Two of the Bald Eagles seem to be paired up -- I hope they all find enough to eat. We are supposed to get several waves of storms this week, but they are dropping only miniscule amounts of snow. Have I told you what this moisture does to the roads? Oh yeah -- as Little Richard sings: slippin' and a slidin'

Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Make a resolution as the days get longer to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: Updates on the Hockaday Museum of Art's Website.

Media Watch: We are re-watching TCM's Busby Berkeley mini-thon from the other night. I might as well list my favorites from this lot:
1) 42nd Street (1932)
One of the very few backstage musicals with an echo of truth.
2) Footlight Parade (1933)
James Cagney and Ruby Keeler dance together! The acting is excellent too.
3) Dames (1934)
Might as well have been called "Gold Diggers of 1934." Berkeley's pieces are pretty cartoonish, but Hugh Herbert and Zasu Pitts are hilarious!

4) Gold Diggers of 1933
I like Ned Sparks' crabby but warm-hearted character, plus a couple of production numbers, but it's a step down IMHO.
5) Gold Diggers of 1935
Except for Winifred Shaw singing Lullaby of Broadway, I can take or leave this bonehead comedy, although the actors do their jobs OK. Ruby Keeler is missing -- but she and Powell did three more films together: Flirtation Walk, Shipmates Forever, where Keeler looks physically ill, but Powell's first-rate acting bouys up the flick, and finally Colleen, with Joan Blondell, Hugh Herbert, and one of my LEAST favorite actors from the 30's, Jack Oakie.
Go into Your Dance (shown the other night) and Wonderbar feature Al Jolson, the guy whose stardom helped sell movies with sound to the public. Berkeley made another string of flicks with another New York comic actor, Eddie Cantor, for Sam Goldwyn's rival studio -- some of which belong in Berkeley's 'Top Ten.' However, the same can't be said of either of Jolson's two Berkeley movies. They occupy a very strange place in both showmen's histories -- crime and criminals, sex and alcohol abuse, and showbiz's seamy backside are primary elements of their plots.
Ruby Keeler takes a bullet meant for Jolson, and we're not really sure if Mrs. Jolson is dying or not in the dressing room during the finale, while her old man is out singing Go into Your Dance onstage. (The dialog SAYS they've called the doctor!)
In Wonderbar, the radiant Dolores Del Rio joins the Warner Bros./Busby Berkeley stock company for a few pictures. She stabs her philandering lover during their act, and Jolson not only covers up the crime, but stands aside to aid her real affections for Dick Powell. The movie is structured in long set-pieces, and entertainment of one form or another fills more than 80% of the running time, unlike most Berkeley flicks. This finale has Jolson Going to Heaven on a Mule, in his trademark blackface -- overblown in itself, plus demeaning, insulting, and almost unwatchable now. It was a substantial hit at the time it was made though.
Try this Busby Berkeley Website