Mildred’s Autograph Book – Part 1
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
When my friend Jimmy and I visited former Our Gang member Mildred Kornman at her home in San Diego on October 4, 2005, one of the wonderful pieces of memorabilia that she shared with us was a little autograph book that she had had many celebrities sign during the 1930’s. 35 celebrities with 35 signatures to be exact. Mildred was the younger sister of silent Our Gang leading lady Mary Kornman and the daughter of still photographer Gene Kornman. So she had good reason to be visiting movies sets and was occasionally employed as an extra. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m not much of a fan of the zombie-genre, but I know a classic cult flick when I see one. Night of the Living Dead is one such example. This was filmed in 1968 in black and white on a shoestring budget by newcomer film director George Romero. He would go on to direct a plethora of such films, some landing in the ballpark of success, others wallowing in left field. Among the better titles that he directed were Creepshow, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, and The Dark Half. He even has a cameo appearance as an FBI agent in The Silence of the Lambs. 
Although Candy Clark has a handful of film credits, her most famous role by far was in American Graffiti. She portrayed the blonde Connie Stevens-ish Debbie Dunham so well that she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She always fascinated me in this role in her shy but sexy portrayal of this mysterious woman capable of getting Terry the Toad into all sorts of trouble. Candy might also be seen in such films as The Big Sleep, Cat’s Eye, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Zodiac. 
The Billy Jack films were a series of lowbrow Western movies featuring Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack, an American Indian Green Beret Vietnam War vetern, hapkido master, and gunslinger. One can only imagine the action in this series of four films that were made from 1967-1977. In fact I can only imagine, because to date I have not seen any of the films. Laughlin also directed these films under the name T.C. Frank. The films in the series were The Born Losers, Billy Jack, The Trial of Billy Jack, and Billy Jack Goes to Washington.