A Laurel and Hardy Photobook on Kickstarter!

Every month I browse the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to see what goodies are in the making by creative individuals and this month I was pleased to see a series of Laurel & Hardy photobooks compiled by two Englishmen, Patrick and Russ. They appear to be avid fans of the silent comedy duo and these books "Laurel & Hardy Silents" mark the first two volumes in a series of six... along with a neat-looking Laurel and Hardy Magazine series as well. 

If you are not familiar with crowdfunding, it's a very easy process. You browse prospective projects ("campaigns") written by the project creators that explain what they are hoping to accomplish - in this case, getting these books into print - and then you buy the end product before it is made. A project needs to reach its funding goal before it is successful and goes into production. This project has already reached it, so the books are set to ship in December 2026. It's really just pre-ordering items...but if enough crowdfunders don't get together to pre-order, then the final product is never made. My sister and I have a number of Kickstarter campaigns under our belts, so we love the whole crowdfunding process and especially the community - a really swell bunch of people!

As the creators' state, "Our long-term aim is to create a complete six-book series covering the entire film career of Laurel and Hardy, published in three two-volume releases. This first set, covering the silent era, is the foundation on which that entire project will be built."

It looks like an impressive set of photobooks - they are packaged in a slipcase as well - and quite a collector's item. Only 1000 of each set will be made (although they mention that all orders will be fulfilled regardless). Unfortunately, shipping is quite expensive for U.S. backers, but it is what it is. 

Check it out! The campaign ends in 30 days. You can read all about it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laurelandhardybooks/laurel-and-hardy-silents

I Love Melvin (1953)

Melvin Hoover (Donald O'Connor), a photographer's apprentice for Look magazine, wants to impress Judy (Debbie Reynolds), a budding stage actress, and so he claims he is a photographer doing a spread for the magazine. After shooting hundreds of pictures of her, he is reluctant to admit that they won't appear in print. While Judy likes Melvin, she feels she must respond to her boyfriend Harry's (Richard Anderson) marriage proposal in order to please her parents. To stall the situation, Melvin makes a fake cover of Judy on the front of Look but then he doesn't have a chance to tell her it's not real! 

I Love Melvin was a typical musical outputted from the MGM factory. It doesn't stand out as anything extra special but it sure rates high in entertainment nonetheless, thanks to the appeal of its two lead stars. The Technicolor is beautiful and the costumes are nice but it is the songs that are especially lovely. Composer Josef Myrow (The Girl Next Door, The French Line) penned some unique melodies such as "A Lady Loves", "I Wanna Wander", and "We Have Never Met as Yet" and, if these weren't pleasant enough, their arrangements are really nice. Too bad Josef Myrow didn't get more music assignments with MGM then what he did. 

Debbie Reynolds looked cute as a button in the film (as did Noreen Corcoran as Judy's little sister), and she had clearly shed her baby fat as she rose to the ranks of leading lady. This was a great "coming out" film for Ms. Reynolds. She once wrote in her autobiography that she "worked her butt off" at MGM and I think this film in particular was what she was referring to. Debbie had a lot of dance numbers for such a short picture and, in addition to these, she had to be thrown around on stage as a football!

Robert Alton staged the dances for I Love Melvin and they are highly creative and great fun to watch. Donald O'Connor got the really exciting dance routines including one on roller skates. He has a fun Danny Kaye-style solo number, too, where he showcases not only his singing and dancing ability but his comedy style. 

As darling a couple as Melvin and Judy were, I doubt that their romance could have survived through marriage. Poor Melvin couldn't hold a job! 

Also in the cast was Allyn Joslyn, playing a role not unlike his character in Junior Miss (1945), Richard Anderson as the handsome but bland Harry, Jim Backus in a great part as Melvin's smart-aleck co-worker, and Les Tremayne as the manager of Look magazine. Keep your eye out for a brief view of the striking Look building in New York City. It was built in 1948, and since Look's management occupied the top floors, became known as the Look building. It is still standing at 488 Madison Avenue. 

A neat behind-the-scenes fact: Look Magazine actually released the cover design with the photo of Debbie Reynolds as Judy the same month I Love Melvin premiered as a tie-in. 

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game

Gadzooks! This screenshot could be from any film! Aside from the man looking like John Glenn, there are hardly any clues here to even help in identifying this scene - but if you have a crackerjack memory, perhaps you'll guess it anyway. Give it a try! 

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here.

Film Albums: Brazen Brass Goes Hollywood (1961)

I wonder how many people heard of Henry Jerome & His Orchestra? Very few, I'd imagine! And even fewer have ever heard of Geffen Records. So you lucky readers are in for a treat (and an education)!

Henry Jerome was a popular bandleader in the 1930s and 1940s who performed on ships, at ballrooms, restaurants, and naturally on the radio. He had a soft, mellow style (influenced by Hal Kemp) with brass-heavy arrangements. In the 1950s, ABC Radio Network aired "Dinner at the Green Room," a weekly radio program which featured Henry's orchestra playing live from the Green Room at the Hotel Edison in New York City. 

In the early 1960s, Hal Jerome had a popular series of "Brazen Brass" albums which featured - brazen brass, of course. This one, released by Geffen Records in 1961, spotlights Hollywood classics in unique arrangements, such as Around the World in 80 Days, Three Coins in a Fountain (as a cha-cha), a highly danceable version of High Noon, a scrumptious "Beyond the Sea"-style version of Love is a Many Splendored Thing, and The Third Man Theme without the zither! 

Jerome is probably best known for his work "behind the label" as an A&R director at Decca Records, Coral Records, MCA, and United Artists. You can read more about him here, but first check out this album here on Youtube. 

Track Listing

Side One:

Around the World in 80 Days

Moonglow (from Picnic)

Three Coins in the Fountain Cha-Cha

High Noon

Gigi

Main Title (The Man with the Golden Arm)


Side Two: 

The Third Man Theme

The Song from Moulin Rouge

Tammy Cha-Cha

Theme from A Summer Place

Love is a Many Splendored Thing

Colonel Bogey March (from The Bridge on the River Kwai)

Top Picks: Moonglow, Tammy Cha-Cha, A Summer Place, Love is a Many Splendored Thing

From the Archives: Come Fly With Me (1963)

"Is this yours, ma'am?" Oops! Someone got tricked into smuggling...and you don't need three guesses to see who's the victim. 

This mini lobby card is from the romantic-drama Come Fly With Me (1963) starring Dolores Hart, Hugh O'Brian, Carl Boehm, and Pamela Tiffin. If the Frank Sinatra song pops into your head whenever you read that title, you'd be surprised to discover that it is actually another crooner who sings that famous tune over the credits - Frankie Avalon. 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures