A Touch of Magic (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #7 on Our Secret Century, Vol. 1: The Rainbow Is Yours CD-ROM (Voyager). Also, film #1539 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Nuveena's at it again in this sequel to Design for Dreaming. This was made in 1960, near the end of the populuxe era, and you can tell––the magic seems to be fading from this sort of film. Nuveena and her beau dance a tribute to medieval chivalry, but when the audience shows up, they actually look embarassed (that was certainly not a problem in Design for Dreaming). The time shifts to the present and the couple displays the 1961 GM cars. Then they get married, move into a new house (and not a Home of Tomorrow, just an ordinary new house), and have a housewarming party. Instead of fixing all the food by pushing a few magic buttons in the Kitchen of Tomorrow, Nuveena sends her beau into the Kitchen of Today to do all the cooking while she gets on the phone and invites all the guests (which, let's face it, is almost as good). The guests turn out to be all invisible imaginary friends, though they have real cars and eat all the real food. Then Nuveena and her beau demonstrate proper dishwasher loading by literally throwing all the dishes in the general direction of the dishwasher (they all land in perfect order and the dishwasher starts itself). Not as otherworldly as Design for Dreaming, but still pretty weird.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
It Happens Every Noon (film #772 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This mid-60s film encourages all schools to sign up for the Federal School Lunch Program. Different kinds of lunch programs are shown, from fancy hot lunches down to sandwiches in snacks, in different kinds of schools. Most striking is the clueless racism (while the white schoolkids get a hot lunch in a nice cafeteria, the black kids get sack lunches) and sexism (in the rural schools, the girls have to make the lunch so the teacher can “work with the younger children”, boys no doubt) and the portrayal of southern rural one-room schoolhouses, one where the teacher has to pick up the food from the local general store, which looks like it’s out of the mid-19th century, and where the kids have to wash up at the pump before eating. To see this in a mid-60s film is surprising, but it only shows how there are some parts of this country that live very different lives from the mainstream. The film has great historical value for that reason––it really gives a comprehensive portrait of the mid-60s school lunch program. The food, of course, looks just as bad as you remember it, even though it’s supposed to be a “type A” lunch. No wonder the teens would rather eat greasy chili dogs. A quintessential government film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Don Quixote (film #22 on The Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection, Vol. 1 DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Hollywood]
The more you think about this one the weirder it gets, despite the fact that it's based on a well-known literary work. Don Quixote, a certifiable looney, gets a lot of crazy ideas in his head from books about knights and stuff, and he manages to break out of Ye Olde Bugge House, with his guard hot on his trail. Now he's off to do crazy stuff, but the problem is the whole idea of craziness is questionable when you live in a cartoon universe, where absolutely anything can happen. What is "reality" then? This is never more evident than in the tilting-at-windmills scene. Don Quixote is supposed to be "crazy" because he mistakes a windmill for a giant and begins battling with it. But the actual windmill turns anthropomorphic and begins battling Quixote in a way that's about as realistic as most anthropomorphic inanimate objects in cartoons are wont to be. So what's really "crazy" here––Quixote or his crazy cartoon "reality"? The ending is particularly bizarre––Quixote mistakes a woman's bad singing for cries of distress, but when he comes to rescue her, she turns out to be ugly and man-hungry. At this point, the guard from the Bugge House catches up with Quixote and she begins chasing them both. They both run back to the Bugge House, put about a million locks on the door of Quixote's cell and start burning Quixote's books and the guard's keys, respectively. I don't think the original novel ended that way. This is a great obscure piece of cartoon weirdness that raises a lot of interesting philosophical questions.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Alien TV (film #107 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Experimental film involving psychedelic-looking altered film footage of people with a crawling superimposed title telling us about aliens or something. It gets mesmerizing after a bit, with some striking visual imagery, though for me it resembles a little too much the obligatory “trip” scene found in youth-oriented movies from the late 60s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdnessmode***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Brazil: South American Medley (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #244 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
This National Geographic film is a standard, though fairly well-made, educational travelogue about Brazil. A few isolated spots of weirdness include some guys in drag in a Mardi Gras parade and venom being harvested at that weird snake ranch in Sao Paulo. But mostly this is just what you’d expect.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Beatles (film #1 in The British Invasion section of WPA Film Library). [Category: News]
Newsreel clips documenting the Beatles’ arrival in America, including huge crowds of screaming girls and amusing press conference footage. This gives you a good idea of the impact of their arrival, giving this quite a bit of historical interest considering how short it is.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Chaplin - The Rounders (film #37 in the Silent section of Movieflix). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Looks like the Little Tramp married into money. This time he's a rich fellow with a habit of coming home drunk to his feisty wife. His wife throws him out, where he encounters Fatty Arbuckle, who is also in the habit of coming home drunk to a feisty wife. Together they stumble off to a restaurant and are thrown out for trying to go to sleep on the floor. Their wives in hot pursuit, they end up stealing a rowboat and drown in it when it fills with water. I'm not particularly a fan of drunk humor and I have to say that even with the presence of Arbuckle, this is one of the weaker Chaplin efforts. A 1914 Charlie Chaplin film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Algeria (film #11 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Newsreel clip of street violence in Algiers during the struggle for Algerian independence during the 50s. A bus wreck is a striking moment in this. Has historical interest and some striking scenes of violence, but not too much else.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Combat Bulletin No. 5 (film #2 on tape #1 of This Film Is Restricted Boxed Set (Marathon Music & Video, 1997)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This Combat Bulletin focuses mainly on the resourcefulness of GIs. In "Stop That Tank!", we're shown the strengths and weaknesses of a captured Japanese tank and how to take one out in battle. In "Something New Has Been Added" we get a good look at the then-brand-new B-29 bomber. In "No Field Cable?", Signal Corpsmen improvise a cable wrapper out of some wire spools and gears. In "Home-Made Gadget Steps Up Bazooka Power", GIs quadruple bazooka power by simply connecting four bazookas together. Clever? You bet! But the enemy can be clever, too. In "A New Land Mine Problem", we're shown a new German land mine made in a simple little wooden box. Finally, "Modern Day Specialists" is a tribute to the infantry and their extensive training. I love resourcefulness and improvising useful gadgets from junk, so I think this bulletin is pretty fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 3, No. 4 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #305 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
(Sigh!) More silly “news” “stories” from Chevrolet. There’s a traveling barber that serves trailer folk, a combination bus-train, more animal abuse in the form of a fire dog that gets sent into flames to rescue a little girl’s dolly, an early version of eye-in-the-sky traffic reports, and model boat races. (Sigh!) I need to go to bed now…Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
To New Horizons (film #1 on Lifestyles, U.S.A., Vol. 1 (Somthing Weird, 2000). Also in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #1529 on Prelinger Archive. Also, film #15 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager) (excerpts)). [Category: Industrial]
The 1939 New York World's Fair is a source of endless fascination for me. So I was delighted to find this film made for the GM Futurama available from these sources––it's the next best thing to a time machine. The Futurama was the most memorable exhibit at the fair––it contained a huge miniature replica of a "typical" city of 1960. This film documents that exhibit and the boundless optimism behind it. What's amazing is that it really wasn't that far off the mark, especially in the case of the superhighways, which look a lot like modern Interstate highways. And it's just a really fun piece of ephemera, from the cheesy organ soundtrack, to the assertion that "we are all interested in the future, for that is where we will be spending the rest of our lives"––so that's where Criswell got that phrase!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Betty Boop and Grampy (film #295 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Hollywood]
Betty goes to a party at Grampy’s house, bringing along with her any and all passers-by, who immediately abandon their jobs, no matter how important. Grampy entertains them by turning kitchen gadgets into an elaborate music-making machine. This is one of the later Bettys, so it’s not as weird, but I always love Grampy’s clever inventions, so this is pretty fun anyway.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Dick Whittington's Cat (film #32 on The Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection, Vol. 1 DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Hollywood]
This seems a lot more like a typical cat-and-mouse cartoon than a fairy tale. A cowardly cat gets accidentally sent to a foreign land where there are no cats and the mice have essentially taken over. The cat manages to defeat the mice by developing a cat version of Dissociative Identity Disorder––when he is tied up by the mice onto a mini-guillotine and frightened into unconsciousness, his nine lives take over and beat the crap out of the mice. This particular part of the cartoon is pretty strange, but the rest of it is pretty predictable.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Black Diamond Express (film #29 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Some guys work on the railroad all the livelong day, that is, until the train comes. A slice of workingmen’s life from the 1890s. An 1896 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Boys Beware (film #239 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
This memorable Sid Davis film about homosexuality rates high on most people’s camp list, as it is chock full of juicy tidbits of misinformation, the main one being that homosexual equals child molester. In fact, I wonder if this precise cognitive distortion is what lays behind much homophobia. But this is not even the most jawdropping of this film’s assertions. That comes at the end of its first case study, when we find out that Jimmy, after telling his parents about being sexually abused by Ralph, and his parents told the police, was placed on probation and “released into the custody of his parents,” implying that criminal charges were brought against him as well as Ralph! I’m sure that encouraged lots of boys to turn in their molesters (NOT!). What is really sad about this film is that it so totally failed to address the real dangers of sexual abuse children face, while inciting homophobia and giving vague warnings about not going anywhere with strangers (warnings I’m sure most of its audience members had heard a million times). The only sensible part of the film comes when a paperboy copies down the license number of a car driven by a stranger, after one of his friends got into it. He later gives the license number to his friend’s mother, who calls the police, who track down the stranger. This little bit of advice just might come in handy in those rare cases of stranger abduction of children. But even then, it’s pretty unrealistic, as the boy waits until he happens to be delivering a paper to his friend’s mother before telling her about the stranger in the car. In the real world, especially in the pre-Amber-Alert world this film takes place in, the guy would have been long gone and the kid dead by then. Of course, all this makes for great ephemera, and this film is a must-have for educational film collectors.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Alucarda Trailer (extra on Alucarda DVD (Mondo Macabro)). [Category: Commercial]
Trailer for a late-70s Mexican horror movie that features lots of blood and sadism. This has some pretty disturbing imagery, though it looks like it’s from a well-made horror film. The trailer seems to pack in all the most disturbing imagery into its couple of minutes, though I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know if there’s even worse stuff they didn’t show. This is not particularly recommended unless you really like this sort of thing, or are interested in the movie.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Chaplin - The Masquerader (film #36 in the Silent section of Movieflix). [Category: Early Film & TV]
The makers of the film Tootsie stole the plot from this movie. The Little Tramp is, amazingly enough, a movie actor who soon gets fired for behaving like the Little Tramp. He returns to the studio in drag and makes fools of all the men. Chaplin is a most convincing woman in this one, so convincing he might fool you, too. And there are some wonderful slapstick moments here, too, like when he tries to steal another actor's beer. A fun outing for the Little Tramp. A 1914 Charlie Chaplin film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Arrests at HUAC in City Hall (film #2 on Shaping San Francisco). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Brief clip from 1960 of police officers removing protesters forcibly from the steps of San Francisco’s city hall, where House Unamerican Activities Commission hearings were going on. A historically interesting blip from the first rumblings of the 60s protest movement.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value; N/A. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Invitation to the Nation (film #764 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This 40s travelogue about Washington, DC, narrated by ol’ George himself (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), is pretty standard, with no real surprises. It does provide lots of color footage of Washington in 1946, which gives it some historical value. But mostly, this is ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Alien Factor Blooper Reel (extra on The Alien Factor DVD (Retromedia Entertainment)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Blooper reel for an incredibly cheap monster movie called The Alien Factor. Proof that such films actually are edited! Though this production crew is so incompetent that even the guy with the clapboard bloops twice!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Beatlemania (film #7 in the British Invasion section of WPA Film Library). [Category: News]
Silent newsreel footage of the huge crowds of people, especially teenage girls, that mobbed the Beatles wherever they went. These are scenes that are an unforgettable part of the 60s, so that gives this historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Akron, Ohio (film #125 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Short newsreel clip showing a huge Navy blimp which carries a radar antenna, “a valuable addition to America’s airborne early warning system.” Other than a brief campy moment involving the words “gas bag,” and the msting possibilities of blimps, this is pretty ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
A Wonderful New World of Fords (film #38 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager). Also in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #1692 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Commercial]
This short film introduced to the world the 1960 model Fords. And it's not so much an introduction as a society girl's debut. The three cars are in virginal white and surrounded by rich folks in formal dress singing about the "wonderful new world of Fords". Somebody at Ford was taking the new model year way too seriously. This was made in 1960, near the end of the populuxe era, and so was a kind of swan song for this sort of thing.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 3, No. 3 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #304 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
This fairly standard edition of Chevrolet Leader News features an ROTC marching band, the first drive-in bank, complete with offensive Italian stereotype, a Boy Scout Jamboree in which the foreign scouts are all fascinated by American cars (yeah, you wish, Chevrolet!), the usual lawsuit invitation in the form of a really strange and dangerous –looking contraption that allows acrobats to swing in circles while on top of a moving car, and the usual animal abuse in the form of dressed-up and made-up performing monkeys. Just a typical day at Chevrolet, I guess.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Bargain Counter Attack (film #5 on Film Chest Vintage Cartoons). [Category: Hollywood]
Little Lulu wreaks havoc in a department store, stimulating the ire of its prissy manager. In addition to the general anarchy, this has some wonderful ironic moments, including the manager being transformed into a baby, and the manager floating through the flooded store just in front of a sign that says “THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.” Dennis the Menace pales next to Little Lulu!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Combat Bulletin No. 4 (film #1 on tape #1 of This Film Is Restricted Boxed Set (Marathon Music & Video, 1997)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
The Combat Bulletins of World War II were made by the Army Pictorial Service to inform officers on the progress of the war. In general, they are a hodgepodge of all kinds of military footage from the front, some of it boring, some of it fascinating, some of it typical, some of it highly unusual. All of it is very gritty and real––since these were made strictly for viewing by military officers and not the public, no punches were pulled. We get an uncensored soldier's-eye-view of the war with all its horrors, heroism, and boredom. This one starts with "Cassino", a report on the taking of the Monte Cassino Abbey and the town of Cassino in Italy, a difficult job since the Nazis were heavily entrenched in the surrounding hills. Highlights include lots of animated map sequences and a bizarre shot of a giant Nazi soldier's head looking through binoculars superimposed over a shot of the hills behind Cassino. In "Japs and Jungle: Southwest Pacific" we see gritty footage of infantry soldiers slogging through south Pacific jungles, taking territory from the Japs inch by inch. The highlight is a reenactment of a couple of scared GIs talking in the dark.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Bird’s-Eye View of San Francisco, Cal. from a Balloon (film #3 on Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire. Also, film #28 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This one really is a bird’s-eye view of the rooftops of 1902 San Francisco. It would have historical interest if it wasn’t so dark and blurry. A 1902 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: **. Overall Rating: **.
The Alligator People Trailer (extra on The Alligator People DVD (Fox, 2004)). [Category: Commercial]
Campy, fun trailer for The Alligator People, that classic of silly 50s sci-fi horror. You’ll be pulled down into the quicksand of terror, in Screaming Horrorscope! Or die laughing, you decide. Great fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Technicolor for Industrial Films (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #2 on Our Secret Century, Vol. 1: The Rainbow Is Yours CD-ROM (Voyager). Also, film #1481 on Prelinger Archive. Also, film #23 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager) (excerpts)). [Category: Industrial]
In the 1950s, people went color crazy. New technology allowed advertising and products to be made in all kinds of bright colors and consumers ate it up, which is why so much 50s stuff seems so garish today. This industrial film was made for industrial filmmakers (even they weren't exempt from watching this stuff) to try to get them to make their films in Technicolor. All kinds of brightly-colored products are shown while the narrator tells us how they can only properly be portrayed in Technicolor. Strangest moment: While the narrator talks about "family dinners we all know and love", we see the mixing of a scotch and soda. Most mstable moment: A black maid helps her white mistress get dressed––in a film about color this really begs for msting! Most unbelievable moment: The claim that Technicolor reproduces fabrics so accurately that films could replace swatch books.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Cupid Gets His Man (film #66 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
There’s lots of sign-language interpretation in this one, but for once, I think it’s necessary, since the story involves cultural conventions that deaf kids may not be familiar with. Of course, the idea that deaf kids need to be exposed to such bizarre concepts as a cupid firing squad is not questioned. But I guess hearing kids get plenty of exposure to these bizarre old cartoons, so we might as well not leave the deaf kids out. I just hope the kids watching this won’t come away with the idea that human reproduction somehow involves a roulette wheel and rubber stamps.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Inner City (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #754 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This pitch for the United Fund in St. Louis focuses on how the United Fund agencies help people with disabilities and orphaned children. It’s fairly tearjerking, especially the soundtrack, yet I didn’t find it to be insufferably so. Of course, it was made in the days when people with disabilities were portrayed as pitiable creatures, yet the often well-shot visuals often don’t bear this out. This gives you a good idea about how charitable funds were solicited back in the 50s, and how those funds were used.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Aladibababad (film #15 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #14 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms. Also, film #1 in the Fantasy section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This is one of the most entertaining brickfilms I’ve ever seen. It features Ali Baba and several of his 40 thieves, a cave of treasure that is opened with a Burger Doodle jingle, treasure that is ignored in favor of a rare Pokemon card, a plucky hero that keeps fooling an evil bottle genie with the same trick over and over, and a very brief “action” sequence. The biggest strength of this brickfilm is its script, which is very funny, but it also has well-done animation, funny special effects, and a folksong for the end credits. This is one brickfilm not to miss.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: *****.
BBC World News – Live Coverage (film #25 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Cut-in bulletin from the BBC announcing a 2003 terrorist alert. This is a little recent to have much interest, but should have more interest as time goes by.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: **. Overall Rating: **.
Air Force Gets a New Theme Song (film #110 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
A chorus sings an air force theme song I’ve never heard of, while lots of different planes fly. A slice of mid-50s patriotism.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 3, No. 2 (film #303 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Warning to all animal lovers! This edition of Chevrolet Leader News takes animal abuse to new heights! No more dogs packed in cars––this quote-newsreel-unquote has two very upsetting scenes of animal abuse. The first involves the capture of a beautiful old sea turtle, who is strapped upside down to the boat for purposes of humiliation, then strapped to the top of a Chevrolet (remember the name, folks!) while the narrator gleefully delights in telling us he is going to be turned into turtle soup and eyeglass frames. The other segment involves two cats who are forced to fight each other in a miniature boxing ring with mittens on until one gets knocked out (though I must admit the doggy journalists look like they are enjoying themselves––must be the liquor). In between are stories of a deluxe horse trailer for police horses, an invitation to a lawsuit involving a golf instructor hitting golf balls at bathing beauties, and an inexplicably serious story about the Dust Bowl, in which car engines are purported to be the solution. It looks like the folks at Chevrolet (remember that name, PETA!) were hitting the sauce when they wrote this one.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: *****.
Bamboo Isle (film #521 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Hollywood]
This early Betty Boop features the Royal Samoans for some real island flavor, plus lots of racist depictions of island natives, again in a frustrating mix. Still, there’s the usual weirdness and anthropomorphic inanimate object, making this pretty fun to watch anyway. View it in the context of its time period and have fun. By the way, Betty Boop dances a hot hula.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *oX
a Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Devil's Foot (film #7 on Sherlock Holmes: The Early Years (Hollywood's Attic, 1996)). [Category: Hollywood]
In this 1921 British short, Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery of a couple who are mysteriously found dead in their home without a sign of struggle. Interestingly enough, once he figures out the who the real killer is and his motive, he covers up the crime and lets the police believe another man did it. It's an interesting premise, but it's rather dull in execution and the print is of poor quality, so it's hard to see.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Bird’s-Eye View of Dock Front, Galveston (film #29 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This is not a bird’s-eye view, but a panoramic view of the Galveston docks, which look pretty darn primitive by today’s standards. This would have some historical value, but it’s hard to see. A 1900 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
The Abominable Dr. Phibes Trailer (extra on The Abominable Dr. Phibes DVD (MGM, 2001)). [Category: Commercial]
Classy trailer for the classic hamfest The Abominable Dr. Phibes, starring Vincent Price, who leaves no piece of scenery unchewed. This trailer is well-made and a lot of fun, like the movie. Ah, Vulnavia!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Bottle and the Throttle (track #4 on The Educational Archives, Volume Three: Driver's Ed DVD (Fantoam, 2002). Also, film #232 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
Bill has a few too many "beach party beers" before driving, and ends up running over a woman and her little girl, killing the girl and paralyzing the woman for life. His punishment: he is relentlessly harangued by Sid Davis' narrator for the rest of the film. Fortunately, he doesn't have to watch any gory footage, but then, he's only 18.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
The Crazy Firehouse (film #67 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Another sign-language interpreted cartoon, and it’s a pretty silly one, featuring a pathetic group of animal firemen who are no match for anthropomorphic flames. The flames are actually pretty scary, as they are shown actually burning up some of the firemen, though in a humorous way, turning a pig into a smoked ham and a wiener dog into hot dogs. The sign language interpretation, though frequent, is not particularly intrusive, and does seem to clarify the action for the deaf kids. I’m just surprised this one was chosen for interpretation, considering it is more violent than what is usually considered acceptable for children today.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
How to Buy Meat (film #710 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This is actually a series of short segments on meat buying, made by the USDA and featuring a bland early 70s housewife who wears wonderfully outrageous early 70s housewife fashions. I love this sort of home economics thing, of course, though this is a little drier than most. Still, you would expect that from a government film, and it’s fun to groove on the housewife’s changing fashions, the huge cuts of meat she caresses so lovingly, and the “early American” kitchen she inhabits. Don’t forget to write for your free pamphlets on meat grading!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Ahead of Time (film #2 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #124 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms. Also, film #43 in the Drama section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This brickfilm is very hard to follow. It seems to involve a pair of burglars who defy the police and death itself. But it’s hard to tell. The sound is very bad, though that may be an artifact of my avi player, and the lighting is murky. Too bad––it looked like there was an interesting story here, just told badly.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: **. Overall Rating: **.
BBC Evening News (film #24 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Extra BBC news report on the death of Pope John Paul II, showing the body lying in state in the Vatican. It sure doesn’t take long for these kinds of news reports to make it to the Internet, does it?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Air Defenses (film #2 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
50s newsreel featuring lots of cold war-related and conflict-around-the-world stories, including the testing of Nike Missiles, protests in South Korea, passive resistance protests in India, and the training of military helicopter pilots in France. In case this is too much war for you, they also included a “heartwarming” piece about a dog who saved a boy’s life. By the time 50s audiences got through this, they needed movies like The Blob for escapism.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 3, No. 1 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #302 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
In other Chevrolet news, bathing beauties throw baseballs at each other on the beach, then drive up into the mountains and throw snowballs at each other; the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic; people live in trailers; lobsters are trapped and sold to fancy restaurants; and dog food is made fresh and delivered to dog owners’ doors by the Dog Food Man. Must have been a slow news day at Chevrolet. No animal abuse this time, but two of the bathing beauties ride on the hood of the car all the way up into the mountains in those wacky carefree days before seatbelt laws.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Chaplin - The Immigrant (film #22 in the Silent section of Movieflix). [Category: Early Film & TV]
The Little Tramp takes a ship to America, in steerage, of course. On the ship he encounters a pretty woman and her sick mother and helps them out after winning some money in a card game. After they all make it to the States, he meets her again in a restaurant and treats her to lunch, only to find that the coin he found in the street that he was intending to use to pay for lunch has fallen through a hole in his pocket. This is a charming film with some great slapstick moments, such as our opening glimpse of the Little Tramp, and some shennanigans involving the coin mentioned above and a huge surly waiter. A 1917 Charlie Chaplin film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Ancient Fistory (film #17 on Film Chest Vintage Cartoons). [Category: Hollywood]
Popeye plays Cinderella in this gender-reversed version of the tale, with Olive Oyl as the princess giving the ball, and Bluto as Popeye’s employer and rival. Popeye’s fairy godfather changes a can of spinach into a limousine that will change back at midnight. Popeye wins Olive’s heart, but Bluto butts in and foils Popeye with a cannon. Fortunately, at midnight, Popeye’s limo turns back into a can of spinach, which Popeye is able to use with the usual results. As it sounds here, this is a pretty wacked-out version of Cinderella, but that’s the great thing about cartoons––they can do this sort of thing and get away with it.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Bicycle Trick Riding No. 2 (film #2 on American Variety Stage: Physical Culture. Also, film #27 on Edison Film Archive. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A guy does some not-very-impressive stunts on a bike, such as riding backwards and propping himself up unsuccessfully on the handlebars. Sid Davis would later make a fortune making films telling kids not to do this sort of thing. But back in 1899, it was entertainment. Hey, what did they have back then, RKOs? An 1899 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (extra on Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein DVD (Universal, 2000)). [Category: Commercial]
Straightforward trailer for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Other than the rather silly assertion that the film is “SCARE-ewy!”, this is ordinary and unsurprising.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Brad Grinter, Nudist (extra on Blood Freak DVD (Something Weird, 2002)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
A husband whose wife has a phobia about being nude brings her to a nudist camp as a form of “shock therapy.” There she sees lots of ordinary-looking folks with very noticeable tan lines frolicking and relaxing in the nude, and despite the fact that she originally had some bizarre voice running through her head saying something like, “Cooperate with your lover,” (or something, it’s hard to tell), indicating some incipient PTSD, she is quickly and totally cured of her phobia. This short features lots of bad acting, pathetically cheap-looking sets, and, unlike most nudist shorts, full-frontal nudity, men included. This makes it somewhat less sleazy than most, but it’s still pretty cheesy. The acting, in particular, is laughable, and the premise is far-fetched, smacking of sexual fantasy, which lessens any realism it might have considerably and indicates it probably had little audience outside of grindhouses.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Walk-In Triple Feature #1 (Sinister Cinema). [Category: Commercial]
Since this is a triple feature, it has two intermissions. Also since it's a triple feature, the intermissions are quite short, which is somewhat more justified in this case, since they needed to make room for another whole feature-length movie on the tape. Still, it makes it less interesting from an ephemera standpoint, although there are a few good moments, such as a nice print of "Let's All Go to the Lobby", an amusing "Giant Comedy Spookero" promo, and the "nutritious" Hollywood Candy Bars ad.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
The House Fly (film #693 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This Encyclopedia Britannica film is more strident than most, portraying the house fly as a carrier of filth and disease and a public health menace. Lots of anatomical diagrams of flies are shown, as well as lots of disgusting footage of flies buzzing around garbage, animal corpses, and dairy cattle, and that’s not even touching on the really disgusting footage of maggots. The flies seem to be everywhere in this film’s 50s world, despite attempts to control them with fly swatters, insecticide sprays, and widespread dissemination of poison. Although the film is straightforward and dry, in that EB way, it shows a disturbing picture of the seemy underbelly of 50s anxieties. This would be a good short to show before screenings of The Fly, another great example of 50s insect horror.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Combat America (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #352 on Prelinger Archive. Also, film #1 on Side A of Disc #10 of War Classics DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2004). Also, film #1 on Side A of Disc #9 of WWII: The Ultimate Collection DVD Boxed Set (Brentwood Home Video, 2004)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
After his wife, Carole Lombard, was killed in a plane crash, a grieving Clark Gable couldn’t face Hollywood anymore, so he joined up with the Army Air Corps, requesting that he be sent into actual combat. So naturally the Army decided he should make a movie about his combat group, the 351st Bombardier Group. Gable narrates this complete portrait of his outfit and appears in several short scenes where he interviews his comrades-in-arms. The focus of the film, though, is the group itself, especially the gunners. The film starts just after training is complete and the group flies to England to begin flying actual missions. The film covers all aspects of the lives of the gunners, from actual combat to leisure time, and from goofy hijinks to the gritty reality of seeing your buddies get killed or seriously wounded in combat. The film is quite similar to The Memphis Belle, though perhaps not as engrossing as that film. Still, the film has quite a bit of historical value as a portrait of combat and army life, and in color to boot.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Abe’s Job (film #256 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Apparently, Abe Lincoln is still alive and aggressively protecting his copyrights. I guess the makers of this film are in trouble, then. I wonder if he pals around with Elvis.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ???. Overall Rating: ***.
Atlas in Orbit: Radios Ike’s Message of Peace to World (film #128 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: News]
Newsreel story about the launch of the third Atlas missile, which, the narrator informs us, is way better than Sputnik, and which became one of the first communications satellites, broadcasting a message from President Eisenhower wishing everyone peace on earth. This was the space program in its infancy, folks, giving this some historical value, as well as some mild amusement when the narrator reports the dismal failures of the first two Atlas missiles, though he refers to them as “triumphs.”Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Signals: Read 'Em or Weep (extra on Carnival of Souls DVD (Criterion Collection, 2000)). [Category: Industrial]
This safety film sponsored by Caterpillar features bungling construction workers fudging on safety in various ways, and then paying the price when their big ol' earth-moving machines bust up in various spectacular ways. More than any other safety film, this one makes you wonder how it was made without endangering the actors, 'cause big machines really do bust up before the camera. The best scene is the one where a faulty hose causes a big pipe to be dropped on the supervisor's truck, totalling it––the worker looks tremendously embarassed, but I'll bet the real construction workers in the audience where whooping and hollering. Not a bad piece of ephemera for being made as late as 1981.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
A-Sub Epic: Nautilus Pioneers North Pole Seaway (film #135 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Newsreel clip documenting maiden voyage of the atomic submarine Nautilus. Unfortunately, there are no “encounters with mythical sea creatures a la Jules Verne.” Instead, we get to watch sailors playing solitaire. Boy, those nuclear subs were exciting!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Brussels World’s Fair (film #119 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Industrial]
Newsreel clip showing the construction of buildings for the Brussels World’s Fair, “the first world’s fair of the atomic age.” It includes the construction of a diorama showing the Highways of the Future, but it’s just not as much fun as the 1939 World of Tomorrow, darn it. Perhaps tomorrow had become today by that time.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
The Devil's Ball (track #5 on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1913) (Sinister Cinema). Also, film #1 on Early Sci-Fi Fantasy Films (The Buyer's Gallery Home Video)). [Category: Hollywood]
This fragment of an early stop-motion cartoon is real nightmare stuff. Even the talking vegetables are evil, and that's saying a lot, coming from me. Like most dreams, it has lots of weird stuff in it and it doesn't make much sense. But you won't easily forget such images as dancing wineglasses that break themselves, an inflatable saxophone player, or a love triangle involving a shady character, a ballerina, and an ape. I wonder where they dug this one up.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
All’s Well (film #2 on Film Chest Vintage Cartoons). [Category: Hollywood]
All’s well with Gabby until he meets an obnoxious baby who resists all attempts to have his diaper changed. This is a pretty ordinary cartoon that ends predictably.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Borrowed Power (film #228 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
Teen Jerry is a gentleman under most circumstances, but put him behind the wheel of a car and he becomes a real jerk. He gets his comeuppance, though, when the police arrest him for reckless driving and hint that he might be charged with a recent hit-and-run. This makes him sweat but good, as well as stupidly blurting out, “I didn’t hit anybody!” before anyone had even mentioned hitting and running. So as punishment, he has to sit and listen to a judge boringly lecture him about safe driving in front of his parents and his two best friends. This early 50s film is incredibly stilted and woodenly acted. There’s good msting fodder here, but other than that, it’s pretty tedious going. Still, it ends quickly with Jerry being exonerated, causing him to announce that from now on he intends to be the “brains behind the car,” an assertion that is not particularly reassuring after what we have seen before. This film was obviously meant to scare teenagers into safe driving, and it obviously didn’t work, given that driver’s ed films would become progressively gorier and more disgusting as time went by.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Betsy Ross Dance (film #2 in the Dance section of American Variety Stage). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A girl in a frilly dress dances for our entertainment. What this has to do with the first flag is questionable. It does give you some idea of what 1903 audiences found entertaining, though. A 1903 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (film #11 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Commercial]
Fairly entertaining trailer for the really stupid movie Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, starring those lovable Martin & Lewis ripoffs, Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, plus Lugosi and a guy in a gorilla suit. With this trailer, you get all the mildly entertaining parts of the movie, while getting to skip the boring and excruciatingly stupid parts. Making it better than the movie. This is one of the better reasons movie trailers should be preserved.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Cookin’ with Gags (film #118 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This sign language version of the silly Popeye cartoon about April Fool’s Day explains every single joke Bluto pulls, ruining the flow and the surprises of the original cartoon. Most of the explanations are on the level of “Oh! Bluto pulls another April Fool’s trick!” Couldn’t deaf kids figure this out for themselves?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Chaplin - The Fireman (film #21 in the Silent section of Movieflix). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Charlie plays a bungling fireman in this one, though his coworkers aren't much better. He saves the day when he saves the daughter of an insurance cheat from a burning house by litereally climbing up the side of the building, in an amazing stunt sequence. The rest of the film is slapstick aplenty, including many forms of food and drink being thrown around. A 1916 Charlie Chaplin film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Hope Is in Your Hands (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #690 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This is a standard-issue 50s promo film for the United Fund, showing all the good works it does in St. Louis, including funding a school for the deaf, providing sports as an alternative to gang violence to inner-city youth through the YWCA, funding Scout troops for the poor, providing swimming lessons to kids through the Red Cross, taking care of old folks, and helping unwed mothers to give away their babies to geeky couples. The aforesaid geeky couple provides camp value, while the rest provides a historically interesting look at social service practices during the 50s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Walk-In Double Feature #3 (Sinister Cinema). [Category: Commercial]
Sinister Cinema has had so much fun with their Drive-In Double Features that they've come out with some "walk-in" versions, which feature ephemera from ordinary sit-down movie theaters, rather than drive-ins (plus two feature films)––an idea that gets hearty blessings from me. This tape is lots of fun, what with all the dorky couples, special promotions, and warnings not to spit on the floor and such. I look forward to seeing more from this series.
Highlights:
- Nutrition Alert! As always, Buttercup Popcorn and Hollywood Candy Bars are "nutritious".
- The announcement advertising books of theater tickets as a great gift idea is as hard to read as any web page with a busy tiled background. Some things never change, I guess.
- Mr. Whipple sez don't throw "missles" at the screen or he will report such "childish activity" to the management!
- Note for future reference: It's o.k. to talk during a movie if you're a dorky teenage white couple who thinks "bears" is pronounced "bars" and who gets up and goes out to the snack bar to buy something every few minutes, no matter how annoying you are.
- Boyfriend to Girlfriend: "Old Faithful...what does that make you think of?" It evidently makes her think of ice-cold soft drinks, unfortunately for him.
- What are your problems today? Do you think life is passing you by? Are you annoyed by schmaltzy religious messages too?
- There's no smoking in this theater––but buy plenty of cigarettes at our snack bar anyway.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Alabama Jones and the Lost Topping of Doom (film #14 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #13 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This very ambitious and well-made brickfilm is not only a parody of the Indiana Jones movies, but also seems to be a parody of contemporary big budget movies in general. There’s a sweeping soundtrack, beautiful graphics depicting the heroes around-the-world journeys, creatively done sets and special effects, sly in-jokes, and even a credit cookies sequence featuring photos of “outtakes.” It all adds up to a film that is quite impressive and entertaining, while still maintaining that cute, do-it-yourself brickfilmy quality.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: *****.
BBC Vote 2001 – The Verdict (film #24 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Opening credits for a BBC report on the 2001 British election results. These credits are a very well-done montage of scenes of British people with a plane that gives off colored vapor trails flying overhead. Impressive and far more creative and classy than what is usually seen on American tv.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 2, No. 4 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #301 on Prelinger Archive. Also, film #4 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager) (excerpt)). [Category: Industrial]
The biggest highlight of this newsreel features the Voice of Safety, which is essentially a loudspeaker mounted on top of a car, through which the driver yells at other drivers and pedestrians who break safety rules. If this isn't the biggest invitation to accidents, or, indeed, violence, I'll eat my Gallagher "STUPID!" flag. I'm sure we all wish we had one, though. A real jaw-dropper. Other silly stories include a car that tows sunbathers, an amphibious car, and a fireman's cat that slides down poles. There are also some boring stories about oil drilling and model airplanes.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Baby Pop (film #5 in the Film section of Bedazzled. Also, film #4 in the Juke Box Movies section of Bedazzled. Also, film #3 in the Scopitones section of Bedazzled. Also, film #3 in the Television section of Bedazzled. Also, film #6 in the Video section of Bedazzled). [Category: Hollywood]
A French female pop singer sings a bouncy pop song, while her backup singers sing in high-pitched, childlike voices. This is not as creepy as it sounds, since they all seem to be pretty young. But the pop singer sure can’t dance––she stands woodenly throughout most of the film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Coast Guard SPARS (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #340 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This WWII recruitment film for the Coast Guard SPARS program (the Guard’s women’s auxiliary) is full of sexist stereotypes and thus is quite campy. The film tells us that by becoming a SPAR, you take over a man’s job so he can go to sea and blast Axis submarines. The vast majority of the jobs shown take place in offices and involve typewriters, filing cabinets, and huge rolodexes. If you don’t care to work in an office, though, you could dress minor wounds in the dispensary or work in the storeroom! “No, you won’t become an admiral, but you could be the admiral’s secretary,” is an actual quote from the film. I bet that really packed ‘em in to the recruitment offices. Lots of fun and ripe for msting.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Beginning of a Skyscraper (film #5 on The Life of a City). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A bunch of construction workers work on the foundation of a skyscraper. This was back in ought-two (nineteen ought-two to you whippersnappers!) when they did darn near everything by hand. So you see lots of shovels and picks and horse-drawn wagons. It’s amazing those buildings got built back then. A very short piece of construction history. A 1902 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Beechnut Sour Stripe Gum (film #9 in the Saturday Morning 1966 section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Silly, campy commercial for Beechnut Gum featuring The Sour Stripe, a superhero character a la Captain Keds. This is quite fun and very 60s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
A Coach for Cinderella (film #529 on Open Source Movies). [Catetory: Sleaze & Outsider]
I guess they couldn’t find enough public-domain cartoons to interpret for the deaf kids––they had to pad out their line with industrial films. OK, this is basically a cartoon, but it was made by Jam Handy to advertise Chevrolets. The interpretation is rather intrusive in this one, and you get the feeling that parts of the original cartoon were cut out. Still, the concept is strange enough to make this worth watching. I love the Modernizer, of course, but comments about that will have to wait until I review the original film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Shake Hands with Danger (track #6 on Best of A/V Geeks I DVD (A/V Geeks). Also, track #8 on The Educational Archives, Volume Four: On the Job DVD (Fantoma, 2002). Also, film #4 on Sound of Centron DVD (A/V Geeks)). [Category: Industrial]
This safety film for contruction maintenance workers is very well-made and looks like it might have been effective for its audience. Various repairmen working on big contruction equipment ignore safety rules and get into various mishaps, some close calls and some gory accidents. Instead of attributing these safety violations to the vague rubric of "carelessness" like so many other films, this film actually points out some of the psychosocial factors involved, such as machismo, overconfidence, pressure to get the job done fast by supervisors, and being distracted by troubles at home. The situations are quite believable and well-acted. The accidents are rather hard to watch because the gore is very realistic and you never know in any situation whether you're going to see a close call or somebody's hand being cut off or something. The film has a catchy country music theme song that will make you smile.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Highway Hearing (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #668 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
Another 50s film about highways. This one shows a fictional town called Connorsville, whose citizens are all up in arms because the proposed superhighway will bypass the town. But our friendly highway engineer convinces them that the bypass will make their town better rather than worse, and soon everybody is smiling about it at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. This film was obviously made to convince small-town folk just like the ones in the film to let their towns be bypassed by the Interstate. Whether it actually helped or hurt them can be seen today. One would hope that they weren’t as easily swayed back then as the people in this film, but considering today’s results, I doubt it. This does have historical interest as a document of the arguments that got the Interstate built.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
About a Door (film #1 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #11 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms. Also, film #6 in the Drama section of Brickfilms. Also, film #1 in the Documentary section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
A strange door appears in Legoland, with a huge sign ordering people not to open it. This, of course, causes insatiable curiosity in the Lego guys about what’s behind it. Curiosity leads to controversy and controversy leads to violence. This is an interesting premise, but I found the ending to be somewhat unsatisfying, because it leaves things unresolved. Still, this is an ambitious concept for a brickfilm, and the story moves along well. I also liked the wide variety of characters that were created for it. Obviously a lot of care went into this, and it shows.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
BBC News Report (film #22 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
A BBC news report from 1992 reporting changes in the Cabinet after an unexpected upset in the elections. This has some historical value, but it’s pretty dull.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 2, No. 3 (film #300 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Another silly newsreelette from Chevrolet. This one features bathing beauties diving into a pool from the top of a Chevrolet (these Leader News segments are always mercifully free of safety concerns), a man who kept his 1913 Chevrolet in mint condition being rewarded by being given a new Chevrolet, a 7-foot tall man (but no woodpecker) who inspects the tops of Chevrolets coming off the assembly line, smelt fishing by driving your Chevrolet into the water and allowing the fish to swim into it (so that’s where that fishy smell in some people’s cars comes from!), and a really silly dog tea party, with the guests, as usual, being hauled to the party in the trunks of cars. Is there no end to animal abuse in the name of increased Chevrolet sales??Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Desert Empire (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #620 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
This Universal travelogue (featuring the ultra-cool giant-letters-going-around-the-earth Universal Pictures logo) tells us everything we'd ever want to, and never want to, know about Utah, including way too much information about copper mining. The narration is some of the most bombastic I've ever encountered, making this film extremely mstable. Still, I must admit that this is well-made; the visuals are striking for the most part and the narration, bombastic as it is, keeps things moving. So despite its laughable moments, this is one of the better travelogues I've seen––it even makes me want to visit Utah. And since it was made in the 30s, it has a great deal of historical interest to offer as well.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Ain’t That Just Like Me (film #6 in the Film section of Bedazzled. Also, film #5 in the Juke Box Movies section of Bedazzled. Also, film #4 in the Scopitones section of Bedazzled. Also, film #9 in the Video section of Bedazzled). [Category: Hollywood]
Very 60s Scopitone featuring The Condors singing “Ain’t That Just Like Me.” If you want go-go dancing, this is your film––the lead singers enter the stage by walking between the legs of gyrating dancers! If you can get past the female objectification, this is a lot of fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
BBC News and Newsreel (film #16 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Opening credits for a 1954 BBC newscast. This has cool rotating letters, sort of like the old Universal Pictures logo. A great little relic from early British tv.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Becky Sharp Trailer (film #10 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Commercial]
This trailer has quite a bit of historical value, as Becky Sharp was the first feature film made in Technicolor. The trailer trumpets this, showing scenes in both black-and-white and color, so audiences would be wowed by the difference. Other than that, it’s a standard trailer for a period drama.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Cinderella (film #533 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This is a sign-language version of Betty Boop’s Poor Cinderella. The interpretation is frequent and intense here, and I can’t help but think that perhaps the assumption here was that deaf kids are not familiar with the story of Cinderella, and that this interpreted cartoon was meant to rectify that situation. Considering that Cinderella is played by Betty Boop in this cartoon, that’ll leave ‘em with a pretty bizarre idea of Cinderella, sort of like the image I had when I was a kid of Scrooge being Mr. Magoo.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Heritage of Splendor (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #668 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
Ronald Reagan narrates this 60s anti-littering film, sponsored by a big oil company, in which he tells us that big corporations are in no way responsible for pollution, but our public lands are a mess because individual citizens are litterbugs. This is pretty much what you’d expect from this kind of film, with a mildly disturbing scene of a child dressed in a freaky-looking litterbug costume locked in a cardboard cage. Eventually, Reagan threatens to close all the National Parks if we don’t clean up our acts and stop acting like pigs already. Tell that to Exxon, Ronnie, though I will make an effort to keep a litterbag in my car.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Body Care and Grooming (MST3K Episode #510: The Painted Hills. Also, film #3 on Disc #4 of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 2 DVD (Rhino, 2003). Also in the Epehemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #227 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
This college-level health film is not only about the importance of good personal hygiene, but also stresses the "appropriateness" of dress, meaning dress like everybody else. A great example of 50's conformity at it's most insistent. Hygiene films are almost always fun––there's something so earnest and simple about them. One wonders what its college level audience thought about being talked down to so much. The msting is great––I especially like the sound effects they add to the scene of dead skin cells shedding.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Msting: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Accident (film #1 in the Action section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
A Lego guy takes a spill from his motorcycle and gets carted off by the rescue squad. Told ya those things are dangerous!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
BBC News Late Headlines (film #21 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
A late-night update from 1979 on the fragile medical condition of Yugoslavia’s President Tito, given by a British newscaster who doesn’t look too chipper himself. This has historical value, mainly.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Auto von Heute (film #292 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This is a 60s commercial for the Trabant, an East German car that was even more hated than the Edsel, but because they were the only car available, millions were sold. The commercial is long, with a kitschy 50s feel, though it’s a lot more campy if you know the story behind the Trabant. Still, this is quite fun, even if you can’t understand German.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 2, No. 2 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #299 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Another lightweight episode in the Chevrolet newsreel series. This one features a town that named itself after Chevrolets, an alligator wrestler who totes his opponent in his Chevrolet (I bet the upholstery in the back seat didn’t last long), cops who practice appearing in gangster movies by shooting out of their Chevrolets, a large boat tied to the top of a Chevrolet (I guess boat trailers hadn’t been invented yet), a humorous spot about parking meters (which seem to be a new idea, giving this some historical value), and some silly stunts at a water carnival, including an extremely dangerous-looking greased-pole contest. Silly and mildly historically interesting.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Chaplin - Mabel's Busy Day (film #35 in the Silent section of Movieflix (www.movieflix.com)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
The Little Tramp gets into a tussle with a feisty female hotdog vendor at a racetrack. This eventually escalates into a brawl involving most of the spectators at the race. This one is kind of hard to follow, but some of the physical schtick is amusing.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Les Babouches a Buddha (film #5 on Scopitones). [Category: Hollywood]
Silly French Scopitone in which a woman in a belly-dancing costume sings in French to a man dressed like a sheik about, I think, his gold Buddha slippers. This has a lot of that early 60s “sexy” feel, as well as poor sound synchronization. Add a dog who tries to steal the slippers, and you’ve got a mildly surreal experience.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Adventurer (film #48 on Feature Films (in “Charlie Chaplin Festival”)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Charlie plays an escaped convict who gets in good with a rich family by saving them from drowning. This is a very funny Chaplin outing, with especially brilliant chase scenes. Chaplin really knew how to defy expectations when being chased, and I’ve not seen funnier chase antics outside of a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Highly recommended––this is one of the silent comedies to watch when you really want to laugh. A 1917 Charlie Chaplin film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: *****.
Baby Doll Trailer (film #9 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Commercial]
Lurid but well-made trailer for a movie that looks lurid, but well-made. Carol Baker plays Southern jailbait in a movie that looks to have every Southern cliché in the book. Still, the trailer makes it look reasonably intelligent, as well as being a dark little piece of filmmaking in and of itself.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Christmas Comes But Once a Year (film #119 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Sign language version of the classic old cartoon in which Grampy cheers up some orphans on Christmas by making all kinds of clever toys from kitchen junk. This is a really fun cartoon, and the sign language interpretation is pretty straightforward and not too intrusive, so the deaf kids should enjoy this one.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Help Them Stay Safe (film #19 in the Public Info. Films section of TVArk). [Category: Public Service]
Straightforward British PSA from the 70s urging people to fix loose carpets in the homes of elderly relatives, lest they have a nasty fall. Since I have an elderly mother, this hits close to home. All I can say is, “Do it.”Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
The Adventures of Daddy McGregor (film #675 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Silly horror movie about a guy who torments bunnies, animated with pencil drawings of stick figures on typing paper. Despite production values giving new meaning to the term “low budget,” this is genuinely amusing and fun. In fact, the amateurishness of it makes it more fun somehow. Animal rights activists will be happy to know that no bunnies were harmed in the making of the film, and that PETA plays a prominent role. Animal haters will enjoy the scene with the guilloutine.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 ...
