Announcing the Fall 2023 CMBA Blogathon: Blogathon & the Beast

It's almost time for the CMBA Fall Blogathon!

King Kong, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Cody Jarrett, Night of the Hunter’s Harry Powell, Shelley Winters as Bloody Mama, or Bonnie & Clyde. All iconic characters who are caught in a struggle with their primal inclinations.

That is the topic of CMBA’s fall blogathon, Blogathon and the Beast!

 The blogathon ‘beast' does not have to be a literal “beast,” or a menacing, or criminal character, although it can be! It also could be a complex protagonist who challenges social norms, such as the quintessential film noir anti-hero, the pre-Code heroine, Dietrich's enigmatic Shanghai Lily, Pacino's determined Serpico, the indomitable characters from Seven Samurai, or the outrageously zany Tasmanian devil from Warner Brothers' roster. 

This subject delves into the complexity of free will and natural instincts inherent in a wide variety of characters, whether cast as malevolent antagonists or tough protagonists. 

“Blogathon and the Beast” embraces a broad spectrum of characters who defy societal constraints or the natural order of things. Let your imagination roam free and embrace the diversity of this intriguing theme!

The blogathon, for CMBA members only, will run November 6-10, 2023. Please use this form to submit your topic choice, blog name, and preferred date for posting, if any. Because there is such a variety of topics to choose from, we won't be accepting duplicates. Topic selections will be accepted in order of receipt.

To promote the blogathon on your blog, take your pick from any of the banners at the bottom of this post.

We look forward to another great blogathon!

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CMBA Profile: FILMYCKS

 

Each month, the CMBA profiles a classic movie blog written by one of our members. This month, we're featuring Michael Roberts, who writes at FILMYCKS. 

1. Why do you blog?

Firstly, I like the challenge of distilling my thoughts on the films I love into an essay form, as it’s a great way to improve your writing. As a bonus if I can convey my interest to others to promote those films I write about, it might just light a spark for them. There’s such a world of pleasure and information to be found there and it’s a passion of mine to champion quality films from any era, but especially classic film.

2. Besides classic movie blogging, what are some of your other passions?

I’m a musician, so music has always been a huge part of my world and who I am. I’m a Beatle tragic, so they got me interested in playing and I’ve played in bands and produced and written songs all my adult life. Currently playing and singing in a piano bar in Hobart and writing novels for eBooks. I’ve published 5 eBooks so far, 4 on songwriting and one on The Beatles on Film, but I’m expanding and updating that one currently.

3. If you could program a perfect day of classic movies for TCM, what would be the seven films on your schedule?

I’d probably program something in sequence based on year of release.
I’d start with a Von Sternberg-Dietrich collab and go from there, but the seven would change based on the mood I’m in. Today’s mood?
Shanghai Express
Only Angels Have Wings
The Grapes of Wrath
Out Of The Past
The Furies
Some Like It Hot
The Sweet Smell of Success
- A hard-edged lot with a Wilder comedy for a little relief!

4. What is a classic movie that you love, but most people don't know about -- and what do you love about it?

A Powell and Pressburger gem called Gone To Earth. It was made in 1950 and released in the US as The Wild Heart. It was a struggle due to David Selznick, who produced and demanded his new wife, Jennifer Jones star in it. Nonetheless, Jones is lovely, as is the rest of a great cast and the film is brilliant. It has the strangeness of Michael Powell’s askew Englishness and the unsettling darkness of a tragic folk tale that beautifully essays man’s struggle between the ethereal and the corporeal via the love triangle device of Mary Webb’s source novel.

5. What is something that most people don't know about you?

Mmm... I’m an open book, so nothing interesting to speak of. Unless you count arriving at Roswell on a spaceship, being the shooter on the Grassy Knoll, filming the fake moon landing with Stanley Kubrick and inventing Crypto currency (because there’s a sucker born every minute) then I’m struggling to come up with anything!

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We thank Michael for participating in our Q&A profile and encourage you to visit FILMYCKS. 

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CMBA Profile: Those Wonderful People Out There In The Dark

 

Each month, the CMBA profiles a classic movie blog written by one of our members. This month, we're featuring David Jansen, who writes at Those Wonderful People.   

1. Why do you blog?

I've been interested in classic film since I was young --- as I approached retirement, I considered how I might spend my time to delve deeper into my interest in film as well as indulge myself in the fun of research and writing. Blogging about film (and an associated podcast) seemed like a great way to wrap it all up, and hopefully pass on a bit of my passion. I blog about films from (mostly) the 1920s into the 80s --- the films are those that I enjoyed when young, but also films that hit me hard emotionally, or gave me insight into the history and development of world cinema.

2. Besides classic movie blogging, what are some of your other passions?

I've always been an aerobic athlete, so I still run every day, I hike and bike a great deal, I visit my children on a regular basis, and I love dogs, so I'm looking into volunteering at Best Friends Animal Society.

3. If you could program a perfect day of classic movies for TCM, what would be the seven films on your schedule?

What a fun question! Not surprisingly, these seven films are all in my blog:

a. Ikiru --- Kurosawa's thoughtful examination of living consciously, rather than simply surviving, told through the story of a Japanese bureaucrat...

b. The Asphalt Jungle --- John Huston knew how to noir, and the combination of noir, a heist story, the wonderful presence of Sterling Hayden, and one of film's most heartbreaking finales, make this not to be missed...

c. A Night at the Opera --- For my money, the best Marx Brothers film ever, guided by producer Irving Thalberg and his simple proposal that the Brothers needed to have a story in which the audience would root for them...

d. Citizen Kane --- How would I not? It reminds me of what John Lennon said about Elvis; before him the world was black and white, after him it was in color. Kane created or combined all the elements that, once brought together, established the modern film classic. And what an incredible story by Welles and Mankiewicz...

e. The Third Man --- A very different Welles film, with his turn as mysterious (and bad!) Harry Lime in a wonderful and atmospheric Euronoir by Carol Reed. And what a final scene...

f. The Last Picture Show --- A must for me, as it hits every chord about living in a small town and the effect of someone as plain-spoken but supportive as Sam the Lion --- best Bogdanovich film ever...

g. The Irishman --- I admire Scorsese so much; he might simply have been satisfied with old-guy Goodfellas, but he put together an unforgettable elegy on aging and regret. Perhaps not his greatest film, but a film that shows how his thoughts and feelings have evolved as he aged...

4. What is a classic movie that you love, but most people don't know about -- and what do you love about it?

The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) --- Luchino Visconti's 1963 comment on change in society and a quiet, contemplative view of how that affects various classes during Italian unification. It's not an obscure film, but the US version was badly edited and shortened, and it disappeared rapidly. The long, languid, beautiful European release is magnificent. Burt Lancaster is elegiac in his role as an aging nobleman, well supported by Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Terence Hill. The actors combine with the beautiful cinematography to produce a quiet but, to me, heartrending view of change slowly blowing through the lives of individuals. The novel by Giuseppe Lampedusa is a wonderful read, especially valuable prior to watching the film.

5. What is something that most people don't know about you?

I'm a trained zoologist and chemist, but spent all my working life in medical products marketing --- never a day in academics!

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We thank David for participating in our Q&A profile and encourage you to visit  Those Wonderful People. 

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CMBA Profile: Classic Film & TV Cafe

 

Each month, the CMBA profiles a classic movie blog written by one of our members. This month, we’re featuring Rick Armstrong, the founder of the Classic Movie Blog Association and the reason why we’re here! Rick blogs at the Classic Film & TV Café.

CMBA: Why did you start your blog?

Rick: I’ve always enjoyed writing about films. I moonlighted as a newspaper film critic for several years and then my wife Mary and I wrote the Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series (aka The Movie List Book). Around 2008, I discovered TCM’s Classic Film Union, which was sort of a “Facebook for classic movie fans.” I had a lot of fun writing about classic movies and interacting with other film buffs. Unfortunately, a couple of folks started flooding the site with their content or using it to discuss topics other than cinema. So, in September 2009, I decided to create my blog: the Classic Film & TV Café. Like many CMBA members, I knew nothing about blogging, so it was an adventure at first. Also, my original intent was to manage a collaborative blog and I invited a handful of other people to join me (including former CMBA head Patty Schneider). Over the years, the others dropped out for personal reasons or to start their own blogs. Since 2015, my wife and I have written all Café content except for occasional guest posts.

CMBA: In your 2015 profile on the CMBA website, you mentioned your interview with Piper Laurie. Who are some of your other favorite interviews?

Rick: I’ve been fortunate to interview some wonderful actors. Piper Laurie was indeed delightful and I was able to spend an afternoon sitting next to her at a nostalgia convention. Elke Sommer, Julie Adams, and Audrey Dalton were utterly charming. Barbara Bain, Ruta Lee, Jacqueline Scott, and Constance Towers shared some wonderful anecdotes, especially in regard to working in television in the 1960s. I was particularly impressed by the respect that Barbara Bain held for ex-husband Martin Landau as an actor and a drama teacher. Ron Harper was a friendly, frank, down-to-earth person (e.g., he didn’t like working with George Burns). We talked at length at another convention and watched one of his rarely shown movies, Savage Season (1971), together.

CMBA: Besides classic movie and TV blogging, what are some of your other passions?

Rick: Watching classic films and TV shows with my wife Mary is my #1 passion! We also enjoy watching British detective shows like Shetland, Foyle’s War, Poirot, and Endeavor. I also love to walk our two dogs, Tony (a long-haired Chihuahua) and Sienna (a Dachshund-Terrier mix), daily. We’ve been blessed to have loved several dogs over the years. Dogs are the most wonderful of all animals!

CMBA: What is a classic TV show that you love, but most people don’t know about -- and what do you love about it?

Rick: Two little-known shows that I always recommend are Man in a Suitcase (1967-68) and Coronet Blue (1967). The former is a sharply played, well-written British series starring American actor Richard Bradford as a disgraced former espionage agent known only as McGill. Branded a traitor by U.S. intelligence, he makes a living doing freelance work in Europe and Africa – dealing with blackmailers, protecting stool pigeons, finding kidnapped victims, recovering lost art treasures, etc. Coronet Blue stars Frank Converse as a man who is attacked aboard a luxury liner and tossed overboard. He is rescued, but with no memory of his past except for the words “coronet blue.” It’s also well-scripted with intriguing plots, and features great guest stars such as Juliet Mills, Susan Hampshire, and Denholm Elliott.

CMBA: What is something that most people don’t know about you?

Rick: I have a doctorate of education degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. My major was instructional systems technology.

CMBA: If you could program a perfect day of classic movies for TCM, what would be the seven films on your schedule?

Rick: Assuming TCM could get the broadcast rights to these films, I’d opt for a day of classic made-for-TV movies. The 1960s and the 1970s were a “Golden era” for television films and featured stellar writers (e.g., Rod Serling, Richard Matheson, Gene Roddenberry) and good actors (e.g., Angie Dickinson, Suzanne Pleshette, Ray Milland, Myrna Loy). I’d limit my seven picks to lesser-known films that appeared on the ABC Movie of the Week (1969-75):

 Seven in Darkness (1969) – A plane crashes in the wilderness and all its passengers are blind.

 Daughter of the Mind (1969) – A psychic researcher investigates when a famous scientist claims his dead daughter has been appearing to him. Stars Ray Milland and Gene Tierney.

 Along Came a Spider (1970) – A thriller with Suzanne Pleshette. It’s a wonderfully twisty plot, so no details.

 How Awful About Allan (1970) – A man (Anthony Perkins) suffering from psychosomatic blindness returns home to live with his sister (Julie Harris), but thinks someone is trying to kill him.

 Dr. Cook’s Garden (1971) – Is there a pattern to the deaths in a small rural town where a kindly physician (Bing Crosby) and his protégé (Frank Converse) practice?

 The Birdmen (1971) – During World War II, POW prisoners try to fly to freedom by building a glider. Incredibly, most of the film really happened! The unusual cast features Richard Basehart, Chuck Connors, Doug McClure, Tom Skerritt, and Max Baer, Jr.!

 Assault on the Wayne (1971) – Sabotage aboard a nuclear submarine with Leonard Nimoy, William Windom, Lloyd Haynes, and Sam Elliott.

CMBA: If you had a bucket list, what would be on it?

Rick: I’ve done most everything on my bucket list: wrote a book; got a doctorate degree; visited England, Scotland, and Prince Edward Island; and – of course – married a fabulous person who loves classic movies and TV, too. However, there are some DVD sets that I’d love to see produced: the complete ABC Movie of the Week (see above!) and seasons 2-4 of the brilliant 1961-65 legal TV series The Defenders. Those would be awesome.

I also want to reach 25,000 followers on Twitter. If all goes well, that may happen this year. I have a grand time with my Twitter followers. I host monthly “tournaments” on classic films and TV shows. The results are interesting, but the comments from my followers are the best part!

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We thank Rick for participating in our Q & A profile and encourage you to visit the Classic Film & TV Cafe!

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CMBA Profile: The Silver Screen Affair

 

Each month, the CMBA profiles a classic movie blog written by one of our members. This month, we’re featuring Emily Hernandez, who writes at The Silver Screen Affair .

CMBA: Why do you blog?

Emily: I started blogging back in 2011 as a way to connect with other old movie fans and to get my wiggles out. I have loved oldies since I was very young and found that I had no outlet to share my passion. After a few years I stopped and my blog was dormant until last year. I started up again because I still have that passion to share my knowledge and I enjoy writing about the stars, the sets, the studios, and all the fun facts I have acquired over the years.

CMBA: Besides classic movie blogging, what are some of your other passions?

Emily: My other hobby is sewing. I have an Etsy shop where I sell vintage inspired pieces. I also love the beach, road trips, old cars, and baking. 

CMBA: If you could program a perfect day of classic movies for TCM, what would be the seven films on your schedule? 

Emily: My TCM line up would have no theme. I would just want to play some solid films I love that I think everyone should see. In no particular order I’d choose Now, Voyager, My Man Godfrey, It Should Happen To You, Thrill Of A Romance, Mildred Pierce, Double Indemnity, and The Women. 

CMBA: What is a classic movie that you love, but most people don't know about -- and what do you love about it? 

Emily: I love the film Blonde Comet from 1941. It stars Virginia Vale and Robert Kent. It’s a small production film about a girl race car driver that stands up to all the boys. I love old cars and my husband drag races as a hobby, so this film checks off the boxes. It’s an action film but finds a way to have style. It also has a great meet cute between some of the characters.

CMBA: What is something that most people don't know about you? 

Emily: A silly story starts off with my grandparents who lived in Arizona. Their neighbor happend to be Don Ameche. My grandmother, being a big fan, would go over there to try to chat with him and ask him for a cup of sugar now and then, but I never got a sight of him when I visited as a kid. When he passed away his son asked my grandparents if they needed an extra refrigerator as they were going to just get rid of it. So my grandparents obtained the fridge and used it in their garage.  When my grandparents passed away the fridge was put in storage and later on when I needed one it came to me. I would tell people at parties that I had Don Ameche’s fridge and nobody cared. But I thought it was awesome! 

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We thank Emily for participating in our Q & A profile and encourage you to visit The Silver Screen Affair! 

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The CMBA Presents the 2023 Spring Blogathon: Big Stars on the Small Screen -- In Support of National Classic Movie Day

The Classic Movie Blog Association is pleased as punch to present the 2023 CMBA Spring Blogathon: "Big Stars on the Small Screen: In Support of National Classic Movie Day." The blogathon, for CMBA members only, runs May 15-19, 2023, and focuses on classic film stars appearing on TV, including regular TV series, mini-series, variety shows, made-for-TV movies, or even commercials! 

The entries submitted by our CMBA members can be accessed below – please stop by their blogs to read and comment on these offerings. Enjoy!

Monday, May 15, 2023

Diana Dors on Hammer House of Horror – Real Weegie Midget Reviews

Vincent Price on The Brady Bunch – Whimsically Classic

Ray Milland and the Columbo Surge – Cary Grant Won't Eat You

The Fourth Star - Ida Lupino Takes on Television – Let Yourself Go . . . To Old Hollywood

Lee Remick and the Dawn of the Mini-Series – Lady Eve's Reel Life 

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

The Hollywood Palace – A Person in the Dark

Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier in Love Among the Ruins – Filmland Follies

Seven Things to Know About The Jimmy Stewart Show – Classic Film & TV Cafe 

Classic Movie Stars on The Muppet Show – Virtual Virago

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

John Cassavetes on Johnny Staccato – Twenty-Four Frames

Murder, She Wrote and Classic Hollywood – Watching Forever

Film Noir Vets on Alfred Hitchcock Presents – Shadows and Satin

Five Stars Turned Columbo Murderers – Once Upon a Screen

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Greer Garson on Father Knows Best – Another Old Movie Blog

Ava Gardner on the Small Screen – Ava Gardner Blog

Classic Hollywood Stars on The Dick Cavett Show – 4 Star Films

The Women of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour – The Last Drive-In

Friday, May 19, 2023

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason – Critica Retro

Old Hollywood Actors Who Starred in Night Gallery – A Vintage Nerd

Ginger Rogers Glitters! – Box Office Poisons

Barbara Stanwyck in Dick Powell's Zane Grey's Theater – The Everyday Cinephile

Leave it to Donna Reed – Poppity Talks Classic Film

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CMBA Profile: MOCNE PUNKTY

Each month, the CMBA profiles a classic movie blog written by one of our members. This month, we’re featuring Rafal Glapiak, who writes at Mocne Punkty: https://mocnepunkty.pl/

CMBA: Why do you blog?

Rafal Glapiak: The reason why I started blogging is quite prosaic. I usually publish reviews in the Polish press and on the Internet. When the coronavirus pandemic began, the situation became uncertain. Articles requested by publishers and editors waited their turn until I finally had to put them away in a drawer. So that the texts already written would not go to waste, I decided to start my own website where I could post what had not been printed.

When the blog was created in June 2020, I decided that I did not want to write only about contemporary cinema. I'm a fan of Hollywood's Golden Age, so I've decided that once a month (now quarterly) I'll write extensive analysis (sometimes as long as 40,000 characters with spaces) about the pictures from the 1940s that made the biggest impression on me in the past (I started with George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story). I focus on the context of the creation and its reception (both by critics and the audience), and then I analyze it.

In 2021, however, I started a cycle that I will run for 10 years. I called it Kino pokryte pyłem, which means Cinema Covered with Dust. It's about the dust that covered America in the 1930s (along with the Great Depression) and the dust that covered many of these movies, especially in Poland, where the old cinema has been replaced by the current repertoire (my blog may be the only one in the whole country so heavily focused on films from the first half of the 20th century). I watch – year after year, premiere after premiere (if that's possible, of course) – pictures from the 1930s. Then I choose 60 of them and describe them briefly on the page, creating a subjective guide through the decade. Now I started watching movies from 1932.

I share my knowledge on my blog. I watch, read and write to bring Polish readers closer to the cinema that gave rise to what they see on screens today. I look at known and unknown films, those that have won awards, and those that do not even have Polish titles and are not mentioned in any textbook. It's a huge job that will take a few more years, but I hope it's worth it.

CMBA: Besides classic movie blogging, what are some of your other passions?

Rafal Glapiak: I graduated in film studies, so what I like most is watching movies and writing about them. This is how I make my living, so I spend a lot of time in front of various screens and books. I am also interested in the history of the United States, especially the first half of the 20th century (also due to the series I run). I like to travel. I have been to America twice: in 2018 and 2019. The first time I visited four cities: New York, which I love, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Los Angeles (I was at Paramount Studios, where I took a picture of myself in front of the Preston Sturges building, on which I was writing my thesis, and at Warner Bros.). The second time I rode the East Coast with my girlfriend and friends. I miss the US and look forward to my next trip.

CMBA: If you could program a perfect day of classic movies for TCM, what would be the seven films on your schedule?

Rafal Glapiak: I'd probably focus on screwball comedies. I would start earlier than 1934, with Private Lives (1931), directed by Sidney Franklin. Then the classics I love – It Happened One Night (1934, Frank Capra), Libeled Lady (1936, Jack Conway), Easy Living (1937, Mitchell Leisen), Bringing Up Baby (1938, Howard Hawks), Midnight (1939, Mitchell Leisen) – and finally, to make it more serious, but still funny, I would show the American audience a Polish film noir (retro-noir, I guess): Reverse (2009) by Borys Lankosz, set in the era of the Polish People's Republic.

CMBA: What is a classic movie that you love, but most people don't know about -- and what do you love about it?

Rafal Glapiak: Most of the films I write about in the Kino pokryte pyłem series are films unknown to the Polish audience. I will give you a few examples that you probably know, and I will give you the number of ratings on Filmweb, which is the Polish database that is the equivalent of IMDb or Letterboxd.

Waterloo Bridge (1931, James Whale) – 47 votes

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931, Ernst Lubitsch) – 68 votes

Bad Girl (1931, Frank Borzage) – 57 votes

Blonde Crazy (1931, Roy Del Ruth) – 45 votes

Platinum Blonde (1931, Frank Capra) – 104 votes

Midnight (1939, Mitchell Leisen) – 88 votes

The Lady Eve (1941, Preston Sturges) – 505 votes

This, of course, does not mean that only so many people watched it, but you understand the difference. I would very much like Poles to watch these pictures, get to know them and like them. After all, these are great titles that are often considered masterpieces in the United States.

CMBA: What is something that most people don't know about you?

Rafal Glapiak: As I prepared to answer these questions, I realized how much I dislike writing about myself. I am modest and shy, preferring to hide behind texts about cinema, but it was a pleasure to share this information with you anyway.

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We thank Rafal for participating in our Q & A profile and encourage you to visit Mocne Punkty at https://mocnepunkty.pl/ !

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Introducing the Spring 2023 CMBA Blogathon: Big Stars on the Small Screen: In Support of National Classic Movie Day!

It's almost time for the CMBA Spring Blogathon! This year's topic is "Big Stars on the Small Screen: In Support of National Classic Movie Day." Topics can be on anything related to classic film stars appearing on TV, including regular TV series, mini-series, variety shows, made-for-TV movies, or even commercials! There’s a wide-open field of small screen productions to explore! 

The blogathon, for CMBA members only, will run May 15th through May 19th. Our participants to date are listed below. If you haven't yet picked a topic, there's still time to join in the fun! Just email the CMBA Board (classic.movie.blog.assoc@gmail.com) with your topic choice, blog name, and preferred date for posting, if any. Because there is such a variety of topics to choose from, we won't be accepting duplicates. (Please note, however, that it's acceptable to have one topic focus on an entire series, and others that cover specific episodes from that same series.) Topic selections will be accepted in order of receipt.

To promote the blogathon on your blog, take your pick from any of the banners at the bottom of this post.

We look forward to another great blogathon!

Monday, May 15, 2023

Diana Dors in "Children of the Full Moon on Hammer House of Horror – Real Weegie Midget Reviews

Vincent Price on The Brady Bunch – Whimsically Classic

Ray Milland on Columbo: "Death Lends a Hand" and "The Greenhouse Jungle" – Cary Grant Won't Eat You

Ida Lupino and Four-Star Playhouse – Let Yourself Go . . . To Old Hollywood

Lee Remick's TV Work – Lady Eve's Reel Life 

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

The Hollywood Palace – A Person in the Dark

Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier in Love Among the Ruins – Filmland Follies

The Jimmy Stewart Show – Classic Film & TV Cafe 

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Classic Movie Stars on The Muppet Show – Virtual Virago

John Cassavetes on Johnny Staccato – Twenty-Four Frames

Murder, She Wrote and "The Days Dwindle Down" – Watching Forever

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Father Knows Best: "Kathy's Big Chance" starring Greer Garson – Another Old Movie Blog

Ava Gardner on the Small Screen – Ava Gardner Blog

Classic Hollywood Stars on The Dick Cavett Show – 4 Star Films

The Women of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour – The Last Drive-In

Friday, May 19, 2023

Classic Stars as Columbo Murderers – Once Upon a Screen

Raymond Burr as Perry Mason in The Case of the Sinister Spirit – Critica Retro

Film Noir Vets on Alfred Hitchcock Presents – Shadows and Satin

Old Hollywood Actors Who Starred in Night Gallery – A Vintage Nerd

We look forward to another great blogathon!

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CMBA Profile: A Vintage Nerd

 

Each month, the CMBA profiles a classic movie blog written by one of our members. This month we're featuring Daffny Laurito, who writes at A Vintage Nerd. 

CMBA: Why do you blog?

Daffny Laurito: I grew up watching classic tv shows like I Love Lucy, Bewitched, Lassie, and The Brady Bunch but I wasn't introduced to classic films until I was 11. My grandmother introduced me to Gone with the Wind (1939) and that experience changed me forever. Fast forward many years later and after the birth of my third child, I felt like I needed to get back to my passions. I started blogging and because of this I am constantly learning and honing my writing skills. I blog because I love to write, to share, and to connect with others. One of the major aspects of my blog is exploring old Hollywood. There is so much to learn, see, and discover when it comes to classic films and tv. Needless to say I am a big vintage nerd 🤓

CMBA: Besides classic movie blogging, what are some of your other passions?

Daffny Laurito: I am passionate about my family and raising my three children. I started showing them classic films and TV shows starting when they were little and we explore a few each month. I love showing them episodes of the Twilight Zone or watching a classic film on the big screen together. I also love to travel, going to museums, exploring my city (I'm a New Yorker), enjoying art, reading, and having fun with my personal style.

CMBA: If you could program a perfect day of classic movies for TCM, what would be the seven films on your schedule?

Daffny Laurito: This would be a dream come true other than hosting a series for TCM. If I could program a perfect day of classic movies for TCM I would want to give the audience a little taste from each decade. I would start with The Kid (1921), The Women (1939), Between Two Worlds (1944), Rebecca (1940), Queen Bee (1955), To Sir, with Love (1967), and Harold and Maude (1971). 

CMBA: What is a classic movie that you love, but most people don't know about -- and what do you love about it?

Daffny Laurito: I love exploring films from the 1960s and 1970s, especially British films. They tend to have a quirkiness to them that American films don't always have. One film I love is Georgy Girl (1966). It stars Lynn Redgrave, James Mason, Charlotte Rampling, and Alan Bates. I love so many things about this film. I love how awkward Georgy (Redgrave) is and how much she is like a regular girl, albeit a bit quirky. I love seeing London in the 1960s and you see a lot of it in this film. I also love how the film talks about different types of love and different ways of fulfilling your dreams. It is a unique movie, for sure.

CMBA: What is something that most people don't know about you?

Daffny Laurito: There are a few things most people might not know about me. I was born with a physical disability called Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT). It is a peripheral nerve disease that causes weakness in the arms and legs and fatigue among other things. I was also a teacher for seven years in an all-girls high school. It was a special experience. I am also a big horror and sci-fi movie/TV fan. I used to go to horror conventions and now I attend the Chiller Theater Expo once a year with my family. It's a great way to meet stars of yesteryear. I was lucky to have met Patty Duke (Valley of the Dolls), Ann Robinson (The War of the Worlds), David Bean (West Side Story), Tony Mordente (West Side Story), and Betsy Palmer (Queen Bee), just to name a few. 

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We thank Daffny for participating in our Q & A profile and encourage you to visit A Vintage Nerd!  

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