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Heaven Can Wait (1943): The Lubitsch Touch of Crime 20 Aug 2013 | 11:49 pm
Heaven Can Wait (1943) is one of the Siren's favorite Lubitsch films, which means in turn that it is one of her favorite films, period. It was made at 20th Century Fox, which you'd also know just from...
Four From Allan Dwan 16 Aug 2013 | 07:36 am
The Museum of Modern Art's Allan Dwan series is over, and the Siren managed to see nine films there over the course of little more than a month (and one film on DVD, which she'll explain). Ever since,...
Want to See Rediscovered Orson Welles Footage? You Can. Here's How 8 Aug 2013 | 05:34 am
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Lost footage from Orson Welles has been discovered. It is not, alas, the original cut of The Magnificent Ambersons, but it is pretty goshdarned magnificent all the sa...
Wallace Beery and the Persistence of Rumor 9 Jul 2013 | 03:27 am
The Siren can't tell you exactly when and where she first heard the rumor that Wallace Beery, the great star of such movies as Beggars of Life, Grand Hotel, Dinner at Eight, Viva Villa! and Treasure I...
Sweet November (1968) 3 Jul 2013 | 04:14 pm
So the Siren decided to plant herself in front of TCM and watch whatever was on, within reason, and what was on was the original 1968 Sweet November. Now the Siren had never bothered with this film du...
June 26, 2013: Love Conquers All 26 Jun 2013 | 08:01 pm
"The happiest marriage I've seen in Hollywood is Billy Haines and Jimmy Shields." --Joan Crawford (left to right, Jimmy, Billy, Joan, and Joan's husband, Pepsi executive Alfred Steele)
Manhandled (1924): The Allan Dwan Dossier 5 Jun 2013 | 05:41 am
June is Allan Dwan month here in New York, and it's been a long time coming. That's him up there, on the set of What a Widow!, wearing a suit and standing next to the reflector--somewhat in the backgr...
Manhattan Thoughts on a Hot Evening 31 May 2013 | 07:34 am
Tonight I stopped by the bank after work. I was all alone in the vast lobby, except for a long wall of ATMs and one young woman in a cheap but pretty dress. As I fed my card and got my cash I realized...
Happy Cinco de Virginia Mayo! 5 May 2013 | 11:30 pm
From the whimsical suggestion of Comrade Lou Lumenick, who announced on Twitter a craving to see She's Working Her Way Through College, here's a little celebration of the gorgeous Virginia Mayo. A gre...
In Memoriam: Deanna Durbin, 1921-2013 2 May 2013 | 06:02 am
(This, the Siren's tribute to the admirable Deanna Durbin, combines, updates and elaborates on several previous pieces.) A curly-haired teen stands on a set, surrounded by adoring middle-aged men. Sh...
