When Tex Avery began directing animated shorts at Warner Bros. in 1935, he jumped headlong into a demanding production schedule. Though Avery’s was not the only unit producing cartoons for the Warner studio–two other units were headed by Jack King and Ben “Bugs” Hardaway (at least until the return of Friz Freleng, who had defected…
“Animation is the art of timing, a truth applicable as well to all motion pictures. And the most brilliant masters of timing were usually comedians: Keaton, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Langdon–and Fred ‘Tex’ Avery.” –Chuck Jones, in the introduction to John Canemaker’s 1996 book Tex Avery: The MGM Years, 1942-1955 Tex Avery’s name looms large…
This week, True Classics will be dedicated to one Frederick Bean Avery, better known to the world at large as seminal cartoonist “Tex” Avery. Much like our week-long tribute for Chuck Jones’ centennial last year, once again we will turn our site over to one of the most talented and influential animators to emerge from…
There’s a brilliant bit of dialogue in the middle of Howard Hawks’ 1940 screwball masterpiece His Girl Friday that succinctly sums up the film’s derisive views on the profession of journalism. [At this point, I should probably go ahead and warn you that this post will be chock-full of spoilers.] A group of reporters have gathered…
Still: American Silent Motion Picture Photography David S. Shields Release Date: June 19, 2013 The University of Chicago Press Hardcover, 401 pages In the opening pages of his recent book on American silent film photography, Still, David S. Shields estimates that over eighty percent of the silent features produced within the first three decades of filmmaking…
Jack Hunter made a name for himself as “Action Jack,” star of a series of adventure flicks in the 1930s. But by 1942, the world is at war, he’s retired from the screen, and he’s living on a ranch with his fellow survivors from a previous jungle adventure: his wife, Max; her nephew, Tyler, and…
Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 Italian opera La bohème has seen many forms in the century since its first performance in Turin. The story–itself borrowed from Henri Murger’s 1851 collection Scènes de la vie de bohème–has been retold in many forms, with and without the music. It’s been made into films, produced in countless venues featuring storied performers like…
August was a great month of blogging, particularly due to the TCM SUTS blogathon hosted by our pals Jill and Michael. Between the four of us, the True Classics crew was able to contribute seven posts to the blogathon (plus two more from Brandie over at The Moviola). Kudos to Jill and Michael (can we…
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