The Official Website of

"The Magazine of the American Scene"
 
(c) 2015 The Society for
the Advancement of Education.
All Rights Reserved.
Search keyword(s): ' Wes Gehring'
 
"Heeeere's Johnny!" Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: July 2002
Forty years ago, Johnny Carson moved into America's living rooms and bedrooms as the host of NBC's "The Tonight Show."
 
"Hop" into Noir Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: January 2018
His paintings are like cinema freeze-frames, in which the viewer feels he or she voyeuristically is stealing a fleeting private moment from an often isolated, forlorn individual under glass.. . .
 
"I Love Lucy" Turns 50 Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: September 2001
The show's impact is evidenced by the fact that, in 1953, "67% of American homes tuned in every Monday night--a figure which probably never again will be approached (for a season), given the multitude of channels now available."
 
"Jezebel" Tackles a Pandemic Wes. D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: May 2020
"[The 1938 movie] was fairly accurate for its day, although, in the end, paints a somewhat varnished perspective [of the yellow fever outbreak]."
 
"The Honeymooners" Turns 50 Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: November 2001
A half-century after they first arrived on TV screens, Ralph and Alice Kramden and Ed Norton continue to delight audiences on countless late-night reruns.
 
A Cuppy-ful of Laughter--and Sorrow Wes D. Gehring
Category: Mass Media Published: September 2011
Author of The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody and other darkly comic works, humorist Will Cuppy ultimately took his own life, but not before delighting readers with his biting and, at time, nihilistic wit.
 
A Proper Pedestal for Pollack Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: July 2020
"[Sydney Pollack] never has received the consistency of theme status of an ameteur. Instead, he has been given that lefthanded compliment of creating films known for their proverbial 'wonderful workmanship.' "
 
America's Misunderstood Patriot Wes D. Gehring
Category: USA Yesterday Published: July 2011
When Charlie Chaplin was denigrated by narrow-minded, history-impaired "love-it-or-leave-it" type Americans, his victimizaiton showed, as in so much of life, that the enemy quite often is on this side of the fence. . . .
 
An Old-Fashioned Hero Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: November 2018
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the American Film Institute selecting the 100 Greatest Heroes in cinema history. Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) in "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962) topped the list.
 
Analyzing Those Movies within Movies Wes D. Gehring
Category: Mass Media Published: November 2010
". . . Although critics sometimes are accused of 'reading' too much into a film, there often is a great deal hidden in plain sight."
 
Baseball Diamonds Are a Girl's (and Boy's) Best (and Most Devout) Friend Wes D. Gehring
Category: Sportscene Published: March 2016
"I've tried 'em all--I really have--and the church that feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the church of baseball."
 
Blacklist Beauties Worth Savoring Wes D. Gehring
Category: Mass Media Published: May 2012
The beauty of "High Noon" and "Kiss Me Deadly," as in all art that taps into universal truths, is that the viewer could miss every metaphorical McCarthy-era Cold War subtext and still savor the films on a purely mind candy entertainment level.
 
Bunny to Buster: Beyond Just Bookends to Silent Film Comedy Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: September 2016
"While [John] Bunny helped inaugurate the silent screen clown, Buster Keaton later became the only real artistic rival to Charlie Chaplin's alter ego Tramp."
 
Capraesque Curtis Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: January 2020
The breakout pictures for both Frank Capra and Richard Curtis were screwball comedies -"It Happened One Night" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral," respectively. Both films demonstrate a closing element to the genre - wedding breakups with the wrong people.
 
Dancing to Screwball Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: May 2018
Turner Classic Movies once again will be offering a free online summer class for film aficionados.
 
Defining Screwball Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: May 2022
". . . . For many 1930s critics, ["My Man Godfrey"] represented [an] obvious starting point for the genre."
 
Don't Rain on "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: November 2019
The Academy Award-winning song, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," proves a mystery and a marvel in the legendary Paul Newman and Robert Redford Western.
 
Everybody Loves Lou (and Coop, Too) Wes D. Gehring
Category: Mass Media Published: September 2010
"The Pride of the Yankees," with populist prototype Gary Cooper playing Lou Gehrig, the iconic Iron Horse, still has the ability to make grown men cry.
 
Genres of the Fantastic Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertaiment Published: May 2021
"Under this provocative parasol of genres of the fantastic, the most-significant solemn literacy texts have come from horror."
 
Getting Serious Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: January 2009
". . . The strongest argument for letting comedians play darker parts is that, despite the stereotype concerning tragedy's superiority, many would argue that comedy is more significant."
 
Hitch Had His "Doubts" Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: March 2018
 
Hollywood Hits a Homer: A Bonanza of Baseball Movies Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: March 2001
Warm up for the new season with more than a century's worth of ballpark films.
 
Hollywood's Dilemma About Posthumous Releases Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: May 2003
Audiences' reactions to films distributed after the death of their stars have reflected mixed results.
 
If the Shoe Fits . . . Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: September 2021
"Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?"
 
James Dean: 50 Years After his Death Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: May 2005
The actor "was not the aimless angst-ridden youth he played in the movies. . . . He was not that suffering, rudderless figure in real life."
 
M*A*S*H Turns 30 Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: September 2002
The TV series' dark comedy was a paean to the ludicrousness of war.
 
Magical Movie Ad-Libs Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: January 2001
In 10 notable films, an improvisation added unexpected spice to the script.
 
Make Way for Tomorrow Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: September 2020
"For all of the film's tearjerker traits . . . the movie also functions as a poignant love story of equal nontraditional dimensions. How often does this genre have a focus romantic couple where each partner is 70-plus years old?"
 
On the Road Again Wes D. Gehring
Category: Cinema Published: January 2012
". . . However you choose to 'read' your road movie map, may all your film trips be enlightening."
 
Populism's Grand Old Game Wes D. Gehring
Category: Athletic Arena Published: March 2020
The one constant through all the years has been baseball. America has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again--but baseball has marked this time. The game is a part of our past and reminds us of all that once was, and that could be again.
 
Remember When?...Well, It Never Happened Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: March 2019
"Who are you going to believe, me, or your own eyes?"
 
Revisionist History Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: March 2020
Quentin Tarantino has put--as is his wont--a provocative twist on history with "Once Upon a Time . . . In Hollywood."
 
Screwballs of the Silver Screen: A Treasured Comedy Genre Turns 70 Wes Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: March 2004
The 1934 releases of "It Happened One Night" and "Twentieth Century" launched Hollywood into an era of madcap zaniness that endures to this day.
 
Seious About Superheroes Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: September 2018
Fantasy is best considered with the sister genres of horror and science fiction. The world of Marvel Comics really falls under the umbrella of fantasy.
 
Smoke 'em if you Got 'em Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: July 2018
Elaborate cigarette ads involving movie stars is unthinkable today.
 
Teaming Up to Be Funny Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: November 2016
The gang's all here: Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, Hope and Crosby, and Martin and Lewis."
 
The Beckoning of a Beatle Land Book Wes D. Gehring
Category: Literary Scene Published: January 2021
The Beatles could have done a cinema variation on the Marx brothers. The twist is that the Marxes acted surreal in a sane world, while the Beatles attempted to maintain sanity in a world gone mad.
 
The Darker the Merrier Wes D. Gehring
Category: Mass Media Published: March 2012
Dexter is a serial killer in a cable television program that evokes the best elements of cinima's persistent pursuit of black comedy.
 
The Many Talented Men of "The Third Man" Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: November 2021
This film noir "has attracted attention for breaking the old maxim of 'too many cooks spoil the broth.' "
 
The Miracle Behind "The Miracle" Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: January 2015
Preston Sturges always was predisposed to skewering Populist films--and there is no better example than "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek."
 
The Politics of Political Films Wes D. Gehring
Category: Mass Media Published: September 2008
As Mark Twain once observed, "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."
 
The Shadow of 1957 Wes D. Gehring
Category: Mass Media Published: January 2017
"Today, every year seems life 1957, except now the warning often appears to apply more to political products. Satire can be a savior here, but it would help if the human herd seemingly did not so need this empty prattle."
 
The Supposed "Bull" in "Bull Durham" Wes D. Gehring
Category: Athletic Arena Published: July 2019
"Appearing on 'Late Night with David Letterman,' [Yankee Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle] saw this comedy coming along more tragic lines, since there were so many deserving Crash Davises who never did make the majors--not even for a cup of coffee."
 
The Tramp's Influence on Television Wes D. Gehring
Category: Entertainment Published: July 2015
"… Three of [TV's] iconic figures (Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, and Dick Van Dyke) have character-defining material drawn directly from 'Modern Times.'"
 
When It Comes from the Heart Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: March 2021
It is much easier to embrace a filmmaker whose private time often is spent on activities to which one has strong beliefs. Naturally, this link between the actor and the view is further reinforced if the artist's true passion s bleed into the work.
 
Whose Song Is It? Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: July 2021
Popular music constantly is being redifined on the silver screen.
 
Words of Past Images Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: September 2017
 
Wordsmithing the Movies Wes D. Gehring
Category: Reel World Published: May 2022
"Though a picture might be worth 1,000 words, a simple phrase can assemble an ocean of words between [book] covers."