Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Charles Ettinger for October 22, 2017

Deep in the bowels of the Lyric, Nitrates hide away

Out of sight they hope they might escape another day.

Hide out in the Panic Room, equipped with a film projector

Escape to sunny paradise. Idle idyll conjecture.

Casablanca playing now, a classic soon replaced

Midnite Mirror drawing nearer, Tracy’s foes disgraced.

Up high upon the silver screen see Shaky, Pruneface, Shoulders

Criminals of some renown, yet a corpse so soon it molders

When one has learned crime does not pay and met a violent end

Gunplay with Tracy goes so wrong with wounds that shall not mend.

So pop some corn and grab a seat. Take in a double feature

Down on the Range things may get strange. Nitrate is one bad creature.

We’ve the title of yet another ”Vista Bill” adventure to contemplate.

Goodbye Caribbean! The Nitrates are going to re-enact some scenes in the Midnight Mirror. The movie premiere will be a very explosive event.

So, the cult movie that was under production two years ago will be playing. Things are going to be busy at the Lyric.

The “stars” should all be out for the premiere — and I really hope they’re joined by the “Moons”.

Surprised that the movie actually was finished, what with all the actors who were murdered during its production.

I’ve seen this before. In an episode of “Felix The Cat”(TV cartoons), Rock Bottom runs out of a theater when he sees Felix on the big screen. And in “Charlie Chan And The Curse Of The Dragon Queen,” Charlie and company pursue the culprit during a Charlie Chan film festival!

Down on the Range (1953, dir. Marvin Jackson): Starring Vista Bill, Vitamin Flintheart and Jane Wyman. Blazing, six-boostered, rip-roaring tale of the wild and lawless early days of America’s missile development program. (“Down range” – get it?) Shot on location at White Sands in New Mexico, this was a change-of-pace role for all actors concerned. Flintheart, especially, found the jargon of rocketry tough to master, as was trying to lose his “thespian voice” in favor of sounding more like test pilots such as Chuck Yeager. (“Medicine was far easier,” he would write in his memoirs.) German-Austrian actor Curt Jergens had an early role (billed as David Liebens) playing Wehrner von Braun. Being that the subject matter would not achieve public consciousness until the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union five years later, the film did not perform well at the box office. Much of this was blamed on director Jackson’s choice in his first directorial assignment of casting actors who were more accustomed to old-school westerns in the lead roles. (Flintheart: “It was the first time I ever heard the phrase, You’ll never work in this town again! shouted by film producers.”) Even after the triumph of the Apollo Program, it was a difficult title to find in most film catalogs. However, it is available on DVD if you know where to look. Your best bet is the “one trick pony” or “Extreme Cult” sections.

Wow! I’m speechless!

Good morning guys!

What a day to oversleep the starting whistle! A very pleasant 83rd birthday week intro. Thanks, Mike and Joe for remembering! Happy days are here again! I’m on!

So, when Silver sees Tracy, he’ll see red?

Now there’s some markings at the side of Sprocket’s mouth. It looks sort of like initials.

In answer to your question, Silver…no.

Where are Gweedo and JPuzzleWhiz on this momentous day?

“Casablanca,” one of the all-time greats of the cinema, followed by a midnight cult potboiler like “Midnite Mirror”?! The management of the refurbished Lyric is really doing some adventuresome programming. I wonder how ticket sales are going for both, and in comparison? And, I hope Silver can keep from acting out at the Tracy flick: that could lead to his capture (or worse)….

We’re currently tied with “Luann” for number of comments today.

[ Luann’s Sundays are one-off gags, not feeding into ongoing storylines. ]

lol bowels