Category Archives: From the Vaults

From the Vaults — ‘Vamonos Con Pancho Villa!’

Posted on November 21, 2019 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2011. “Vamonos Con Pancho Villa!” (“Let’s Go With Pancho Villa!”) is the surprisingly dark, roughly hewn story of six friends who call themselves “the lions of San Pablo” and join the Mexican Revolution … Continue reading →

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From the Vaults — ‘While the City Sleeps,’ Part IV

Posted on May 6, 2014 by lmharnisch

  In the three previous posts on the 1928 Lon Chaney film “While the City Sleeps,” we took a brief look at the production history and the plot, the critical reaction (mostly mixed) and the curious condition of the print, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, City Hall, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

From the Vaults — ‘While the City Sleeps,’ Part III

Posted on May 2, 2014 by lmharnisch

The previous two posts gave a brief production history and plot summary of the 1928 Lon Chaney film “While the City Sleeps” and a sample of the reviews. Today, we’ll look at some of the more unusual aspects of this … Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

From the Vaults — ‘While the City Sleeps,’ Part II

Posted on May 1, 2014 by lmharnisch

In yesterday’s post, I gave a brief production history of the 1928 Lon Chaney film “While the City Sleeps,” and a summary of the rather complex plot, rendered even more convoluted because substantial portions of the print are missing, either … Continue reading →

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From the Vaults: ‘While the City Sleeps’ — Part I

Posted on April 30, 2014 by lmharnisch

It’s worth spending a bit more time on our recent mystery movie “While the City Sleeps” for several reasons. It’s not widely available and most copies seem to be missing large chunks of the film, making the complex narrative even … Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, City Hall, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

From the Vaults — ‘I Bambini Ci Guardano’ (‘The Children Are Watching Us’) 1944

Posted on May 16, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Nina (Isa Pola), Prico (Luciano De Ambrosis) and Andrea (Emilio Cigoli) in “The Children Are Watching Us.” If we met Nina and Andrea with their young son, Prico,  at the beach, we might assume that they … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, From the Vaults | 1 Comment

From the Vaults — ‘Fires on the Plain’ (1959)

Posted on April 22, 2011 by lmharnisch

    So far in my ramble through old foreign films, I have done the Holocaust (“Yiddle With His Fiddle”) and incest (“La Mujer del Puerto,”) so imagine my surprise when this week’s entry, “Fires on the Plain,” turned to … Continue reading →

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From the Vaults — ‘La Mujer del Puerto’ (1934)

Posted on April 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

    None of the countless movies  I have ever seen – domestic or foreign — prepared me for the 1934 Mexican film “La Mujer del Puerto” (“The Woman of the Port”). If you watch the movie without knowing anything … Continue reading →

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From the Vaults — ‘Yiddle With His Fiddle’

Posted on April 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

    “Yiddle With His Fiddle,” a 1936 Yiddish-language production that was filmed in Poland and stars American actress Molly Picon, is — at face value — an  endearing movie with catchy tunes. But hovering over the gaiety is the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1936, Film, From the Vaults | 1 Comment

Paul Coates, April 10, 1961

Posted on April 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

      April 10, 1961: Notice the Spade Cooley story. It vanished from later editions, and I couldn’t find the jump, just the Page 1 portion. Paul Coates writes about two Beverly Hills police officers' problems with Police Chief … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1961, books, Columnists, Crime and Courts, From the Vaults, Homicide, Paul Coates, Zombie Reading List | Leave a comment

From the Vaults: ‘Fantasia’

Posted on April 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

    For the last few days, the DVD player has been glowering at me. Over two nights, I worked my way through most of “Fantasia” and whenever I went near, it would scold me as if to say “Don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 3 Comments

From the Vaults — ‘Vamonos Con Pancho Villa!’

Posted on March 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

    “Vamonos Con Pancho Villa!” (“Let’s Go With Pancho Villa!”) is the surprisingly dark, roughly hewn story of six friends who call themselves “the lions of San Pablo” and join the Mexican Revolution as much for the adventure as … Continue reading →

Posted in 1936, classical music, Film, From the Vaults, Music | 1 Comment

From the Vaults — ’13 Rue Madeleine’

Posted on March 18, 2011 by lmharnisch

        Robert “Bob” Sharkey (James Cagney) and Charles Gibson (Walter Abel) discuss the incoming class of American secret agents in “13 Rue Madeleine.”  One of their students is a Nazi spy! After a longwinded exposition, the 1947 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 1 Comment

Paul Coates, Jan. 25, 1961

Posted on January 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

         Jan. 25, 1961: Mel Blanc, 51, is making progress after being badly injured in a head-on crash with Menlo College student Arthur Rolston, 18, on Sunset Boulevard at the notorious “Dead Man’s Curve” at Groverton Place. … Continue reading →

Posted in Columnists, Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood, Paul Coates, Transportation | Leave a comment

From the Vaults: ‘After the Thin Man’ (1936)

Posted on January 20, 2011 by lmharnisch

Are there detectives anywhere in pop culture more fun than Nick and Nora Charles? Oh, Inspector Clouseau may be amusing, but you'd never want to have dinner at his house: at best, he'd spill the soup in your lap. At … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 3 Comments

From the Vaults: ‘The Eyes of Laura Mars’ (1978)

Posted on January 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

Like all right-thinking people, I cherish "The Empire Strikes Back," and was saddened by the death of director Irvin Kershner. But I didn't realize until reading his one of his obits that he also directed the acclaimed thriller "Eyes of … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 3 Comments

Paul Coates, Jan. 3, 1961

Posted on January 3, 2011 by lmharnisch

       Jan. 3, 1961: The Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area surpasses Chicago as the second-largest urban area, although Chicago is still ranked the second city, census figures show.  … and Paul Coates writes about his “jail mail,” including … Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1961, Columnists, Crime and Courts, From the Vaults, Paul Coates | Leave a comment

From the Vaults: ‘The Black Swan’ (1942)

Posted on December 20, 2010 by lmharnisch

The current Natalie Portman film is not, perhaps, technically a remake of this movie. Instead of dueling ballerinas, the 1942 film features dueling pirates. Instead of the "Dying Swan" dance, there is a big battle at sea with cannons. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 3 Comments

From the Vaults: ‘MASH’ (1970)

Posted on December 13, 2010 by lmharnisch

I loathe war movies. I also loathe hospital movies, and movies with predominantly male stars (really, who wants to sit and watch a bunch of men running around?) And I really loathe movies with long football scenes. Yet then we … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 1 Comment

From the Vaults: ‘Pillow Talk’ (1959)

Posted on December 6, 2010 by lmharnisch

"I love you." "I know." You know what movie that's from, right? WRONG! Years before Han Solo (and hey, RIP Irvin Kershner), his possibly-most-famous line gets drawled by Rock Hudson, playing a womanizing songwriter in "Pillow Talk." Hudson tosses it … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, From the Vaults, Hollywood | 9 Comments