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You are here: Home / Archives for Boris Karloff

Dracula, Frankenstein 1938 Reissues Revive Universal Horror

October 27, 2016 By Cliff Aliperti 1 Comment

1938 ad for Dracula and Frankenstein in Brooklyn

How Universal horror died in 1936, only to return after a Beverly Hills exhibitor paired Dracula and Frankenstein reissues at his theater in August 1938.

Filed Under: Notes & Quotes, Research Tagged With: 1938, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Dracula, Emil Umann, Frankenstein, Horror, reissues, Universal Horror

Boris Karloff TCM Summer Under the Stars Picto-Sked

August 26, 2016 By Cliff Aliperti Leave a Comment

Isle of the Dead 1946 newspaper ad

A collection of 17 vintage newspaper ads representing every Boris Karloff movie playing on TCM during their August 26, 2016 TCM Summer Under the Stars marathon.

Filed Under: Clippings, Notes & Quotes Tagged With: Boris Karloff, picto-sked, Summer Under the Stars, suts, suts 2016

Richard Dix Reckons Himself The Public Defender (RKO, 1931)

May 13, 2014 By Cliff Aliperti 5 Comments

The Public Defender 1931

Richard Dix is a harmless playboy until trouble calls and with the assistance of Boris Karloff and Paul Hurst he becomes The Reckoner in RKO’s The Public Defender (1931).

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1931, Alan Roscoe, Boris Karloff, Carl Gerard, Crime, Edmund Breese, Emmett King, farnesbarnes, Frank Sheridan, J. Walter Ruben, Nella Walker, Paul Hurst, Purnell Pratt, Richard Dix, RKO (Pathe), Robert Emmett O'Connor, Rochelle Hudson, Ruth Weston, Shirley Grey, Warner Archive

Five Star Final (1931) Starring Edward G. Robinson

December 14, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 9 Comments

Five Star Final 1931

Mervyn LeRoy’s Five Star Final (1931) stars Edward G. Robinson as the managing editor of a trashy New York newspaper that resurrects a 20-year-old murder case for circulation. A Warner Bros.-First National production adapted from the play by Louis Weitzenkorn. Also starring Marian Marsh, H.B. Warner, Frances Starr, Boris Karloff and Aline MacMahon.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1931, Aline MacMahon, anthony bushell, Boris Karloff, Edward G. Robinson, First National, five star final, frances starr, George E. Stone, H.B. Warner, Journalists, louis weitzenkorn, Marian Marsh, Mervyn LeRoy, newspapers, ona munson, Oscar Apfel, Warner Archive, Warner Bros.

The Walking Dead (1936) – Lindbergh Heart Resurrects Boris Karloff

October 29, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti Leave a Comment

Boris Karloff in The Walking Dead

Warner Brothers mixes crime and horror in THE WALKING DEAD where mobsters put down Boris Karloff but Edmund Gwenn brings him back to life with a Lindbergh Heart. Karloff’s fine performance highlighted along with some background information about Lindbergh’s “robot heart.”

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1936, Barton MacLane, Boris Karloff, Crime, Edmund Gwenn, Gangsters, hal mohr, Henry O'Neill, Horror, Joe Sawyer, louis f edelman, marguerite churchill, Michael Curtiz, paul harvey, Ricardo Cortez, robert strange, Warner Bros., warren hull

Sidebar: Farnesbarnes, or Is That Farnsbarns? – Origins Undetermined

February 16, 2013 By Cliff Aliperti 7 Comments

enigma

Humorous references to Farnesbarnes, or Farnsbarns, in two early 1930s movies sent me in search of the name’s origins. Unfortunately the earliest I could find dates to BBC’s Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh in 1944, over a decade after the RKO film utterances.

Filed Under: News - Notes Tagged With: Boris Karloff, farnesbarnes, farnsbarns, nigel rees, phrases and sayings, Ricardo Cortez, Richard Dix

Smart Money (1931) Starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney

August 14, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 8 Comments

James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson

A deep look at Smart Money (1931) starring Edward G. Robinson with James Cagney. Includes detailed original biographical sections about co-stars Noel Francis and Evalyn Knapp.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1931, Alfred E. Green, Boris Karloff, Darryl F Zanuck, Edward G. Robinson, Evalyn Knapp, gamblers, Gangsters, gladys lloyd, James Cagney, John Larkin, mae madison, Margaret Livingstone, Noel Francis, Paul Porcasi, Polly Walters, Ralf Harolde, smart money

Night World (1932) Starring Mae Clarke, Lew Ayres and Boris Karloff

April 14, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 6 Comments

Bert Roach in Night World

A look at Universal’s rollicking 58-minute movie set inside a speakeasy run by Boris Karloff with a Busby Berkeley choreographed dance to boot. Mae Clarke and Lew Ayres star as the love interests while Clarence Muse and general ambiance steal the show.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1932, Bert Roach, Boris Karloff, Busby Berkeley, Clarence Muse, Dorothy Peterson, dorothy revier, Gangsters, George Raft, Hedda Hopper, hobart henley, Jack La Rue, Lew Ayres, Mae Clarke, night world, pre-Code, Prohibition, Robert Emmett O'Connor, Russell Hopton, speakeasies, Universal

Talking Boris Karloff with Authorized Biographer Scott Allen Nollen

April 13, 2011 By Cliff Aliperti 4 Comments

An interview about Boris Karloff with his authorized biographer, Scott Allen Nollen, author of Boris Karloff: A Gentleman’s Life. Includes several rare Karloff photographs.

Filed Under: News - Notes Tagged With: Arsenic and Old Lace, Boris Karloff, film books, Frankenstein, interview, Sara Jane Karloff, Scott Allen Nollen

The Criminal Code (1931) Starring Walter Huston with Boris Karloff

April 5, 2011 By Cliff Aliperti 2 Comments

Walter Huston and Phillips Holmes

A spoiler-free look at Howard Hawks’ The Criminal Code starring Walter Huston and providing Boris Karloff with his most important role to date. With a special focus on Phillips Holmes.

Filed Under: Movie Reviews Tagged With: 1931, Academy Awards, Boris Karloff, Constance Cummings, Dramas, Howard Hawks, Mary Doran, Paul Porcasi, Phillips Holmes, Prison Films, reviews, The Criminal Code, Walter Huston

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