Tuesday, November 4, 2025

Born on this day – Virginia Field:


Virginia Field

Actress

November 4, 1917 – January 2, 1992

Born on this day – Stanley Cortez:


Stanley Cortez

Cinematographer

November 4, 1908 – December 23, 1997

Born on this day – Gaby Deslys:


Gaby Deslys


Actress

Singer

November 4, 1881 – February 11, 1920

Credits:

Albums:

La Parisienne (1910); Philomene (1910); Tout en Rose (1910).

Stage:

Stop! Look! Listen! (December 25, 1915 - March 25, 1916); The Revue of Revues (September 27, 1911 - November 11, 1911); The Honeymoon Express (February 6, 1913 - June 14, 1913); The Belle of Bond Street (March 30, 1914 - May 9, 1914); Vera Violetta (November 20, 1911 - February 24, 1912).

Movies and television:

Animated Weekly, No. 55 (1913); Her Triumph (1915); Infatuation (1918); La nuit est à elles, Paris 1919-1939 (2018); La remplaçante (1916); Le Dieu du hasard (1920); Rosy Rapture (1915).

Born on this day – Will Rogers:


Will Rogers


Vaudevillian

Actor

November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935

Credits:

Stand Up and Cheer! (1934); In Old Kentucky (1935); Steamboat Round the Bend (1935); Doubting Thomas (1935); Life Begins at 40 (1935); The County Chairman (1935); Judge Priest (1934); Handy Andy (1934); David Harum (1934); Mr. Skitch (1933); Doctor Bull (1933); State Fair (1933); Too Busy to Work (1932); Down to Earth (1932); Business and Pleasure (1932); Ambassador Bill (1931); Young as You Feel (1931); A Connecticut Yankee (1931); Lightnin' (1930); So This Is London (1930); They Had to See Paris (1929); Happy Days (1929); A Texas Steer (1927); Tiptoes (1927); Roaming the Emerald Isle with Will Rogers (1927); With Will Rogers in Dublin (1927); Gee Whiz, Genevieve (1924); A Truthful Liar (1924); Our Congressman (1924); Jubilo, Jr. (1924); Don't Park There (1924); Going to Congress (1924); High Brow Stuff (1924); The Cake Eater (1924); The Cowboy Sheik (1924); Two Wagons: Both Covered (1924); Uncensored Movies (1923); Hustlin' Hank (1923); Jus' Passin' Through (1923); Hollywood (1923); Fruits of Faith (1922); The Headless Horseman (1922); The Ropin' Fool (1922); One Glorious Day (1922); A Poor Relation (1921); Doubling for Romeo (1921); An Unwilling Hero (1921); Boys Will Be Boys (1921); Guile of Women (1920); Honest Hutch (1920); Cupid the Cowpuncher (1920); Jes' Call Me Jim (1920); The Strange Boarder (1920); Water, Water, Everywhere (1920); Jubilo (1919); Almost a Husband (1919); Laughing Bill Hyde (1918); Roaring Camp (1916).

Recommended reading - Film Noir: A Critical Introduction (2017):


Film Noir: A Critical Introduction

By Ian Brookes.

Bloomsbury Film Genres Series.
Published by Bloomsbury Academic.
Published 2017.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 1780933134
ISBN-13: 978-1780933139

Description:

What is film noir? With its archetypal femme fatale and private eye, its darkly-lit scenes and even darker narratives, the answer can seem obvious enough. But as Ian Brookes shows in this new study, the answer is a lot more complex than that. This book is designed to tackle those complexities in a critical introduction that takes into account the problems of straightforward definition and classification. Students will benefit from an accessible introductory text that is not just an account of what film noir is, but also an interrogation of the ways in which the term came to be applied to a disparate group of American films of the 1940s and 1950s.

Ernest Hemingway, on writing:


When I am working on a book or a story, I write every morning as soon after first light as possible.
There is no one to disturb you, and it is cool or cold, and you come to your work and warm as you write.

– Ernest Hemingway.

Monday, November 3, 2025

On this day in movie history - Lady Bird (2017):


Lady Bird

directed and written by Greta Gerwig,
was released in the United States on November 3, 2017.
Music by Jon Brion.


Cast:

Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Lois Smith, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Odeya Rush, Jordan Rodrigues, Marielle Scott, John Karna, Jake McDorman, Bayne Gibby, Laura Marano, Marietta DePrima, Daniel Zovatto, Kristen Cloke, Andy Buckley, Paul Keller, Kathryn Newton, Myra Turley, Bob Stephenson, Abhimanyu Katyal, Chris Witaske, Ben Konigsberg, Gurpreet Gill, Richard Jin, Joan Patricia O'Neil, Robert Figueroa, Carla Valentine, Roman Arabia, Monique Edwards, Matthew Maher, Anita Kalathara, Debra Miller, Georgia Leva, Derek Butler, London Thor, Shaelan O'Connor, Christina Offley, Sabrina Schloss, Connor Mickiewicz, Erik Daniells, Cynthia Cales, Giselle Grams, Ithamar Enriquez, Luisa Lee, Danielle Macdonald, Adam Brock, Bonnie Jean Shelton, Rebecca Light, Adriana Becerril, Joey Bell, Beau Bielski, Stephen Dill, Sheila Ellis, Nick Fenske, Sedona Feretto, Keenan Johnston, Rebecca Knight, Suzanne LaChasse, Elester Latham, Emily Merlin, Maxx Morando, Jessica Nunez-Wood, Brian Sampson, Janet Song, Nicole Torres, Brian VanGeem, Carolyn Wilson, Tomomi Yoshida.