A major moment of movie memorable as well as an important birthday for one very famous female vocalist happened this year. Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm on the 10th of June 1922) turned 100.  In honor of her centennial birthday, celebrations have taken place across the United States and at Garland-loving locations around the world.

In celebration Gay Pride 2022, Walter Film is highlighting Derek Jarman (1942-1994), one of the preeminent gay filmmakers of the late Twentieth Century, and one of the great names in British “queer (as it was known)” cinema. From the time of his feature film, SEBASTIANE (which rendered the story of Saint Sebastian in what for its time was disturbingly overt homoerotic imagery), Jarman left an indelible imprint on the history of LGBTQ art. ARCHIVE OF UNPUBLISHED SIGNED AUTOGRAPHED LETTERS …

Clarence Muse (October 14, 1889 – October 13, 1979) was an African American actor, screenwriter, director, singer, and composer. He was the first African American to appear in a starring role in a film, 1929’s Hearts in Dixie. He acted for 50 years and appeared in more than 150 films. He was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1973.

As the war in Ukraine surges on and Russia does its best to subjugate or, if that doesn’t work, wipe out the Ukrainians and their culture, it’s worth noting that the Soviet Union did it’s best to do something similar to Sergei Parajanov in the 1960s – 1980s.

MOVIE, RADIO, ANIMATION AND COMIC  Imagine as a child or even an adult of the Depression era finding a fully articulated toy model of your favorite movie, radio, animation, comic or even advertising character!   Joseph Kallus (above) was the supreme designer of such portrait model toys during the era spanning 1925-1945 in which he used composition molding, elastic strung wooden segments and wire armature bodies to create his piece, here is the story: