The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Sunday, August 16, 2009

Wonderfully depraved looking James Cagney as Chester Kent surrounded by a bevy of Busby Berkeley girls in Footlight Parade. I don’t know of a more blazing, assured and out right breaking through walls with life and energy performance as shown here by Cagney as Kent. It’s like someone lit his fuse before this one started or he approached it like each day he was working on this project might be his last day on Earth. This is his all-time best performance as far as I’m concerned and the groove he finds himself in here is one that can never be touched or replicated and only admired for generations to come.

This comes from an rare original still I recently acquired that dates back to 1933. I’m extremely proud to present this restored image for fans of the film, Berkeley and Cagney.

One of the great things about the BNAT’s that Harry (@HEADGEEK666) is seeing archival prints of truly great older titles. It’s not often you get the chance to experience Footlight Parade shown on the big screen.

Related Coverage:
::: Previous Footlight Parade Movie Wallpaper

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

Vintage Movie Wallpaper of the Day
Monday, June 29, 2009

My favorite Busby Berkeley musical of those that I’ve seen and really one of the all-time great scene chomping performances from both James Cagney and Joan Blondell. They are both on fire in this outing. In this rare image we get a glimpse of wild Busby Berkeley style costumes and Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler.

Caption:
Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler and players in a scene from AAP’s Warner Bros. musical, “Footlight Parade.”

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original USA release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

The Day of the Locust is a must see movie for cinephiles. It remains to this day one of my all-time favorites and one of the more fascinating and best inside Hollywood movies ever made. So much to love and so much to admire here from the production design, storytelling, acting and lighting… and on and on… such a unique celebration of cinema mixed with an exploding cocktail of social commentary.

This marks the debut of imagery from The Day of the Locust on Cinema is Dope and surely won’t be the last that gets posted here. I think this Japanese poster which I initially didn’t warm to, is a great depiction and exploration of the film condensed down to one artistic statement and soft exclamation point.

Note to Fellow Bloggers
Now for all you fellow bloggers and fans of this movie who are looking to promote this film, I have set aside a special poster only version of this for you that is saved as a PNG file (download here). If you use this I do ask that you link back to my post here. Additionally if anyone needs this poster at a different size for promotion on their site please let me know. Usually when I do this I don’t get much credit back so if this goes well I’ll definitely consider doing this again in the future.

Related Coverage:
::: Japanese Poster Celebration Month – January 2009

Image Source:
Official artwork that was used in the original Japanese poster for the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

Mr. Jones (John Witherspoon): This is not your average hot dog stand… you know what this is? This is… Winky – Dinky – Dog!

Caption:
Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend), left) gets a speech from his boss, Mr. Jones (John Witherspoon, right), about his bright future at Winky Dinky Dog while his co-worker, Donald (Keenan Ivory Wayans, middle) looks on in “Hollywood Shuffle,” a Samuel Goldwyn Company Presentation.

Amazon.com Link: Buy the Hollywood Shuffle DVD

Photo By:
Nathaniel Bellamy

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original US release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile
::: Wiki Entry
::: Buy the Hollywood Shuffle DVD