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: ****.
BBC Nine O’Clock News #3 (film #11 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Another opening credits sequence and first few seconds of the BBC Nine O’Clock News, this time from 1978. We get to see footage of a prime minister who lost the majority trying to patch things up, Margaret Thatcher commenting on it all, and, for the first time, a female newscaster. For its length, this packs in lots of late 70s Britain.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Campaign in Europe (film #2 on Side A of Disc #2 of WWII: The Ultimate Collection DVD Boxed Set (Brentwood Home Video, 2004)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This WWII German propaganda film documents the German takeover of Poland in September of 1939. The Germans first portray themselves as victims of “Polish Terror,” stating that Germans in the city of Danzig were treated badly by the Poles. Although the goals of the invasion were first explained to be the “liberation” of limited areas of northwestern Poland, once it gets going, all concepts of limitation are forgotten, and we see the German war machine relentlessly blast through the entire country, decimating the Polish military in a matter of weeks. This is all portrayed in an extremely stark, deadpan style, with occasional narration in British English. This film gives you a good idea of what the Germans were saying in their propaganda, as well as showing how relentless the German war machine was in its early days.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ***.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 2, No. 1 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #298 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
More silly “news” from Chevrolet, this time featuring the latest swimsuit fashions, ski-jumping, a ferryboat run with a Chevrolet engine, more animal abuse as hunting dogs are shoved into a car trunk, a traffic school with kindergarteners in kiddie cars a la Tomorrow’s Drivers, a Chevrolet pulling a glider made by a high school student, and a chimp driving a car, in what has to be revenge for all the animal abuse that’s gone on in this series so far. This one is even more lightweight than the others so far, which is saying something.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Battle of Mafeking (film #26 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
An old-fashioned battle ensues, involving lines of soldiers running towards each other, swords hacking, and the cavalry galloping through the foreground. You won’t see this kind of battle footage again. Still looks pretty violent, though. A 1900 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Babette Goes to War Trailer (film #8 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Sexist trailer for a 60s Brigitte Bardot comedy. It seems that this was made to introduce Bardot to a wider audience of women as well as men, but with lines like calling Bardot the “cuddliest doll in the world,” or calling the women of the audience “75 million American girls,” I wouldn’t bet on it.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Christmas Circus (film #166 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This sign-language version of a cartoon is more straightforwardly done and less weird, even though it also uses the box on top of a character effect. The cartoon itself is mildly strange, though, featuring animals who give a circus on Christmas. The way the interpretation is done seems to make more sense here, or maybe I’m just getting used to these interpreted cartoons.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Hard Shoulder (film #18 in the Public Info. Films section of TVArk). [Category: Public Service]
Straightforward British PSA warning motorists not to stop on the shoulders of superhighways unless it’s an emergency. The couple that stops to argue over the map is mildly ditzy, but mostly this is ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Air Enforcement (film #14 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #13 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Simple object lesson on the dangers of speeding when “Speed Limit [is] Enforced by Aircraft.” An unpretentious little film that made me smile.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
BBC Nine O’Clock News #2 (film #10 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Another standard opening credits sequence and first few seconds of a BBC Nine O’Clock News broadcast, this time from 1974. This one is a bit more interesting, as it includes the evening headlines, giving you a snapshot of events in Britain in 1974.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Big Lift (film #1 on Side B of Disc #6 of War Classics DVD Megapack). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Montgomery Clift and Paul Douglas star in this fictionalized account of two air force men involved in the Berlin Airlift, when the U. S. Air Force flew in food and supplies to Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city. What is unusual about this film is that all the other American military personnel in it were played by the real GIs involved in the airlift. The story is personal, however. It involves the two main characters each getting involved with women in Berlin. Clift almost gets suckered into marrying a woman who is trying to get into the U.S. so she can hook up with her German lover there, while Douglas, who is anti-German after having had traumatic experiences as a P.O.W. during the war, becomes more sympathetic to them after teaching a German woman what democracy is all about. The film is intelligently made for the most part, showing the complexities of the situation in post-war Berlin. It shows that the roots of many of the German’s corrupt and unethical behaviors come from post-war social disintegration, the need to survive, and the corrupt values they were taught as children in Hitler’s Germany, yet it also doesn’t let them off the hook for them. It also shows that a desire for revenge, though understandable, can nevertheless have painful consequences if it is acted out, in a disturbing scene where Douglas beats up a German man who may have been a prison camp guard who tormented him (the film doesn’t totally tell us whether the man actually was the guard, or whether he just looked like him––this makes the scene far more disturbing), then discovers that he feels worse instead of better from doing that. A few other scenes are a bit farfetched and pat, especially the scene where Douglas’ girlfriend finally “gets” the Constitution, but they are outnumbered by the more intelligent sequences. An interesting, if Hollywoodized, portrait of post-war Berlin, and the American military’s experience of it.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 1, No. 3 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #297 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
More silly “news lite” from Chevrolet, including the wonder of self-mixing cement trucks; the controversy over which house in St. Augustine, Florida is the oldest house in America; more lame yux about old car ads; a bizarre-looking experimental car that looks like it may be Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Car (or a rip-off thereof); jewelry inspired by auto design; a lame joke about car interiors that block out noise; military vehicles made by Chevrolet; and, in yet more animal abuse news, using a live Chihuahua as a hood ornament. The most interesting segments are the experimental car and the one just mentioned about the poor dog who is not only forced to be the first smashed in a crash, but must wear dorky-looking glasses as well. PETA, where were you back in the 30s?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Bathing at Atlantic City (film #15 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also, in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
It looks like back in ought-one, the beaches were just as crowded as they are today. But the people wore a lot more clothes in the water. A slice of turn-of-the-century life. A 1901 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Babes in Toyland Trailer (film #7 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Commercial]
Trailer for the 30s version of Babes in Toyland, starring Laurel & Hardy. This is quite fun to watch, as the graphic design is wonderful and some of the most visually striking moments are chosen to show, particularly the stop-motion animated wooden soldiers. A great relic from the 30s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Chocolate Princess (film #69 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Sign language version of a 70s cartoon with an anti-racist message, narrated by Bill Cosby. In this one, they experiment not just with having the interpreter break in at various points, but with inserting boxes on top of the characters with interpreters, in costume, playing the various roles in sign language. This gives the film a weirdness the other interpreted cartoons don’t have. The Chocolate King looks especially strange and surreal. It’s also curious that although the cartoon has an anti-racist message, the girl playing the sign-language “Chocolate Princess” is white, as are all the other sign-language actors. They deserve points for getting creative here, though.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Guide Dogs for the Blind (film #1827 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
Newsreel clip from the 50s about the training of guide dogs for the blind. Pretty straightforward, with some nice images of the dogs.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
After the Taping Was Over (film #2 in the Lucy’s Backstage Battles section of TVParty). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Clip from an episode of “The Lucy Show” in which Joan Crawford guest-starred. In the text of the page, they mention that Crawford sounded drunk in this performance, and they’re right, though I might not have noticed it if I hadn’t been alerted beforehand. The one who really made me laugh, though, was Gale Gordon. I’m becoming increasingly convinced that he was the real comic talent in “The Lucy Show.”Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
BBC Nine O’Clock News #1 (film #9 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Opening credits and the first few seconds of a BBC Nine O’Clock newscast from 1973. Straightforward, with some historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
The Battle of San Pietro (film #2 on Side B of Disc #12 of War Classics DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2004)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This film documents the Battle of San Pietro, one of the most bloody and difficult of the Italian campaign in WWII. For the most part this is rather slow-moving and dull. However, there are some striking images of bodies being put into body bags, and multiple graves being dug, giving you an idea of just how bloody this battle was. And the ending, in which we see the townspeople of San Pietro emerging from the caves where they had been hiding, is fairly moving. Mostly, though, this is straightforward, and it could have had at least 15 minutes of it edited out without really losing anything. Unless they were trying to show us the boredom of combat, in which case they succeeded.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Atlantic Imperial Gasoline Promo Film (film #6 on Sell Sell Sell DVD (A/V Geeks)). [Category: Industrial]
This clip from a film for gas station owners is pretty darn strange. Similar to The Battery, it combines female objectification with bizarre attempts at humor. The most jaw-dropping moment is a scene where an obviously insane woman wheels out a clean carburetor and treats it like a baby, chewing the scenery in the process. Other highlights include stock footage of Castro and Kruschev dubbed to sing the praises of Atlantic Imperial gas, and supposed “hidden camera” footage of various weirdos who pull into gas stations. I wish they had included the whole film––it looks like a winner.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Bass Fishing (film #14 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also, in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A nattily-dressed turn-of-the-century dude trolls for bass in a mountain stream. Eventually, he catches a nice specimen. But you should have seen the one he caught when the camera stopped rolling. A 1903 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman Trailer (film #6 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Commercial]
Campy trailer for one of the all-time great bad movies. No real surprises here, but you do get to enjoy a scene with the incredibly lame giant hand effect. And the movie is so much fun that the trailer can’t help but be.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Child Bride Trailer (film #33 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Lurid trailer for the cheapie exploitation film about the not-so-charming redneck practice of marryin’ ‘em off young (like, about 9 years old, from the looks of the girl in this film). This actually looks like a pretty disturbing film. I’ve not seen it, but my experience with these kinds of films is that they’re a lot less offensive than their advertising makes them out to be. If that’s true of this film, then this trailer did a pretty darn good job of making it look creepy and awful. Let’s hope it is just good advertising.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Give Yourself the Green Light (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #602 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This is another 50s film about the problem of bad roads. Since it was sponsored by General Motors, the solution, of course, is to build lots and lots more roads. Huge superhighways! Huge parking lots! Everywhere! This was supposed to solve the problem of traffic jams. Well, all the roads got built and the amount of cars seemed to expand to fit them. This is a great film for learning how we got where we are today in terms of huge freeways and parking lots everywhere. It would take building all the roads encouraged in this film before people would start to notice any downside to paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet #6 (film #6 on Side B of Disc #1 of TV Favorites DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2004)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Ozzie and Harriet discover a little ghost town in the middle of nowhere, and they meet an old-timer who tells them the town used to be named Harrietsville, after a woman named Harriet. Harriet thinks it might be her great aunt, and so she convinces Ozzie to spend the night there. In the middle of the night, Rick and about 100 of his college student friends show up abruptly for no apparent reason. Of course, this bizarre plot is really just a setup for Rick to sing a couple of country songs. It’s interesting how far the writers fell backward in order to shoehorn Rick’s performances into the shows, but it’s nothing later sitcoms wouldn’t do to accommodate celebrity guest stars.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
BBC News and Campaign Report #1 (film #19 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Standard-issue opening credits for a BBC political campaign news report. This comes live from a newsroom, a type you don’t often see anymore. Other than that, this is ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Battle of Midway (film #1 on Side A of Disc #4 of WWII: The Ultimate Collection DVD Boxed Set (Brentwood Home Video, 2004)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This battle film was obviously made for the home front, as a propaganda piece. It’s in color, for one thing, which was unusual for the period. And it features the voice over of a little old lady, who comments on the soldiers periodically, mainly telling us how she remembered them as little boys. These sequences are pretty campy today. Other narration is kept to a minimum, so we can take in the striking images of death and destruction. You really get a feel in this film that the cameraman was in mortal danger. The ending is a great piece of propaganda, featuring title cards that tell battle statistics, which are then painted over by a hand wielding a huge paintbrush dripping with red paint. This film is quite fun to watch, and is so well made you might find yourself getting caught up in the fighting spirit after awhile.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 1, No. 2 (film #296 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
More breezy, silly “news” from Chevrolet. This one would never fly today, as it contains such safety violations as driving a car on railroad tracks (on the Key West bridge, yet!), stuffing a Shetland pony into your back seat, and driving while about 50 bathing beauties are sitting all over your car. The combination bus/streetcar is pretty cool, though.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Bulleteers (film #15 on Feature Films). [Category: Hollywood]
Superman battles a gang that has a bullet-shaped rocket/car in this Fleischer toon. As usual, this has great art deco styling, and Lois Lane stupidly gets overinvolved in the situation, requiring rescue from Superman. The highlight is the scene where Superman mounts the rocket/car and opens it up like a can opener to rescue Lois. Lois, of course, gets the scoop, making me wonder how Clark Kent manages to keep his job.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
ABC Network 1971 (film #5 in the Crazy Commercials and Unforgettable Jingles section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Mellow 70s “This Is the Place to Be” promo for ABCs 1971 prime time lineup. Inoffensive.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Cabin in the Sky Trailer (film #26 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
Straightforward trailer for the all-black cast big-budget Hollywood musical. The graphic design of this has that wonderful 40s modernist look. Of interest is the fact that the two female stars, Ethel Waters and Lena Horne, are featured in the trailer, while the male star, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson is not mentioned at all!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Face of Youth (film #485 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
This stark 50s mental health film shows us the role public health nurses have in safeguarding the mental health of a community’s children. Two boys in particular are featured, Alex, a class clown and troublemaker, and Ralph, a meek, anxious, people-pleasing kid. Alex’s problems are easily solved by putting him on the school safety patrol, where, supposedly, his desire for attention is channeled in a healthy direction. Ralph’s problems turn out to be more difficult, so he is referred to the local Child Guidance Center, where, after reassuring his mother that it is not “a place for crazy kids,” he is given play therapy. Pretty soon, he gets real angry, and this is supposed to be an improvement somehow, though this is hard to buy from today’s perspective. This film is similar to Angry Boy in subject matter, but in style it is stark and depressing. Although competent soundtrack music appears intermittently, many scenes are inexplicably silent. And the narrator sounds like he’s one of the walking dead. The boy who plays Ralph does a good job of looking genuinely anguished, and his pain seems understandable in the bleak black-and-white world he has to live in, a world where darn near everybody looks depressed. And whereas the therapist in Angry Boy was genuinely warm and caring, the therapist in this film seems wooden, as if he memorized his interventions from a book somewhere. The ending is disturbing, since although Ralph has plenty to be angry about, and obviously needs to move in the direction of more assertiveness, violent acting out will hardly make things better for him. The narrator tells us that limits were set on Ralph’s acting-out behaviors, but we are not shown this, and frankly, the therapist seems so bland that it’s hard to believe he could set and enforce any limits with an acting-out child. Overall, this is a dark, depressing, yet interesting film that has lots of footage to mine for video projects, especially if you’re making a video about depression.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet #5 (film #5 on Side B of Disc #1 of TV Favorites DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2004)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This mildly silly episode of “Ozzie & Harriet” features Skip Young, the TV Turkeys guy, as lazy Wally, Rick’s college fraternity brother, and his silly study system, which involves sunglasses, earmuffs, sardines, and standing on your head. Unfortunately, the other guys in the fraternity think Wally’s sudden burst of good grades has more to do with his job in the Administration Office, where the tests are stored, than his “never-fail” study system, so Rick helps him to prove himself honest by babysitting him before a big test. Silly, slightly surreal sitcom fare.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
BBC News #3 (film #22 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]
Well, it’s just after 6 o’clock, at time for the penguin on top of your television set––uh, I mean time for a short clip from the BBC announcing the evening news, with a world map graphic. Brief, standard, and very British.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 ...
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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 ...
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