New DVDs in the Store and more changes

I've made a few new additions to the site:

I've added some new DVDs to the Store, including some Mabel Normand features and collections of George Melies.

On a personal note: I love Melies. I am constantly amazed at the innovations he achieved, at a time when film was still in its infancy. I particularly remember seeing some marvelous shorts when I was in Pordenone (many, many years ago); I am so happy that there are some comprehensive collections out now, especially the one from Flicker Alley. I hope to be able to add that to my collection soon.

One other change (relatively minor) includes an update to the Women Pioneers article page in News & Notes. I can't remember if I've changed any other news pages, but I'll be sure to let you know!

Cooking With the Stars!

Ready for some Vanilla Marlow? Or are you more in the mood for Enchilladas?

If either -- or both -- sound appetizing to you, then head on over to the Features section, and get cooking with Mary, Doug, Jean, Ramon, and the rest of the gang!

From my collection of silent movie-related items comes recipes from Midgie Knight's Hollywood Hundred: Famous Recipes of the Movie Stars.

More than likely a PR stunt, nonetheless I found some of the recipes to be a fascinating look into the era and the packaging of the stars (look! they're just like us!), an aspect of filmdom that hasn't really changed much over the years.

Whether or not Doug and Mary really sat in the kitchen and ate his Gnocckis a la Romaine, it's still fun to think they did.

Another update of note:
As I go through the articles in the News & Notes section, I've been adding new links that update the article. First one up: links related to the archaelogical dig for Cecil B. DeMille's Ten Commandments. I thought it would be interesting to see what's happened (whenever possible) since the article's original date of publication.

Added: New York Times DVD Review

It never fails; I go to make one change, and realize there's so much more that needs to be done. (And this doesn't even take into account the new design!)

Case in point: I finally got rid of the old News & Notes page, and have refashioned it to be a listing of all the articles that are in the News Archive, for easy finding (or just plain browsing and discovering something new!).

Anyways, I realized how out-of-date the pages are, particularly in terms of the navigation. But there are a lot of pages, and not enough time, so they'll have to get done as I get to them.

In the meantime, there is actually something very recent posted to the News & Notes page! I have added a recent New York Times review of a new DVD put out by Flicker Alley: Perils of the New Land, a look at early films set in New York City. The DVD includes two features, Traffic in Souls and The Italian, along with 5 shorts. The review is favorable, so it looks like something that should be of interest.

It's available through Amazon.com, and there's a link at the bottom of the article in the event you're interested and want to help support WTSM.

I have some other reviews and articles to post, but this week is crazy -- I'll try to get to them if not this week then this weekend.

Updated: Bruce Calvert left a great comment, and I felt it was important to include it here:
If you are interested in the latest news about silent films, check out the Silent Film News at the Nitrateville Forum. We have at least a dozen new articles every week on new discoveries, new restorations and new books. There's also another forum at the same site that lists all upcoming screenings of silent films, worldwide. (K: The link is Nitrateville)