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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
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- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on March 2026 Snapshots
- sheila on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
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- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Maddy on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- sheila on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
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- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: Mildred Dunnock
My talk at the old Memphian Theatre: Elvis in Hollywood
When Indie Memphis senior programmer Miriam Bale asked if I wanted to give a talk on Elvis during my time in Memphis, I was excited, but when I heard it was going to be in the Circuit, it felt almost … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, Music
Tagged Ann-Margret, Elvis Presley, Hal Wallis, Kurt Russell, Michael Curtiz, Mildred Dunnock, Tuesday Weld
24 Comments
For Film Comment: Elvis, Actor
I am so happy to sing the praises for Film Comment‘s TCM Diary of an acting career that has been ignored, dismissed, scorned, from the jump. I’ve written about Elvis’ acting a lot here on my site, but rarely anywhere … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, Music
Tagged Elvis Presley, Errol Flynn, Hal Wallis, King Creole, Live a Little Love a Little, Love Me Tender, Mildred Dunnock, reviews, Viva Las Vegas
10 Comments
Tonight: The Core Club: Screening of Something Wild (1961)
I’m honored to moderate a QA session tonight at the Core Club with director Jack Garfein after a screening of his long-forgotten (but not anymore) masterpiece Something Wild, starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker (with Mildred Dunnock in a small … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Carroll Baker, drama, Jack Garfein, Mildred Dunnock, Ralph Meeker, Something Wild
4 Comments
Announcement: Something Wild (1961): Criterion Collection DVD-Blu-Ray release, January 17, 2017
So honored to have been asked to write the essay for Criterion’s release of Jack Garfein’s forgotten 1961 masterpiece, Something Wild. Developed independently, using Actors Studio people in the lead roles (Carroll Baker, Ralph Meeker, and Mildred Dunnock), Something Wild … Continue reading
Death of a Salesman (1951)
If you’ve read Arthur Miller’s Timebends then you know he was not happy with the 1951 film version of Death of a Salesman, with most of the original Broadway cast (Mildred Dunnock, Kevin McCarthy, Cameron Mitchell), and Fredric March in … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, drama, Fredric March, literary adaptation, Mildred Dunnock, reviews, Timebends
3 Comments
Elvis Dispatch #4: Love Me Tender (1956)
“and introducing Elvis Presley” reads the credits for Love Me Tender, Presley’s debut as an actor, and it would be the only time in his movie career that he didn’t get top billing. The script had been kicking around Hollywood … Continue reading

