“Laura” Noir From The Page to The Big Screen

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In celebration of a new season of You Must Remember This, the podcast’s award-winning creator and host Karina Longworth introduces the Mill Valley Film Festival’s screening of Laura with opening remarks sure to deepen our appreciation and understanding of Otto Preminger’s classic 1944 noir. The showing wil be on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 3:00 at the Lark Theatre.  Info and tickets here.

For film buffs and literature lovers alike, Turner Classic Movies presents an essential guide to 40 cinematic classics and the enduring love stories that have served as their heart-tugging inspiration. We are proud to present Kristen Lopez’s chapter on the classic film noir Laura from her new book, “But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition:40 Love Stories That Inspired Our Favorite Films.”

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Critic’s Corner – An Animated “Magnificent Life”

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The new feature film A Magnificent Life is an animated biography of the great French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol. His first successes on film were “The Marseille Trilogy” composed of Marius, Fanny, and César. He continued making movies, adapting some for stage and writing numerous books that have also been adapted to screen by others such as the popular Manon of the Springs, Jean de Florette, My Father’s Glory, and My Mother’s Castle.starring many of the best actors in French cinema.

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Cooking with the “IT!” Girl

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A Supper with Clara Bow curated by Jenny Hammerton.                                                             (March 17, 2026)

I’ve been collecting the favorite recipes of movie stars and trying them out, for over 25 years.  There are a surprising amount of weird and wonderful signature dishes on record in books, magazines and advertising ephemera and my culinary collection now numbers over 10,000.  My favourite celebrity chefs are Vincent Price, Sophia Loren and Yul Brynner, but I have an enduring love for recipes shared by stars of the silent era too.

To celebrate the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s showing of Clara Bow in “It” at the restored Castro Theatre on Sunday, March 22 accompanied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra,  I offer you a menu of Clara favorite recipes.  Full screening info and to buy tickets here. 

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Clara Bow Runnin’ Wild- On Making “IT”

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By David Stenn

(Editor’s note:The San Francisco Silent Film Festival will return to the restored Castro Theatre on Sunday, March 22 at 7pm with Clara Bow in “IT” live accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. Information and tickets here.  Best selling author David Stenn shares his chapter on the making of “IT” and we have added a gallery of stunning images at the end.)

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Gerald Peary, A RELUCTANT FILM CRITIC

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A sharp, funny, and deeply engaging memoir, A Reluctant Film Critic traces Gerald Peary’s unlikely journey from a bookish, movie-obsessed boy in small-town America to one of the country’s most distinctive critical voices. Told in vivid, fast-moving vignettes, it’s a story of curiosity, rebellion, and discovery—of a life spent both inside and outside the darkened cinema.  EatDrinkFilms is proud to present an excerpt from the fascinating interview by Bill Marx that concludes the book. Continue reading →

Charlie Was My Co-Pilot- Celebrating Chaplin Days

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By Gary Meyer. (May 13, 2025)

“A day without laughter is a day wasted” -Charlie Chaplin

I can’t imagine a more wonderful spring weekend than the Charlie Chaplin Days in Niles (Fremont), California, May 16-18. Starting with a tour of Eugene O’Neill’s house where Chaplin’s wife Oona grew up, the celebration includes plenty of restored Chaplin films made by the Essanay Studio on the big screen  with audiences laughing uncontrollably at times. There are live presentations, rare footage and photos seen for the first time since they were made, walking tours, rides on a vintage diesel train, and the annual Charlie Look-Alike Contest. Continue reading →

Music Hath Charms

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San Francisco’s A Day of Silents Features a Stellar Lineup of Musicians and Films on Sunday, February 2, 2025.

by Meredith Brody.                                                         (January 28,2025)

The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. Photo by Pamela Gentile.

You’ve all heard that silent movies really weren’t SILENT: they all had live musical accompaniment, ranging from a solitary guy at an upright piano or a mighty Wurlitzer to up-to-110-member symphonic orchestras. When Carmine Coppola was about to go on tour in 1981 to conduct his new score for his son Francis Ford Coppola’s restoration of Abel Gance’s 1927 Napoleon, he reminisced about the silent movie palaces of his youth: “”When I was really young,” Mr. Coppola recalled, ”I would go to Broadway to see a movie. I remember  The Thief of Bagdad, with Douglas Fairbanks; he always insisted on an original score. Those theaters – the Strand, the Rialto, the Rivoli, the Capitol – had 40-or 50-piece orchestras. It was so beautiful. I saw the Big Parade that way and What Price Glory and The Three Musketeers. ”

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