Saturday, May 15, 2021

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game


SPLAT! These two fellows got a load of mud sprayed in their face. Most of you can surmise that this is from a comedy, but which comedy is the question! Put on your thinking caps or give a wild guess and see if you can name the film this screenshot is from.

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules of the game or the prize, simply click here.

GAME OVER. 

Congratulations to Phyl for correctly identifying this screenshot from "Son of Paleface" ( 1952 ). Peter Potter Jr. ( Bob Hope ) - the idiot son of Peter Potter - just arrived in town with his antique roadster and made quite an impression on the townsfolk by splattering them all with mud from his car. 

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Check It Out! - The Definitive Guide to "Murder, She Wrote" Website

Are you a "Murder, She Wrote" fan? If you're not yet, then a visit to the website The Definitive Guide to "Murder, She Wrote" will make you one! 

The highly addictive mystery series premiered in 1984 with a star-studded pilot episode and went on to become one of the longest-running drama series in television history, lasting 12 seasons. Series star Angela Lansbury portrayed Mrs. Jessica Fletcher, a retired New England schoolteacher turned author who takes time out from writing to solve crimes...many of which take place in the not-so-sleepy village of Cabot Cove, Maine. 

Dr. Anne Del Borgo, a veterinarian living in Maine, put together this great website covering every episode of the series, trivia, an image gallery, interviews ( including one with series co-creator Peter S. Fischer ), and a really neat scrapbook chock full of clippings from newspapers, magazines, and press reports. There are also sections on the history of the series, statistics, and a bio of Angela Lansbury. 

For fans of the Murder, She Wrote book series there is a treasure-trove of material as well. You can find reviews of every book MSW-themed and plenty of stories submitted by fans just like yourself. 

Check it out and see for yourself! 

Click here to visit The Definitive Guide to "Murder, She Wrote"

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

From the Archives: Nancy Goes to Rio ( 1950 )


The lovely Ann Sothern had completed her 10-film run as the tough-talking Maisie and was cast as Frances in Nancy Goes to Rio, MGM's colorful remake of the 1940 Universal Deanna Durbin film It's a Date. Here she is seen posing within a giant lifebuoy. 

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

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

The Black Rider ( 1954 )

In the village of Swanhaven, a recent newspaper story about the mysterious Black Rider is sending a chill down the backs of the local townsfolk. After leaving the town pub one moonlit night, a drunk reported seeing the cloaked figure of the Black Rider while he was taking a shortcut through the old ruins of Brockham Castle. Legend has it that he is none other than the devil himself and anyone who looks upon his apparition is cast into the fires of hell. 

The drunk considers himself lucky to have escaped alive. Little does anyone realize that a gang of smugglers is using the old legend of The Black Rider to scare away people from Brockham Castle while they undertake to smuggle atomic sabotage equipment across the Channel. It takes some quick thinking from young reporter Jerry Marsh to capture the band of crooks. 

The Black Rider is a fun little British B-film from the newly formed Balbair Productions Co. Its Scooby-Doo-like plot is devoid of mystery ( there is only one suspect so it must be him ), but nevertheless, it is highly entertaining and runs just a little over an hour. Jerry Marsh, played by Jimmy Hanley, makes a jolly hero and it would have been nice to see him appear in several other films. Jerry's fiancee Mary ( Rona Anderson ) is the village librarian and her father Mr. Plack ( Leslie Dwyer ) is the editor of the newspaper Jerry writes for. 

Jerry just purchased a motorbike and this becomes a sub-plot in the film, with members of his motorcycling club helping him hunt for the smugglers in the final scenes. Motorcycling was becoming a popular hobby sport for many people in the 1950s and motorcycle clubs were sprouting up all across England at the time. Mr. Plack disapproves of Jerry's new mode of transportation but, by the end of the film, he comes to like the "machines". 

Fans of British B-films will easily recognize many of the actors in the film. Jimmy Handley was popular in the Huggetts film series. Leslie Dwyer played in a number of films of the 1940s and 1950s, usually as a grouchy middle-class shopowner. Rona Anderson made several good mystery films and looks particularly lovely in this picture with her hair dyed blonde...and last, but certainly not least, the great character actor Lionel Jeffries, who plays the debonair villain in The Black Rider

Director Wolf Rilla ( Village of the Damned ) did a fine job of keeping the film moving along at a brisk pace and the script, by A.R. Rawlinson, has a number of humorous touches. All in all, a great little mystery to enjoy!

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Listen and Guess Game - Actors Who Sing!

There are a lot of actors who are equally well known as singers ( e.g. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich ), but there are also a surprising number of actors who it would astonish you to find out recorded an album... or at least a single ( e.g. Rock Hudson, Cheryl Ladd ). Over the years, my sister and I have come to discover ten or fifteen actors that are not known as singers but have a really nice singing voice regardless. While doing some research for a blog post on this topic, the number we discovered grew to over fifty actors! 

In a couple of weeks, we will share this post with you but, in the meantime, we thought it would be fun to make a game of identifying the actor who is singing. Below you will find ten sound clips featuring famous actors singing. Test your knowledge of voice recognition and see if you can name the star who is singing!

The first five sound clips feature the voices of actors/actresses who are best known for making films. They may have appeared on television, too, but they are primarily film stars. The last five sound clips feature the voices of actors/actresses who are best known for their television work. 

If you can guess 5 out of 10, pat yourself on the back, because these are tricky!

P.S: Hover your mouse slightly to the right of the play button in order to click on it ( the same goes with pausing ). Play button not working? Then click on the pop-out tab to download. Need a hint? Scroll down a bit and on the right column of this blog you will see two picture gadgets with the faces of all ten actors on it. 

Actors/Actresses from Movies


Mystery Singer Number 1
Mystery Singer Number 2
Mystery Singer Number 3
Mystery Singer Number 4
Mystery Singer Number 5


Actors/Actresses from Television


Mystery Singer Number 6
Mystery Singer Number 7
Mystery Singer Number 8
Mystery Singer Number 9
Mystery Singer Number 10

Thursday, April 15, 2021

Spring Reunion ( 1957 )

Maggie Brewster ( Betty Hutton ) has been looking forward to the fifteenth reunion of her high school class for weeks. It is the day of the big event and Maggie has a full schedule of things to do, one of which is going to the beauty parlor with her best friend Barnie ( Jean Hagen ), but before she does, she has to see a prospective client who is interested in buying a property her real estate firm has been trying to unload for years. It belongs to Fred Davis ( Dana Andrews ), once considered "The Boy Most Likely to Succeed" in Maggie's class. 

When she arrives at the property she is surprised to find Fred there. He tells her that a wave of nostalgia overcame him and he wants to cancel the sale. Her disappointment is short-lived when she realizes that Fred is as handsome as ever, single, and has an eye for her. Maggie's school friends are all married with children and, with her reunion coming up, she is beginning to wonder what she has made of her life. Fred is pondering the same question and the night of the spring reunion sparks off a romance between them. 

Spring Reunion is a delightful 1950s melodrama ideal that addresses the concerns most people have when a school reunion approaches. We all tend to see reunions as a mid-life assessment report - What Have You Done With Your Life? 

"Maybe I'm the one who never measured up, Dad." - Maggie

Fellow classmate Jack Frazer ( Gordon Jones ) begins to realize that he may no longer be the physically fit football hero he was. Her girlfriend Barnie thinks there may be more exciting things in life than being a mother to four children. Fred is tired of traveling across America, always searching for a better job. He wants to settle down and putter with his sailboat again. Maggie is tired of hearing her father say she is still "the prettiest, smartest, and most popular girl" when she feels herself quickly heading toward spinsterhood. She wonders what became of the "Girl Most Likely". Both her and Fred's motives for a relationship are based on fear of future loneliness rather than love, but they seem to have a fighting chance for lasting happiness. 

Betty Hutton was well-established as a dramatic actress by the time she made Spring Reunion, but even though she matured she still adds a touch of that old light-hearted playfulness to her character. Gordon Jones and Jean Hagen provide more of the comedy relief, as do the character actors which include Irene Ryan, Florence Sundstrom, and Herbert Anderson. Also in the cast are James Gleason, Robert F. Simon, and Laura La Plante. 

The movie has a sparkling script by Elick Moll and Robert Pirosh ( A Day at the RacesI Married a Witch ) and is just overall entertaining to watch. Unlike a high school reunion, it is something that you can enjoy every spring. 

Sunday, April 11, 2021

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game


This fellow looks like he is dancing an Irish jig on the pavement but he is actually hurrying to catch a yellow cab. Who he is and where he is going is your job to remember!

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules of the game or the prize, simply click here.