The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus. Thursday, April 4 (7:30 p.m.) Pre-Code Double Feature Finishing School (RKO, 1934) The scandalous goings-on in an upper-crust private school for young women is the setting for this pre-Code school girl dramedy, co-directed (with George Nichols Jr.) by screenwriter Wanda Tuchock (Hallelujah!, …
At the start of Women’s History Month, we featured a post about long-time radio host and producer Mary Margaret McBride. Today’s post features another interesting figure in women’s broadcasting history—the fictional advertising persona Betty Crocker—and the woman who portrayed her on radio and television in the 1950s and 1960s. Betty Crocker is the iconic figure …
Baseball season is upon us, even if many parts of the country are still in the throes of winter! With the Nationals’ home opener against the Mets this afternoon, here are some baseball-related items in the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division to whet your appetite and gear up for Major League Baseball’s 2019 …
Thursday, April 2nd, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. Every month, films from the Library’s collection are shown at the Mary Pickford Theater in the James Madison building, ranging from titles newly preserved by the National Audio Visual Conservation Center film lab, classics from the National Film Registry, and lesser known titles worthy of discovery. ATOMIC CINEMA: …
The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus. Thursday, March 28 (7:30 p.m.) A New Leaf (Paramount, 1971) Already well known as part of the ingenious comedy team Nichols & May (with Mike Nichols), Elaine May made her film debut as writer, director and star in this critically- acclaimed dark comedy …
This morning, the Library of Congress announced the newest 25 additions to its National Recorded Sound Registry. Marking its 17th year this year, the National Recording Registry which honors all types of recorded sound–from music to spoken word to radio broadcasts—as long as the recordings have been historically, culturally or aesthetically significant. The latest 25 takes the …
This post was originally published by Wendi Maloney on the Library of Congress Blog. For the past three decades or so, Thomas Doherty has taught and written about films, television and Hollywood — a lot. An American studies professor at Brandeis University with a special interest in classical Hollywood, he has written seven books touching …
The following is post is by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus. Thursday, March 21 (7:30 p.m.) It’s Always Fair Weather (MGM, 1955) Producer Arthur Freed’s third pairing (along with Singin’ in the Rain,1952, and On the Town, 1949) with director Stanley Donen, co-director and star Gene Kelly and the writing team of Betty Comden …
The Joe Smith Collection is a fascinating one—it’s made up of interviews recorded in the late 1980s by retired record company executive Joe Smith with over two hundred musicians and fellow industry execs for an oral history of the recording industry and of pop music as told by its creators and promoters. Smith’s long career …
