Movie Review: The Broadway Melody (1929)

Hank, Eddie and Queenie huddle to discuss their plans for Broadway success.

Movie Review: The Broadway Melody (1929) directed by Harry Beaumont Things are looking up for Eddie Kearns (Charles King). The singer/composer/dancer has managed to sell his latest song, “The Broadway Melody” to producer Francis Zanfield (Eddie Kane) to use in his new musical revue, sung by himself! Plus his fiancée Henrietta “Hank” Mahoney (Bessie Love) has… Continue reading Movie Review: The Broadway Melody (1929)

Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott Volume 2

Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott Volume 2 Script by Sheldon Stark, Art by Jerry Robinson Quick recap: For a few years in the early 1950s (1953-1955) comics legends Sheldon Stark and Jerry Robinson tried their hands at a science fiction newspaper comic strip. The United States Government had a Department of Scientifact that investigated unusual… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott Volume 2

Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932

Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932 edited by Farnsworth Wright Oriental Stories was a mostly-quarterly pulp magazine published from 1930-1933, with a name change to The Treasure Chest Magazine for an additional year. Its remit, as you might have guessed from the title, was tales of the exotic, mysterious East, from Islamic North Africa through… Continue reading Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932

Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III

Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III by Richard Lamparski The vast majority of my readers will have at some point encountered one of those clickbait articles titled something like “8 CW stars of the 1990s, what they’re doing now, #3 will shock you.” Nostalgia is a powerful force, and most humans have at least… Continue reading Book Review: Whatever Became of…? Vol. III

Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978

Cover by David Hardy, riffing on the classic War of the Worlds scene where the Thunder Child battles the tripods.

Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978 edited by Edward L. Ferman This issue of the long-running speculative fiction magazine is “All-British”, which the editorial material notes was one of the easiest theme issues to do, since they already had a number of stories by British authors on hand. They dug… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3 by Robert Bloch Robert Bloch (1917-1994) was a prolific author of horror, science fiction and mystery works. (You may have seen, read or at least heard of Psycho.) This volume, originally “Selected Stories” and by no means complete, features 39 stories published between 1960 and… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 42

Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 42 by Gosho Aoyama Y’know, I’m not even going to bother with the recap this time. If this is your first time hearing about this series (known as Detective Conan in fan circles because it’s closer to the original Japanese title), check some of my earlier reviews. The first story… Continue reading Manga Review: Case Closed Vol. 42

Book Review: Jewish Noir

Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people.  So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes.  (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir

Movie Review: The Duke is Tops

Movie Review: The Duke is Tops (1938) Duke Davis (Ralph Cooper) is a show producer who has a star act, Ethel Andrews (Lena Horne), who is also his sweetheart.  Their current show, “Sepia Scandals” is doing very well in the small Southern cities it’s playing.  A big-time East Coast agent wants to put Ethel on… Continue reading Movie Review: The Duke is Tops

Movie Review: Doll Face (1945)

Movie Review: Doll Face (1945) “Doll Face” Carroll (Vivian Blaine) is a burlesque queen who wants to move into Broadway productions.  When slightly snobbish producer Flo Hartman (Reed Hadley) scorns her audition because Doll Face isn’t “cultured”, her manager Mike Hannegan (Dennis O’Keefe) comes up with the idea of making her seem more accomplished by… Continue reading Movie Review: Doll Face (1945)