Reflections on music, movies, TV, sports, American History, and other stuff.

by Jim McAllister "Screwball" comedy was popular in Hollywood films from about 1934 until the early 1940's. Last November I de...

CARY GRANT and ROSALIND RUSSELL in HIS GIRL FRIDAY . Classic "screwball" in this remake of THE FRONT PAGE . Fast paced and funny. ...

What were the screwball comedies about? The word "screwball" came about in the early 20th century and meant "crazy" or ...

WILLIAM POWELL and CAROLE LOMBARD in MY MAN GODFREY . Made in 1936, it was a good example of "screwball" commentary with its portr...

When watching a screwball comedy, one will notice that although there is a lot of sexual innuendo, there isn’t much in the way of sex. Had t...

CLAUDETTE COLBERT and CLARK GABLE in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT . Gable was loaned to poverty row Columbia Pictures by MGM as punishment for aski...

William Powell and Myrna Loy starred in "The Thin Man" series of six films produced between 1934 and 1947. These entries exemplifi...

WILLIAM POWELL and MYRNA LOY in THE THIN MAN . The popular pair starred in five other Thin Man movies. These films had most of the attribute...

A lot of popular character actors inhabited these movies too. Among them were Edward Everett Horton, the above mentioned Walter Connolly, Fr...

(Author's note: This article was originally published on April 27, 2005 in the INDEPENDENT . I was fascinated by the story of the gho...

DR. HAROLD LAYNOR... a member of the American 23rd Special Troops of World War II. Photo taken in France, 1944. (Courtesy Laynor Museum)

The most unique part of this already unique group was the composition of its members. Many of these men were already famous as artists, scul...

One of the 23rd Special Troops deception items: A dummy plane used in France to deceive the enemy (Courtesy Laynor Museum)

The ghost army consisted of 82 officers and 1,023 enlisted men. With their eclectic mixture of talents, they were strictly in the deception ...

One of Dr. Harold Laynor's paintings from World War II titled "YOUNG G.I." (Courtesy Laynor Museum)

Although these brave men were involved in at least twenty other confrontations with the enemy, their biggest contribution was probably at th...

BILL BLASS (1922-2002)...The famous fashion designer as seen in 1972. He was a member of the American "ghost army" of World War I...

Like the above mentioned celebrities participating in the 23rd, Dr. Laynor was highly distinguished in his field. Although he used primarily...

by Jim McAllister Once upon a time in America couples actually touched each other while dancing. Not only that, if you really got into ...

Jitterbugging in Harlem in 1939. (Museum of City of New York, Sid Grossman, photographer)