Like Michael Smuin (who also died yesterday. See http://plasticage.net/refugees/viewtopic.php?t=281 ), David Halberstam died while working on his latest project. Halberstam was just a few miles from a long-sought interview for a book he was planning about a legendary 1958 football game. He was being...

Miss Goddess, please join us over in the Coming to a Theatre Near You thread that was started for wonderful announcements like your Barbara Stanwyck BAM event. Lynn has promised to make a similar announcement regarding the upcoming Barbara Stanwyck festivities on the Left Coast too. I fantasized tha...

The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, California was built in 1925. In the mid-1980's it was bought by "gazillionaire" David Packard (of Hewlett-Packard) and he had it restored to its original glory. Today, the Stanford shows classic movies throughout the week. I recently saw beautiful prints...

Kyle said: Now, who would make a good middle-aged Italian to play the lead? (Antonio Banderas, who did the revival in 2003 better not get the role.) Kyle, I was lucky enough to have seen both Broadway productions of Nine , first with Raul Julia , the wonderful Liliane Montevecchi , and the oh-so-sex...

It's with a great deal of sadness that I'm reporting the death of Michael Smuin. Smuin danced on Broadway and was a principal with ABT before returning to San Francisco as Director of the San Francisco Ballet from 1973-1985. His work with the San Francisco Ballet was often seen on PBS' Dance in Amer...

Ah shoot! I left New York too soon. I just found out that Farley Granger is appearing at the Film Forum tonight. It would've been great to see this handsome Stranger on a Train discuss his days under contract to Goldwyn and working with Visconti. If any of the New Yorkers go, I hope they'll post abo...

Kyle said: ps -Are you planning a Vertigo concept or a Detective Story concept, Mr. Bay Area? A Vertigo piece would be swell, wouldn't it? I could go to the grave of Carlotta Valdez, buy a nosegay at Podesta Baldacchi, gaze at Ms. Valdez' portrait and then race up the stairs of the campanile only to...

Do you think the Guest "Programmer" will actually get to program the evening? I always assumed that TCMProgrammer actually programmed the films. Then they'd ask the guest, "so how would you feel about doing these?". If we actually get to program the evening, that sheds a whole ne...

Kyle, Are you considering entering? I think it'd be swell to have you as a guest programmer! We'd all be beaming with pride... I guess my criterion would be evidence that the applicant "knows their stuff". If their role will be akin to Carrie Fisher's, where they'll be sitting on a couch a...

The Senator in Chico, California (once dubbed "Hollywood North") was designed by Timothy Pflueger who also created Bay Area movie palaces like the Paramount in Oakland and The Castro in San Francisco. It's a grand old house with a "diamond" topped tower that glowed various colors...

I wish they would devote more time to the Essential commentaries. So often Osborne and his guest only say a few lines about the featured movie. I'm often stunned and muttering "that's it?". So yea, I'd like to see Eddie Muller, Jeanine Basinger, Roger Ebert and so many of the others mentio...

Anne said: It's so hard to believe this was Audrey's first part! She was sensational. Audrey Hepburn really was sensational; but this wasn't really her first part. It was her first featured role in an American picture. But she had a good deal of performance experience behind her, beginning with ball...

Kyle, those are excellent ideas! You should be directing these. You should audition the applicants and then make the tapes yourself. I'm trying to imagine which posters I'd like to see in the role. VecchioLarry could entertain with his personal anecdotes; Cinesage is succinct and has great knowledge...

SueSueApplegate said: Also, Balin was in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke show appearing as an artist and made Rob verrrry nervous and Laura naturally suspicious. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thoughout the discussion of Ina Balin here and in the older Balin thread on TCM I'd been haunted by her. ...

Other than TCM, I barely watch TV. I'll check in with the news; occassionally David Letterman and The Daily Show . Hot Topics on The View sometimes helps me to wake up... That said, Project Runway always has me hooked. It's the only show that I watch consistently and make a point to see. I wonder wh...