Rod Alexander’s “The Birth of the Blues” dance number rediscovered 3

Dance · Film
Please, please God, don’t let the world blow up before Sunday night. Because Sunday night at 9 pm, I get to see choreographer Rod Alexander‘s brilliant dance number, “The Birth of the Blues” from THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (20th Century-Fox 1956), at CINECON Classic Film Festival — in a new 35mm print, ...

Quiz: Find Tippi Hedren in the photo 1

Film
It was quite a moment, on TCM Classic Cruise, when the stars & celebs gathered on deck for the launch of the Celebrity “Millenium,” … and out waltzed Tippi Hedren, beyond fabulous in a zebra-striped cruise outfit. Tippi just pops out of this fun foto, which also features Ernest Borgnine, Eva Marie Saint, Robert Osborne, ...

Preparing our Letters of Transit for TCM Classic Cruise 1

Film
The moment arrives soon for the first-ever … er, the first annual Turner Classic Movies TCM Classic Cruise. We fly to Miami on Wednesday and set sail this Thursday for a fun long weekend of floating film geekdom!  Destinations: Key West and Cozumel. Getting our letters of transit in order is a huge challenge — ...

Ernest Borgnine chats about JUBAL

Film
Cowboy actor Glenn Ford’s steady presence and a rapturous Grand Teton setting made the Technicolor ‘psychological western,’ JUBAL (1956), my favorite film of TCM Fest. Yes when arts•meme isn’t kvelling over Mozart or Balanchine, she likes a good western! Actor Ernest Borgnine, the prodigious character actor who co-stars with Ford and Rod Steiger in the ...