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Ramis' true strength during the initial first couple of series of SCTV was in his writing. Even after he stopped appearing on camera during the second series (they weren't even called 'seasons' since they only produced one half hour a month) he was still contributing sketches until Hollywood called...

After all these years I don't know how the info of Ford working on the script of this western escaped my reading retention. Was this mentioned in McBride's bio on Ford? It was mentioned in both Mcbride and Eyman's bios I believe, but it was not a secret, Ford has a story credit on the film. Ford or...

Perhaps this program has not yet achieved status as true archaeology, but this is for anyone who remembers the anarchic joy of watching SCTV for the first time. There was a moment in time when Saturday Night Live was no longer the hippest show on television. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty2EKPv-G...

I don’t know whether the stupidity level or just the number of posts dropped over at Nitratevile today, it’s a hard call, but the main bon-mot of brainlessness was John Aldrich’s proving he knows nothing about THE LAST OUTLAW, which I must agree with David Shepard (and how often does that happen?) i...

J-U-N-K is on the Alpha Home Video DVD-R release SILENT COMEDY, VISUAL PIONEERS. It was one of my Christmas prezzies. http://www.oldies.com/product-view/7129D.html The original transfer (from a 35mm nitrate) was done by Grapevine Video, apparently that transfer has been "borrowed" for sev...

I definitely want to put in a nice word about John Soister and Henry Nicolella’s (along with Steve Joyce, Harry H. Long and Bill Chase)’s encyclopedia AMERICAN SILENT HORROR, SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY FEATURE FILMS 1913-1919: http://www.amazon.com/American-Science-Fiction-Fantasy-1913-1929/dp/0786...

Michael Hayde gets the award today for dealing with the Nitratevile Nameless One determined not to be undone by facts and wanting desperately to be right that KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE was made before MABELS STRANGE PREDICAMENT. I think my favorite bit was “Lonesome (and I’ll bet he is lonesome) Luke...

A reference on Facebook to the "Industrial Strength Keaton" DVD set had me going back and watching it again this weekend. One section has some early Buster Keaton television appearances including a turn on the Ed Wynn show doing the molasses routine from "The Butcher Boy". I was...

Lets see, the whines continue, someone who has been lucky enough to see a video copy of KING OF JAZZ whines that he cannot see a better one, poor baby. Bob Birchard says that I am right that SEVEN MEN FROM NOW is not a B western, but then says folk should go ahead and call it one if they feel like i...

Max affects me the same way Lloyd Hamilton does: The more I see of his work, the more I realize I haven't seen enough. (Not so with Chaplin.) Yes, that hack Chaplin had such a limited bag of tricks.....constantly holding his hand to his face when he was surprised. Why didn't he learn to do somethin...