The Adventures of Kit Carson – Border Corsairs (film #2 in the Classic TV section of Movieflix). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Standard-issue 50s oater in which Kit Carson and his Mexican companion Torro try to prevent a Mexican-American landowner from starting a border war. Torro is a stereotyped womanizer and there are several plot holes, but mostly this is pretty ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
ABC Promos in the Sixties (film #4 in the Fall Season Jingles section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Hard-sell 60s promo for the ABC new fall primetime season. This has a cheesiness that is reminiscent of the drive-in snack bar promos of the era.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Maniac (Sinister Cinema). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This legendary 30s exploitation flick is one ripe piece of cinematic cheese. It features one of the most over-the-top mad scientists ever, who gets killed early on by his assistant, who just happens to be a down-on-his-luck actor. Fortunately, we are not spared scenery-chewing, as the actor decides to take over the identity of the mad scientist, and shows himself just as capable of over-emoting as his mentor. The film also features scenes of cats fighting, weird montages of a laughable devil and his minions, a gruesome scene of the main character eating a cat’s eyeball, and the obligatory exploitation scenes of scantily-clad women conversing and a fight between two women that involves pulling each others’ clothes off. All of this is passed off as a documentary about mental illness by inserting title cards at random moments that spout psychobabble about various psychiatric diagnoses. For lovers of bad films, this is entertaining from beginning to end, as well as being weird as all get-out.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Monsters We've Known and Loved (Creepy Classics). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This tv documentary should please fans of cinematic monsters––it's an affectionate chronicle of them from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. There's not much in-depth analysis here, but there is lots of affection for the horror genre and tons of clips from both famous and obscure monster movies. Those who are not monster movie fans will find it less interesting, but it is a prime example of a mid-60s tv time-filler that local stations would use to plug up holes in their schedules.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Campus on the March (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #269 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This WWII-era film shows us in great detail how colleges across the nation are preparing for war. Mostly it involves doing lots of military training, along with training women to assume jobs usually done by men (what a radical concept!). Lots of scenes of military units marching around college greens are shown. One segment features an African-American college, which was unusual for the time this film was made (not unusual in the sense of existing––there were and are lots of such colleges––but that it was put into a film designed for mainstream audiences). Other than that, the film is pretty ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Leave It to Roll-Oh (film #2 on Lifestyles U.S.A., Vol. 1 (Something Weird, 2000). Also in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #819 on Prelinger Archive. Also, film #13 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager) (excerpt)). [Category: Industrial]
If you want something that's guaranteed campy, you can't go too far wrong with early visions of robots. Roll-Oh is a robot taken straight out of a cheap serial and placed in the home with a housewife. He waters flowers with his own water supply, vacuums the carpet with his feet, and scares away a delivery boy. Despite this, he looks incredibly clunky and more trouble than he's worth. After awhile, the narrator tells us he's "just a dream", but that his counterpart already exists in our homes in the form of modern appliances. This film was shown at the GM exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair, probably as a rip-off of Electro, the Westinghouse robot that caused such a stir at the fair. But it's a really lame rip-off. This was made during the time when they still couldn't decide how to pronounce the word "robot"––in this film it's pronounced "ROB-but" one time, and "ROBE-it" another.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Coney Island USA (film #43 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
This 50s film about Coney Island is also full of historical footage of the amusement park in its heyday, but presented with an arty and disturbing spin. The dark, atonal background music, reminiscent of modern jazz, particularly gives this feel, as well as the focus on the leering faces of various advertising dummies and automatons found throughout the park. And occasionally the camerawork gets all weird and psychedelic. I think this was all supposed to make a Serious Statement about amusement park culture, but I'm not sure what that statement is. Still, like the much more innocent and fun Coney Island, this movie also has lots of great historical footage of the grandest of the grand old amusement parks during the pre-theme-park era. The two films together encompass both the fun and the sleaze of the classic amusement park experience.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
BBC1 Schools: Primary (film #2 in the Schools section of TVArk). [Category: Educational]
This counter features a mesmerizing changing diamond pattern backed with a bright, cheerful semi-classical soundtrack. I bet this held the attention of those primary kids well.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Black Imp (film #7 on The Movies Begin, Volume Four: The Magic of Melies (Kino Video, 1994)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Back in the bad old days before hotel sanitation laws, you could never be sure that the room you just checked into wasn't infested by a black imp who could and would make objects appear and disappear at will for its own amusement. Needless to say, a good night's sleep is well nigh impossible under such circumstances. Georges Melies has a grand old time playing around with stop motion. The restored print of this film is absolutely stunning. A 1905 Melies film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Grandpa's Monster Movies (Amvest Video, 1988). [Category: Commercial]
Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster hosts this compilation of trailers from classic horror films. Grandpa makes the weakest of hosts for this sort of tape. His jokes are lame and he overplays them shamelessly. And there's way too much of him––he appears between almost every trailer. He does have one of the more interesting "Igors", though––one that is almost as swishy as Locar. The trailers are mostly from classic Universal horror films of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. If you're a fan of those great old films, then you might find this tape at least a bit interesting––the film quality is quite good considering their age. Unfortunately, the trailers in and of themselves are not very interesting––they're pretty straightforward and dull. The tape gets 5 extra points for listing the trailers in order on the package, but gets docked 5 points for having Grandpa announce at the beginning of the tape that they're going to be showing "bad" movies––these old Universal horrors are classics!
Highlights:
- The typefaces in many of these trailers are great––especially the ones in Dracula's Daughter, Dracula, and Black Friday.
- Most of the trailers are from a Screen Gems rerelease and they end with an utterly plain title card with the movie title in block letters sans articles, i.e. "FRANKENSTEIN MEETS WOLFMAN". This is ever-so-slightly strange.
- House of Dracula features a hunchbacked nurse! Now that's scary!
- Gimmick Alert! The trailer for Black Friday claims Bela Lugosi was hypnotized in order to give a more realistic performance!
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: **. Overall Rating: **.
Monsters Crash the Pajama Party Spook Show Spectacular extras (Something Weird, 2001). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
When I first saw the spook show trailers on the Hey Folks! It's Intermission Time tapes, I said to myself, "Somebody should write a book about the history of those spook shows. I'd buy it!" Well, leave it up to Something Weird to go one better than that. This DVD, in addition to containing Monsters Crash the Pajama Party and all the other items I've reviewed seperately, also contains a ton of extras, including a gallery of spook show ads and stills with a soundtrack containing spook show radio spots, illustrated essays on how to do various spook show effects, lots of silly/strange movie clips, a short film of a spook house ride, a booklet containing memories of a spook show promoter, and even the full-length feature Tormented. It's all controlled with spooky animated menus designed to give you lots of surprises (Hint: If those menus frustrate you, or you just want to make sure you find everything, try using the numbers on your DVD remote). Altogether, it makes possibly the best ephemera DVD ever made, and certainly one of the best uses of the technology to cover a particular topic. Until the definitive history of spook shows comes out, this DVD is the resource on the subject.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****+. Overall Rating: *****.
The Caissons Go Rolling Along (film #7 on Industrial Incentive Films (Vintage Video)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Another World War II sing-along short, this time in honor of the army. The first minute or so is missing and the film quality is only fair.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Know Your Customer (film #3 on Lifestyles USA, Vol. 2 (Something Weird, 2000)). [Category: Industrial]
This limited animation film was made by DuPont for gas station owners, telling them what a large survey of customers want. The information is presented in a slightly weird way, as they keep reminding us that the survey was conducted by psychologists, they talk about customers' “hidden anxieties" (they're not as interesting as you might think, though), and the animation gets a bit trippy at times. There's plenty of sexism here––women are portrayed as being car idiots who must consult their husbands about every decision they make. All in all, it's a typical 50s animated film, both in style and content.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Coney Island (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #583 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
This newsreel featurette is a real slice of life from the heyday of the amusement park. Usually these kinds of films portray activities that are fun to do but lame to watch. But this one is actually quite fun to watch, perhaps because the old classic amusement park culture has disappeared for the most part. In this film it lives again, and you get to visit the sideshows, complete with freaks (check out the wonderful advertising posters for these shows), ride all kinds of common and bizarre rides, eat traditional Coney Island food such as hot dogs and frozen custard (prices start at 10 cents!) and even get a souvenir picture postcard taken of you and your friends. The place is packed and everybody seems to be having a great time. This film is one of the best pieces of nostalgia I've seen in a long time, and that's saying a lot for what is essentially just an old Castle Films newsreel featurette.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
BBC1 Schools: Announcement for Teachers (film #5 in the Schools section of TVArk). [Category: Educational]
This is a very staid promo for a new educational program about student volunteers. There’s just a title card and a properly British voice-over just like the ones that were sent up so well on Monty Python. Still, that makes me smile a little bit.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
The Black Hand (film #5 on The Origins of Cinema, Volume Three: The Films of American Mutoscope and Biograph Mature (Video Yesteryear, 1995)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
An evil conspiracy called the Black Hand kidnaps a butcher's little girl and holds her for ransom. Fortunately, the ruffians are brought to justice, thanks to the efficient efforts of New York's Finest and the pluck of the little girl herself. A fun melodrama full of great stuff for the Film Ephemera Museum of Quirky Devices, such as the signs in the butcher shop ("LAMB 12¢ POUND", "HAM 8¢") and the priceless ransom note. A 1906 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Godzilla Movie Trailer Collection (Toho, 1996). [Category: Commercial]
When I ordered this tape from Mickey's Toys and Collectibles, I thought it would be a standard collection of trailers from Godzilla movies. Well, that's what it turned out to be––a collection of trailers from all the Godzilla movies––all the Japanese trailers from the Japanese versions, that is. In Japanese. With no English subtitles. Despite that, or even because of it, it's a pretty interesting collection of trailers. Godzilla fans in particular will enjoy seeing non-dubbed, original clips from these movies for a change. Godzilla is pretty serious business in Japan (or at least it's not as much of a joke as it is here), and this tape allows you to finally see why––the original acting is much better than the English dubbing we're all used to. This comes through even if you can't understand Japanese at all. And some of the trailers have fun visual moments, such as Minya's cartoon balloons in the trailer for Son of Godzilla (I would love to get a translation of those), and the cool plastic model kits you can get for Godzilla vs. Queen Mothra. Another interesting thing you find out is that Western classical music was often used in the soundtracks to Godzilla movies, and sometimes odd choices, such as Offenbach's traditional can-can music (the real title of that piece escapes me). Even if you can't understand a word of Japanese, I recommend giving this tape a try, especially if you're a Godzilla fan. MSTIES, TAKE NOTE: Contains the trailers for Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster and Godzilla vs. Megalon (the Japanese versions, of course). SPECIAL TIP: My husband, consummate Godzilla fan that he is, could identify all the movies on this tape, despite the language difference. If you're not quite that Godzilla-intensive, though, there is an easy way to identify the movies. They're in straight chronological order. So if you just get a chronological list of the Godzilla movies, that will tell you the order of the trailers on this tape. One such list is the table of contents for the book Godzilla: King of the Movie Monsters by Robert Marrero.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **** (probably less if you understand Japanese). Historical Interest: *** (add one if you're a Godzilla fan). Overall Rating: ****.
The Mighty Hercules (film #36 on Chicago Television (Hollywood's Attic, 1996). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This is mostly just a cheap, poorly-acted limited-animation kid's cartoon version of a sword-and-sandal movie, though it does have its moments. Hercules' faun sidekick is thoroughly evil and the terrible voice acting provides great msting fodder. Did any kid really enjoy this?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (film #1 on WWII Cartoons, Vol. 1 VCD (The Authentic History Center). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Bugs Bunny gets shipwrecked on a Pacific island and does battle with a whole slew of outrageously stereotyped Japanese soldiers. He pulls a bunch of standard Bugs gags, including switcheroos, dressing in drag, and hiding grenades in ice cream bars. Funny moments include a soldier who makes a self-referential comment after recognizing Bugs in disguise, and Bugs’ encounter with a sumo wrestler. The stereotypes are pretty outrageous, but this is a funny Bugs toon anyway.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Inside Cackle Corners (film #5 on An American Retrospective Through Animation (Moviecraft, 1994)). [Category: Industrial]
Feuding barnyard businessmen Pop Webfoot (a duck) and Mr. Redcomb (a chicken) compete to win the favors of Mrs. Consumer (another chicken) by making fancier and more ridiculous kitchen gadgets. Of course, this competition results in a sort of barnyard utopia, 50s-populuxe-style. This film is a bit more appealing than the others on this tape, both because of the barnyard setting and the fun "Kitchen of Tomorrow" ending.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Cobweb Hotel (film #12 on Cartoon Crazys: Sci-Fi (WinStar Home Entertainment, 1999). Also, film #7 on Weird Cartoons (Rhino, 1987)). [Category: Hollywood]
This cartoon is not really all that weird, not in comparison with a lot of others of its time (1930s). It has the standard 1930s cartoon plot of a bunch of cute little characters battling a big ugly bad guy––in this case, a bunch of flies battling a big ugly spider who runs the "Cobweb Hotel", which is really a front for his web! For all that, though, it's a pretty fun cartoon with great artwork and animation. Rhino gets docked 10 points for cutting off the ending, though.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
BBC1 Schools #5 (film #8 in the Schools section of TVArk). [Category: Educational]
This is similar to #4, but the soundtrack is now easy listening. This probably put students to sleep! I say bring back disco.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
The Biter Bit (film #33 on The Movies Begin, Volume Two: The European Pioneers (Kino Video, 1994)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
D'oh! A prankster gets his when he pulls the old stepping-on-the-garden-hose trick on an unsuspecting, but subsequently cranky, gardener. That's the risk you run being a wise guy, bub. A 1900 James A. Williamson film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
From Beyond - Science Fiction Trailers (films #8 to #32 on Godzilla Trailers & Sci-Fi Monsters (Simitar Entertainment, 1998)). [Category: Commercial]
O.K. This is just a collection of 50s and 60s science fiction trailers. I really don't have much to say about this as most of these trailers appear on other collections that I've already reviewed. But it is a pretty decent collection if you don't have the others. Each trailer is introduced briefly by the narrator, but it's not that distracting. Host Joey Travolta seems to exist only to say hello and goodbye, which is kind of odd. Msties take note: Contains the trailers for Robot Monster, The Astounding She-Monster, Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Mole People, Gamera and Queen of Outer Space (the Great Lost Mst3k Episode).Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Lego Knights (extra on Monty Python and the Holy Grail DVD (Columbia Tri-Star, 2001)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Oh, on second thought, let's not play with Legos. It is a silly toy. (P.S. This bit of ephemera is absolutely essential.)Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: *****.
Bugs Bunny Bond Promo (film #1 on Cartoon Scandals (Goodtimes, 1987)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Bugs, assisted by Elmer and Porky, sings "Any Bonds Today?", a song pitching War Bonds. This already short cartoon has the opening visuals covered by a superimposed introduction to the tape. Pretty standard, though Bugs' impersonation of Al Jolson is mildly amusing.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
In the Suburbs (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #4 on Our Secret Century, Vol. 6: The Uncharted Landscape CD-ROM (Voyager). Also, film #742 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
We're talking 50s, folks. 50s big white families with big cars who live in little boxes made of ticky-tacky that all look just the same. 50s "young adults" who go to the mall and spend lots of money. Redbook magazine, the makers of this film, claimed to have its fingers on the pulse of this big-spending bunch from the ‘burbs. The film was obviously made to sell this demographic group to advertisers, and seeing such a film illuminates how much the 50s suburban nuclear family mythos was a marketing creation. These "young adults" are portrayed as consumers only, not as actual people. Although the film pays lip service to 50s social and political issues in the form of brief newsreel clips, it's just to show how "serious" these young adults are, and how Redbook addresses this "seriousness" by running articles like "The Sexual Responsibility of Women". But don't worry, advertisers, they're not too serious––they're back at the mall in the next scene. What's really scary is how these rigid marketing concepts became ideals to aspire to during the 50s, and how they've become items of nostalgia today. A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the 50s suburban reality tunnel.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Circus on Ice (MST3K Episode #421: Monster-a-Go-Go). [Category: Hollywood]
CIRCUS?? ON ICE??!!!! Yes, this newsreel featurette of the Toronto Ice Carnival is just as bad as it sounds. It would be mind-numbingly dull if it weren't so cheesy. Maybe some people like to watch ice carnivals live (though I'm willing to bet it's about as many as like to eat fruitcake), but a cheesy film of an ice carnival rates below zero on the audience appeal meter. And they couldn't have picked a worse theme than the circus (but I won't go off on that topic as I still have Here Comes the Circus to review). As Joel says, "Even my mom would be bored with this!" The msting is some of their best ever, though: "They are agents of Satan...", "And now a clown will deliver the eulogy...", "She can do that because she feels fresh!", etc.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: BOMB. Msting: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
BBC1 Schools #4 (film #7 in the Schools section of TVArk). [Category: Educational]
This counter is like the one in #3, only the letters in the center remain stationary, and the ponderous classical music soundtrack has been replaced by a generic disco soundtrack. Can you tell this was from 1978?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
The Big Swallow (film #36 on The Movies Begin, Volume Two: The European Pioneers (Kino Video, 1994)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
The whole camera, cameraman included, goes down the hatch in what is indeed a very big swallow. A rather silly 1901 James A. Williamson film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Frigidaire Finale (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #5 on Our Secret Century, Volume One: The Rainbow Is Yours CD-ROM (Voyager). Also, film #566 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Commercial]
This short film, designed to introduce the 1956 Frigidaire product line, is all style over substance. It's style over everything, in fact––there's no narration, no product information of any kind, just music and a glamorously-dressed couple dancing around appliances. Did people really get this excited about stoves and refrigerators?
Highlights:
- The big highlight of the display is a black refrigerator! The reproductions of print ads provided as reference on the CD-ROM shows that this model really was sold. But to whom? In all my born days, I've never known anybody who had a black refrigerator.
- There's a really weird Freudian moment when the male dancer tries to get close to the female dancer, only to end up with a bin full of ice cubes. The producers had to know what they were doing here––the reference to "frigidity" is just too obvious. But what is this doing in a sales film probably targeted at women?
- This product line was called "The Sheer Look" for no possible reason I could discern. Even the female dancer's dress wasn't sheer, much less the appliances.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Kid-a-Vision (Digital Mirage). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
If you spent as much time in front of the tv as I did when you were a kid, all it would take would be this tape and Classic Toy Commercials to relive your childhood. Openings from most of the kidvid shows you remember from the 50s, 60s, and 70s are here, and some you don't remember as well ("Salty"? "Korg: 70,000 B.C."? "Dodo, the Kid from Outer Space"?). I particularly enjoy the cheesier 50s shows, such as "Johnny Jupiter" and "Andy's Gang", and the weird, psychedelia-influenced 60s shows, such as "The Banana Splits". Digital Mirage gets 5 extra points for providing an accurate list of the clips on the back of the box.
Highlights:
- See a young Alan Hale star in "Casey Jones". See an old Jay North star in "Maya".
- Kix cereal is "83% energy food!" In case you don't know, "energy food" is a food industry euphemism for "sugar". You do the math.
- Personally, I'd rather not know that "The Mighty Hercules" has "iron in his thighs".
- Aren't you embarrassed to admit that you know all the words to the "H.R. Pufnstuff" theme?
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Brezhnev (film #246 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This Russian documentary on the life of Soviet premiere Leonid Brezhnev is narrated entirely in Spanish. Why is hard to say, unless perhaps it was meant for Cuban audiences. There is a brief moment where Brezhnev talks to Castro, but it’s not any longer than the brief moment he talks to Gerald Ford, and the film was obviously not made for American audiences. At any rate, if you don’t speak Spanish, it’s pretty confusing, though certain things are pretty obvious, such as that Brezhnev was a “man of the people,” that he liked to mingle with crowds, that lots of old babushka ladies liked him, that he met with lots of foreign dignitaries, and that there was a pretty big war in the Soviet Union back in the 40s. Other than that, you’re on your own. There is lots of historically interesting footage of Soviet life from the turn of the century to the 70s; it would be a lot more interesting if you could understand the narration, but there you are.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Hidden Grievance (film #11 on The Educational Archives, Volume Four: On the Job DVD (Fantoma, 2002)). [Category: Industrial]
This is another "discussion film," like The Grapevine. Jake, a machinist with a Canadian accent, has a lot of complaints––the light's too dim, his feet hurt, etc. His foreman tries to be accomodating, but no dice. Jake finally tells him his real beef––he thinks he's being given all the tough jobs and none of the easy ones. The foreman tries to tell him that the jobs he's been assigned are no tougher than what anyone else has to do, but Jake doesn't believe him. So he goes and files a complaint with the union that he's being discriminated against, for being Canadian, I guess. What's the poor foreman to do? Again, this has a "What do you think?" ending. This seems a little more fair than The Grapevine. Neither Jake nor the foreman is made out to be a total bad guy––it seems like the problem is more a result of a misunderstanding. I'm not sure how I would handle it, frankly.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Circus (film #22 on The Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection, Vol. 2 DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Hollywood]
Flip the Frog runs a hot dog stand at the circus in this one, complete with anthropomorphic hot dogs. OK, folks, you know how I feel about walking and talking food, so we'll move on. Flip valiantly agrees to chase down a pickpocket, resulting in a ridiculous chase scene. Another cute and fun Flip the Frog cartoon, with extra points for the hot dogs.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
BBC1 Schools #3 (film #6 in the Schools section of TVArk). [Category: Educational]
This counter is another mesmerizing one. Dots that make up a circle slowly count down, while unintelligible symbols gradually turn into letters that spell out “SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.” I bet this killed a lot of time for students.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Bewitched Traveller (film #15 on The Origins of Cinema, Volume 6: Rare Films (Video Yesteryear, 1997)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Ever have one of those days? You settle into a nice chair only to have it disappear on you? You sit down to a nice breakfast only to have the table suddenly shift to behind you? You get on a bus only to have it disappear entirely, leaving you rolling down the street? Apparently Hepworth was enamored of the dissolve effect for awhile and used it to ruin the day of some poor shmoe. It ends like you would expect it to. A 1904 Hepworth film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Flying Saucer Mystery Extras (on The Flying Saucer Mystery (Sinister Cinema)). [Category: Commercial]
Since The Flying Saucer Mystery is such a short film, Sinister Cinema added some trailers to the tape. All of them are from 50s sci-fi movies with an alien invasion theme, which is a pretty fun subject for a collection of trailers. A nice extra bonus which rounds out the film well.
Highlights:
- Gimmick Alert! The trailer for It Came from Outer Space features a fun explanation of the 3-D process, complete with animated stuff flying out of the movie screen.
- The trailer for Killers from Space features the incredibly campy bug-eyed aliens of that film.
- In the trailer for 20 Million Miles to Earth, a dumbfounded reporter, on being informed that the monster of this movie comes from Venus, says, "You mean the planet Venus?"
- Msties, take note: Contains the trailers for This Island Earth, The Astounding She-Monster, and It Conquered the World.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Dynamic American City (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #467 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
According to this film, cities remain dynamic by tearing down “obsolescence”, i.e. old buildings. That’s right, folks, no matter how beautiful or how historically important a building may be, down it must come, in order to make room for more parking garages! And all the stores moving out to the suburbs don’t affect the city one bit––it’s still as dynamic as ever! Why just look at all the wrecking balls and rubble! Actually, I’m making this piece of urban renewal propaganda sound a lot more interesting than it is––it drags on and on, with a droning narrator the only thing on the soundtrack. That is, if you can get to the actual film before falling asleep––the opening is the most tedious I’ve ever seen, featuring three guys from the United States Chamber of Commerce having the most boring conversation imaginable about how they made this film about cities and are selling a book to go with it. Perhaps the makers of the film attended too many tedious Chamber of Commerce dinners. Just wait until their headquarters gets torn down to create more parking.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Uncle Tom and Little Eva (film #13 on Cartoon Scandals (Goodtimes, 1987)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Lots of stereotyped black characters who look suspiciously like mice frolic and chase each other across ice in this 30s cartoon, very loosely based on Uncle Tom's Cabin. Very confusing.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Johnny Carson: His Favorite Moments from "The Tonight Show": 80s & 90s: The King of Late Night (Buena Vista, 1994). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This tape is a lot funnier than I expected it to be, but then it occurred to me that a tape of highlights is the ideal way to experience something like "The Tonight Show". The tape covers highlights from the 80s and 90s (there are two other tapes in the series which cover the 60s and 70s) and there's a wide assortment of clips, including bloopers, silly ad-libs, interviews gone strange, kids and animals upstaging Johnny, and early appearances by well-known comedians. My favorites are the weird guests they would get occasionally, such as the female accordionist who describes sitting on the toilet and playing new song ideas to her husband while he takes a bath ("Any marriage that can survive that is a strong union!" asserts Johnny), or the lady who sees faces in potato chips and brings her collection of chips to the show (Johnny plays a hilarious prank on her which I won't give away here). The end of the tape gets all sentimental as we see some of Johnny's last guests commenting on his retirement (including a jubilant Ted Koppel), but it fortunately doesn't get too weepy. A good record of the last years of the ultimate tv institution. Watch for the great surreal moment when Charles Grodin gets Johnny to admit the gut-level honest truth about his job as a talk show host.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Brazil Gets the News (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #243 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Ho-hum, another boring film about Brazil…wait a minute. This film is full of gentle surprises, mostly from the narrator, who narrates in a breezy, sly style, throwing in little jokes when you least suspect them, and generally not taking the proceedings too seriously. The film is about newspaper production in Sao Paulo (‘the Detroit of Brazil,” the opening title card tells us, “or is Detroit really the Sao Paulo of the United States?”) and it is actually one of the clearest and best-made factory tours I’ve ever seen. This really gives you a good idea of what newspaper publishing was like back in the 40s, and it probably was pretty much the same in the U.S., since the film tells us that several times. The propaganda point was that free countries have a free press, unlike some Axis countries we could name. And also probably to build up good will for our Brazilian allies. But it’s the narration that really makes this one––that guy sounded like he was having way too much fun with this project.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Gypsies for a Day (film #8 on Blood of Floor Sweepings (LSVideo)). [Category:Industrial]
This 1930s silent film documents a big cross-country motorcycle race held in Keene, NH, and sponsored by Goodyear. Keene must have been the 30s version of Sturgis. The weirdest moment in the film is nighttime footage of a bizarre line dance done around the campfire by the participants in the race. It's also somewhat weird to experience motorcycles, normally such noisy machines, in total silence. Otherwise, this film is pretty ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Chinook's Children (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #538 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
This silent featurette shows the training of the puppies of Chinook, Admiral Richard Byrd's lead sled dog. As you would expect, the puppies are incredibly cute and will probably steal your heart. I was happy to hear they were trained without whips or chokes. The rest of the film is fairly dull, especially the race footage at the end. Dog fans will probably like this, though.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
BBC1 Schools #2 (film #4 in the Schools section of TVArk). [Category: Educational]
Very brief clip of another educational television counter, this one featuring a clock, and a clipped British announcer. This one probably wasn’t very interesting to watch.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Before Hollywood, There Was Fort Lee, New Jersey (Image Entertainment, 2003). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Fort Lee, New Jersey was basically the Hollywood before there was Hollywood. Edison started making movies there in his Black Maria and it's where most of the big names in silent films, including studios, directors, and stars, got their start. This documentary tells us all about the major Fort Lee studios and their films in a somewhat dry way, though it does include a few complete short films from the period, presented with a bit of helpful, nonintrusive narration. The story of Fort Lee is an important, yet usually forgotten, piece of film history, so I'll give this DVD extra points for dredging it up.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Extra (film #7 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager). Also, film #7 on Lifestyles USA, Vol. 1 (Something Weird, 2000). Also, in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #490 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Commercial]
Here's something new I learned from Rick Prelinger's excellent Ephemeral Films CD-ROM: the 60-second spot was not born on television, or even radio. Movie theaters ran "Minute Movies", such as Extra, as another way to increase profits. It was assumed that audiences had little tolerance for viewing advertising, so a 60-second limit was placed on these films. This ad for Esso service stations starts out pretty standard, but gets weird at the end when the gas jockeys suddenly break into a jingle and the Esso sign mutates into a grinning face.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Twist Craze (film #25 on Teenage UFO Rock 'n' Roll Monster Show (Something Weird)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
A rock & roll band and some twist dancers put on a show at a fancy nightclub. The band plays that kind of generic rock & roll that Joel and the bots tuned in on the all-teen dance radio station and the dancers are all straight out of The Horror of Party Beach. But even this watered-down rock & roll is a lot for the incredibly L7 audience to take. Eventually, though, they all get into the groove and start twistin' themselves, including a 300-pound woman, elderly folks, and a woman whose hips seem fused to her torso. My favorite, though, is a smoking guy in the back who they keep cutting back to, showing us how he's grooving to the music by snapping his fingers offbeat. If this doesn't get you on the dance floor, you're probably fortunate.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
I've Got a Secret (track #1 on TV Game Shows, Vol. 1 (Hollywood's Attic, 1996)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This mid-60s game show features a celebrity panel trying to guess the secrets of contestants with unusual achievements or qualities. This episode features a man who was once spanked by Lyndon Johnson (unfortunately, this is a lot less interesting than it sounds), a young man who won a prize for baking the world's largest cookie, and Jose Frerer with a quiz about animal sounds in other languages. The celebrity panel is mildly amusing in the way that only game show celebrity panels can be. The beginning was cut off of this show, so we only get to see the final moments of the first segment. Too bad, I really would have liked to see the panel struggle with that one.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Act One (film #15 in The Carol Burnett Shows section of TVParty). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This is a clip from act one of Carol Burnett’s special, “Eunice,” which portrays the history of a silly Southern family that had been featured in a popular series of sketches on Burnett’s variety show. In the clip, Phillip is leaving for New York to become a playwright, while Eunice obliviously talks about her unrealistic plans to become a movie star, and Mama tries in vain to get their father to come out of the bathroom. I remember those skits as being funny and fascinating, so it’s nice to see the little-known special archived here. This clip gives you an idea of the ridiculousness of this family and some of its appeal, as well.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Anti-AIDS Rant (film #2 in the TV Terrorists section of TVParty). [Category: News]
This very brief clip shows a group of AIDS activists who managed to get some of their chanting on the air during the opening of the “CBS Evening News.” Dan Rather stays cool and immediately goes to a commercial. It’s this kind of unscripted stuff I love to see, so kudos to TVParty for the whole TV Terrorists section.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Branding Calves (film #1 on Buckaroos in Paradise). [Category: Industrial]
This short film is part of a series made in the 1960s by a Nevada cattle rancher to document the ranching practices of the time. In this film, we see how calves are branded. It’s not nearly as upsetting as you might think, and it provides an interesting historical view of cattle ranching, ending with the wife bringing down a big meal for all the hands to eat.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Astor Tramp (film #21 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A tramp hangs out in a rich lady’s bedroom until the lady comes home and gets a nasty surprise. After he is kicked out, he steals a newspaper from a paper boy. Jerk. He reads with delight a newspaper story about his antics, presaging the fondness of 20th-century criminals for courting the media. A slightly silly early comedy. An 1899 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Malibu Mermaid (film #882 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
A bikini-clad beauty sits in the surf and lets the water repeatedly pull her bikini top off. This is done to a bouncy soundtrack that any industrial film would be proud of. Another fairly standard vintage stag film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Alpha-Bits (film #5 in the Saturday Morning Commercials section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Cute early 60s commercial urging kids to “spell your name with Alpha-Bits!” Has an innocence not found in commercials today, even those targeted at children.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Doubtful Dollars (film #455 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
In this 40s government film, the head of a ring of counterfitters, who has an outrageously stereotyped gangster voice, passes a gives a bunch of phony money to his minions, who are only shown from the waist down. Then those same minions are shown from the waist up, blandly passing the fake dough in stores and other businesses, usually by buying something really cheap and paying for it with a big (and fake) bill. You keep expecting one of the store clerks to get wise, but they never do. Then a guy from the Secret Service tells us how to spot fake money, and we get to see a bit of interesting factory tour footage of dollar bills being made at the mint. Unfortunately, the film is incomplete. This film is quite campy and fun for the most part, though the part about spotting errors in fake money drags a bit.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Avengers #5 (film #9 in the Cult section of TVArk). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
A 1968 version of the opening credits to the popular British spy show. In this one, Patrick Macnamee battles several knights in armor. I smell shark-jumping here.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Bookkeeping and Accounting (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #231 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Vocational guidance film about that most exciting of fields: bookkeeping and accounting! Ah yes, the thrill of the ledger! The smell of fresh ink on paper! The satisfaction of adding up firm columns of figures! The…oh, I can’t keep this up any longer. It’s DULL, folks! It’s so dull and tedious and boring…I want to become a LION TAMER!!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Lions: 0. Overall Rating: **.
Brazil at War (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #242 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This film was made right after Brazil joined the allies during World War II. It basically describes what a great ally Brazil was expected to be. What this boils down to is a military version of a travelogue. It’s somewhat ironic to watch today, considering Brazil didn’t exactly end up being known for its military victories, and that it did later become known for harboring Nazis. Mostly, though, this is dull.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Ratings: **.
The Grapevine (film #7 on The Educational Archives, Volume Four: On the Job (Fantoma, 2002)). [Catetgory: Industrial]
Mr. Stone, head of the accounting department, is frustrated because the "girls" (they are always referred to that way) in his department are constantly flying off the handle in response to wild rumours heard on the office grapevine. He wonders why they don't just ask him about stories they've heard, but he is totally clueless to the fact that when they do ask him about anything, he bites their heads off. Then, suddenly, we're in Centron-land––the film has a “What do you think?" ending. The sexism in this film is both blatant and subtle, which was typical of the time in which it was made.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Chinese Lion Dance, Marysville, California (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #1162 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
This is footage from a mid-1920s Chinese New Year celebration in Marysville, California, complete with dragon (though here, it's referred to as a lion) and lots of fireworks. A historically interesting slice of 20s immigrant life.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
BBC1 Schools #1 (film #1 in the Schools section of TVArk). [Category: Educational]
Remember educational television? Remember the boring counters they used to have before the programs started? Here’s the British version of that, which is actually fairly mesmerizing. It features a diamond-shaped BBC logo that gradually morphs into two diamonds. I bet this fascinated the schoolkids of the time.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Avengers #4 (film #8 in the Cult section of TVArk). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
It’s 1966 and now “The Avengers” is IN COLOR! Well, I guess that’s one way to open a champagne bottle. Very cool.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Battleships Maine and Iowa (film #10 on Who Built America? (Voyager CD-ROM, 1993). [Category: Early Film & TV]
After the sinking of the battleship Maine, the Biograph company rereleased Edwin S. Porter's Panorama of War under this title. This is just a very brief clip of the film, with narration telling us the above fact. Since Panorama of War is also on the CD-ROM, this is kind of pointless. An 1898 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: *. Overall Rating: *.
Astor Battery on Parade (film #20 on Edison Film Archive. Also, film #12 on The Spanish-American War in Motion Pictures). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This is basically your standard military parade from the 1890s, meaning there are more horses and swords than are generally seen today. An 1899 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Let Us Break Bread Together (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #820 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This 50s film documents an ambitious (for its time) project the public school system in New York City instituted to break down racism by pairing schools in racially homogenous neighborhoods with other such schools whose racial composition was different and having the students visit each others’ schools and work on group projects together. It’s an admirable idea, and it looks like the project itself was fairly successful, but the film is bizarrely directed and incredibly tedious. It starts with an interracial choir singing the African-American spiritual “Let Us Break Bread Together” verrrrrrry sloooowwwllly, and that sets you up for what’s to come. All speech in the film, including the narration and comments from participants in the program, is done in a very slow, measured cadence, with pauses after every two or three words. Instead of filming spontaneous responses to interview questions from the participants, all comments from the participants (this includes comments from children, parents, and teachers) were heavily scripted and recited by the participants in the same slow, measured cadence. The actual content of both the narration and the participants’ comments sounds like it was written with the assumption that all audience members for the film would be slightly mentally retarded, so everything would need to be explained very slowly and carefully, with lots of repetition. When speaking, the participants look like they were given large doses of Thorazine and were directed to read off of cue cards that had only two or three words written on each one. One woman keeps glancing in different directions, as if every cue card was shown to her from a different vantage point. The film ends with two of the children reciting in unison a poem that was written by one of the other participants in the program. They do this staring straight ahead at the camera and speaking very slowly and without a trace of emotion. After awhile, you begin to wonder if this project took place in the School System of the Living Dead, or perhaps aliens had stolen their souls. The narrator, for some reason, has a weird, pseudo-British accent, which just adds to the weirdness of the proceedings. It’s too bad, really, that the film was so poorly directed, because the project itself was very interesting and ambitious, and could have sparked a really fascinating film. As it is, despite its weirdness, it puts you to sleep.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Eisenhower for President (film #31 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager). Also in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #1818 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Commercial]
This is the delightful "I Like Ike" animated commercial of the 50's, produced by Roy Disney, Walt's brother. I may not particularly "like Ike", but I sure like this wonderful example of 50's cute animation. Probably the best campaign spot ever made, especially when compared with today's mudslinging.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Tomorrow's Children trailer (film #1 on Exploitation Mini-Classics, Vol. 1 (Sinister Cinema)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Campy, hyperbolic trailer for Tomorrow's Children, a 30s exploitation movie about forced sterilization. Lots of fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Distant Drummer: Flowers of Darkness (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #442 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This late 60s film chronicles the worldwide opium trade and the contemporary problems of narcotic addiction in the United States. For the most part, this is intelligently done, though somewhat dry. Near the end, they talk about the shift in social attitudes from viewing addicts as criminals to viewing them as suffering an illness and how that has changed public policy. Unfortunately, that was not to last, and would be replaced by the strident, and ineffective, “War on Drugs.” This film provides a good historical record of drug policy during the 60s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
How to Irritate People (Castle Communications). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This episode of "The David Frost Show" features a pre-Python John Cleese narrating a treatise on "How to Irritate People"––a subject he is definitely an expert on. Graham Chapman and Michael Palin also appear, as well as Connie Booth (Polly on "Fawlty Towers"). The sketches are definitely proto-Python, allowing us to see how Python's lunacy evolved from more conventional sketch comedy. Early versions of the Pepperpots are here, as well as early versions of the Restaurant Sketch (the one with the dirty fork) and the Job Interview Sketch ("Good nigghhhhttttt...a ring-ding-ding-ding!!"). A highlight is a sketch with airline pilots who play some really terrible pranks on the passengers (and forget what I said about Up on Cloud Nine––this really is funny). Not quite as funny as real Monty Python, but Python fans will find this a quite interesting historical relic.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Apollo, Segment 6004 (in the Documentary section of Open Video Project). [Category: News]
More soundtrack woes. This one starts out with no film soundtrack at all––you just hear background noises. Then, about a third of the way through, the sound kicks in, but after only a few seconds it speeds up to Chipmunk speed again and continues that way till the end of the clip. One wonders if the next clip will feature the sound of the boss yelling at the digitizer. Stay tuned.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
The Andy Griffith Show #2 (film #17 in the When Stars Did the Commercials section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Andy gets a visit from Carol Channing, who helps him pitch Sanka coffee. This also has that staple of 60s commercials, the surprise switcheroo with “ordinary people”: “This is Sanka? Really??” This really brings back those 60s tv memories.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Avengers #3 (film #7 in the Cult section of TVArk). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Now these are cool opening credits (for the 1965 series)! Also included is the opening scene of the episode “The Cybernauts,” which is genuinely exciting. This will bring back those 60s spy show memories.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Bigger and Better (film #1385 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Silent color film footage from the 30s and 40s showing firefighters putting out various fires in the New York City area. Unfortunately, the film has been poorly digitized, with lots of pixelization, so it’s hard to see what’s happening, especially in the night scenes. Still, it’s kind of fun to see those big old firetrucks in glorious color.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
All Together Now (film #3 on WWII Cartoons, Vol. 1 VCD (The Authentic History Center)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Brief Disney toon in which the Seven Dwarves bring their diamonds into the bank and use them to buy War Bonds, singing all the while. There’s some historical interest here, in how the Disney characters were used for propaganda purposes, but not much else.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Assembling and Testing Turbines, Westinghouse Works.
A guy with a clipboard inspects a big steam-belching turbine. He finds many things to note on his clipboard. A slice of life from an early factory.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Booby Traps (film #10 on The Complete Uncensored Private SNAFU DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). Also, film #3 on Private S.N.A.F.U. (Rhino, 1992). Also, film #4 on V for Victory WWII Cartoons & Shorts Show (Something Weird, 1996)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Warner Brothers made the Private Snafu cartoons for the army, to explain various important concepts to the GIs. Private Snafu was the Goofus of the army, who could be counted on to show what not to do. The cartoons definitely had the Warner Brothers stamp on them, which means they're pretty great. In this one, Snafu enters a zone recently vacated by the enemy and, despite warnings to keep his nose out of things, gets hoodwinked by various booby traps. Features one of the first appearances of the classic Warner Brothers exploding piano gag.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Dialogue with Life (film #436 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This 60s film touts the advances in medical science that have taken place during the previous 50 years or so. Actually, it sings the praises of medical technology, even at the expense of human relationship or bedside manner. It also sings the praises of health insurance. It ends by showing us the glory of a high-tech hospital birth, something that would be abandoned for routine pregnancies due to grass-roots efforts in only about 10 years. In its time, there was some justification for these attitudes, but looked at from today’s perspective it about makes you want to throw up. Still, it does give an interesting perspective on how health care got into the mess it’s in today. It drags a bit, though.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Andy Griffith Show #1 (film #12 in the When Stars Did the Commercials section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Commercial from “The Andy Griffith Show” where Andy does a magic trick of opening up an ear of corn to reveal that it is full of Post Toasties. I’m not sure that’s what I want to get my cereal from.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Juke Joint (film #17 in the Black Culture section of Movieflix (www.movieflx.com)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Movieflix added an introduction to this all-black cast film that gives some historical background to films like this, which were made completely by African-Americans. This film is a light comedy, featuring a couple of con men who drift into a small town and endear themselves to a local family when they help one of the daughters win a beauty contest. The juke joint of the title plays only a minor role in the film. This is a rather strange movie with a plot that kind of meanders around. The two con men are mildly amusing, but the scenes of the mother beating her husband and one of her daughters are upsetting to today’s sensibilities. It’s also curious that the two con men are never unmasked and are actually a benign influence on the family throughout the film. This is a good example, though, of a film that was made from an African-American perspective.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Avengers #2 (film #6 in the Cult section of TVArk). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Opening credits for the 1962 season of “The Avengers.” We’re starting to get cooler and more 60s spy-like here, with giant letters and the silhouette of a man running. We’ll see how this develops.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Apollo, Segment 6003 (in the Documentary section of Open Video Project). [Category: News]
Is anybody at NASA paying attention to how these film clips are being digitized? About two-thirds of the way through this one the sound suddenly speeds up to Chipmunk speed. It goes on like that for awhile, then it suddenly stops, then continues on to the end of the clip on a too-slow speed. Of course, this increases the humor value of this clip vastly, and God knows these Apollo clips need something.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Artificial Respiration (film #1384 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Silent film from the 20s about how to do the old out-with-the-bad-air, in-comes-the-good method of artificial respiration. The film repeatedly emphasizes that after a victim is resuscitated he should not be allowed to get up––this is portrayed on screen by showing rescuers literally wrestling victims to the ground. They also move victims’ spines around a lot when preparing them for artificial respiration. This is a quaint view of resuscitation techniques from another era––aren’t you glad it’s better now?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Going Places (film #1 on An American Retrospective Through Animation (Moviecraft, 1994). Also in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #603 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Little Freddie Futzo, forced to stay indoors and help his mother make soap instead of go fishing, thinks up a better way to make better soap and step by step grows up to be the CEO of Fudso Industries, Inc., a thriving, profit-making corporation. This is shown to be better not just for Freddie, but for everybody, as the profit motive eventually creates utopia in Freddie's cartoon world. This film is a bit less annoying than some of the others on this tape. Some of the points it makes are valid––it just has a rose-colored view of capitalism, where industrial development is always an improvement over what existed before, where savvy consumers are impossible to cheat, where profitable businesses always share the wealth with their employees, and where the free market always quickly thwarts any monopolistic attempts. But then, what did you expect from a corporate-sponsored film? What's interesting is that the animated sequences occassionally contradict the corporate propaganda the narrator is spouting, such as when CEO Freddie (who originally just wanted to go fishing, remember) always gets his attempts to go fishing thwarted by company demands and eventually gets so stressed he becomes a chronic antacid user; or when a police officer––representing the "better police protection" Fudso Industries' property taxes pays for––thwarts a young apple thief, then eats the apple himself. It seems like the animators had a bit more realistic view of things!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Assembling a Generator, Westinghouse Works.
Overall-clad workmen assemble a big turbine-like thing, which I assume is the generator. That?s it, really, but it?s a mighty piece of equipment and thus kind of fun to watch being assembled. A nice bit of factory history. A 1904 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Ajax Liquid (film #2 in the Video Vault section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
A housewife tells her friend on the phone that she’s using the “white tornado” to clean her floors. The emphasis on ammonia is what’s campy here––she shouts that Ajax has way more ammonia than “that green stuff” and you can tell “by the smell!” A campy fun glorification of toxic chemicals.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Bright Lights: Cycle Safety (film #2 in the Public Info. Films section of TVArk). [Category: Public Service]
Very short British PSA urging cyclists to keep their headlights clean so that they will shine brightly and improve visibility at night. This is too short to say much about.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: **. Overall Rating: **.
The Avengers #1 (film #5 in the Cult section of TVArk). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Opening credits and the first few seconds of a 1961 episode of “The Avengers.” This is smoothly cool, but not yet very wacky. It does have historical value, though, in being a from a very early episode.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Apollo, Segment 6002 (in the Documentary section of Open Video Project). [Category: News]
This clip from a NASA film features pictures of Mars sent back by the Mariner 9 unmanned spacecraft. The pictures are kind of blurry and hard to see, but this has historical value anyway.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
A Chinaman's Chance (film #14 on The Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection, Vol. 2 DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999). Also, film #4 on The Cartoons That Time Forgot, Volume 3: Things That Go Bump in the Night (Kino Video, 1993)). [Category: Hollywood]
In which our hero, Flip the Frog, in the guise of a policeman, tracks down the notorious Chinese criminal Chow Mein. This is a delightfully "toony" toon, complete with the most "toony" car you've ever seen, and a plot that unfolds with "toony" logic. The water scenes are beautifully done, and the scene in the opium den will remind you of many anti-drug films to come. Great fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
John Henry and the Inky Poo (film #18 on Cartoon Crazys: Sci-Fi (WinStar Home Entertainment, 1999). Also, film #3 on She (Sinister Cinema)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This puppet-animated retelling of the John Henry legend is rather unusual. First of all, it’s an African-American version of the story, and though its portrayal of that culture probably wouldn’t pass muster today, it’s not to bad for its time (the 40s). And although it features music and singing, it doesn’t really sing at any point the folksong we all remember. The strangest part concerns John Henry’s birth––he is born fully-grown and about the size of Paul Bunyan and politely introduces himself to his mother (I don’t even want to think about what she went through!). And the film specifies that John Henry started working on the railroad at about the age of 3 weeks. The Inky-Poo of the title is the steam drill––I cannot imagine where they got that name for it. Strange as it is, though, the cartoon is rather stirring and inspiring, portraying John Henry as a larger-than-life symbol for the sweat of all the working men who built the railroads and this country in general. All this makes the cartoon prime ephemera.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Albany St. Lumber Yard (film #1383 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Silent film footage from the 30s of firefighters fighting fires in various Boston locations, including the Albany St. Lumber Yard. Some of the scenes of fires are pretty spectacular while other scenes are murky and hard to see. This is gritty, real firefighting footage, though, so if that interests you, this is a film to check out.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Asia in America, St. Louis Exposition (film #5 on America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894-1915. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This is footage of a parade of Asians in cultural dress at the St. Louis Exposition, taken from a rather far away vantage point so it’s hard to see things. This has some historical interest, I suppose, though. A 1904 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Ajax Laundry Detergent (film #16 in the Video Vault section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
This is one of the classic “Stronger Than Dirt” commercials from the 60s, featuring a white knight on a charging steed and a cranky housewife. This one is not the best example I’ve seen from this series, but it’s still pretty fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Democracy at Work in Rural Puerto Rico (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #414 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This 40s film, made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Extension Service, chronicles the services the Extension Service provides to rural Puerto Rican families, including training in better farming methods, help with starting home-based businesses, and starting 4-H clubs for the kids. It’s pretty straightforward, though the emphasis on “American” values seen in a Hispanic culture is a little bit unusual in spots. Mostly, though, this is just what you’d expect. It does give a historically interesting glimpse into rural life in Puerto Rico during the 40s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Barbiturates: Case Study (film #5 on The Educational Archives, Volume One: Sex & Drugs DVD (Fantoma, 2001)). [Category: Educational]
A former pothead describes how he got hooked on "reds" and "yellows" when pot just didn't do it for him anymore. Since this is a 60s film, the description of the drugs' effects is quite psychedelic, involving the same amoeba-like camera effects seen in practically all anti-drug films of the period. Again, this seems to be an excerpt rather than an entire film. Groove along to catchy, poppy music in this film about downers.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Apollo, Segment 6001 (in the Documentary section of Open Video Project). [Category: News]
This is the opening credits to another Aeronautics and Space Report from NASA. Again, it’s prefaced with a crummy handwritten title card with a number on it, backed by a female voice reading off the number. But first, her little brother or somebody makes her laugh. This might have some value to somebody, but I don’t know who.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: **. Overall Rating: *.
Booked for Safekeeping (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #229 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
This early 60s police training film, made in New Orleans, was designed to educate officers in how to handle people who are mentally ill, a type of situation that is more common in police work than you might think. The film is quite well-made and realistic, showing us scenes of police officers handling a confused, senile old lady making a scene at a grocery store; a depressed man who tried to kill himself by jumping off a bridge; a frightened, paranoid psychotic armed with a knife; and a catatonic who doesn’t speak English who suddenly goes from a state of stupor to a violent attack. The main cop in the film keeps his cool in these very difficult and dangerous situations, trying to talk down the disturbed people, and when this fails, physically subdues them in the least painful and frightening ways possible. The film points out in a number of different scenes that there are often inadequate facilities and services to deal with such people, and that is why the job falls to the police. For example, the narrator repeats several times that jail is not a good place for such persons, yet in all cases shown, the disturbed person ends up being held in a bleak jail because there is no other safe place available to keep them until they can be seen by a doctor. The New Orleans setting of the film gives it a strange, otherworldly quality (unless you’re from there, I suppose). All in all, this is a fascinating film about a difficult social problem that I doubt is much different today.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Battle in the Clouds (acquired through trading). [Category: Early Film & TV]
The print I have of this is pretty poor quality, so it's a bit hard to follow, but this seems to be an early vision of what war would be like enhanced by airborne technology. There’s airships aplenty, a battle between an airplane and an airship, an armored vehicle that gets blown up, a house that gets bombed, and, of course, a love story. The planes and airships are a lot of fun to look at and the special effects in general are quite good for its time. I wish I could follow the story better, but hey, you can't have everything.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
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Better Reading
Better Reading . Teenager Harold Wilson has a problem—he can’t read for (expletive deleted). So he has to spend all his free time studying ...
