The Brothers Warner (2008) Documentary

The Brothers Warner - documentary
The Brothers Warner - book

This documentary follows the history of the Warner Bros. studio through the lives of the 4 brothers who founded it: Harry, Sam, Albert and Jack. It's written and directed by Cass Warner Sperling, granddaughter of Harry Warner and daughter of writer/producer Milton Sperling, and features interviews (some previously recorded) by various family members and industry people, including Dennis Hopper, who had worked with or were familiar with the brothers. Because this documentary is presented by someone from the Warner family, produced by Warner Sisters Productions and distributed by Warner Bros., there is going to be a little bias about the studio and the brothers. However, I think this documentary is very enlightening and informative and you'll walk away from it with a greater knowledge of film history and the great contributions Warner Bros. made to said history. The documentary is kind of choppy. At certain points it doesn't flow very well, I think mostly during the interviews. However, overall it felt cohesive and structured.

Something I learned about the original Warner Bros. studio that I didn't know before is that they would make socially conscious pictures even at the cost of profit. That's pretty much unheard of these days and it went against the notion of profitability in those days as well. The brothers took risks to provide audiences with movies that would "entertain, educate and enlighten". Their investment in Vitaphone and in the production of The Jazz Singer was mocked even by big studio heads like Irving Thalberg. Their attempt to enlighten the public about Nazi activity with films like Confessions of a Nazi Spy brought them severe criticism and even death threats. They took risks that paid out big. They put their money in many pots rather than all in one pot which saved them during difficult times. Now the documentary didn't say much about Warner Bros. treated their actors. Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Olivia de Havilland were among numerous actors who fought against Warner Bros. However, it did reveal a lot about Jack Warner and how show business and wealth turned his heart to stone over the years. I highly recommend watching this if you are a serious classic movie buff and want to know more about the studio system!

Make sure you stop by the excellent blog Dear Old Hollywood and check out Robby's post "An Evening with Cass Warner."

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

The 1920s gets a lot of love, even today, decades later. We see the 1920s in shows like Boardwalk Empire, in Halloween flapper costumes, in artwork, fashion, books, movies, etc. We love bootleggers, speakeasies, dancing the Charleston, fringe dresses, rolled stockings, Cloche hats, and saying things like "the bee's knees", "and how" and "the cat's meow". We will love the '20s even when we reach the 2020s (boy won't that be confusing). So when did this nostalgia for the 1920s begin? I imagine it started even before the 1920s were over. The Stock Market Crish of October 1929 put an end to the carefree culture of the 1920s. Ten years later, Raoul Walsh would direct a nostalgia picture that reminisced about the old days of bootlegging and gangsters. It would also serve as a big send off for James Cagney, who had been playing gangsters for years and was ready to move on. Cagney plays Eddie Bartlett, a World War I soldier who comes home from France to find a very different America, a land without opportunity, waiting for him. Bartlett is a victim of his circumstances. He's a good guy trying to stay straight in a world that won't let him. He first becomes a bootlegger and then runs a night club. It's Prohibition and the party-loving culture of the 1920s that makes Bartlett successful. And while he still longs for the innocence of his past and sees that in soft, doe-eyed Jean (Priscilla Lane) he's is in too deep in his racket. He takes on fellow soldier George (Humphrey Bogart) who is still blood-thirsty even years after World War I ended. Although this is Cagney's movie, Bogie plays a significant part and this is considered one of his last supporting roles. This film comes at an important time. America has been in the grips of the Great Depression for nearly a decade and World War II had just begun. It's a scary time and perhaps looking back at the previous decade gave people hope that America could once again be a land of opportunity and place to pursue happiness.

Super Rare & New Interview with Doris Day

Bobby Rivers  recently alerted his Twitter followers of this radio interview with Doris Day. I also got a notice from a Publicist about it. Doris Day does not give interviews so this is a very rare treat for Doris Day fans. It's over an hour and unlike some radio or podcast interviews that are very structured, this one is very relaxed. Schwartz doesn't have a set of questions to ask and doesn't cut off Doris Day every couple of minutes. He lets her talk and what we get is an hour of Doris Day chatting. It's simply wonderful. It's like you stopped by her house and she sat you down for tea and just talked about her life and career. It feels very personal in a way but removed since it's a radio interview. Take a moment to listen to it. I embedded the audio into this post but you can also go to the website which is listed below. Enjoy!

From the Publicist:

Over the weekend, WNYC aired a special episode of The Jonathan Schwartz Show, featuring a rare interview with DORIS DAY. The Hollywood legend spent some time with Jonathan, looking back at her life and career.

• Among the stories she shares –
• How she can’t read sheet music
• How a car accident curtailed her stint as a dancer
• Why she turned down the lead in the film South Pacific
• The time “Young At Heart” co-star Frank Sinatra came to her defense at a birthday party

 You can listen to the full interview and check out a slideshow of historic photographs here: http://culture.wnyc.org/articles/features/2010/oct/30/celebrating-hollywood-legend-doris-day/ 

Full Disclosure and Reviewing Products

Attention all Classic Film Bloggers!

You may have noticed that in the past year or so several classic film bloggers, including myself, have been getting free books and DVDs for review (or giveaway). I work in the book industry and we are no strangers to blogger reviews. And because I work with some bloggers in my day job I know a lot about process of product reviews on blogs. I just want to relay some important information to those of you who are classic film bloggers and are either already reviewing products or want to review products in the future.

If you receive a product for free from a company and you review it on your blog, no matter what it is, you are obligated BY LAW to reveal the source.

As of 10/15/2009, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) published updated guidelines concerning endorsements and testimonials. The update reads:

Bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

It is really important that when you write a review about a product that you must reveal where the product came from. It can be as simple as thanking the company or person that sent it to you. Or you can include a standard disclaimer in your post that is always the same except for the source. I know some book bloggers who will go as far as to reveal where they got every book even if they bought it themselves, borrow it from the library or a friend, or got it in a swap. Just note this is for product reviews. There is a difference between reviewing a movie versus reviewing the DVD/Blu-Ray and package it came in.

I have made sure that any of my reviews after October 2009 include Full Disclosure and I highly recommend for bloggers out there to do the same. It's being fair to your readers. For more information about the FTC guidelines on Full Disclosure, make sure you visit this page: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

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So how does one get free products for review in the first place?

1) They'll contact you. Warner Bros. has been doing extensive blogger outreach. While you can't contact them for reviews, if you know someone who has a contact at the company ask them to recommend you.

2) Contact them! I really wanted to review a couple of titles from Northwestern University Press so I asked them if they could send me a book. And they did! It doesn't hurt to ask.

3) Sign up for a PR service. There are numerous PR services on the web that allow media outlets to contact publishers (including bloggers). You chose which category of pitches best suits your blog and you'll start to receive pitches via e-mail. Depending on the service you chose you may get a trickle or a flood. Just don't feel obligated to jump on every opportunity. Be selective.

4) Sign up for giveaways. For example, Goodreads, a booklovers social networking site, runs giveaways daily. Recently they had copies of the new bios on Frank Sinatra and Sal Mineo up for grabs. Also, Warner Archive runs several giveaways on Facebook and Twitter.

I've been very overwhelmed with pitches and products for review and have decided to scale back. There are so many pitches I pass over on a regular basis. I've decided to start sharing those pitches with other classic film bloggers who want more opportunities to review products. I'll pitch the pitches on my Twitter account @QuelleLove or you can contact me via e-mail if you want me to look out for something in particular for you.

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Reviewing products is not as glamorous as it seems. Yes you do get  the products for free and that itself is a great thing. I'm relatively poor and still trying to pay off student loans from Grad school (I can't even afford TCM) so it's nice to receive a book or DVD boxed set that I wouldn't have been able to purchase otherwise. However, when you get a product to review you have a deadline. Publishers and Distributors want reviews up around the time of the products release to the public. If you take too long to review a product or don't review it at all, they'll keep that in mind and pass you over next time. If you have too many products to review, then you don't have time to read or watch what you want. It will eat into your leisure time. It's basically like blog homework. However, as classic film bloggers, our opinion about these products count. A lot. So it's really good to get your opinion and voice out there because a good or bad review really does matter.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or inquiries. I'm always happy to help out a fellow blogger.

*apologies for disallowing comments for a while. I was getting some opportunists leave shout outs. I'm allowing comments for now but I will be deleting any ones I feel are inappropriate.