Shadow Cabaret

That pesky two-fisted offline world has delayed posting of our latest look at Dick Tracy Returns. Normal services will resume in a few days.

Yes, it’s another cliffhanger…

…and our ongoing coverage of the serial Dick Tracy Returns is going to be delayed a few days. Check back soon for Chapters 6 & 7.

(Why,  it’s a cliffhanger; how ironic…)

Bloggers, reviewers and other online writers about movies were on a roll in February, giving us a collection of first-rate pieces that were heavy on film history and high in reader interest.

TCM “morlock” David Kalat began an absorbing and entertaining serialized think piece on silent film comedy that avoided a lot of the usual suspects – part one here, offering a sharp take on the roots of classic silent slapstick gags, part two here, with a well-written rumination on the flaws in the way we look back on those classic films, and part three here, with an appreciative eye for the accomplishments of Charlie Chaplin’s unjustly forgotten brother Syd.

Starting in January, the “Myfilmviews” blog kicked off an ongoing feature detailing the history of Hollywood studio logos. The February Warner Brothers entry included a handy set of links to the entire series, each of which is well worth a look.

New York Post writer Lou Lumenick recapped the long deterioration and triumphal restoration of Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front in his review of that classic film’s new Blu-Ray release.

In a guest post on the always-interesting “Edward Copeland on Film” blog, Ivan G. Shreve celebrated the 60^th anniversary of the Anthony Mann-James Stewart “adult Western” Bend of the River.

Bilge Ebiri discussed the take-no-prisoners world view of director Hideo Gosha, as exemplified in his impressive debut film Three Outlaw Samurai, via the “Criterion Collection” site.

Uni-monickered “Mark” of the “Where Danger Lives” blog offered one of the month’s most effective pieces with a beautifully written appreciation of Hollywood tough guy Alan Ladd.

Cinch up your chaps and high-tail it over to these entertaining links.

The Shadow Cabaret was flattered recently by a request for permission to reprint our 2010 multi-part opus on the Three Mesquiteers movies of the ‘30s and ‘40s.

That reprint has just appeared on the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention’s site, a bright and entertaining slice of the Net which you can check out here.

Click the “Articles” heading to see what a nice job the Mid-Atlantic folks did with our sagebrush saga – then poke around a bit and enjoy the other stories and celebrity profiles. It’s a smart site and a good-looking one, too, and new material is added frequently.

Welcome back. Our technical sabbatical’s over, and we’re opening up the lobby doors again. Missing a few of the customary bells and whistles at the side of the screen? Don’t fret – the Cabaret’s intrepid webmaster is on the job and will soon have everything else up and running and, in some cases, better than ever.

Stand by; that promised fresh material is coming right up…

There was too much going on backstage at the Cabaret in February for any posting, but there’s more fresh content on the way.

Give us another look in about a week, and we’ll be back in the game.

Jeff Bridges’ rambling and joyously heartfelt tribute to his parents was the highlight of the 2010 Academy Awards, a slick (if nonetheless 3 ½-hour) broadcast that provided few surprises but plenty of glitz and good will for some talented practitioners. Read more