We’re number two! Thoughts on the Big Parade George Seminara During the silent era, there were two big films! Massive films! Two movies earned such impressive money at the box office that most films pale in comparison. The exact figure isn't known, but it's a safe bet that both of these pictures earned over six million dollars at the box office. That's right, Six Million Simoleons! Six million smackers - more! We don't know exactly how much money because that's Hollywood book

It's mighty hot. Let's go to the beach and sample some of the titillations from 1912-1928 or thereabouts. Legend has it that early film pioneer and Canadian Mack Sennett was reading the newspaper in the bathtub. Evidently, with his body partially submerged in cool water where his brain was most relaxed, his best ideas would pop into his skull, like the Keystone Cops and the Little Rascals. On one early summer's day, he was struck by a lightning bolt of an idea in the tub read

A recent viewing of 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE (1955) starring Kerwin Mathews, Kim Novak, Brian Keith and Guy Madison triggered a Google search for the actor who will always be the definitive Sinbad in my mind. The search yielded nothing I didn't already know. Or, in all candor, had forgotten and was again reminded. There was one thing that did catch my eye, though. It was a footnote buried on his Wikipedia page referencing an online-only entry by Janesville (Wisconsin) Gazette repo

It's that time of year where here at the It Came From Hollywood offices (both the Alabama & Illinois locations, mind you), where we set aside the first hour and 35 minutes of the business day, every July 22nd, and force what few employees we still have to watch Universal Pictures 1983 magnum opus, Jaws 3-D. We adore the serendipity of Jaws 3-D so much that we sometimes even watch the movie on other days besides every July 22nd. I honestly can't recall what days they are, but

On July 16, 2017, George A. Romero passed away after a battle with lung cancer. On the 5th anniversary of his death, I have some thoughts I'd like to share about George, along with some cool trade ads It was five years ago today that I lost George Romero. You lost him as well. We all did, and yes, it is true, that old saying which people love to banty about, "but we have all of his wonderful films." Very accurate, but I wanted the guy to stay on the planet forever. Why? It ju

Get it now. Get it later. But...get it! After the wild success of Halloween in 1978 and then 1980’s ultra-gory Friday the 13th, there was no denying the box office potential of the low-budget slasher movies. Parents hated them, critics despised they and teens flocked to them, making the biggest hits from the minor productions. It was a perfect time to be a movie fan, as video cassettes entered the market and video stores blossomed in every street corner. Cable television also

X (2022) All I knew about this one going into it was what I thought was the basic premise, late 70’s porn filmmakers in Texas run into a family of psychos. Come to find out, that was spot on while simultaneously being so off the mark. This film exceeded any expectations I may have had coming into it. Yes, it’s about a small group of filmmakers in Texas who want to cash in on the lucrative adult movie market. Yes, they go out into the middle of nowhere to shoot in a secluded c

Is Hollywood a place or a state of mind? The answer= It's a cool tee-shirt! Don't just read it...wear it. It Came From Hollywood tee-shirts available now. https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/31487551-it-came-from-hollywood-the-logo?store_id=1496667

When legendary film journalist Joe Kane passed away in November 2020, I had the opportunity to talk at length with his wife, Nancy Naglin. At first, the discussion concerned what could be done with The Phantom's vast archives of movie stills, press kits, and slides that he had accumulated throughout the first decade of publishing The Phantom of the Movies Videoscope magazine from 1991 to the early 2000s. My business partner Rob Freese had thrown my name out to her as a guy wh

Throughout history, Hollywood has presented us with a collection of performers that defy classification, in my opinion, as human. Are they Aliens? Gods? Mutants? Who knows, but they still make us pay attention. Even after they depart from the mortal plane, we are still fascinated. Mae West was a genius. Her ability to make innuendo an art form makes her unique in American history. Many try, but few succeed. Years ago, I worked on a project about her and her fabled Broadway pr