The Dangerous Stranger (film #9 on Campy Classroom Classics, Vol. 2 (Something Weird, 2000)). [Category: Educational]
A policeman tells a bunch of schoolkids stories about some incredibly stupid kids who go off with incredibly suspicious-looking strangers at the drop of a hat. The first stranger actually says, "Hey, little girl! You're all alone! Wanna go for a ride?" We get to see another little girl literally taking candy from a stranger (the cop maintains that she was told not to do this but "forgot," but you're left wondering what planet she comes from). It's hard not to at least momentarily consider Darwin's laws of natural selection under these circumstances. For a Sid Davis film, though, this is incredibly kind and gentle. At no time does the narrating cop give into the temptation to mock or heap shame on the young victims whose stories he tells. Perhaps it's because this was made during the easy-going 70s. Speaking of the 70s, the clothing and hairstyles in this film are a real hoot.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Captain Nissen Going Through Whirlpool Rapids, Niagara Falls (film #7 on The Mechanized Eye disc of Unseen Cinema DVD Boxed Set (Image Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Captain Nissen goes through the rapids, not in a barrel, but in a craft specially created for the feat, and Edison’s camera follows the craft as it is buffeted and turned over by the water. This is fairly exciting, especially with the dramatic music on the DVD soundtrack. We don’t get to see how Captain Nissen came out of it, though. A 1901 Edison Film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Big City Trailer (extra on The Penalty DVD (Kino Video, 2001)). [Category: Commercial]
Short silent trailer from the 20s for the Lon Chaney film The Big City. This has no clips from the movie, but it does have really stunning modernistic animation and graphic design, a little bit like the title cards for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This unusual design gives the trailer lots of historical value, as well as being a pleasure to watch.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Arnold Layne (film #76 in the Film section of Bedazzled). {Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Short film from the 60s, possibly a Scopitone, featuring Pink Floyd doing strange things on a beach with a mannequin to their song “Arnold Layne.” This was from back when Pink Floyd was a psychedelic band, and this has that British psychedelic weirdness to it, even though it’s in black-and-white. A blast from the 60s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Man Against the River (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Prject. Also, film #884 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This 30s film documents the severe floods in Ohio, Kentucky, and Arkansas when the Ohio river overflowed its banks, and the efforts of WPA workers to provide disaster relief. The task was a huge one, involving rescuing people trapped by the flood waters, setting up emergency hospitals to care for the sick and wounded, inoculating people against typhoid, distributing food, setting up refugee camps for the homeless, piling sandbags and building levees in places where the river had not yet overflowed, fighting fires and removing dangers to public safety, and engaging in cleanup efforts after the flood waters had receded, including disposing of hundreds of dead cattle before they could cause disease. There’s no film that portrays the “Dirty Thirties” more than this one; everyone seems covered with dirt and grime, all seem to be suffering in one way or another, and the constant reminders of the accomplishments of the WPA only remind you that the rescue workers were previously unemployed because of the Depression. The 30s must have been a terrible time; on top of the Depression, the Dust Bowl, and social unrest were widespread disasters like this one. This makes the film a fascinating portrayal of one aspect of one of the most trying times in our nation’s history.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Enchanted Sedan Chair (film #8 on The Movies Begin, Volume Four: The Magic of Melies (Kino Video, 1994)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
An enchanted sedan chair enables a magician to do lots of tricks involving fancily-dressed French people. I guess this was before the silk top hat became the standard. If you like silly camera tricks, you'll like this. A 1905 Melies film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Another Look (film #2 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Short experimental film made from clips from Prelinger Archive films. The sound and music also comes from the films. This is mildly weird, with some striking choices of images, some altered or slowed down for effect. It ends up as a fairly decent montage film, though nothing brilliant.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Anchor (film #2 on Open Source Movies). [Category: News]
This short documentary about the career and death of Peter Jennings has lots of great news footage in it, including the initial announcements of his death on both ABC and Fox news, 9-11 footage, and even footage from early in his career, when he was on ABC radio. The film is well made as a fond tribute to Jennings, without being overly sentimental. It’s just this sort of surprising film that I love to stumble across on Open Source Movies.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Big 3 & Berlin: Concern Mounts as Deadline Approaches (film #91 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
50s newsreel clip documenting arguments between Krushchev and Eisenhower over the status of Berlin, which had been divided in half in reflection of the status of East and West Germany. The clip from Eisenhower’s speech, in which he argues against general mobilization, has lots of historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Financing the American Family (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #513 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
This film, made by the Household Finance Corporation in the early 30s, presents a middle class family that is struggling with debts. The answer for these people, amazingly enough, is supposed to be getting another loan. The bank turns them down, saying that they can’t afford to deal with small borrowers. Just as they begin to sink into despair, they turn on the radio, which by an incredible coincidence is broadcasting a detailed infomercial about HFC. They go to HFC, and after they determine that they’re good housekeepers and all-around nice people by giving them a home inspection, they promptly get the $300 loan they’ve been wanting, which was quite a chunk of change back in the early 30s. The wife asks what would happen if her husband died or they otherwise lost his income. The loan officer placates them by saying they wouldn’t expect them to “do the impossible” and as long as they’re paying what they can, it’ll be ok (but he puts none of this in writing, so good luck if hubby really does kick the bucket). This film just screams early 30s in the way it was made, and its cheesily and charmingly earnest in its propositions, which probably seemed even more outrageous to Depression-era audiences, many of whom were wiped out because of borrowing, than to people today. The family depicted, though, doesn’t seem to be very hard hit by the Depression, so maybe they were ripe for this kind of solution. I wouldn’t laugh to hard at the film today, though, considering how debt-ridden most of us are.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Fighting First (track #13 on WWII V for Victory War Bonds & Rallies Show (Something Weird, 1996)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This film tells the story of the First Infantry Division, a large division of GIs that did most of the hard, mud-caked, slogging combat to defeat the Nazis in Europe. It's a pretty inspiring story, though otherwise this film is pretty ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Came the Brawn (extra on The Wizard of Oz DVD (BCI Eclipse, 2001)). [Category: Hollywood]
This “Little Rascals” short features a goofy wrestling match between Alfalfa and the Masked Marvel, who was originally supposed to be wimpy egghead Waldo (the only kid Alfalfa believes he can lick), but who really ends up being neighborhood bully Butch. The rules of wrestling are bent so far that they break, but you don’t care, because Butch is so unpleasant you want to see him get beat. This is a charming and mildly amusing short, with a few weird moments here and there.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion – The Foreign Legion (film #5 on Disc #2 of Classic Kids’ Shows DVD Boxed Set (Genius Entertainment, 2004)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This 50s action-adventure show would have us believe that a member of the French Foreign Legion is allowed to have a grizzled sidekick named Fuzzy and a kid named Cubby accompany him on his adventures. Never mind, this is basically an exotic French version of a kiddie western. The plot, involving a group of bank robbers, is pretty standard action-adventure fare, but it’s a real hoot to watch Buster Crabbe as Captain Gallant pretend to be a Latino criminal and mangle the occasional French word he has to say. And they included the commercials for Heinz ketchup, which are great fun––one of them has an animated chef helping out a housewife, while another has Cubby asserting that he eats ketchup on everything, morning, noon, and night. All in all, this is a fun blast from the past.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Bic Lighters (film #5 in The Most Memorable Commercials of the 1970s section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Memorable, fun commercial for Bic lighters from the 70s that places the phrase “flick your Bic” in various silly situations, sometimes allowing it to sound suggestive. This is one I remember from the 70s, and it’s still pretty fun today.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Duke Is Tops (film #2 on Side A of Disc #3 of Classic Musicals DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
In this all-black cast musical, Lena Horne plays Ethel Andrews, an up-and-coming singer who is romantically involved with her producer, Duke Davis. When a talent scout claims he can make Ethel a star, but only without Duke, Duke cuts off Ethel, falsely claiming he was paid off, in order not to hold her back. Unfortunately, Duke’s show is a flop without Ethel, and he is reduced to helping a friend of his beef up his medicine show. It turns out that Ethel is not so hot without Duke either, and it all ends happily with them successfully hitting the big time together. This is a well made and entertaining film, with few stereotypes, good acting, and fun musical numbers. The scenes of the medicine show give a fascinating look at a form of entertainment that was in its death throes during the 30s. Lena Horne had not yet developed her temptress persona, so it’s interesting to see her play a nice girl for once. All in all, this is one of the better all-black cast films.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Green Pastures (film #634 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
In this early claymation short, a cute horse gets harassed by a bee when he crosses a creek to what he thinks is a greener pasture. The horse's frantic attempts to get rid of the bee are very charmingly animated. A cute, mildly funny cartoon.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
A Magic Box (film #24 in the General section of the State of Israel section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This 50s film documents an American teenaged girl named Hannah’s trip to Israel that she won for being the JNF Blue Box Champion; that is, collecting the most money for the Jewish National Fund in little blue coin boxes. The film begins in a very bright and breezy way, as she expresses her excitement about her trip and her celebrity status, and the Tel Aviv Blue Box Champion, a young boy named David, shows her the different tricks of the trade he uses to get people to contribute. The film gets more serious as it shows Hannah how the money is being spent in land reclamation and in helping develop pioneer settlements in the Israeli frontier. This is a fun film which also has an educational and promotional message that is not too heavy-handed. I liked seeing the little blue boxes and hearing their history at one point in the film. The film has historical value in documenting the fundraising practices of the Jewish National Fund during the 50s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Anomalies of the Unconscious (film #2 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This experimental film was made by actually doing physical things to the film emulsion, such as scratching, dying, and experimenting with various chemicals. The result is a stunning abstract film, any of whose stills could stand alone as a work of abstract art. The soundtrack, by Negativland, harmonizes well with the images, as it is an abstract sound collage. All in all, this is an excellent experimental film, of a quality much higher than you expect to find on Open Source Movies.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Election ’97 – Sky News (film #10 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Dramatic opening credits for 1997 British election night coverage on Sky News. This features quotes from politicians and a giant spinning question mark which I want for the Film Ephemera Museum of Quirky Devices. That and the beginning of the clip, which features the nightly schedule, make this a little more interesting than the other election 97 clips.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Big News of 1941: The Editors of Universal Newsreels Present Dramatic Highlights of an Epochal Year (film #97 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This end-of-year-wrap-up newsreel presents the top stories of a very eventful year, 1941. Included are stories about the Lend-Lease Act, Roosevelt’s election to a third term, acts of sabotage and strikes, the flight of Rudolf Hess to Scotland, the British takeover of Syria, the US takeover of Iceland, the sinking of the destroyer Kearny by torpedo, Russian victories against the Nazis, British victories in Libya, FDR buying the first war bond, Halie Selassie regaining the throne in Ethiopia, and, oh yes, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This has a great deal of historical value as well as being interesting to watch. 1941 sure was an exciting year for news.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Festival in London (film #20 on National Archives). [Category: Industrial]
This 1951 film documents the Festival of Britain, the same world’s fair whose architecture was covered in Brief City. But unlike that other film, there are no dark post-war undertones here, only light and glorious color, dramatic orchestral music, and bombastic narration about the contributions of the British people to science and the arts. This makes it much more typical of the world’s fair genre, though no less enjoyable to watch. The film is well made and beautifully preserved, with lots of striking images from all over the fair. In fact, after awhile, the narration ceases in order to allow us to simply enjoy the visuals. I love a film like this, because it gives me a chance to experience what these old world’s fairs were like. This goes down as one of the better films in this genre, as well as standing in stark and fascinating contrast to Brief City.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Cad and Caddy (film #5 on Disc #6 of 100 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2004)). Also, film #27 on Disc #3 of 150 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005)). Also, film #14 on Disc #3 of TV Cartoon Classics DVD Boxed Set (Platinum Disc, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
Little Lulu torments a golfer in this cartoon. This is standard Little Lulu fare, with the exception of the ending, in which the golfer goes bonkers and digs his own grave, adding a dark note to an otherwise very ordinary cartoon.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Capsize of Lifeboat (film #52 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A bunch of people who have already been dumped into the drink flip over a capsized lifeboat. There! That’s better! Though this does make one wonder about the safety of lifeboats. An 1897 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Dangerous Stranger (film #378 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
This earlier version of The Dangerous Stranger is a little less ridiculous than the later version, perhaps because it was made during the early 50s, when “don’t talk to strangers” wasn’t so ubiquitous. It’s also in murky black-and-white, and it seems to have been filmed in a bleak inner-city neighborhood that looks like it really is quite unsafe for kids. The campiest moment is the end, where Sid Davis hauls out silly caricatures of dumb kids getting into cars with and taking candy from strangers. These are a real hoot and definite items for the Film Ephemera Museum of Quirky Devices. Overall, there is something quintessential about this kid’s safety film, making it a necessary addition to any collection of educational films.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes Trailer (extra on Disc #2 of Planet of the Apes DVD (20th Century Fox, 2003)). [Category: Commercial]
This trailer for the first sequel of Planet of the Apes has all that you’d expect from a Planet of the Apes trailer: battling apes, mutants taking off their masks, a sexy mute woman, a doomsday device, and Charleton Heston shamelessly overacting. “A planet where apes evolved from men?” You decide.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Dracula and the Dirty Old Witch (extra on Dracula the Dirty Old Man/Guess What Happened to Count Dracula DVD (Something Weird, 2002)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
In this “adult” featurette (the quotes are necessary, believe me), Count Dracula prefers sleeping in the nude, likes tormenting chained-up naked women in his basement, and has a witch for an assistant who would be right at home in The Magic Land of Mother Goose. He finds his true love in the form of a bucktoothed blonde, but before he can make mad passionate love to her (in a manner of speaking; his words are a little less polite), the witch gets revenge upon him for treating her like dirt. The film is incredibly cheaply made, with atrocious acting throughout. Like Captain Bondage vs. Women’s Lib, this is really really bad, though apart from a brief scene of him tormenting one of his chained women, this is not nearly as disturbing as the other film. It’s more just plain silly, which is usually how sexual fantasies actually look when acted out, especially when the acting is this bad.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: BOMB.
Made in the U.S.A. (film #867 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This 30s film was designed to teach American citizens that foreign trade is vital to the American way of life. The film does this by telling a goofy story about a guy who goes to a general store and hears a cracker barrel philosopher spout off about how we don’t need to get anything from them there foreigners, ‘cause we can get everything worth having right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. At this point, a traveling magician pitches his show by making some Brazil nuts disappear. The main character, though, has narcolepsy, and so he promptly falls asleep and has a weird dream where he and his wife are driving home with the magician, who makes everything imported from a foreign country disappear when he says the country’s name. Naturally, this makes the car fall apart, as well as getting rid of most of the groceries the wife bought. After waking up from the dream, the guy now sees the light about foreign trade, and can talk back to the local xenophobe, though it doesn’t do any good. I love this sort of supernatural visitor plot, though it’s unusual to find it in a government film. There’s also something charmingly old fashioned about the film, with its general store, cracker barrel philosopher, and confidence in American manufacturing. Not even a rube like the xenophobic guy would ever think to insist that everything good is made in America, considering how little is made here nowadays. I also love the old grocery products and the scenes of the car falling apart.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Another Day, Another Dollar (film #40 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Repairing some strange machinery causes a Lego guy to get a nasty shock in front of his boss. Oh well, I guess that’s life in Legoland. The special effects here are pretty good, but the animation is really clunky, and the story leaves you scratching your head.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Election 97 – ITN (film #9 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Opening credits for coverage of the 1997 British elections on ITN. Other than the rather bizarre accent of the anchorman, this is ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Employees Leaving Lumiere Factory ["Sortie d'Usine"] (film #1 on The Movies Begin, Volume Two: The European Pioneers (Kino Video, 1994). Also, film #1 on Pioneers of the French Cinema (Hollywood's Attic, 1996)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Pretty much what the title says. Lumiere & Co. sure employed lots of folks. Still, since this is one of the first films of any kind ever, it has some historical interest.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Big Four’s Peace Meet Open Again (film #96 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Another post-war newsreel about a peace conference among delegates from the Big Four nations. This is basically just an announcement of the meeting and brief mention of some of the issues on the docket to discuss. Also included are stories about the celebration of 100 years of peace between the US and Canada, and about Juan Peron coming to power in Argentina. This is a fairly ordinary post-war newsreel.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Felling Forest Giants (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #508 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
This 20s silent film shows logging and lumber cutting practices in the Pacific Northwest, including the felling of giant redwoods. This is quite interesting from a historical perspective, since the film has a raw, rough quality that convinces you that you’re seeing the real deal. Interest is added by showing some of the more esoteric parts of the lumberjack’s job, such as shoeing the oxen, though their general treatment of the beasts might upset animal lovers. All in all, this is a mildly interesting portrait of logging practices during the 20s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Busy Bodies (film #12 on Laurel and Hardy DVD (Hallmark Home Entertainment, 2003)). [Category: Hollywood]
This classic Laurel and Hardy short should have been shown as an industrial safety film, since the duo demonstrates the consequences of violating every safety rule in the book, such as: Don’t lean over the work table while your buddy is planing wood; Don’t roughhouse around the chip disposal chute; and Don’t drive your car through a bandsaw. Of course, the biggest safety rule violated is Don’t hire Laurel and Hardy to work in a sawmill. It’s this kind of classic comedy that healed Norman Cousins; the gags are perfectly timed and I laughed almost without stopping throughout.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
The Fightin' U.S. Marines (film #11 on WWII V for Victory War Bonds & Rallies Show (Something Weird, 1996)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Marine boot camp is shown highly idealized and with a gung-ho spirit. It all looks like great fun, though tough, sort of like a beefed-up summer camp for adults. Of course, that was the point––to encourage recruitment, as well as build up good feelings for the Marines among the general public. This is propaganda, folks.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass. (film #28 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A bunch of pleasure boaters go out canoeing on the Charles River. There are so many of them that they form a bit of a traffic jam at one point, but it eventually clears. No surprises here, just canoeing. A 1904 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Belair Commercials Compilation #5 (film #167 on UCSF Tobacco Industry Video Collection). [Category: Commercial]
This group of early 60s Belair commercials features a couple frolicking on the beach, enjoying the good fresh air, and then ruining it all by inhaling tobacco smoke into their lungs. Again, the ridiculous “Breathe Easy, Smoke Clean” jingle is featured. At the end are some bumpers from the “Mr. Lucky” program. This is campy, dorky fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Grass Diet (film #2 in the Makeovers, Diets & Fitness section of WPA Film Library). [Category: Hollywood]
British newsreel footage from the 40s about a woman who eats a health food diet consisting of grass, accompanied by raw fruits and vegetables. They actually show the woman picking the grass from a vacant lot. Since the footage is in black and white, the grass looks dirty, even after she washes it. Nowadays, of course, it would be laden with pesticides. I don’t care how much it might extend my life, I am not eating grass!!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Door Is Open (film #12 in the Immigration and Absorption section of the State of Israel section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This 50s film, narrated in Yiddish, tells the stories of several immigrants to Israel, and how the process of absorption happens. It’s hard to follow because of the language barrier, but it still managed to hold my interest because it appears to be very well made, with many striking visuals of objects, such as keys, luggage labels with numbers on them, and ephemera from the Holocaust. The immigrants get to tell their own stories on film through interview footage; one of them speaks English, but, frustratingly, his comments are translated into Yiddish in voice-over fashion, making his original English comments impossible to hear. Despite the language barrier, you can tell that this is a very well made and interesting film, with lots of historical value in documenting the immigration experience in Israel.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Lucky Junior (film #860 on Prelinger Archive). ]Category: Public Service]
In this 40s film, sponsored by the Michigan Medical Society, John Rogers Jr. has just been born, and his doctor remembers that he also delivered his father, John Rogers Sr., years ago. This causes the doctor to marvel at how much easier it will be to protect Junior’s health than it was his dad’s, given that many infectious diseases such as whooping cough and diphtheria can now be controlled with immunization, and that prenatal care has improved. This was most likely a profound relief to parents and doctors of the time; those of us who were born when such immunization was routine can only guess how it must have been to fear that your child could be killed at random by any of a bunch of nasty diseases, and there was nothing you could do about it. Of course, parents today have lots of other things to worry about, and the benign portrait of the medical profession, especially in terms of treating the poor, certainly doesn’t apply today. The film has historical value in depicting a moment in medical history where some really bad diseases had finally been mostly conquered, and there seemed to be nothing medicine couldn’t do eventually.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Curious Habits of Man (film #3 on Best of Huh? DVD (A/V Geeks)). [Category: Educational]
A teen attends an adult party, presumably given by his parents, though it isn’t really clear, where there is a lot of drinking going on. Since this is boring, he sits down at the tv and watches a nature documentary. Pretty soon, he starts mentally comparing the extremely unattractive, drunk partygoers to the animals he sees on the documentary. This premise doesn’t really hold water, though, because the animals are far more classy and better behaved than the partygoers. If they wanted to make drinking look unattractive, though, they succeeded––you won’t find a more unattractive bunch of drunk partygoers in any other film. Considering that they are all members of the teen’s parents’ generation, though, I doubt whether this really had much impact on its intended audience, since they could just chalk it up to older people being square, whereas teens drinking would still be considered cool.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Anne Frank in Bricks (film #9 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #20 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms. Also, film #2 in the War section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Oh, so it was all a dream, and Anne hid out from the Nazis in a “Benny Hill” episode. And Hitler was evil and German. That explains a lot.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: BOMB. Overall Rating: ****.
Election 97 – BBC News (film #8 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Opening credits for coverage of the 1997 British election on the BBC. This is not quite as impressive as some of the earlier credit sequences, for some reason. This is really pretty ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Big Four Turns Down Austria on Tyrol (film #95 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Post-war newsreel story about Austrians demonstrating at a peace conference in favor of having the southern Tyrol region returned to Austria. Tyroleans turned out for the demonstration in their traditional costumes, which are kind of fun to see. Also included is a story about the swearing in of a new chief justice of the Supreme Court. A fairly standard newsreel from the post-war period.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Feeding Cattle in Winter (film #5 on Buckaroos in Paradise). [Category: Industrial]
Cattle Rancher Les Stewart narrates this 40s film that he made that shows how hay is spread for cattle to feed them in winter. It’s actually fairly interesting, as he explains some of the reasons horses are better than tractors for this task, and I wasn’t even aware that horses were still used for things like that. Also demonstrated is a large crane-like device that was used to load hay on to the wagon. This has historical value in documenting 40s cattle ranching practices.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Bride and Gloom (film #6 on Cartoon Explosion, Vol. 2: Finny Fiesta/Popeye’s Greatest Hits DVD (Front Row Entertainment, 2002). Also, film #20 on Cartoon Mania DVD (Front Row Entertainment, 2002). Also, film #42 on 50 Cartoon Classics DVD. Also, film #7 on Disc #1 of 100 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2004). Also, film #7 on Disc #4 of 150 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
It’s the night before Popeye’s and Olive Oyl’s wedding, and Olive Oyl has a strange, disturbing dream about giving birth to twins that are basically miniature Popeyes and about as well-behaved as Woody Woodpecker or Little Lulu. This turns the dream into a nightmare, as you might expect, yet the strangest part of it for me was a moment during the dream wedding where Popeye had to down a can of spinach in order to be able to say “I do.” I couldn’t help but imagine at that point whether or not he would need spinach to get through the wedding night. This is a fairly weird cartoon, but it eventually devolves into a typical bratty kid cartoon, so it ends up not fully fulfilling its promise.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Cancelling Machine, U.S.P.O. (film #27 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A postal worker runs a canceling machine on letters and stacks them in bunches so that another worker can pick them up and take them elsewhere. Every once in awhile, he smiles and looks aside, as if he is being teased or sharing in-jokes with other workers. Must be a fun place to work, that post office. A slice of life from 1903. A 1903 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Belair Commercials Compilation #4 (film #165 on UCSF Tobacco Industry Video Collection). [Category: Commercial]
More Belair commercials from the early 60s. These all focus on Raleigh coupons and seem to feature a common theme of the woman getting the man to give her the coupon. These get rather repetitive after a bit, making them somewhat less entertaining than the other collections.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Elopement on Horseback (film #1 on The Origins of Cinema, Volume 1: The Films of Thomas Edison (Video Yesteryear, 1995)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
As our hero rescues his bride out the window and carries her away on horseback, a couple of other guys (comic relief, I suppose) tumble out the window after them, but are too busy tussling with each other to give chase. This is very short and poorly preserved, but I'd be willing to bet it's the first elopement scene ever filmed. An 1898 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Desert Shall Rejoice (film #17 in the Rural Settlement and Security section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This 50s film documents the extensive land reclamation projects that the new state of Israel undertook in order to build agricultural self-sufficiency. This is straightforward and extensively told, with a note of hope and optimism despite the constant threat of violence in the border settlements. This has historical value in documenting Israel’s development. There are no real surprises here, but the film is well made and moves along at a good pace, so it doesn’t get too dry either.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Look to the Land (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #856 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This very unusual Encyclopedia Britannica film from the 50s deals with the widespread environmental problems that were starting to emerge in the US mid-century. This is unusual both for its time and for Encyclopedia Britannica, which usually steered clear of political issues. It’s narrated by a folksinger, who breaks into song during transitions. He tells us about how the land has changed in many ways since the country got started, and shows us examples of farmland that has deteriorated into unusable wasteland, due to erosion, poor farming practices, and cut-and-run logging. Then it starts to tell us the story of an African-American farm family in the South, which is again unusual for its time. The father had inherited his farm from his father and hoped to pass it along to his son, but that dream was shattered when a new dam flooded his land. He got a good price from the government for his place, but it forced him and his family to completely change their way of life. Unfortunately, the film is incomplete and cuts off at this point, so we don’t get to hear the end of the story. It’s too bad the entire film wasn’t preserved, because it has lots of historical value in being way ahead of its time both in terms of its environmental concerns and its willingness to portray African-Americans in a positive light.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Announcer on the Carpenters’ Specials Was Dick Tufeld (film #1 in The Carpenters’ Christmas Specials of the 70s section of TVParty). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Opening credits to the Carpenters’ first Christmas special in 1976, with voice-over announcing by Dick Tufeld. This guy announced on a lot of TV variety shows and specials, and if you watched a lot of TV during the 70s, his voice should bring back lots of memories.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Election 92 – Sky News #1 (film #8 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Extensive opening credits for British election night coverage in 1992 on Sky News. This starts with an elaborate montage of news footage from the campaign and then goes into the Sky News newsroom where announcers are excitedly beginning their coverage of the election. This is all well done and has an up-to-the-minute feel that I like to see in news clips.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Big 4 Resume Peace Talks (film #92 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Newsreel story about a post-war meeting of representatives of the four major United Nations powers: Britain, France, the USSR, and the United states to plan how to deal with post-war Europe. This is pretty straightforward, though it has a bit of historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
5th Column Mouse (film #4 on Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons (MGM/UA Home Video, 1989). Also, film #10 on Cartoon Explosion, Vol. 2: Finny Fiesta/Popeye's Greatest Hits DVD (Front Row Entertainment, 2002). Also, film #20 on Disc #1 of TV Cartoon Classics DVD Boxed Set (Platinum Disc, 2005)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
"Why we fight" told allegorically as a cat-and-mouse story. A bunch of mice live a free and easy lifestyle until a cat shows up. The cat captures one of the mice and coerces him to betray his buddies into a life of slavery. But when the cat decides he wants to start eating them, the mice decide to fight back. By all working together and developing a "secret weapon" (a dog-shaped tank), they defeat the cat. This little piece of propaganda is actually a fairly accurate depiction of how most Americans viewed World War II and their role in it. It delivers the hopeful message that the little guys can defeat the big bully if they all work together and "show their stuff". It's interesting, though, that the mouse who betrayed his buddies gets nothing worse than a pie in the face.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
FDNY Nozzle High Spray (film #1392 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
In this 20s firefighting film, a new kind of firefighting device is tested, one that shoots water out of multiple nozzles while moving back and forth on a track. The device is huge and looks difficult to set up and operate, so it’s no wonder this didn’t become standard firefighting equipment. The film does have a lot of historical value in documenting a little-known experiment in firefighting technology. Also, if you want to see lots of water squirting, this is your movie.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Brave Engineer (film #11 on Disc #1 of Disney Rarities DVD (Disney, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
Disney tells the story of Casey Jones of folksong fame in this fun cartoon. Casey is determined to get the western mail in on time, and he doesn’t let a cow on the tracks, a damsel in distressed tied to the tracks by a mustachioed villain, dozens of train robbers, or even another train on the tracks stop him. This one gets points for sheer overkill.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Got to Be This or That (film #1331 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
A pretty band singer sings the big band hit “Got to Be This or That.” This is lively, but it has no surprises.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
The Cameraman’s Revenge (film #1 on The Cameraman’s Revenge and Other Fantastic Tales (Film Preservation Associates, 1993). Also, film #53 on UBUWeb). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This delightful piece of early puppet animation features an all-insect cast in a tale of marital infidelity. Mr. Beetle secretly goes out to a nightclub to see a dragonfly dancer that he is enamored with. Eventually, an affair develops, requiring Mr. Beetle to brush off the dragonfly’s grasshopper boyfriend. Unfortunately, Mr. Beetle doesn’t realize that the grasshopper is a film cameraman, and that film can be used to expose marital infidelity. This is all delightfully animated, with very cleverly-written title cards that add to the humor of the proceedings. This is definitely recommended to fans of animation as a great early example of the form. A 1912 Russian film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Belair Commercials Compilation #3 (film #162 on UCSF Tobacco Industry Video Collection). [Category: Commercial]
This collection of Belair commercials has a number of familiar ones featuring Raleigh coupons, a couple of clips from game shows where the hosts did the Belair commercials, one really dorky spot featuring sketches instead of live action models, and a couple of brief bumpers. This makes for a fun assortment, with the game show commercials adding historical interest.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Behind Locked Doors Trailer (extra on The Child DVD (Something Weird, 2001)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Lurid trailer for what looks like a very cheap sexploitation horror flick about weird things that happen to two women in an old house, which have overtones of S & M. The narrator sounds like he flunked the audition to be a Creature Feature host, which increases the camp value somewhat. Mostly, though, this is lurid, and it makes the film look very bad indeed.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Long Way Home (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #852 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This film, sponsored by the United Fund, tells the story of Mr. Barker, an elderly man with no family whose money has run out and who “must seek shelter in a charitable institution.” He packs his few belongings in a suitcase and heads across town on foot to the old folks’ home that is to be his new home. But first he stops off at several other places, including a hospital where he receives radiation treatments for cancer, a “Golden Age Club” that is having a meeting and social hour, and a rehabilitation facility where a friend of his is getting physical therapy. All of these places, by an incredible coincidence, are United Fund agencies. The film is meant to showcase all the community services the United Fund provides and how it helps people who have nowhere else to turn. But in its realism, it comes off as incredibly sad and depressing. Mr. Barker, in particular, seems like a very depressed old man who feels he has little to live for. He has a heartbreakingly sad expression on his face in all scenes, and after awhile it makes you want to cry. And the agencies all seem bleak and impersonal: he waits in an incredibly crowded waiting room to get his radiation treatment and once he gets it, it seems painful; the Golden Age Club is lively, but the narrator tells us it meets only once a week; and he must watch his friend at the rehabilitation center get a hydrotherapy treatment on an incredibly scary-looking apparatus. This is all quite realistically portrayed, which increases empathy in the viewer, yet this very realism seems to work against the purpose of the film, which was to showcase the good works of the United Fund agencies, which look none too helpful or compassionate in the film. Still, the film is quite successful in generating empathy for Mr. Barker, though one wonders if antidepressant medications might help him.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Cuckoo (film #373 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
Silent nature film from the 20s about the bizarre reproductive habits of the cuckoo, that bird that lays eggs in other birds’ nests and tricks the other birds into raising its young. The film is well organized and explained, but unfortunately some of the key footage is rather hard to see. Still, it’s fun to watch the filmmaker get into a giant fake bush in order to film the cuckoo at work.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Anne Frank in Bricks (film #8 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #19 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms. Also, film #5 in the Music Video section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
They’ve taken more than a few liberties with the original story here––they’ve hacked up the original story and put it into a blender with hundreds of pop cultural references and turned it on “liquefy.” For starters, I don’t recall the original book containing a Kentucky Fried Chicken, an elephant relieving itself on Peter, the song “Bicycle Races” by Queen, or a bicycle-repairing penguin. And it contains the most bizarre battle sequence ever put on film, if it is indeed a battle sequence. Not that any of these factors are drawbacks, mind you.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Election ‘92 – ITN (film #7 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Utlracool opening to ITN’s coverage of the British 1992 elections, featuring a montage of the bombastic voices of British politicians. This sets the tone for election night coverage like no opening credits sequence I’ve seen.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Big Da-Dit-Da Class Graduated at New Naval Radio School (film #94 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Newsreel story from World War II about the graduation of a class of telegraph operators. This has a fairly interesting and weird beginning where a teacher has the students repeat various letters of the alphabet in Morse Code, as das (dashes) and dits (dots). Then we get to see the sailors sending messages and operating teletype machines, and a little bit of footage of their graduation. An unusual bit of military history here.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
FDNY Chief Officers (film #1391 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Silent film from the 20s showing the various officers of the New York Fire Department. They do this by filming the various firemen walking down the street. Off course, this gives you some great glimpses of 1920s New York streets, which is good, because otherwise this would be boring. Tacked on the end is a segment on fire alarms which is fairly interesting. Again, this has historical value in documenting the NYFD in the 20s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Boy Meets Dog (film #1 on Disc #8 of 100 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2004). Also, film #18 on Disc #1 of 150 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
This is one of the weirder Castle Films cartoons in which a boy with an abusive father brings home a puppy, which his mean dad promptly kicks out. He then slips on some roller skates, falls down the stairs, and knocks himself in the head, which, of course, causes him to have a weird dream about the error of his ways. The weirdest part of the dream is the big machine that turns him into a baby. The weirdness of this toon makes it one of the more fun of the Castle Films outings.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Calf Branding (film #26 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Some cowboys brand some hapless calves. Since this was made in 1898, this is the real deal, folks. Animal lovers might find this upsetting, but this has real historical value. An 1898 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Belair Commercials Compilation #2 (film #161 on UCSF Tobacco Industry Video Collection). [Category: Commercial]
The catchphrase for this particular collection of Belair commercials would make anyone snicker today: “Breathe Easy, Smoke Clean.” They all feature a woman lying in a hammock on a beach (at times, the hammock is placed in a way that looks impossible to get in or out of, giving a bizarre trapped feeling to the scene) smoking Belairs and being approached by a hunky guy who bums a cigarette from her. Easy listening music plays in the background, and a male singer intones “Breathe easy, smoke clean with new Belair.” It all is designed to make smoking seem as refreshing as an ocean breeze––what a change from reality! Of course, this makes these commercials prime ephemera, ripe for msting. There’s a whole bunch of these––it looks like the folks at Belair couldn’t quite make up their minds about how they wanted these to go.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Eclipse - The Courtship of the Sun and Moon (film #12 on The Movies Begin, Volume Four: The Magic of Melies (Kino Video, 1994)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
We're gettin' into evil territory, folks. An astronomer wearing a priceless celestial robe (I want one) lectures a class of students about an upcoming solar eclipse, then goes up to his observatory to watch it himself. The actual eclipse, featuring a leering sun and a coy moon who both look male and who both lick their lips lavisiously, will leave you feeling dirty. On top of that we get to see a bunch of passing "celestial bodies" and a bizarre traffic tie-up between a lunar nymph, Father Time, and a Roman Legionaire. The whole thing excites the astronomer so much he falls right out the window! An unforgettable Melies romp. A 1907 Melies film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Desert Lakes (film #16 in the Rural Settlement and Security section of the State of Israel section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This 60s Israeli film shows how irrigation has transformed the Negev area from a desert to an area of fertile farmland. Its narrated in Hebrew, but despite that, the story really isn’t too difficult to follow. The film has some striking visuals of both desert conditions and rushing water. And the music is quite nice, making this a pleasant viewing experience despite the language barrier.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Keep It to Yourself (film #32 on National Archives). [Category: Public Service]
Campy British PSA from the 60s featuring the Litter Defense Volunteers (LDVs), a bunch of incredibly white Up-With-People rejects in incredibly white outfits who go around picking up after litterbugs in tan overcoats, while James Bond-type music plays on the soundtrack. I bet they were effective in stopping litter––I know if I encountered a bunch of them it would scare the bejeebers out of me and I would never littler again.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Ann Sothern (film #3 in the Lucy & Desi’s Lost Christmas Special section of TVParty). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
In this clip from a 1959 Lucy & Desi Christmas special, Ann is signing autographs while Lucy is fretting about the approaching curtain time for the special. Considering that this special has never been rebroadcast, this his lots of historical value, as well as being mildly amusing.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Election 92 – BBC News (film #6 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Very dramatic opening credits for election night coverage in 1992 on the BBC. This is actually well done and fun to watch, featuring film clips of various politicians and newspeople. It’s interesting to watch the openings to election night coverage evolve over time.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Big Convoy to Russia Beats Off Nazis (film #93 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
WWII newsreel reporting a convoy of ships fighting off German attacks. This features fairly exciting combat footage. This is followed by a story about a huge tax increase, which I’m sure was welcome news to all. This features a guy who blinks too much. Then comes a story about an Australian dog who was adopted by a GI unit. This features an upsetting scene of the dog tormenting a tied-up cat. Then there’s a lively story about tank inspection. This features a guy scrawling “OK” on approved tanks. There’s something about this newsreels that really gives you a feel for the war years, both the good and the bad times.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
FDNY Chief Kenlon’s Ride (film #1390 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
More fire-engine-cam! This features another wild ride of the NYFD with a camera mounted on the front of a fire engine. Again, the streets are snow-covered, and pedestrians have to duck the fire engine as it occasionally goes up on the sidewalk. Again, this looks incredibly dangerous, but perhaps standards were different in the 20s. Following this is footage of the department fighting several major fires in the New York City area. This is all silent footage, but it has a great deal of historical value in documenting firefighting techniques back in the 20s, as well as giving us some great street scenes from the period.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
A Bout with a Trout (film #7 on Disc #3 of TV Cartoon Classics DVD Boxed Set (Platinum Disc, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
Little Lulu plays hooky from school to go fishing. When a big catch causes her to knock her head against a tree and pass out, she has a really weird dream to the tune of “Swinging on a Star.” Cartoon dreams are usually pretty surreal, and this doesn’t disappoint. Somehow, this weird dream gets her to go back to school, but she’s still up to her old tricks at the cartoon’s end. I love cartoon dream sequences, so this gets high marks from me.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Children’s Heroes – Kevin Keegan (film #59 on National Archives). [Category: Educational]
British soccer champ Kevin Keegan accosts a kid about to run out into traffic and shows him how to cross the street safely. This probably had some impact on its intended audience, that is, if it didn’t encourage them to run into traffic in the hopes of getting accosted by one of their heroes.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Cake Walk (film #3 in the Dance section of American Variety Stage). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Some African-Americans do a lively dance for us. This has a lot of historical value as a documentation of African-American dance styles back in 1903. You can see tap dancing emerging here. A 1903 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
A Few Quick Facts About Fear (film #25 on The Complete Uncensored Private SNAFU DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Using Private SNAFU as a model, the narrator tells us what happens within the body when we become afraid, the point being that fear gives us extra energy that we can use for our own benefit. Again, this comes off more like an educational film than a SNAFU cartoon, but it's better made and more interestingly animated than A Few Quick Facts.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
BBQ (film #5 on Drive-In Movie Ads). [Category: Commercial]
Snack bar promo showing a way more elaborate and authentic method of making barbecue sandwiches than was probably actually used. Still, it makes me hungry––unlike most snack bar promos, this stuff looks pretty tasty.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Departure of Youth (film #17 in the Pre-State section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This 1934 film documents the arrival of a large group of Jewish youth from Germany arriving in a Jewish settlement in Palestine. The film is silent and the title cards are all in German, so it’s kind of hard to follow. Mostly, though, it seems to involve the young people adapting to a healthy rural way of life, doing lots of farm chores and singing and dancing their evenings away. There’s a poignancy about this because this is not just about healthy living––you know that immigration to Palestine probably saved the lives of most of them. For that reason, I wish I could understand the title cards––this looks like it might have been a very interesting little-known story of a group that escaped the Holocaust.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Keep Britain Tidy (film #58 on National Archives). [Category: Public Service]
Uh oh, now I have to get into the fish tank and sing. I never knew England wasn’t a litter bin––I guess you learn something new every day.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Ann-Margaret Special (film #31 in the 1969 section of TVParty). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Ann-Margaret banters with Dean Martin in this clip from her 1969 TV special. The banter is that typically silly TV special banter, which you know was carefully scripted, but was supposed to come off as ad-libbed. Ann-Margaret and Dino don’t do too badly at it, actually, which indicates how experienced they were as performers. A typical TV special moment from the 60s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Coronation (film #6 in the Queen Elizabeth II section of WPA Film Library). [Category: News]
Clip from a British film about the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This is pretty much what you’d expect, but it has historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Bernard Baruch, Adviser to Presidents, Is Dead at 94 (film #90 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Newsreel story from the 50s reporting the death of Bernard Baruch, a philanthropist who tried to ban nuclear weapons. This is pretty standard, though Baruch sounds like an interesting, little-known figure.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Good Scout (film #13 on The Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection, Vol. 1 DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Hollywood]
In which our hero, Willie Whopper, Boy Scout, relates all the good deeds he did in a day, most of which have questionable consequences, and which culminate in him rescuing a kidnapping victim who looks like Betty Boop's sister. This has some wonderful Harold-Lloyd-style daredevil skyscraper hi-jinx, as well as some genuinely funny gags involving good deeds gone wrong. One of the better Willie Whoppers.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Faster and Faster (film #10 in the 100 Years in the Air section of WPA Film Library). [Category: Industrial]
Clip from a British documentary about the first test flight of the Concorde, the first supersonic commercial airliner. This is fairly gripping, especially the sound of the plane, which is otherworldly on film, though I hate to think what it must sound like to people living close to airports where this thing lands. The whole film would have been better, but this has historical value even as a clip.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Bored of Education (film #10 on Disc #3 of TV Cartoon Classics DVD Boxed Set (Platinum Disc, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
After Little Lulu gets sent to the corner for not studying her history lesson, and for engaging in mischief with Tubby, she has a bizarre hallucination where she goes back into various events in American history and chases Tubby around, while Tubby poses as various historical figures. This is truly bizarre and fun to watch, though it does contain some Native American stereotypes. This is not as anarchic as typical Little Lulu fare, but it makes up for it in weirdness.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Charley’s Tea Party (film #46 on National Archives). [Category: Educational]
Some tea party! Charley the cat gets badly burned when he pulled on the tablecloth of the tea table (a typically British tea was set out on it) to get at some kippers and the teapot full of hot water fell on him. This one is almost too upsetting, yet I think it has just the right touch to be a good warning for kids, especially when you consider that they probably have gotten to know and like Charley throughout this series.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Caicedo (with Pole) (film #51 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A guy on a tightrope jumps around and does backflips, all while holding a pole. And are those tattoos on him, or is that just his costume? A slice of late 19th century entertainment. An 1894 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Bat Trailer (extra on Jack the Ripper DVD (Sinister Cinema)). [Category: Commercial]
Vincent Price narrates this ultra-campy trailer for the 50s horror film The Bat, always a sign of fun to come. Highlights include a woman screaming bloody murder when a plastic bat lands on her hand and the assertion, “When it flies, somebody dies!” Great fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
A Day in Degania (film #16 in the Pre-State section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This 1937 film shows us Degania, the first kibbutz in what would later become Israel. The film is very optimistic in tone, showing the kibbutz as highly successful, both economically and socially, and giving Jews everywhere hope. Considering this was made when Nazi anti-Semitism was rapidly taking over Europe, that was probably true. This is a very historically interesting film as it documents the history of the kibbutz movement, as well as the development of Jewish settlement in Palestine. The visuals, especially, give a real sense of what it was like to live in a kibbutz at the time. Some of the political ideas expressed, such as the superiority of Jewish agriculture or the status of women, will be considered controversial, but those too give you a real sense of the time and place the film was made.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
How to Vote at a General Election (film #34 on National Archives). [Category: Public Service]
Dry British PSA from the 70s telling people how to vote. There’s something about the starkness and Britishness of this that appeals to me, though. Perhaps it’s because it’s so calm and unemotional, unlike the stridency found in most elections.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Animation Outtakes from the Lost World (extra on The Lost World DVD (Image Entertainment, 2001)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
These are outtakes of the stop-motion animated dinosaurs featured in the 20s movie The Lost World. These were animated by Willis O’Brien, and he had a talent for making his creatures seem like real characters rather than special effects. The dinosaurs, though rather stiffly animated at times, have a real charm to them, so these outtakes are fun to watch. I especially liked seeing more footage of the mama triceratops and her baby. Included are brief moments where you can see the animators moving the models, increasing the historical value of the clips, which are beautifully restored. A great extra to include with The Lost World.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Election 1987 – BBC News (film #5 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Opening credits and the very beginning of an election night report on the BBC in 1987. This has a real up-to-the-minute feel to it, as the anchorman announces that the polls just closed, so that makes it a bit more historically interesting than some of the other election night clips on this site. And the computer graphics are well done, too.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Berlin Siege: Gen. Clay Returns to Report on Red Crisis (film #88 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Newsreel from the late 40s reporting on the Soviet blockade of Berlin and the subsequent Berlin Airlift. Also included are stories on the continuation of the military draft, American communists being arrested and tried for treason, and the US giving four submarines to Turkey. There’s a definite cold war feeling here in all of these stories, making this a good example of a newsreel from the postwar period.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Fastax-tion (film #507 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Early 60s 3-M film designed to sell the Fastax high speed movie camera to engineers. The various uses of the camera by different companies to study high-speed motion are profiled, from Hercules Power’s study of rocket engine firing to Munsingwear’s identification of a faulty knitting needle in one of their high-speed knitting machines. Lots of samples of high-speed photography are shown and these are the most interesting sequences of the film. The scene of popcorn popping in slow motion should have been used in a drive-in snack bar promo, the scene of big ugly 50s cars in crash tests should have been used in a driver’s ed film, while the scene of the guy getting a pie in the face speaks for itself. Overall, this is an unusual film that documents a little known corner of film history, as well as being a great film to mine for a video project.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Crossroads Crash (film #10 on AV Geeks. Also, film #10 on The Educational Archives, Volume Three: Driver's Ed DVD (Fantoma, 2001)). [Category: Educational]
The rules for handling intersections are presented in a very 70s manner, from the Bonnie and Clyde opening to the big, earth-toned cars. The points are occasionally punctuated by crash-test footage featuring big black 50s Cadillacs with huge tailfins. A lightweight in the driver's ed genre.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 ...
