Film Festival: Weddings, Hollywood Style Palm Beach Story (1942) gets off to a madcap start during the opening credits! A maid faints. A pastor paces and looks at his watch. A groom and best man hurry into a taxi. A beautiful woman is tied up in a closet. A bride hails a taxi. The wedding…
Culture
In “Lisa’s Home Bijou”, I’ll share my reviews of classic films and hopefully inspire you to have a few film festivals of your own. I am proud to claim Betty Grable as a distant cousin. My “film career” began when my parents named me for Leslie Caron’s character in “An American in Paris.”
Whoopee! 1920s wedding comedy: Lisa’s Home Bijou
Film Festival: Weddings, Hollywood Style In triumphant lettering the opening credits of Whoopee! (1930) announce “Florenz Ziegfeld and Samuel Goldwyn present Eddie Cantor in Whoopee! A Musical Comedy of the Great Wide West.” FLORENZ “FLO” ZIEGFELD was best known for his Follies, his elaborate musical stage revues. Whoopee! is one of the few book musicals…
Father of the Bride wedding fun: Lisa’s Home Bijou
Film Festival: Weddings, Hollywood Style Father of the Bride (1950) opens with a scene of complete chaos: bottles, confetti, and trash all over a home. Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy), the father of the bride, speaks to us about his opinion of marriage and weddings. “Someday in the far future I may be able to remember…
Edward Eager books – magic and wit
Edward Eager was a playwright and songwriter in the New York world. Starting in the 1950s he wrote a series of magic adventure books featuring fun brothers and sisters. They find magic tokens and beings operating under rules that have to be discovered. Harry Potter has captured the hearts and imaginations of many but these…
Lisa’s Home Bijou: San Francisco
Film Festival: The City by the Bay THE GREAT 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire is one of the defining events in 20th century American history. The 1936 film San Francisco connects faces with some of the stories of the earthquake, from the wealthy owners of mansions up on the hills, to the politicians who…