Leonard Maltin

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Juicy AFI Photos!

By Leonard Maltin
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June 17, 2010 9:13 AM
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Meryl Streep poses with her Silkwood costar Cher

By Leonard Maltin
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June 16, 2010 6:16 AM
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Mike Nichols being honored by the American Film Institute

By Leonard Maltin
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June 7, 2010 5:59 AM
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2 Comments

I sacrificed a “scoop” on today’s exciting news about the cache of rare American films discovered in (and now being repatriated from) New Zealand, because I’m part of the National Film Preservation Board and didn’t think it was right to undermine The New York Times, NPR, et al.

By Leonard Maltin
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June 7, 2010 1:39 AM
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5 Comments

Dorothy poses with "Uncle Bob" McGowan, the co-creator and primary director of Our Gang.

By Leonard Maltin
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June 3, 2010 6:26 AM
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4 Comments

Last week my wife and I took a road trip to the Grand Canyon, which I would recommend to anyone who hasn’t done it. I had one experience, however, that set me apart from most other tourists: during a stop in the midst of a river rafting trip down the Colorado River my wife’s cell phone rang. It was the CBS Radio Network in New York City asking if I could comment about the death of Art Linkletter. Which I did. (The cell reception was crystal clear, and our Navajo guide was kind enough not to restart his outboard motor until I finished my conversation.)

By Leonard Maltin
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May 31, 2010 12:17 PM
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2 Comments

Mary Blair now has her own website. This is a giant leap forward for a woman whose name was virtually unknown to the general public during her lifetime, but whose reputation has grown with each passing year. Walt Disney had the highest regard for her work, and her bold use of color and charming character designs had a profound influence on a number of movies we all saw (including Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan) and attractions we attended at Disneyland, notably It’s a Small World. Insiders and colleagues knew how talented she was, but it’s only in recent years that her name has come to the forefront among animation aficionados. John Canemaker’s book The Art and Flair of Mary Blair (Disney Editions, 2003) had a lot to do with that; nowadays, her original artwork commands lofty prices at animation auctions. She was also part of the Disney tour to—

By Leonard Maltin
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May 30, 2010 4:00 AM
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2 Comments

I’m hesitant to publish links to YouTube on a regular basis for two reasons: the dubious legality of some posts, and the guilt I feel by encouraging you to idle away untold hours of time on this hypnotic site. But I can’t resist calling your attention to a series of short pieces that Orson Welles filmed for the BBC in 1955 under the title Orson Welles’ Sketchbook. I had never seen, or even heard of, these on-camera essays until someone called them to my attention.

By Leonard Maltin
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May 29, 2010 4:00 AM
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1 Comment

Cartoonist J. Stuart Blackton in front of the 1900 drawing that magically comes to life.

By Leonard Maltin
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May 26, 2010 5:14 AM
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0 Comments

This is a momentous week for me: we’ve just finished the new edition of my annual paperback Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide—the 2011 Edition, to be specific. In this era of instant communication the process of writing, editing, and preparing a book seems quaint at best, and cumbersome at worst, but our book is still alive and well, and (I’m happy to say) has a healthy audience around the world. (I use the editorial “we” advisedly, since this has always been a team effort. Some of my collaborators have been working on this book for thirty years or more. If I didn’t have their input I’d be lost.)

Every spring becomes a high-stress period for me and my colleagues as we become mired in fact-checking details (the spelling of a Czech actor’s name, the running time of an unrated DVD version of a popular hit, etc.) and making sure someone on our team has seen every major new release. Then there are additions, corrections, and changes to the existing entries, which never end.

But when I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, sometime in early May, I start to breathe. I’ve actually—

By Leonard Maltin
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May 13, 2010 4:16 AM
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9 Comments

If you ask my daughter, there’s only one Robin Hood that matters: the Disney animated feature from 1973 with Phil Harris (channeling Baloo the Bear from The Jungle Book) in the role of Little John. If you ask me or most of my film-buff pals we’ll reflexively point to Errol Flynn in the ageless Technicolor swashbuckler The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), as perfect a movie as one could ever ask for, with superb production values and a cast that can’t be beat. Yet I wonder if some moviegoers in 1938 approached that film grumbling that no one could replace Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. After all, Fairbanks was the movies’ first great swashbuckler, and he put his indelible brand on such characters as Zorro, D’Artagnan, and Robin Hood. (Indeed, in his New York Times review on May 13, 1938, Frank S. Nugent was obliged to observe, “Mr. Flynn is not the acrobatic Robin Douglas Fairbanks was some years ago. He doesn’t slide down tapestries or vault the balustrades with—

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Juicy AFI Photos!

Hobnobbing With The Stars

A Lost Charlie Chaplin Film—Found!

Farewell To A Member Of Our Gang

On The Obit Watch

A Disney Artist Comes Into Her Own

Orson Welles—At Ease

Animation Rarities Online

Catching Up

Remembering Other Robin Hoods

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