Latino Images in Film Schedule for 5/26 & Winners of Giveaway

And the winners of the fabulous giveaway (as chosen by Random.org) are...

Frank ~ Guest Blogger
Jonas ~ All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!
Mercurie ~ A Shroud of Thoughts
Tommy Salami ~ Pluck You Too!
Casey ~ Noir Girl


I will be e-mailing the winners today. Thank you to everyone who participated. If you missed out, there is still time to enter the sweepstakes at TCM's Latino Images in Film website.



Here is tonight's schedule for TCM:


Stand and Deliver (1988)
Walk Proud (1979)
Boulevard Nights (1979)
Badge 373 (1973)
Strangers in the City (1962)

Queen Norma Shearer ~ Smilin' Through (1932)

If you didn't catch the Norma Shearer movie Smilin' Through (1932) on TCM recently, then you missed out on something truly special. In the 5 or 6 years I've been haunting the TCM website looking for Norma Shearer movies to be scheduled, this is the first time I've seen this film listed. So chances are they haven't shown it in that time, or I missed the one time they did! In other words, it's a pretty rare film to see. Right now it's #7 on TCM's Not-On-Home Video Ranking system with 4,231 votes, a lot of votes may have generated after the last showing. Let's hope this is a signal to Warner Bros. Archive to release this on DVD soon!



Norma Shearer stars in a dual role as both the virginal angelic Moonyean and the lively spirited Kathleen. (Shearer was not a stranger to dual roles. Check out the silent movie A Lady of the Night (1925).) The setting is WWI England and we are introduced to John Carteret (Leslie Howard), a sorrowful man who holds on to the memory of his long-lost love Moonyean. The ghost of Moonyean beckons to him but he can't sense her presence as he is drowning in his own self-pity and anger. John adopts Moonyean's orphaned niece Kathleen, raising her as his own child. She blossoms into a beautiful young woman; the spitting image of the ethereal Moonyean. Their relationship is just perfect until Kathleen falls in love with Kenneth Wayne (Frederich March), an American soldier whose major flaw is being the son of Jeremy Wayne (also Frederic March). Jeremy was violently in love with Moonyean, yet his love was unrequited as she was to marry her love John. On their wedding day, Jeremy tries to murder John but kills Moonyean instead. John keeps the terrible event a secret from Kathleen and only sees fit to tell her when he finds out Kenneth is the son of Jeremy. John forces Kathleen to promise not to see Kenneth but their love is too strong and they steal moments together until Kenneth goes off to war. Kathleen is torn between her love for her Uncle and her love for Kenneth. Will John be able to move on from the past and allow Kathleen to be happy? Or will it be too late?




This film feels very ethereal with Moonyean's ghost, the soft focus of the camera, the soft English countryside and the almost vacant town. There is an emptiness in the surroundings and this void is filled with heightened states of emotion. The slow, leisurely pace of life contrasts with the bombings of the war going on just some miles away. What I love about Victorian/Edwardian stories like this is that all emotions and reactions are so grandly exaggerated. The characters have so much time on their hands that they are left with their own thoughts and lot of time for thinking and brooding can make the heart heavy. This film is romantic and theatrical and the cast is simply wonderful. It's a veritable treat and I hope you all get a chance to see it, because it would be an utter shame if you didn't.

An Ode to my Father

I know so little about my father even though I lived with both my parents for 25 years and I don't go without seeing my father for more than 2 weeks at a time. He is a mystery to me and I find that I'm constantly trying to understand him. My father was born on January 1st, 1928 in a tiny seaside town in Portgual. He lived in Portugal until 1959 when he was contracted to work on ships transporting petroleum. He was a seafaring man for 3 years, traveling the world and sometimes spending only a few hours at a time on land. In 1962, he moved to Long Island New York and began contract work in the construction business. He moved quickly up the ranks as he has a strong work ethic, is a fast learner and is a natural born leader. He got the traveling bug again in 1967 and roamed around the world for a few more years, picking up odd jobs along the way. During my father's years of wanderlust, he visited a total of 52 countries. He settled down in Massachusetts in the late 1970s. He met my mother through a subscription dating service (the 1970s equivalent of Match.com) and they met in her home country of the Dominican Republic. They married in 1979 and I was born the following year.

My father's story is a lot more complex than what I just presented. If I really knew more of the details of his life, I would probably find a different person from the one I know now. However, my dad keeps many secrets to himself and I often joke that I probably have more half-siblings than I think I do. In his advanced years, my father is becoming more open to revealing details of his life's journey and I take these opportunities to ask him lots of questions although there are ones I know I cannot ask because they would rouse his macho Portuguese ire.

I find that my interest in classic films stems mostly from my constant need to understand my father. The decades from the 1920s to the 1960s intrigue me the most because these are the years my dad lived through but also the decades of his life that I know little about. Watching these films and getting a taste of what those decades were like, I feel like I can better connect with him. Growing up in the 1930s and 1940s in Portugal, my father and his friends would often go to the local cinema and watch American movies. He's told me that he loved watching Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Bros., etc on the big screen. I mention a classic film star to him and with a smile that lights up his face, he instantly knows who I'm talking about. If anything, immersing myself in classic films has brung me closer to my dad and for that I'm very appreciative.

The picture you see above is of my father in Milan, Italy circa 1971. I love this photograph of because it shows him as elegant and well-traveled. His look is ultra-confident as though he knows that the camera is getting him at his best angle. He is not even phazed by the pigeons pecking at his hand. I look at this picture and I think to myself "my father is cool".

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Make sure you check out John's "Dad's Photos" series on the blog Robert Frost's Banjo! I was very inspired by his series to do this post.