If
this is your first visit to NTVBR, the particulars of my obsession follow after this post (which is really just a collection of
the last few updates). Skip ahead, unless you're really really interested in the minutiae...
First and foremost:
PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE DATES OF THE POSTS!
I edit them regularly!
Latest Update, May 2025, over FIFTY reviews added: I’ve only just realized that I can copy reviews directly from scanned NTVB pages I’ve posted on my other blog. While it’s not an ideal situation, since I don’t post every page of any given issue, it saves me a lot of time over transcribing them (which I still plan to do with the ones I’ve missed in those issues, at some point). The film titles were printed in caps, so the newest additions will be easy to spot--plus they keep coming out in small type and for some reason it won't let me make it normal, so I've made them a bit larger instead.
I've been sprinkling in some TV Book close-ups pairing interesting Cashman reviews with the fantastical art of Gary A. Viskupic, one of the regular illustrators for these guides. (For example, I've added a Viskupic illustration to the Casablanca review, plus there's a scan of the Feb. 23rd, 1975 TV Line with the review for The Maltese Falcon, featuring a pertinent question.) I suggest that at some point you check out this post (and then this one... and then this one) from my regular blog for a look at Viskupic's skewed visions.
I changed the template not realizing it would significantly alter my sidebar menu. It makes it a little harder to navigate, but if you stay on this page, just click "older posts" at the bottom to continue on to the next ordered page. Or click on "2007" in the right sidebar, that will bring up the four alphabetical sections of reviews.
But I've saved the biggest news of all for last: I had a correspondence with one of Cashman's children and it's taken me a mere four years to get some of the info she related to me included here in the introduction! (My news breaks like a hydroelectric dam. Slowly, over much time.) Enjoy!
First and foremost:
PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE DATES OF THE POSTS!
I edit them regularly!
Latest Update, May 2025, over FIFTY reviews added: I’ve only just realized that I can copy reviews directly from scanned NTVB pages I’ve posted on my other blog. While it’s not an ideal situation, since I don’t post every page of any given issue, it saves me a lot of time over transcribing them (which I still plan to do with the ones I’ve missed in those issues, at some point). The film titles were printed in caps, so the newest additions will be easy to spot--plus they keep coming out in small type and for some reason it won't let me make it normal, so I've made them a bit larger instead.
I've been sprinkling in some TV Book close-ups pairing interesting Cashman reviews with the fantastical art of Gary A. Viskupic, one of the regular illustrators for these guides. (For example, I've added a Viskupic illustration to the Casablanca review, plus there's a scan of the Feb. 23rd, 1975 TV Line with the review for The Maltese Falcon, featuring a pertinent question.) I suggest that at some point you check out this post (and then this one... and then this one) from my regular blog for a look at Viskupic's skewed visions.
I changed the template not realizing it would significantly alter my sidebar menu. It makes it a little harder to navigate, but if you stay on this page, just click "older posts" at the bottom to continue on to the next ordered page. Or click on "2007" in the right sidebar, that will bring up the four alphabetical sections of reviews.
But I've saved the biggest news of all for last: I had a correspondence with one of Cashman's children and it's taken me a mere four years to get some of the info she related to me included here in the introduction! (My news breaks like a hydroelectric dam. Slowly, over much time.) Enjoy!
5 comments:
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I loved reading the Newsday movie reviews as a kid. I hadn't thought about them in years, then the other night my husband was watching an old movie & couldn't quite name the very young actress who was heating up the screen. I blurted out, "That's the passionate Yvonne DeCarlo!" So now I've had to search the Internet in an effort to explain to him why I find Yvonne DeCarlo to be so passionate.
Do you have the review of "Gunga Din"? Couldn't find it on your list. I think it began with, "Simply the grandest adventure film ever made... " and ended with, "Sam Jaffe and an elephant". Abner Biberman was in there, too.
Finding your blog has been like finding buried treasure. I look forward to spending time re-reading these. Thanks again.
Thanks, jj, for the nice words and encouragement. I'm glad you enjoyed rediscovering these. That's exactly why I share them.
It's interesting to me that you quote from memory a Cashman review that's a genuine rave and not a one-line zinger like I've concentrated on here. Interesting because I've often considered compiling all the Cashman reviews I have (this site represents a fraction), kinda like a Maltin or Ebert guide. I'd then highlight the really amusing ones. That way it'd become both a comprehensive movie buff's guide and an easy perusal for the funnier stuff.
At other times, that seems like a tremendous waste of time, even for this dedicated preserver of obscurity. So I'll count your comment as a vote towards that end.
Since, statistically, there are bound to be others who saw my site, agree with your sentiment but didn't comment, I'm just gonna go ahead and count your vote as, like, four votes. And I really don't need much more encouragement than that. Consider it done!
Someday.
Keep them coming! Your blog should be so popular I won't have to explain who Hugh Pepper is.
I am John Cashman's youngest daughter, patricia.
My father died in 1985. He was a great writer.
It was weird to see his reviews online. I never thought anyone else appreciated his wit. Thanks.
Wow, great to hear from you! I'm glad you appreciate that your father's reviews continue to be read and enjoyed online. You might be surprised to learn just how many people find my blog by searching his name or "70's newsday movie reviews" or something like that. Please keep checking in, I hope to get a lot more of his work up here...
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