With as much excitement as Steve Martin in THE JERK (1979) with the arrival of new phone books, I enthusiastically offer you the 2013 WHAT A CHARACTER! Blogathon schedule!! Back by popular demand, the zany classic-film-loving and blogging trio of Aurora (aka @citizenscreen) of Once Upon A Screen, Paula (aka @Paula_Guthat) of Paula’s Cinema Club and Kellee (aka @IrishJayhawk66) of Outspoken & Freckled (moi!) bring … Continue reading WHAT A CHARACTER! Blogathon Schedule

Originally posted on Once upon a screen…:
Co-hosts, Kellee of Outspoken & Freckled, Paula of Paula’s Cinema Club and Aurora (me) of Once Upon a Screen announced this year’s WHAT A CHARACTER! blogathon on September 10th.  And now – it’s over!  Over forty bloggers submitted entries on some of the most beloved character actors in classic film – a truly impressive list of actors that represent all genre of… Continue reading WHAT A CHARACTER! blogathon Schedule

Originally posted on Once upon a screen…:
The camera pans across a courtyard bypassing windows, showing glimpses of life.  The view is – counter-clockwise and in full circle – from a rear window.  Our perspective changes as the camera dictates and as it completes the circle we enter through that rear window and land upon the sweaty forehead of a sleeping man.  The thermostat reads… Continue reading Hitchcock’s masterpiece, REAR WINDOW

Originally posted on Backlots:
By Lara Gabrielle Fowler Mysterious, ethereal, and tremendously charming, Vivien Leigh is about as captivating as it comes. It is easy to simply marvel at her beauty, the likes of which the entertainment industry had never seen before and, in my opinion, has never seen since. Her stunning looks would be enough to secure Vivien’s place as one of the most… Continue reading An Interview with Kendra Bean, Author of VIVIEN LEIGH: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT

Originally posted on Once upon a screen…:
In our world the eleventh month of the year is not dedicated to family gatherings or special sales.  Here we celebrate crime-laden streets, shadowy figures and suspicious cops.  This is Noirvember. In celebration of all things noir, TCM Party is joining Warner Archive Instant for a series of tweet-a-longs in November. We’ve chosen favorite film noir from the Warner Archive Instant offerings. Using the hashtags #TCMparty and #Noirvember,… Continue reading Warner Archive joins TCM Party for NOIRVEMBER

Originally posted on Once upon a screen…:
Memorable films are aplenty, but few films have changed the course of legend as did… Universal Studios gave the world an unforgettable face to ascribe to Bram Stoker’s legendary character when it released Tod Browning’s, Dracula in 1931.  Playing Count Dracula in that film is Bela Lugosi whose stylized portrayal and image would become the standard for generations.… Continue reading Hammer’s, Horror of Dracula

Originally posted on Once upon a screen…:
“Oh! If I could only contrive (a story) which would frighten my reader as I myself had been frightened!” Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus as the result of a dare from a friend.  The friend was poet, Lord Byron and he challenged her to write a ghost story as part of a game while passing the time on a… Continue reading IT’S ALIVE! A Monster Tribute

Continue reading Bewitched: Trick or Treat

My definition of a perfectly spooky good time involves an October evening with a crisp Autumn atmosphere with the leaves rustling in yard as I cuddle up to my favorite classic films. My favorite October classic is Frank Capra’s ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944). This film is a dark-as-ebony comedy replete with a perfectly cast of hilariously eccentric characters. Our story begins with Mortimer Brewster … Continue reading Arsenic and Old Lace

Originally posted on cinematically insane:
Nicholas Ray made an appearance at the New York Film Festival on Saturday night. At least, according to his widow. “I brought you Nick tonight, because I figured he could probably speak better about this film than anybody else,” Susan Ray said before a screening of her husband’s vérité Western THE LUSTY MEN at the Walter Reade Theater, part of the… Continue reading Nicholas Ray Goes Home