Monday, July 1, 2019

The Alice Howell Collection

Distilled Love (1920)

Ben Model's Undercrank Productions has released The Alice Howell collection, a two DVD set featuring 12 short films from master silent film comedienne Alice Howell. A mix of screwball and slapstick comedies, Howell knew how to entertain audiences with her knack for physical comedy, her amusing expressions and signature look. Model offers the following description:

"The character that she had developed was a slightly addled working-class girl with a round Kewpie-doll face topped off with a mountain of frizzy hair piled high on her head."

Howell reminds me a lot of British comedienne and actress Dawn French. As as a silent film star Howell pretty much stands on her own. Howell's career began when she and her husband relocated to California when he fell ill. Howell found work as an extra for Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company. She eventually graduated from extra to supporting cast to leading lady. In addition to Keystone she also worked for L-Ko Komedy, Century Comedies, Emerald Film Co., Reelcraft and Universal. 

Neptune's Naughty Daughter (1917)

The shorts in The Alice Howell Collection have been digitally remastered from 35mm and 16mm print. Sources include the Library of Congress, the BFI National Archive, the Danish Film Institute among others. Each film is presented with an original musical score written and performed by Ben Model himself. A brief intro explains what's been done to restore each film and points out any missing scenes/reels, title cards or notable damage. The films are all offered in the best presentation possible making this collection of early comedies well worth the investment of any silent film enthusiast.

The films in the set include: 

Disc One:
Shot in The Excitement (1914) 
Father Was a Loafer (1915) 
Under New Management (1915) 
How Stars Are Made (1916) 
Neptune's Naughty Daughter (1917) 
In Dutch (1918)

Disc Two:
Distilled Love (1920) 
His Wooden Leg-acy (1920) 
Her Lucky (1920) 
Cinderella Cinders (1920) 
A Convict's Happy Bride (1920) 
Under a Spell (1925)

I didn't know anything about Alice Howell until I received this set and she's been a delightful discovery. My favorite shorts in the set include the boozy and whacky adventure comedy Distilled Love (1920) which features Oliver Hardy in a very early role, the madcap screwball comedy where Howell has triplets (in addition to her four kids) and her loser husband tries to abandon the family with hilarious results Father Was a Loafer (1915) and the backstage comedy (with an explosive ending!) where Howell pretends to be an actress to appear on promotional float How Stars Are Made (1916). Other notable films include Neptune's Naughty Daughter (1917) which is the only surviving film of the six shorts she made with Century Comedies and His Wooden Leg-acy (1920), one of several films Howell made in Chicago and is a side-splitting rags to riches to rags tale.

Alice Howell was a daredevil comedian and some of the stunts she did in the film are as impressive now as they were back then. She's largely forgotten today but is well overdue for a comeback. If you've never heard of Howell but love silent comedies or you're a well-established fan, you need to get your hands on this set!




Thank you to Ben Model for sending me a copy of this set for review!

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

EXCLUSIVE! Cover Reveal: Cinematic Cities: New York: The Big Apple on the Big Screen

I'm happy to be partnering with TCM and Running Press for this exclusive cover reveal. That's right! You are seeing the cover of their upcoming book here first. 

Introducing: 





Cinematic Cities: New York: The Big Apple on the Big Screen
by Christian Blauvelt
On Sale November 5th, 2019
Hardcover ISBN:9780762495429
168 pages
TCM and Running Press

Official Description:

For armchair travelers, film buffs, tourists, and city dwellers alike, Turner Classic Movies takes you on a one-of-a-kind tour of the cinematic sites of New York City.

Highlighting the great films set in the Big Apple since the dawn of cinema to the present, Cinematic Cities: New York City is both a trove of information including behind-the-scenes stories and trivia, and a practical guide full of tips on where to go, eat, drink, shop, and sleep to follow along the path of your favorite films set in NYC. Organized by neighborhood and featuring photographs and illustrated maps throughout, this is a love letter to the city and a one-of-a-kind history of the movies. Featured films and locations include The Godfather, The Seven Year Itch, King Kong, North by Northwest, On the Town, West Side Story, When Harry Met Sally, the films of Woody Allen, and scores of others.


Pre-Order @ AmazonBarnes and Noble

What do you think? I love filming locations and am excited to check this book out. And I'm hoping there will be a Boston one in the future!

Monday, June 24, 2019

Dynamic Dames by Sloan De Forest


Dynamic Dames
50 Leading Ladies Who Made History
by Sloan De Forest
Foreword by Julie Newmar
TCM and Running Press
Hardcover ISBN: 9780762465507
248 pages
July 2019

AmazonBarnes and NoblePowells

"Dynamic Dames share an X-factor; they transcend the narrow confines of their gender role, whether by taking small steps or revolutionary strides. Each of these 50 women, in her unique way, is an architect of her own destiny." - Sloan De Forest

Sometimes a book comes into your life that you didn't know you needed until you start reading. And when you do things start to fall into place. That's Dynamic Dames for me. Film historian and author's Sloan De Forest delivers with this captivating feminist manifesto. Dynamic Dames catalogs 50 strong female characters and the actresses who portrayed them. Each woman gets her time to shine. We learn about how the actress got the role, how the character came to be and what ties the two together. You can't divorce the actress from the part, they breathe life into these characters. This book could have been 50 short biographies. It could have been 50 short characters studies. But it's a lot more than that.

It starts off with a wonderful foreword by Julie Newmar, Catwoman herself, and an introduction by the author. Then come the Dynamic Dames. They are presented thematically instead of just chronologically. Themes include Pre-Codes, Comedies, Mysteries, Biopics, Superhero movies, etc. The grouping feels organic and will prevent those hardcore classic film nerds from abandoning the book at a certain decade. The book starts with the 1920s and goes up to present day. For those of you who want the specifics: out of the 50 women, 29 are from the 1960s or earlier and 21 are from the 1970s and later.

The criteria for inclusion is perhaps one of the strongest elements of the book. The women, fictional and real, are strong, empowered women. They are complicated, headstrong and surpassed expectations for their gender. De Forest did something interesting here. Instead of just going with all the iconic roles, she mixes it up and includes characters fascinating but not necessarily the most well-known. For every Scarlett O'Hara/ Vivien Leigh you'll have Lily Stevens/Ida Lupino.

I was a big fan of De Forest's Must See Sci-Fi, a book that really convinced me to take on a genre I was reluctant to in the past. (Check out my review of that book here). I had high expectations for Dynamic Dames and it delivers. The writing is engaging and the narrative voice is whip smart and clever. There is an appreciation of the past and a look towards the future. And like with the science fiction book, De Forest convinced me to try movies that I hadn't thought to before. I enjoyed reading about women and films that I was familiar with as much I did about ones that were still new to me.


Some of my favorite pieces include:
  • Bette Davis - Helen Bauer - Ex-Lady (1933)
  • Greta Garbo - Queen Christina - Queen Christina (1933)
  • Bonita Granville - Nancy Drew - Nancy Drew… Detective (1938)
  • Ingrid Bergman - Paula Alquist Anton - Gaslight (1944)
  • Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce - Mildred Pierce (1945)
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Cleopatra - Cleopatra (1963)
  • Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones - Carmen Jones (1954)
  • Grace Kelly - Lisa Fremont - Rear Window (1954)
  • Marlene Dietrich - Christine Vole - Witness for the Prosecution (1958)
  • Sophia Loren - Cesira - Two Women (1960)
  • Pam Crier - Coffy - Coffy (1973)
  • Linda Hamilton - Sarah Connor - The Terminator (1984) & Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
  • Jodie Foster - Clarice Starling - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  • Salma Hayek - Frida Kahlo - Frida (2002)
  • Keira Knightley - Colette - Colette (2018)

My only small quibble with the book is the format. The small hardcover size is easy to hold but I would have preferred a paperback format instead. Or a larger format with bigger and better (and more!) pictures.

Dynamic Dames is the must-have feminist film book. To me it's incredibly important to see other women overcoming obstacles and I found a lot of new-found inspiration in reading about them.
Read it for yourself and share it with others. If there is someone in your life who is weary of classic movies because of what they believe is a lack of strong female roles, this is a nice gateway into appreciating film history.

I filmed a book review video which goes more into detail about the book's structure and my thoughts on it. If you liked the video please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel!

Update: Check out my interview with author Sloan De Forest on the TCM website!



A big thank you to Running Press for sending me a copy of this book for review.



This is my first review for the Summer Reading Challenge.


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