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Book Review: "Gale Storm: A Biography and Career Record"
Gale Storm, Zasu Pitts and Boris Karloff in The Gale Storm Show (1959)David Tucker is one of the nicest people I know on Facebook. He is a writer whose area of expertise is, in his own words, "the...
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A Retrospective on Richard Pryor's Narrative Films
 I am pleased to announce the release of my new book, "Richard Pryor in Hollywood: The Narrative Films, 1967-1997." It required extensive research to be fair and accurate in my representation of the...
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Richard Pryor's Early Years on Television
Richard Pryor worked extensively in television prior to his career in feature films. He started out making appearances on talk shows and variety shows. Later, he took on acting roles in a number of...
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Harry Northup: "Pryor was fast, funny, explosive and imaginative"
Northup as the chief goon of Pryor's corporate bosses in Which Way Is Up? (1977). Film actor Harry Northup was a valuable reference source on my new book, "Richard Pryor in Hollywood." Northrup shared...
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Richard Pryor's Narrative Films (1967-1970)
[This article contains material that wasn't included in "Richard Pryor in Hollywood."] The Busy Body (1967)Â Sid Caesar has the dire assignment of tracking down a dead body missing from its grave to...
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Richard Pryor's Narrative Films (1971-1973)
[This article contains material that wasn't included in "Richard Pryor in Hollywood."]You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat (1971)Lady Sings the Blues (1972)    Lady Sings the...
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Richard Pryor's Narrative Films (1974-1976)
[This article contains material that wasn't included in "Richard Pryor in Hollywood."] Uptown Saturday Night (1974)Pryor appears in the film as a jumpy private investigator, Sharp Eye Washington.In a...
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Richard Pryor's Narrative Films (1977-1979)
[This article contains material that wasn't included in "Richard Pryor in Hollywood."] This was Pryor's most successful period in film.Greased Lightning (1977)Which Way Is Up? (1977)Pryor plays three...
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Richard Pryor's Narrative Films (1980-1982)
[This article contains material that wasn't included in "Richard Pryor in Hollywood."] Wholly Moses! (1980) Pryor was willing to let the film's star, Dudley Moore, get closer to him than the lion. In...
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Richard Pryor's Narrative Films (1983-1988)
[This article contains material that wasn't included in "Richard Pryor in Hollywood."] Superman III (1983)Superman III stands as one of the least favorite Richard Pryor movies and one of the least...
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Richard Pryor's Narrative Films (1989-1997)
[This article contains material that wasn't included in "Richard Pryor in Hollywood."] Â Harlem Nights (1989)Eddie Murphy, Pryor and Danny Aiello in Harlem Nights (1989)Eddie Murphy, Pryor and Redd Foxx...
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DVD Recommendation: Thelma Todd & Zasu Pitts: The Hal Roach Collection 1931-33
 I love ZaSu Pitts. I can laugh just watching her struggle to open a bureau drawer.See Ms. Pitts at her funniest in the new DVD collection Thelma Todd & Zasu Pitts: The Hal Roach Collection...
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Rediscovered Comedy: Kick Me Again (1925)
In 2012, the National Film Preservation Foundation and Universal Studios funded the preservation of a 1925 Universal short comedy Kick Me Again. The preservation efforts were conducted at the Academy...
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The Plot of "Skirts" Revealed
 Some time ago, I wrote an extensive article about Skirts, a stunt-filled comedy spectacle produced by Fox Film in 1921. The film holds an important place in the history and development of the comedy...
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A Mad Plastic Surgeon's Circus Freak Show
 Circus of Horrors, a British horror film from 1960, has the creepiest of plots. A deranged plastic surgeon, Dr. Rossiter (Anton Diffring), is on the run from the police for surgical misdeeds. He...
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Film Recommendation: La Grande Vadrouille (1966)
La Grande Vadrouille (1966) opens with a Royal Air Force bomber being intercepted by the Luftwaffe over German-occupied France. The air battle ends with the bomber being shot down and three crew...
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Film Recommendation: Alle for Tre (2017)
 The 2017 Danish comedy Alle for Tre (All for Three in English) joins two prior films, Alle for én (All for One) and Alle for to (All for Two), in portraying the petty criminal activities of dim-witted...
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How to Murder Your Mother-in-Law
A 1911 Pathé comedy Jobard a tué sa belle-mère opens with Jobard (Lucien Cazalis) trying to have a quiet cup of tea while his mother-in-law sit across from him complaining bitterly about the hardness...
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Film Recommendation: A Place on Earth (2013)
A love story is rendered tenderly and poignantly in the 2013 French-Belgian drama Une place sur la Terre (released in English-speaking countries as A Place on Earth). Antoine (Benoît Poelvoorde), a...
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Laurel and Hardy: Comedy Angels
My early fascination with film comedy was roused by very specific moments in classic films. Take for instance the gas lamp scene in Easy Street (1917). . .. . . or the pipe maze scene in A Plumbing We...
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