Cravenomena

It's been a bit more than a week since I've updated the blog, which owes to Craven's increased activity as a volunteer for the Obama campaign here in the Grand Valley. This work has been a very interesting experience, and I actually would like to blog about it some, but I think my thoughts on the matter will be more appropriate after the election. Anyway, know that I intend to keep this blog updated on a more regular basis than ... Read More

Craven is in the process of adding some new posts to Cravenomena during the next week -- including his dinosaur attack and the first entries on the making of SHOCK! SHOCK! SHOCK! -- but there probably won't be much activity this weekend, since he is out canvassing for Barack Obama. I did want to draw your attention to an interesting conversation in which Craven's "The Stooge That Almost Was" (which discusses the fact that Mantan Moreland was considered as Shemp Howard's replacement in ... Read More

Time and politics play funny tricks on our cultural memory. In this world, it is possible to be among the best-known stars of one generation -- only to be completely forgotten by the next. If you doubt that, consider the case of Mantan Moreland. Chances are, you have never heard of Moreland -- unless you're one of the handful of obsessive film fans who remember him as "Birmingham Brown," playing opposite of Sidney Toler and Roland Winters in the CHARLIE CHAN potboilers of ... Read More