Died On This Date: George Sanders

Today we remember George Sanders, who died on this date in 1972 at the age of 65. Shortly after selling his beloved home in Majorca, Spain, Sanders checked into a hotel in Barcelona and was found dead two days later from a drug overdose of Nembutal. The suicide note he left is as follows: "Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this cesspool. Good luck.". It's believed his suicide was brought on mainly by depression regarding his declining career and failing health in the final years of his life.

Sanders won the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role for All About Eve, and is also remembered for his series of "Saint" and "Falcon" films, Rebecca, Strange Cargo, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Forever Amber, Ivanhoe, Village of the Damned, Solomon and Sheba, A Scandal in Paris, The Lodger, Foreign Correspondent, and International Settlement.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre Ceremony: Roy Rogers and Trigger

On this date in 1949, Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger left their mark in cement for the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the 89th ceremony to take place there.

In addition to the traditional hand and footprints usually left by stars, Rogers also left the impression of his six shooter and Trigger left his horseshoe prints.

Premiered on the Date: Dark Victory (1939)

Based on a play by George Brewer and Bertram Bloch, Dark Victory originally starred Tallulah Bankhead on Broadway and had a successful run until Bankhead had to leave the production due to illness. The rights to the play were bought by David O. Selznick and MGM who originally wanted Greta Garbo to play Judith Traherne, and then later Merle Oberon when Garbo chose to do another project. Oberon eventually left the project as well when there was a contractual dispute. When Selznick became wrapped up in filming Gone With the Wind, he sold the story rights to Warner Brothers, who then put Bette Davis in the lead role after years of her begging Jack Warner to by the project for her. 

Dark Victory was nominated for the Academy award for best picture of 1939 and Bette Davis was nominated for her second consecutive best actress Oscar, but 1939 proved to be a stiff year of competition with Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz leading the Academy Awards in nominations and wins. While not on the same scope and scale as the winners of 1939, Dark Victory has become known as one of the great classics from that golden year of cinema and is considered one of the ten best of 1939.

Premiered on this Date: Soylent Green (1973)

What's the secret of Soylent Green?  IT'S PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

2016 TCM Film Fest Survival Kit

I As the TCM Film Fest approaches next week, I began to think about the long days I'll be spending out and about with little time to rest between events, and I realized "I'm going to need a bigger bag." Hopefully, you get that reference. So for all of you in the same boat, here's a helpful list of items you might want to consider carrying on those long, event-filled days.

1. A collapsible water bottle. You can fill it up at any water fountain, clip it onto your bag strap, and fold it down when empty. It's better for the environment and it's better than paying overpriced amounts for a bottle of water.

2. Some kind of snack. You might end up in a position where you have back to back events that you want to attend and you won't have much of a chance to eat, other than popcorn at the concession stand. I like to carry around Kind bars, just in case I need a quick energy boost to keep me going.

3. Sunglasses, obviously. On the topic of the sun, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a small tube of sunblock too. You never know how long you'll be standing outside in line.

4. Cell phone and portable charger. You're most likely going to have very little time or opportunity to recharge your phone with all of the events going on, so be sure to carry a portable charger that you charged over night along with the charging cord so you can recharge at your seat during a film.
5. Comfortable shoes! Not only will you be standing in line waiting to get in to the venues, but you may also end up standing for some events, especially at Club TCM. Seating in the club is limited, the events are popular, and a good number of people usually end up standing through the events, which can sometimes last over an hour.

6. Camera. If you have a phone that takes incredible photos, great, otherwise I always carry a separate camera. The problem with a camera phone is that they usually don't have great zoom and don't take very good pictures in low light. Considering you never know if you'll be able to get close to get a good shot or if the lighting will be good, I want to make sure I have something I can take good pictures with.

7. Notebook and pen. I have this Moleskine Film Journal that I carry to keep track of what I see at the festival, and I've been lucky to get some autographs that I have in the back of the book. 

8. Of course, the TCM app! The app is back this year and, in addition to the schedule and other basic info, it has a great new feature to allow festival attendees to connect socially through Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Google+ so they can meet up during the fest and hopefully maintain their friendships beyond the festival.

Snupps: Organize Your Film Collections

I don't know how many times I've been out shopping and wondered "wait, don't I have that?" before buying a book/poster/picture/DVD/collectible related to classic film. Thankfully, I came across a great app that I can use to curate my collections.

Snupps allows you to create boards for different categories, add pictures of your items, details such as price, author, year, and so much more. 

         

And the best part is that I can manage everything from my desktop or pull it up on my iPhone when I'm out looking to add to my collection. The app is available on IOS and Android, and both versions work great!

Classic Horror Trailers Part Two

As promised, here are even more classic horror film trailers to get you in the mood for Halloween!

TWICE TOLD TALES

FREAKS

THE BODY SNATCHER

KING KONG

THE INVISIBLE RAY

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

TALES OF TERROR

PSYCHO

CREEPSHOW

TALES FROM THE CRYPT

HALLOWEEN

THE OMEN