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Although Apartment 7A walks through an original storyline, it marks the return of many familiar characters from Rosemary's Baby. Based on Ira Levin's book of the same name, Rosemary's Baby is an iconic film that has influenced generations of horror movies. Despite premiering nearly 50 years ago, the film stands the test of time and is as scary and unsettling as it was back in the day. While masterfully unfolding a thoughtful metaphor for gaslighting and paranoia in a marriage, the film also invites viewers to fill in the blanks with their interpretations of shrouded character fates.

These intentional blanks in Rosemary's Baby's narrative allow it to pave the way for a prequel. Apartment 7A takes this opportunity by focusing primarily on one character, Terry, who only shows up in the 1968 film's opening arc. While Apartment 7A differs from Rosemary's Baby in more ways than one, it unravels its...

What do the 25th and 75th Tony Awards have in common? The landmark Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical “Company,” Angela Lansbury and the beloved tuner “The Music Man.”

The gender-bender revival of “Company” is considered the front-runner for the Tony for Best Musical Revival as well as featured actress for Broadway legend Patti LuPone who brings down the house with “Ladies Who Lunch.” Elaine Stritch originated the LuPone’s character of Joanne; her rendition of “Ladies Who Lunch” is considered one of the indelible show-stopping numbers in Broadway history. Stritch was considered a shoo-in for lead actress but lost to Helen Gallagher for the revival of -the 1920s musical “No, No Nanette.” Go figure. Gallagher was good, but she wasn’t as great as Stritch.

The original “Company” waltzed into the Tony Awards — which took place at the Palace Theatre on March 28, 1971 — with a whopping 14 nominations and won six including Best Musical,...

Stars: Constance Towers, Antony Eisley, Michael Dante, Virginia Grey, Patsy Kelly | Written and Directed by Samuel Fuller

The Naked Kiss opens with a fight. And Kelly (Constance Towers) – an experienced escort reclaiming her money from a punter – will never stop fighting. Just for one night it looks like she’s left her worst times behind, as she arrives in Grantville, a small town where no one knows her name. But then she discovers her first customer, Griff (Antony Eisley), is a local policeman. He offers a deal: she can’t operate within the town itself, but he’ll set her up in a brothel outside the limits.

But Kelly is looking for a life more meaningful. So, she finds herself in a hospital for disabled children. She’s a natural. The kids love her. Her colleagues love her. But Griff still can’t trust her – especially when she falls for his enormously wealthy best bud,...

Vintage ’30s comedy returns, with a beautiful blonde, a sassy brunette and elaborate location filming in a bygone Los Angeles. Hal Roach found a good match for his ‘female Laurel & Hardy’ comedy team in gorgeous Thelma Todd and the smart-mouthed Patsy Kelly.

The Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd Patsy Kelly Comedy Collection

DVD

1933-1936 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 445 min. / Silver Series / Street Date June 26 2018, 2018 / available through Classic Flix / 39.99

Starring: Thelma Todd & Patsy Kelly.

Produced by Hal Roach

Directed by Gus Meins, William Terhune, James Parrott, Nick Grinde, others

Hal Roach made the movie game pay big even back in the ‘teens, when Los Angeles used zoning laws to force moviemakers away from downtown, into the remote ‘suburbs’ of Hollywood and Culver City. Taking a choice piece of Culver City real estate, Hal built a veritable empire of comedy, mostly with short subjects. He helped launch the great Harold Lloyd, invented and...

Tony Award and Emmy Award-winning Ryan's Hope legend Helen Gallagher is celebrating her 92nd birthday today.

Born in Brooklyn, Gallagher was raised in Scarsdale, New York for several years until the Wall Street crash which heralded the Great Depression, and her family moved to the Bronx. Her parents separated and she was raised with an aunt. She suffered from asthma.

Gallagher was known for decades as a Broadway performer. She appeared in "Make a Wish," "Hazel Flagg," "Portofino," "High Button Shoes," "Sweet Charity" (earning a 1967 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical), and "Cry for Us All."

In 1952, she won a Tony Award for her work in the revival of "Pal Joey." In 1971, she won her second Tony Award for her role in the revival of the musical "No, No, Nanette," which also starred Ruby Keeler and Patsy Kelly. Her song and dance number with Bobby Van from that show,...

The following is a slightly re-edited version of a piece that ran during the early days of my blog, Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, posted on April 3, 2007, in which I took some time to acknowledge one of my favorite movie stars, the inimitable force of nature known as Patsy Kelly. Eleven years ago Netflix was yet to become the powerhouse force in streaming home entertainment that it now incarnates; it was still a strictly DVD-by-mail service that allowed as many as three DVDs at once to sit on your shelf for as long as you wanted, until such time as you said “I’ve never gonna watch these” and decided to send the back for three others in your ridiculously long queue. (The normalization of the word “queue” may have been Netflix’s great contribution to American culture during this time.) In those days, Netflix also allowed you...

Considering everything that's been happening on the planet in the last several months, you'd have thought we're already in November or December – of 2117. But no. It's only June. 2017. And in some parts of the world, that's the month of brides, fathers, graduates, gays, and climate change denial. Beginning this evening, Thursday, June 1, Turner Classic Movies will be focusing on one of these June groups: Lgbt people, specifically those in the American film industry. Following the presentation of about 10 movies featuring Frank Morgan, who would have turned 127 years old today, TCM will set its cinematic sights on the likes of William Haines, James Whale, George Cukor, Mitchell Leisen, Dorothy Arzner, Patsy Kelly, and Ramon Novarro. In addition to, whether or not intentionally, Claudette Colbert, Colin Clive, Katharine Hepburn, Douglass Montgomery (a.k.a. Kent Douglass), Marjorie Main, and Billie Burke, among others. But this is ridiculous! Why should TCM present a...

The recent box office success of The Boss firmly establishes Melissa McCarthy as the current queen of movie comedies (Amy Schumer could be a new contender after an impressive debut last Summer with Trainwreck), but let us think back about those other funny ladies of filmdom. So while we’re enjoying the female reboot/re-imagining of Ghostbusters and those Bad Moms, here’s a top ten list that will hopefully inspire lots of laughter and cause you to search out some classic comedies. It’s tough to narrow them down to ten, but we’ll do our best, beginning with… 10. Eve Arden The droll Ms. Arden represents the comic sidekicks who will attempt to puncture the pomposity of the leading ladies with a well-placed wisecrack (see also the great Thelma Ritter in Rear Window). Her career began in the early 1930’s with great bit roles in Stage Door and Dancing Lady.

Anne Marie back with the next installment in our new Judy Garland series. Before she was a legend, Frances Gumm was a contract player. This meant that MGM could loan her out to other studios. It was common practice for both large stars and minor players. But what makes you Frances unique is how rare it was for her. Today's musical marks the only time MGM loaned out Judy Garland; the rest of her contract with the studio would be spent snugly - if not comfortably - within the white walls of Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Judy's next short would kick off the Garland legend, and jumpstart the young teen's career.   The Movie: Pigskin Parade (20th Century Fox, 1936) The Songwriters: Lew Pollack (Music), Sidney D. Mitchell (Lyrics) The Players: Stuart Erwin, Patsy Kelly, Betty Grable, Jack Haley, Judy Garland, directed by David Butler The Story: Already under contract to MGM...

This new comedy questions an old adage, since it ponders whether you truly cannot “go home again”. It further wonders if you can party “hearty” back at said home. Then you could put another spin on a saying by staggering and weaving down “the road not taken”. The protagonists of this film are not middle-aged “lost boys” usually played by the likes of Will Ferrell, Seth Rogen, and Adam Sandler. They flail about in flick after flick as stumbling, bumbling examples of the “man-child”, often with wives mortified at their antics. But what about flipping that comic trope? Can’t these farces feature a “women-child”, or two? Ladies regressing back to simpler times? Well, here’s two actresses that are more than ready for this challenge. Hard to believe that over seven years has passed since they were an on-screen team in Baby Mama. But happily they’ve been deflating...

Donald Trump vs. Starbucks' War on Christmas. The War on Christmas: The movies that come to mind We're still in November, but the War on Christmas – according to online buzz, a second cousin once removed of the War on Cops – has begun. Weeping and gritting of teeth has seized certain population segments in the U.S.A. (and perhaps other countries as well) after Fox News, that beacon of intellectual freedom at the end of the cable news tunnel, announced that … Starbucks' holiday season cups are a) red b) devoid of Christmas decorations. Could it be a satanic conspiracy disguised as politically correct inclusiveness? The result of a communist takeover at the Seattle-headquartered company? Cruel and unusual Christian persecution in the form of paper cups? Your guess is as good as mine. Far-right Republican icon, U.S. presidential candidate, and 2015 political circus ringmaster Donald Trump seems to think that Starbucks...

Virginia Bruce: MGM actress ca. 1935. Virginia Bruce movies on TCM: Actress was the cherry on 'The Great Ziegfeld' wedding cake Unfortunately, Turner Classic Movies has chosen not to feature any non-Hollywood stars – or any out-and-out silent film stars – in its 2015 “Summer Under the Stars” series.* On the other hand, TCM has come up with several unusual inclusions, e.g., Lee J. Cobb, Warren Oates, Mae Clarke, and today, Aug. 25, Virginia Bruce. A second-rank MGM leading lady in the 1930s, the Minneapolis-born Virginia Bruce is little remembered today despite her more than 70 feature films in a career that spanned two decades, from the dawn of the talkie era to the dawn of the TV era, in addition to a handful of comebacks going all the way to 1981 – the dawn of the personal computer era. Career highlights were few and not all that bright. Examples range from playing the...

'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' 2015: Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer. 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' movie is a domestic box office bomb: Will it be saved by international filmgoers? Directed by Sherlock Holmes' Guy Ritchie and toplining Man of Steel star Henry Cavill and The Lone Ranger costar Armie Hammer, the Warner Bros. release The Man from U.N.C.L.E. has been a domestic box office disaster, performing about 25 percent below – already quite modest – expectations. (See also: “'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Movie: Bigger Box Office Flop Than Expected.”) This past weekend, the $80 million-budget The Man from U.N.C.L.E. collected a meager $13.42 million from 3,638 North American theaters, averaging $3,689 per site. After five days out, the big-screen reboot of the popular 1960s television series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum has taken in a mere $16.77 million. For comparison's sake:...

'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer. 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' box office: Bigger domestic flop than expected? Before I address the box office debacle of Warner Bros.' The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I'd like remark upon the fact that 2015 has been a notable year at the North American box office. That's when the dinosaurs of Jurassic World smashed Hulk and his fellow Halloween-costumed Marvel superheroes of Avengers: Age of Ultron. And smashed them good: $636.73 million vs. $457.52 million. (See also: 'Jurassic World' beating 'The Avengers' worldwide and domestically?) At least in part for sentimental (or just downright morbid) reasons – Paul Walker's death in a car accident in late 2013 – Furious 7 has become by far the highest-grossing The Fast and the Furious movie in the U.S. and Canada: $351.03 million. (Shades of Heath Ledger's unexpected death...

'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' with Henry Cavill. 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' box office: Hollywood's third domestic bomb in a row Right on the heels of Chris Columbus-Adam Sandler's Pixels and Josh Trank's Fantastic Four comes The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a big screen adaptation of the 1960s television series, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Man of Steel hero Henry Cavill and The Lone Ranger costar Armie Hammer. (See updated follow-up post: “'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Movie Box Office: Bigger Bomb Than Expected.”) Budgeted at a reported $88 million, to date Pixels has collected a mere $61.11 million in North America. Overseas things are a little better: an estimated $73.6 million as of Aug. 9, for a worldwide total of approx. $134.71 million. Sounds profitable? Well, not yet. First of all, let's not forget that distributor...

Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Grouch Marx, the bespectacled, (painted) mustached, cigar-chomping Marx brother, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will be delighted, as TCM is presenting no less than 11 of their comedies, in addition to a brotherly reunion in the 1957 all-star fantasy The Story of Mankind. Non-Marx Brothers fans should be delighted as well – as long as they're fans of Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Ann Miller, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Allan Jones, affectionate, long-tongued giraffes, and/or that great, scene-stealing dowager, Margaret Dumont. Right now, TCM is showing Robert Florey and Joseph Santley's The Cocoanuts (1929), an early talkie notable as the first movie featuring the four Marx Brothers – Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. Based on their hit Broadway...

NBC has greenlit the four-hour miniseries Rosemary's Baby, an adaptation of the 1967 best-selling suspense novel by Ira Levin.

Production is set to begin in January in Paris.

The project will be produced by Lionsgate Television, with Joshua Maurer, Alix Witlin and David Stern serving as executive producers.

Scott Abbott (Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Winchell) and James Wong (American Horror Story) will write the screenplay. Agnieszka Holland, who has been nominated for both an Oscar (Europa Europa) and an Emmy Award (Treme), will direct. Casting will begin immediately.

Here's what NBC Entertainment's Quinn Taylor had to say about the mini-series in a statement.

"Ira Levin's mesmerizing book was a groundbreaking reflection on how effective and influential a psychological thriller could be. We're looking forward to adapting his incredible work and bringing those indelible characters to a new generation of viewers."

Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment, also added her own statement.

Remember how 2011's "Bridesmaids" was supposed to usher in a new era of female buddy comedies? Didn't really happen, did it? Aside from the new cop caper "The Heat" (starring Sandra Bullock and "Bridesmaids" alumna Melissa McCarthy), there haven't been too many female buddy comedies lately.

But then, that's always been the case. The female duo or ensemble drama is rare enough, but comedies centering on two or more prominent women are rarer still. Even in the early years of film, male comedy teams like Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello flourished, while female teams like Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly (who made many shorts together) languished and were forgotten. There's never been a shortage of funny female teams on TV (from Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance to Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, to the "Golden Girls" and "Sex and the City" casts), but seldom do movies find room...

Review by Sam Moffitt

I can pinpoint the exact moment I became a film fan, a cinema buff, a Movie Geek if you will. It was while watching a television broadcast of Pigskin Parade, a college musical based around football, released by 20th Century Fox in 1936.

But a little background on myself first. Born in southeast Missouri in 1955 I can remember when television was a rare and exotic device. We knew a few neighbors near us in the little town I started growing up in, Hiram, Missouri who had televisions. Getting to watch it was a rare treat ,we knew a little old lady near us who had a television and she let us come over to watch shows like McKenzie’s Raiders and the Grey Ghost.

In 1959 my mother bought a television, a 19″ Motorola cabinet model. I can be sure of the year because I vividly remember the premiere episode of The Twilight Zone,...

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Sony Masterworks and Warner Home Video (Whv) are teaming up on a multi-tiered celebration of one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars: Doris Day. The celebration includes a new four-movie DVD package of memorable Day performance from Whv (in stores now); a brand new double CD set from Sony Masterworks (releasing April 3), with a collection of 31 songs curated by Day herself; and a five-night salute on TCM (April 2-6) This multi-pronged Doris Day tribute is timed to coincide with her birthday on April 3.

.I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Sony Music on this collection of my recordings. I sang hundreds of songs, but because I was so busy singing, I rarely had the time to be involved in the compilation of the albums. So in this collection are some of my favorites, ones that I loved singing, and I hope you like them too,...

While accepting the award for Best Comedy for Bridesmaids at the 2012 Critics Choice Awards ceremony, Judd Apatow ended his speech with the following: "Jerry Lewis [photo] once said that he didn’t think women were funny. So I’d just like to say, with all respect, fuck you." Jerry Lewis' negative comment about female comedians was made at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen in 1998. During a Q&A session with Martin Short, Lewis said "I don't like any female comedians." What about Lucille Ball, Short asked? "No. A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world." This from the guy who grew up at a time when Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Jean Arthur, Claudette Colbert, Myrna Loy, Marie Dressler,...

ZaSu Pitts and Thelma Todd, Hal Roach’s distaff comedy duo. I never thought I would own copies of rare Hal Roach comedies of the 1920s and 30s in a series of meticulously-produced DVDs…and I certainly never expected the source to be a German film archive! Filmmuseum of Munich has crafted two notable collections of silent and sound comedies, one featuring Roach’s female comedy stars (Anita Garvin & Marion Byron, from the silent period, and Thelma Todd with partners ZaSu Pitts and Patsy Kelly, from the sound era) and the other spotlighting long-neglected comedian Max Davidson. The Davidson two-reelers are rare,…...

It’s Thelma Todd day on Turner Classic Movies. As part of TCM’s "Summer Under the Stars" series, about a dozen Thelma Todd shorts are being shown this afternoon, in addition to six features this evening. [Thelma Todd schedule.] I’m unfamiliar with Todd’s film career. I’ve seen her in a few supporting roles (Roy Del Ruth‘s The Maltese Falcon, the Marx Brothers‘ Monkey Business) and that’s about it. Anyhow, since either ZaSu Pitts or Patsy Kelly can be found in most of the Thelma Todd shorts, they must be worth a look. As for this evening, the one definite recommendation I have is The Maltese Falcon / Dangerous Female (1931), which I find infinitely more entertaining than John Huston‘s celebrated 1941 remake. Pretty much everyone else will disagree, I’m sure, but that’s how it goes… Best of all is Ricardo Cortez‘s spot-on Sam Spade. Unlike Humphrey Bogart‘s tough-talking gumshoe,...