Posts about family history, film studies, and miscellaneous posts that do not fit neatly into a category.
Bulldog Drummond’s Secret Police (1939) is the second-to-last Bulldog Drummond film (affiliate link) starring John Howard as Drummond. Drummond is once again preparing for his marriage to Phyllis Clavering. As usual, the marriage plans are disrupted by the revelations of Professor Downey regarding Rockingham Towers, the Drummond Estates. The treasure of an English king is hidden in the catacombs underneath […]
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The Canary Murder Case (1929) was originally shot as a silent film. However, the Paramount Studio executive thought it would be better as a talking picture. The studio delayed the release until they could add sound to the film. The addition of sound was not without its challenges. Unfortunately, one of the main stars of the film, Louise Brooks, had […]
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I’m continuing with watching some old Alan Ladd movies that I first saw thirty years ago on American Movie Classics (AMC), when they showed classic movies. I recently watched Appointment with Danger (1950), which was as entertaining as I remembered it. Paramount Pictures released Appointment with Danger (affiliate link) in London in 1950 but didn’t release it in the United […]
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On January 29, 1940, First National Pictures, the Warner Brothers “B” film company, released the spy thriller British Intelligence (1940). The film (affiliate link) is set in Britain during World War I. Released almost two years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the film showed that Hollywood and probably most of the countries sympathies were with Britain and the Allies. […]
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My grandfather’s first cousin, Julius W. “Joe” Johannpeter, was one of St. Louis’ airplane pioneers. Julius, who was known in the family as “Punks”, joined the Air National Guard in the mid-1920s. He would be commissioned as a Lieutenant. Julius flew planes for both the military and civilian air corps. Most of the men in his unit, which included Charles […]
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On August 5, 1938, Paramount Pictures released another film (affiliate link) in the Bulldog Drummond series starring John Howard as Drummond. Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938) is one of the best films in the series primarily due to a strong cast. Besides John Howard, Heather Angel returns as Drummond’s fiance Phyllis Clavering. They are joined by series regular H. B. […]
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On May 11, 1931, Fritz Lang’s classic film M (affiliate link) was released in Berlin, Germany. Besides being on most lists for the top 100 films of all time, Fritz Lang believed his finest film was M (1931). The film is the story of a series of child murders that are occurring in Berlin. The police are determined to catch the killer […]
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The Spider Woman (1944) is the tenth Sherlock Holmes film (affiliate link) starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes is unusual for it’s villain. Gale Sondergaard plays the beautiful but deadly Spider Woman, Andrea Spedding. A number of prominent men have committed suicide in what the London newspapers were calling “The Pyjama Murders.” However, Sherlock Holmes believes the mysterious Spider Woman is […]
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Frederick William Johannpeter (1839 – 1915) was my second great grandfather on my mother’s side. He died 4 months before the birth of his grandson, Gilbert P. Ellis, who was my grandfather. Since he died before my grandfather was born, I had very limited information on him, when I started researching the family history. Grandpa didn’t have any verbal history […]
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Rosa or Rose Elker was born in St. Louis on February 5, 1890. Aunt Rose was my great-grandmother, Magdalena Elker’s, youngest sister. On Saturday, September 22, 1906, the 16-year-old Rose was walking to her job at the Plows Candy Factory in St. Louis. Aunt Rose was walking about 8 am in the morning, when she started to cross the 18th […]
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