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John R. Countryman, who billed as the child actor Johnny Russell appeared in films with Barbara Stanwyck, Tyrone Power, Shirley Temple and Jimmy Stewart before serving as a U.S. diplomat and ambassador in the Middle East and Africa, has died. He was 91.

Countryman died Dec. 14 in Loudoun, Virginia, after a short bout with pneumonia, his daughter, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Secretary Vanessa Countryman, told The Hollywood Reporter.

In the biggest role of his brief acting career, Russell portrayed Tyltyl, the younger brother of Temple’s Mytyl, in the fantasy film The Blue Bird (1940), which was Fox’s answer to MGM’s The Wizard of Oz, released a year earlier. In a dream, the two kids set out on on a series of adventures.

Temple’s mother, Gertrude, was reportedly unhappy that her daughter was sharing so much screen time with the adorable Russell and sought to have him replaced,...

At the dawn of television, most shows were filmed in black and white. Often the trademark to an "old show," black and white was the standard in television until roughly the 1960s and 1970s. While some contemporary viewers may be turned off by black and white sitcoms, they can truly be missing out.

Some of the greatest sitcoms ever made have been in black and white. In fact, many of television's earliest shows are still hailed as the gold standard in the genre. Since many of these shows remain in syndication, they have reached generations and generations of viewers and have certainly outlived the introduction of color into television.

Mister Ed Debuted in Syndication Before Primetime Mister Ed debuted in syndication before moving to primetime. The show went to great lengths to keep the voice of Mister Ed under wraps. Mister Ed was played by Bamboo Harvester, an American Saddlebred/part-Arabian horse.

Inner Sanctum Mysteries—Franchise Collection

Blu ray

Mill Creek Entertainment

1943, 1944, 1945 / 63, 64, 61, 62, 66 Min. / 1.33:1

Starring Lon Chaney Jr., J. Carroll Naish, Evelyn Ankers

Cinematography by Virgil Miller, Paul Ivano, Maury Gertsman

Directed by Reginald LeBorg, Harold Young, John Hoffman, Wallace Fox

For the first eight years of his career, Lon Chaney Jr. was just a face in the crowd—that all changed with 1939’s Of Mice and Men. The role of Lennie Small, a man-child who didn’t know his own strength, elevated the 33 year old actor to stardom but also typecast him as the perennial victim of circumstances—a B movie Hamlet. Offscreen, Chaney behaved more like Falstaff—his favorite pastimes were drinking, brawling, and more drinking. If Hollywood began to view him as a loose cannon, the actor sealed his own fate when he signed on as Larry Talbot, a discontented aristocrat who was more at home baying at the moon.

Veteran William Wellman directed this pre-Code thriller that puts an average New York family at odds with a pack of ruthless gangsters. It’s a 1931 tale of drive-by shootings, witness intimidation and child kidnapping — just one year later, movies about child kidnappings were banned, after the tragedy of the Lindbergh baby. Walter Huston is the rather ruthless District Attorney, and the ex-vaudeville funny man Chic Sale plays an old codger that shows his family what Good Americanism really means — the show could serve as a surly critique of what passes for law and order and good citizenship now.

The Star Witness

DVD

The Warner Archive Collection

1931 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 68 min. / Street Date March 12, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 19.99

Starring: Walter Huston, Charles ‘Chic’ Sale, Frances Starr, Grant Mitchell, Sally Blane, Edward J. Nugent, Dickie Moore, Nat Pendleton, George Ernest, Russell Hopton, Allan Lane.

Cinematography: James Van Trees

Film Editor:...

We were saddened by the news that Gandalf's faithful grey horse Shadowfax - real name Blanco - had died after suffering from an illness last week.

So we thought we'd take the opportunity to stop mourning and instead celebrate Shadowfax and ten other great fictional horses on TV and the silver screen below:

1. Silver

"Hi-Yo Silver! Away!" were the trademark commands of the Lone Ranger to Silver, the magnificent fictional white stallion from the iconic Us radio show and TV series.

A chestnut mare called Dusty was Silver's original predecessor, which is revealed in the 1938 episode The Legend of Silver. When the Lone Ranger saves Silver's life from a savage buffalo, Silver gives up living in the wild, wild west to instead carry the masked former Texas Ranger as his loyal equestrian companion.

2. Seabiscuit

"Let's go, Pops!" Seabiscuit was a real racehorse during the Great Depression in the Us who...

We were saddened by the news that Gandalf's faithful grey horse Shadowfax - real name Blanco - had died after suffering from an illness last week.

So we thought we'd take the opportunity to stop mourning and instead celebrate Shadowfax and ten other great fictional horses on TV and the silver screen below:

1. Silver

"Hi-Yo Silver! Away!" were the trademark commands of the Lone Ranger to Silver, the magnificent fictional white stallion from the iconic Us radio show and TV series.

A chestnut mare called Dusty was Silver's original predecessor, which is revealed in the 1938 episode The Legend of Silver. When the Lone Ranger saves Silver's life from a savage buffalo, Silver gives up living in the wild, wild west to instead carry the masked former Texas Ranger as his loyal equestrian companion.

2. Seabiscuit

"Let's go, Pops!" Seabiscuit was a real racehorse during the Great Depression in the Us who...

A horse is a horse, of course, of course as Fox 2000 confirms they will develop the 1960's TV sitcom "Mister Ed" as a big screen comedic feature, to be produced by Jim Mahoney.

The original Filmways, CBS TV series, featured 'Mister Ed', a palomino horse (Bamboo Harvester) who could talk (Allan Lane) and his owner, eccentric architect 'Wilbur Post' (Alan Young).

The show was derived from a series of short stories by author Walter R. Brooks ("Freddie The Pig"), that debuted in the September 1937 issue of Liberty Magazine with the story "The Talking Horse".

Most of the humor stemmed from the fact Mister Ed would speak only to Wilbur, a concept also similar to a series of low-budget 1950's "Francis the Talking Mule" features.

Legend had it that the crew were able to get Mister Ed to move his mouth by applying peanut butter to his gums in...

Every favorite television show will eventually be adapted on to the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox 2000 has picked up the film rights to adapt the lovable talking horse “Mr. Ed” into a live action family film. Fox 2000 will use a real horse for production and use CGI to animate the horse’s mouth when he speaks. “Mr. Ed” is a television show aired from 1961 to 1966 and is about a palomino horse who could talk and his eccentric klutzy owner Wilbur Post. Mr. Ed was voiced by Allan Lane and Wilbur Post was played by Alan Young. Fox 2000 has not announced a writer or director for this project. Fox 2000’s Carla Hackan will produce the “Mr. Ed” adaption. Here is the opening theme from the classic “Mr. Ed” television show below: Source: The Hollywood Reporter...

Horses are big right now. Secretariat had a decent run, Steven Spielberg is preparing to poke our tear ducts and pluck our heartstrings with stirring drama War Horse, and if the thing ever gets made, The Lone Ranger promises blockbuster horseplay. So it seems only natural for Fox 2000 to have snapped up the film rights to chatty nag Mr Ed.For those unacquainted with the eloquent equine, Mr Ed was the star of the titular Us sitcom that ran between 1961 and 1966, featuring Alan Young as Wilbur Post, his owner, and Allan Lane as the voice of the horse (of course). You can pretty much guess what happened in most episodes: Ed’s talkative ways get him and Wilbur into trouble and everyone else reacts. Cue audience laugh-spasms and solid ratings.Little Miss Sunshine producer David Friendly has spotted the apparent need for a new take on this highest-of-high concepts and...

Fox 2000 is planning to develop a big screen version of the 1960s TV series, "Mr Ed," which chronicled the adventures of a talking horse. The new film will feature a real horse with a CG-animated mouth. Producers will soon begin their search for a writer. "It's always the perfect time for a four-quadrant family movie," said producers David Friendly and Jim Mahoney. "Those are the movies that have the strongest pull. As a producer, I try to envision the poster and this one looks pretty good coming from the studio behind 'Marley and Me' and 'Alvin and the Chipmunks.'" The original series aired on CBS from 1961 to 1966. Allan Lane voiced the horse, while Alan Young portrayed his owner, Wilbur Post. "Mr. Ed" Theme Song:...

Fox 2000 has plans to bring the 1960's sitcom Mister Ed to the big screen, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter . The original series, which ran for six seasons, celebrated the 50th anniversary of its pilot broadcast last Saturday. The show starred Alan Young as Wilbur Post, an architect who winds up owning a talking horse, Mister Ed (voiced by Allan Lane) that tends to speak only to him, constantly putting Wilbur in embarrassing situations. Jim Mahoney is set to produce the adaptation, of which few details are currently known outside of the fact that Ed will be a real horse with CGI lip movements.

Lucille Ball, Easy to Wed Lucille Ball Centennial on TCM: Stage Door, Best Foot Forward Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Du Barry Was A Lady (1943) A night club employee dreams he's Louis Xv, and the star he idolizes is his lady love. Dir: Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly. C-101 mins. 8:00 Am Panama Lady (1939) An oil man forces a cabaret singer to work for him after she tries to rob him. Dir: Jack Hively. Cast: Lucille Ball, Allan Lane, Steffi Duna. Bw-65 mins. 9:30 Am Without Love (1945) A World War II housing shortage inspires a widow to propose a marriage of convenience with an inventor. Dir: Harold S. Bucquet. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball. Bw-111 mins. 11:30 Am Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) An inept secretary goes to work for a bogus real estate firm thinking it's for real.

Unlike Robert Taylor, who would have turned 100 today, or Ginger Rogers, whose centennial was last July 16, Lucille Ball is actually going to be remembered on the occasion of what would have been her 100th birthday this Saturday, August 6. Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" series continues with 14 Lucille Ball movies. All of them have been shown before on TCM. [Lucille Ball Movie Schedule.] As an actress working mostly at Rko (1935-42) and at MGM (1943-46), Lucille Ball has been a TCM regular, as the Time Warner library encompasses films made at those two studios. On Saturday, TCM will also show the United Artists' release Lured, a crime drama directed by Douglas Sirk, and co-starring George Sanders, and two comedies Ball made during her tenure at Columbia in the late '40s: Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), co-starring William Holden, and The Fuller Brush Girl (1950), a reboot of The Fuller Brush Man (1948), which starred Red Skelton.