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”The News on Parade
Corporation presents- News on Parade... Corporation News!” (Newsreel Announcer- voiced
by Harry Shearer on The Simpsons Season
5 episode “$pringfield”)
As we are approaching the month of May, At The Matinee presents some interesting (semi-recent) news items related
to classic and modern film.
VITAPHONE DISCS ON
DISPLAY AT AN OLD OPERA HOUSE (?) The Shepherdstown Opera House in Shepherdstown, West Virginia
might have something of interest for us film buffs. The theater was built in 1909, and has the
distinction of being the first theater in the state of West Virginia to screen
sound motion pictures.
According to an April 24th article in The News-Post on the theater’s
revitalization efforts, there is a photograph of theater owner Larry Crumbo
in the “green room” of the opera house. On
the wall of the green room, there are two film reels and several large
phonograph records on the wall (minus the framed record on the piano).
At The Matinee wonders
if those discs could be Warner Bros. Vitaphone
recordings (or sound discs produced by another studio for “sound-on-disc” projection
systems)?
Could this hold the key for Vitaphone features or short subjects
with missing soundtrack disc(s)? ATM has contacted The Vitaphone Project for
input on this.
CRACKLE OFFERS SELECT
UNIVERSAL FEATURES FOR STREAMING: Sony’s Crackle streaming video service is known for its selection of
vintage and cult Columbia features and TV shows, but has now added films from a
competing studio.
Variety reported
that Sony has licensed 140+ feature films from Universal Pictures to be
streamed on its Crackle
platform. Not sure if any vintage
Universal or pre-1948 Paramount sound features will be included on the service in the near
future.
CRAIG FERGUSON TO
LEAVE CBS’ THE LATE LATE SHOW: Yet another late night host is stepping down. Weeks after David Letterman’s
announcement of retirement from Late Night television- Craig Ferguson is
leaving The Late Late Show on CBS
(which comes on after Letterman’s Late Show).
Ferguson announced that he
will step down from the show in December, to focus on other projects- including
a new game show, Celebrity Name Game.
No word on who is going to be the
successor host for The Late Late Show.
IN MEMORIAM: At The Matinee remembers character actor Bob Hoskins, who passed away recently at the age of 72. Many audiences may remember him from the 1988 animated/live-action fantasy film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
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The proprietor of "At The Matinee", Chris Hamby- welcomes your comments and suggestions on any post featured. NOTE: All comments are monitored by the author.