-Ellen be cast. She had already demonstrated her talent as a dancer in movies from The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) to On the Town (1949).

The opening titles announces White Christmas (1954) as the first film shot in VistaVision, a widescreen format that Paramount had developed. VistaVision was not an anamorphic process like CinemaScope and some other widescreen formats, but instead used a flat widescreen system. Paramount would follow White Christmas with several more films shot in VistaVision, including Artists and Models (1955), The Court Jester (1956), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Vertigo (1958), and others. Vistavision would decline in the late fifties and Paramount's last movie shot in VistaVision would be One-Eye Jacks (1961).

White Christmas (1954) premiered at Radio City Musical Hall on October 14 1954 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It opened in Los Angeles on October 27 1954 and went into wide release in November. It became the highest grossing movie of 1954. Made for $2 million, it made $12 million at the box office. It also became the highest grossing musical at the time. When it was re-released in 1961 it also performed very well.

For the most part White Christmas (1954) received mixed reviews. There were several positive reviews. Kate Cameron in the New York Daily News called it, "...first class entertainment." Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times also gave White Christmas (1954) a good review, referring to it as a "great, big, physically glittering, two-hour Technicolor musical that sounds like a dream production with a dream cast." Harrison's Reports gave White Christmas a more mixed review, noting that it was",,a pleasing entertainment," while at the same time noting there were "...spots where it becomes quite slow and boresome." The notorious New York Times critic Bosley Crowther gave White Christmas (1954) an overly negative review, writing, ""s. Director Michael Curtiz has made his picture look good. It is too bad that it doesn't hit the eardrums and the funnybone with equal force."

Of course, White Christmas (1954) would eventually find its way to television. It made its television premiere on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies on December 19 1964. For the remainder of the Sixties it became a nearly annual event on NBC's movie anthologies. Afterwards White Christmas would enter syndication and would air on many local television stations every holiday season. It has since aired on such cable channels as the Family Channel, WGN, and AMC (which still airs it). White Christmas was first released on VHS in 1986 and then first released on DVD in 2000. It is currently widely available on streaming.

The continued popularity of White Christmas (1954) would result in a stage version of the film, which premiered at the Muny in St. Louis in 2000. It retains Irving Berlin's songs, with a book by David Ives and Paul Blake.

Some have called White Christmas (1954) a remake of Holiday Inn (1942), although I do not think that is necessarily the case. Among the few things White Christmas has in common with Holiday Inn are an inn as a setting, songs written by Irving Berlin, and star Bing Crosby. Sadly, one thing that White Christmas (1954) has in common with Holiday Inn is a degree of racism. Holiday Inn features the notorious "Abraham" segment, performed by Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds in blackface. White Christmas (1954) lacks anything that blatant, although it includes what is known as "the Minstrel Number," including the songs ""I'd Rather see a Minstrel Show" and "Mister. Bones." While the number is not performed in blackface, expressing nostalgia for minstrel shows is culturally insensitive nonetheless. Of course, it must be kept in mind that both Holiday Inn (1942) and White Christmas (1954) are very much movies of their times.

Regardless, White Christmas (1954) remains one of the highest grossing films of all time and has come to be regarded as a Christmas classic. It may not have as high a profile as such holiday classics as It's a Wonderful Life (1946) or Miracle on 34th Street (1947), but it remains a beloved Yuletide movie for many.

The 80th Anniversary of Glenn Miller's Disappearance

It was eighty years ago today that the plane on which Glenn Miller flew, a single-engine UC-64 Norseman,, disappeared over the English Channel. To this day his disappearance remains a mystery. While there have been plenty of conspiracy theories (none of which are worth considering), given the weather that day and the type of plane in which Major Miller was flying, the most likely explanation is that the fuel intakes simply froze, leading to the plane's crash.

Today many do not realize how huge Glenn Miller was as a musical artist. He had more top ten singles than either Elvis Presley or The Beatles. In 1942 he was making anywhere from $15,000 a week (that would be $301,426.43 today) to $20,000 a week (that would be $401,901.91 today). With the United States' entrance into World War II, Glenn Miller decided that he wanted to serve his country. At 38 he was too old to be drafted and so he volunteered for the U.S. Navy. They told them that they had no need of him. Fortunately the Navy's loss would be the Army's gain. He convinced the United States Army to take him so that he could "...be placed in charge of a modernized Army band."

He entered the Army with the rank of Captain. Eventually he would form the 50-piece Army Air Force Band. He would also be promoted to the rank of Major. It was then in 1944 that Major Glenn Miller and the Army Air Force Band were sent to England. There they not only gave several performances, but they also made propaganda recordings for the Office of War Information at Abbey Road Studios in London. Glenn Miller's music would be broadcast on the Armed Forces Network, which used the BBC's facilities. Major Miller's contributions to the war effort should not be underestimated, as they helped the troop's morale as well as countered any German propaganda. No less than General Jimmy Doolittle of the United States Army Air Force told Glenn Miller, "Next to a letter from home, Captain Miller, your organization is the greatest morale builder in the European Theatre of Operations."

To this day Glenn Miller remains remembered for both his music an the sacrifice he made for his country. Here is one of Glenn Miller's biggest hits, his version of "Stairway to the Stars,"

Why I Won't Sign Up for Threads

Ever since Twitter changed ownership in October 2022, users have been leaving the microblogging service for other social media services. I joined Mastodon, then a few months later Spoutible and finally Bluesky (it was still by invitation then). Following the election and changes to Twitter's (I refuse to call it "X") terms of service, even more people left. Many left for Bluesky. I abandoned Twitter entirely and devoted myself almost entirely to Bluesky. One microblogging service I have never considered and still won't is Threads, Meta's take on microblogging.

Now Meta has fixed some of the objections that I had when Threads first launched in July 2023. While one still needs an Instagram account (which I already have) to use Threads, your Instagram account is no longer deleted if you delete your Threads account. One can also now access a chronological feed on Threads. While these problems have been fixed, Threads still has one major problem which prevent me from ever signing up for Threads.

The first is that Threads does not have hashtags per se. I have always found this curious, given both Instagram and even Facebook have hashtags, even though few people I know actually use them on Facebook. I have no idea why Meta decided not to allow the use of hashtags on Threads, particularly given hashtags originated on Twitter and are part of nearly every other microblogging service out there. Of course, while Threads do not have hashtags, they do have what they call "tags." Now Thread's tags do have one advantage over hashtags in that one can actually tag phrases in which the words have spaces between them. Unfortunately, that is about the only advantage they have over hashtags. Indeed, one can only use one tag per post. For example, if one were watching Out of the Past (1947) on Noir Alley on TCM, they might hashtag any live posts they made to Bluesky "#TCMParty #NoirAlley #OutOfThePast." On Threads they would have to choose only one of these tags for their post. Many people I know who live post movies on Bluesky generally use more than one hashtag per post. They will post a hasthag for the channel or show they are watching the movie on (for instance, #TCMParty or #Svengoolie) and the name of the movie (for instance,#Frankenstein). This is impossible on Threads.

Beyond limiting users to one tag per post, there is also a petty irritation regarding tags on Threads. Quite simply, tag searches are sorted by algorithm by default. and I am not sure there is any way to sort tag searches chronologically. Even if one can sort tags chronologically, the fact that they are sorted by algorithm by default is unappealing. Even on Twitter as it is now, one can click on "Following" and almost never see the algorithm sorted feed. I have to think Threads, being a Meta product, sorting tag searches chronologically is probably a bit more bit tricky. Of course, on Mastodon, Spoutible, and Bluesky there is no algorithm....

Ultimately, it seems clear that Threads is not for me, nor was it ever designed for people like me. Indeed, I have to wonder if Meta even meant for Threads to compete with Twitter and other microblogging services. It certainly seems different given its use of an algorithm and its use of "tags"instead of hashtags. At any rate, regardless of how much Meta might try to promote it in Instagram from time to time, I am not signing up for it.

A Merry Little Christmas: Essays on Christmas in Film & Television

On November 10 of this year my latest book was published. It's titled A Merry Little Christmas: Essays on Christmas in Film & Television. It contains essays on  movies from It's a Wonderful Life to Love Actually and television specials from A Charlie Brown Christmas to Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas. You can order it on Amazon here.

Michael Cole Passes On

Michael Cole, who played Pete Cochran on The Mod Squad, died yesterday, December 10 2024, at the age of 84.

Michael Cole was born on July 3 1940 in Madison, Wisconsin. He did not know his biological father. As a young child he lived with his mother and his older brother in his maternal grandmother's house. When he was 16 he dropped out of high school and married his girlfriend, who was already pregnant. They would have another child before they divorced when Michael Cole was 20. Michael Cole left Wisconsin for Las Vegas, where he worked as a bartender. It was on the advice of Bobby Darin that he moved to Los Angeles. There hew as homeless for a time. Fortunately he met acting coach Estelle Harman. She let him sleep on a bed on her stage at her workshop and gave him acting lessons for free.

Michael Cole made his film debut in 1961 in Forbid Them Not, starring Jose Ferrer. He made his television debut in 1966 in an episode of Gunsmoke. Aaron Spelling offered him the role of Pete Cochran on The Mod Squad after Michael Cole came to the attention of a casting director after he had read a scene from Picnic with another one of Estelle Harman's students. Initially Michael Cole turned down the role, not particularly wanting to play a young person who informed on other young people to the police. At last Michael Cole relented and he would spend five seasons on the show. In the Sixties Michael Cole also appeared in the movies The Bubble (1966) and Chuka (1967). He guest starred on the show Run for Your Life.

In the Seventies Michael Cole continued to appear on The Mod Squad. He guest starred on the shows Get Christie Love!, Police Story, Wonder Woman, Flying High, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, The Love Boat, CHiPs, The Littlest Hobo, and Beyond Westworld. He reprised his role as Pete Cochran in the TV reunion movie The Return of the Mod Squad. He appeared in the mini-series Evening in Byzantium.

In the Eighties he appeared in the movie Nickel Mountain (1984). He guest starred on the shows Fantasy Island; Vega$; CHiPs; and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in the two-part TV movie IT (1990), based on the Stephen King novel fo the same name.

In the Nineties he had a recurring role on the soap opera General Hospital. He guest starred on the shows Shades of LA, Good Sports, Acapulco Bay, Diagnosis Murder, and 7th Heaven. He appeared in the movie The Apostate (2000). In the Naughts he guest starred on the television movie series Mystery Woman and the TV series ER. He appeared in the movie Mr. Brooks (2007).

Michael Cole will probably always be remembered as Pete Cochran on The Mod Squad, the rebellious son of a wealthy Beverly Hills family who winds up working for Police captain Adam Greer (Tige Andrews). Much of the show's success was probably due to Michael Cole's performance, as well as those of his co-stars Clarence Williams III and Peggy Lipton. Of course, he also appeared in other roles during his career. He appeared in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote, playing Earl Tuchman in the episode "Murder, She Spoke" and Police Lieutenant John Meyerling in the episode "The Big Show of 1965." In the Get Christie Love! episode "Deadly Justice" he played a police academy dropout who begins killing criminals. Michael Cole would play a wide variety of roles, and played all of them well.

Godspeed Julie Stevens

Julie Stevens, who played John Steed's partner Venus Smith on The Avengers and co-presented the British children's how Play School from 1966 to 1979, died on December 5 2024 at the age of 87. She had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019.

Julie Stevens was born Julia Bulias on December 20 1936 in Prestwich, Lancashire. There she attended Philips High School. She trained as a nurse at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. When she was twenty a talent contest led to her signing with former broadcaster ABC Weekend TV. She made her television debut in 1958 as the voice of a secretary in an episode of the TV series Armchair Theatre. In 1959 she appeared in two episodes of the show All Aboard.

In the Sixties she was cast as Venus Smith, a nightclub singer who was also a partner of secret agent John Steed, in the second series of The Avengers. She began co-presenting Play School, a BBC2 programme aimed at preschool children, in 1966 and continued to do so until 1979. In 1967 Miss Stevens presented the long-running children's show Watch with Mother. Towards the end of the decade and the first part of the Seventies, she was one of the stars of the sitcom Girls About Town. She guest starred on the shows Our House, The Human Jungle, Z Cars, and Friday Night. She played the hand maiden  Gloria in the movie Carry On Cleo (1964).

In the Seventies she continued as a presenter on the show Play School and also appeared on its sister program Play Away, which was focused on older children. She provided vocals on songs for the children's show Look and Read from 1978 to 1992. She was one of the regular performers on the children's show Cabbages and Kings. Julie Stevens later vocals for songs on the children's show Through the Dragon's Eye. She made her last appearance on television in a guest appearance in an episode of Holby City in 2001.

Julie Stevens also served as the personal manager of Sir Harry Secombe for many years.

On The Avengers Venus Smith was not a particularly demanding role, but Julie Stevens made the character more interesting than she might have otherwise been and also got to show off her singing voice.In Carry On Cleo she got to display a more comedic side than she had on The Avengers.  She certainly had an impact on a generation of British children co-presenting Play School. Brits who grew up with Play School, as well as fans of The Avengers and the "Carry On..." films paid tribute to her on social media. Julie Stevens was clearly beloved, and she will always be remembered as John Steed's first female partner and the co-presenter of Play School.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Turns 40

This post is part of the John Saxon Bloghaton hosted by RealWeedgieMidget Reviews and Cinematic Catharsis)

On November 9 1984 a film went into limited release in the United States that would forever change horror movies. Although often classed as a "slasher film," A Nightmare in Elm Street (1984) could better be described as a supernatural horror movie with some characteristics of a slasher movie. The film would spawn an entire franchise, not to mention several imitators.

In A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) a group of teenagers find themselves targeted by the malignant spirit of a child killer named Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), who has their ability to enter their dreams and kill them there. Twenty years earlier Freddy Krueger had been captured, but then released on a technicality after having killed 20 children. A lynch mob then hunted them down and burned him alive in the boiler room of the power plant at which Krueger had worked. It is up to one of the teenagers, Nancy Thomposn (Heather Langenkmap) and her father, Police Lieutenant Don Thompson (John Saxon), to put an end to Krueger's killing spree.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was written and directed by horror legend Wes Craven. By the time he made A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Mr. Craven had already made such movies as The Last House on the Left (1972), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), and Deadly Blessing (1981). Inspiration for A Nightmare on Elm Street came from multiple sources. One was a story he read in The Los Angeles Times regarding a child who was a refugee from the Cambodian genocide who refused to go to sleep for fear that he would not wake up. Sadly, he died not long after he finally went to sleep. This was not an isolated incident with regards to refugees from Southeast Asia, as several died due to mysterious circumstances. Most often they were young Hmong men who had fled Laos following the Vietnam War. In the October 15 2008 issue of Cinefantasique, Wes Craven commented, "t was a series of articles in the LA Times; three small articles about men from South East Asia, who were from immigrant families and had died in the middle of nightmares—and the paper never correlated them, never said, 'Hey, we've had another story like this."

Wes Craven also drew inspiration for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) from Eastern religions and the 1975 song "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright. The synthesizer riff used in the movie stems from that song. As to the villain, Freddy Krueger, his name was taken from a boy named Fred Krueger who had bullied him as a child. Inspiration for the character of Freddy Krueger was also taken from Wes Craven's childhood. Once when outside his home, young Wes Craven saw a man in a battered fedora who seemed to be looking right at him. The man frightened Wes Craven very badly.

Other elements of the character of Freddy Krueger stemmed from an effort to make him different from other antagonists in horror movie of the time. Wes Craven observed that many horror villains of the time, such as Michael Myers in the Halloween movies and Jason in the Friday the 13th movies, wore masks. Wes Craven thought Freddy should wear a mask, but he should also be able to talk and express himself. It was because of this that Freddy Krueger had a disfigured face. Wes Craven also observed the most villains in horror movies of the time used knives. Initially Wes Craven had considered having Krueger use a sickle, but then decided he use a glove with steak knives sewn into it.

Wes Craven would have some difficulty selling A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). As hard as it may be to believe, Walt Disney Productions was the first to show interest in the script, but they wanted Wes Craven to soften the movie's content so it could be rated PG-13 by the MPAA ratings board. Paramount Pictures turned down A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) because they thought it was too similar to Dreamscape (1984), which was already in pre-production. Universal Studios also turned him down.

Wes Craven was finally able to find a studio produce the film in the form of New Line Cinema. At this point New Line Cinema had only produced a few movies, most notably Polyester (1981), having primarily served as a distributor for films produced by others. New Line Cinema was unable to provide all of the financing for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), but fortunately they were able to find other investors.

By far the most famous member of the cast of A Nightmare on Elm Street was John Saxon, who played Lt. Don Thompson. Although John Saxon had started his career as a teen idol in such movies as Rock Pretty Baby (1956) and The Restless Years (1958), he made a name for himself in a wide variety of movies from the Sixties into the Seventies, from Queen of Blood (1966) to Enter the Dragon (1973). Ten years before A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), John Saxon had played another police lieutenant in another horror movie, Kenneth Fuller in the early slasher movie Black Christmas (1974). Having played in a wide variety of movie genres and having played a number of heroes in movies, John Saxon was ideal as Don Thompson, the police lieutenant who initially fears for his daughter's sanity, but then helps her stop an undead killer.

As to the role of Freddy Krueger, David Warner was initially cast, but he had to drop out of the film due to conflicts in his schedule. Wes Craven considered several different actors before casting Robert Englund in the role. Robert Englund had made several guest appearances on television and appeared on such movies as Big Wednesday (1978) and Galaxy of Terror (1981). The roles of the teenagers in the film were filled by unknowns, although one would soon become famous. A Nightmare on Elm Street marked the film debut of Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp went with his friend Jackie Earle Haley to an audition. It was ultimately because of Wes Craven's daughters that Johnny Depp got the role. Wes Craven had pictured the role of Glen as  a jock, but it was Johnny Depp's headshot that Wes Craven's daughters chose out of the headshots he showed them.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) would run into trouble with the MPAA ratings board. Two cuts to the movie had to be made before they would give it an R-rating. Oddly enough, it was released in the United Kingdom, which is sometimes stricter on horror movies than the MPAA, uncut.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) went into limited release on November 6 1984 in the United States and then into wide release on November 16 1984 in United States and Canada. Most critics at the time gave A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) positive reviews. Paul Attanasio in The Washington Post wrote of the film, "The genre has built-in limitations--the immediate reaction is to say you've seen it all before last Friday the 13th, so that there's constant pressure on the director's inventiveness....But Wes Craven faces the challenge admirably. A Nightmare on Elm Street is halfway between an exploitation flick and classic surrealism." In The Monthly Film Bulletin, Kim Newman called A Nightmare on Elm Street, "...a superior example of an over-worked genre."

Audiences loved A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as well. During its opening weekend in limited release, at only 165 theatres across the United States, it grossed $1,271,000." It eventually made $25,504,513 at the US and Canada and  $57 million worldwide. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) proved to be one of New Line Cinema's earliest successes, so much so that the studio was sometimes referred to as "the House that Freddy Built."

The success of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) would lead to seven sequels. A remake,directed by Samuel Bayer, was released in 2010. There was also a TV series spun off from the film. Freddie's Nightmares was an anthology series with Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger serving as its narrator. It ran for two seasons in syndication. There have also been novels, comic books, video games, and other merchandise inspired by the movie.

The reasons for the success of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) aren't hard to find. The movie has a particularly good cast. John Saxon, as Lt. Don Thompson, stands out as the father and police officer who finally realizes the threat of Freddy Krueger. It was Robert Englund's performance as Freddy Krueger that made the character one of the most famous movie monsters of all time. The younger cast, including Helen Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson and Johnny Depp as Glen, also deliver solid performances. The cast make the events of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) all the more believable.

Of course, Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) also benefits from a very sophisticated script. In fact, the film works on multiple levels. In the above cited Cinefantastique article, Wes Craven said,"...the notion of the screenplay is that the sins of the parents are visited upon the children, but the fact that each child is not necessarily stuck with their lot is still there." Even at the time of its release, some critics saw A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a very Freudian work. In the February 1985 issue of Films in Review, Roy Frumkes saw Wes Craven's earlier works, such as The Hills Have Eyes, as Freudian, and wrote of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), "...and, here, in its latest incarnation, John Saxon and Ronee Blakeley are the untending parent of a daughter, whose nightmares have red claws, and whose pleas for help go unanswered."

What might be the strongest theme in the film is one that Wes Craven's script and direction capitalize upon: the borderlines between reality and fantasy.In A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) the characters, and hence the audience,can often not distinguish between reality and dream. It can easily be argued that being able to determine what is and is not a dream is central to the defeat of Freddy Krueger in the movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) would have a lasting influence on the horror genre and launched a franchise that still sees merchandise between produced to this day. The movie often makes lists of the greatest horror films ever made. It can be safe to say audiences will be watching A Nightmre on Elm Street (1984) forty years from now.