Madeline Kahn Was an Alien Freak in “Slapstick of Another Kind,” with Jerry Lewis

She was a comedy film queen throughout the seventies, but in the eighties she misfired with this sci-fi adaptation.

by Rich Watson 

This post is part of the So Bad It’s Good Blogathon, a blog event for bad movies with cult followings. At the end I’ll tell you where you can find more posts like this.

Madeline Kahn was a hilarious comic and a talented singer, who died too early, at age fifty-seven. Before that, though, she appeared in some of the funniest films of the seventies: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and History of the World Part I by Mel Brooks, and Paper Moon and What’s Up Doc? by Peter Bogdanovich.

Unfortunately, she also made a few stinkers. One of them was a sci-fi movie with Jerry Lewis called Slapstick of Another Kind, based on a Kurt Vonnegut novel.

The Macabre Fairy Tale Behind the Movie “The Red Shoes”

This celluloid all-timer was inspired by a fairy tale with a creepy plot twist.

by Rich Watson 

This post is part of the Rule Britannia Blogathon, a blog event celebrating British film. At the end I’ll tell you where to find more posts like this.

British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger created their 1948 movie The Red Shoes inspired by a story by Hans Christian Andersen. Like most of their films, it’s magnificently photographed in Technicolor. It has dazzling costumes and makeup. The performance by Moira Shearer showcases her balletic skills. The production is overstuffed with beauty.

Which is ironic, since the story on which it’s based is pretty gruesome.

The Real Don Steele Went Hollywood in “Death Race 2000,” Co-Starring a Young Sylvester Stallone

This popular deejay found a new audience with his film roles, such as this outrageous b-movie, co-starring a future Hollywood legend.

by Rich Watson 

This post is part of the Favorite Stars in B-Movies Blogathon, a blog event. At the end I’ll tell you where to find more posts like this.

After a tour of duty up and down the radio stations of the Pacific Northwest and the Bay Area during the fifties and sixties, Don Steele found a home in Los Angeles, at KHJ. Their new “Boss Radio” format, the same one Tom Donahue forsook in San Francisco, turned Steele into a star on TV as well as radio.

In 1975, he appeared in the first of a handful of films, albeit a B-movie. He shared the screen with an up-and-coming actor who was one year away from superstardom.

Casey Kasem’s Vocal Talents Helped Make “Scooby-Doo” a Star of Saturday Morning

Before this radio legend reached for the stars with his feet on the ground, he joined the voice cast of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You, a cartoon that has stood the test of time.

by Rich Watson 

This post is part of the ninth edition of the Favorite TV Show Blogathon, a blog event. At the end, I’ll tell you where to find more posts like this.

Casey Kasem taught America how to count backwards. His syndicated radio show, American Top 40, told listeners which songs were popular each week. He also educated them about the musicians and their songs, answered questions about them, and dedicated songs by request.

In addition, he sustained a long career as a voice actor for animated series. One in particular continues to grow and evolve, over fifty years after its creation.

Hometown Manager Has Eyes For New Owner in “It Happened in Flatbush,” With William Frawley

Lloyd Nolan and Carole Landis star in this vintage baseball romantic comedy, also featuring a future legend of the early TV era.

by Rich Watson

This post is part of what’s known as a blogathon. That’s when a bunch of bloggers gather to write about a given topic. This one is called “The What a Character Blogathon,” devoted to supporting actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. In my previous blog I took part in it for years, and 2021 marks its tenth anniversary. At the end I’ll tell you where you can read more entries in this event.

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In 1951, William Frawley was sixty-four, a veteran of not only a hundred-plus movies, but vaudeville as well. Rumor had it, though, he was an alcoholic and difficult to work with. It seemed he was approaching the end of his career in entertainment.

Then he heard about an opportunity in the new medium of television: a sitcom about a ditzy housewife and her musician husband. The show was looking for a duo to play their neighbors, an older married couple. Frawley, eager to land the role of the husband in the older couple, called the lead actors and co-creators of the new program: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. 

They gave him a chance. Despite initial resistance from the network, CBS, Frawley, paired with Vivian Vance, was an anchor of what would become I Love Lucy, one of television’s greatest programs. Years later, Arnaz would testify that Frawley always came to work on time and was a total professional.

Lucy was the highlight of a long career for Frawley, the former court reporter from Iowa who toured the vaudeville circuit with his brother Paul, singing and writing, before moving to Broadway and eventually, Hollywood.