Humpty Dumpty (film #8 on The Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection, Vol. 1 DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Hollywood]
Humpty Dumpty, Jr. has an adventure of his own as he must defeat the villainous Bad Egg, who has designs on his girlfriend Easter. This eggy melodrama is very cute and funny––I particularly like the concept that when both Humpty and Easter are rescued from boiling water, they end up "hard-boiled". And the egg chorus line is a memorable cartoon image. A good one.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Atomic (downloaded from Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This film features a montage of clips from cold war civil defense films, including Duck and Cover, About Fallout, and newsreel footage of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, while on the soundtrack a slow, soulful gospel song plays. At times, audio from the films plays over the music, which actually works, rather unexpectedly. The film’s simple format works well in conveying its anti-war message. One of the better ephemera montage films I’ve seen.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Debrief: Apollo 8 (downloaded from Google Video). [Category: News]
This NASA film documents the Apollo 8 mission in a less technical and more lyrical form than usual. Burgess Meredith narrates footage from the mission by attempting to grasp a deeper meaning, interspersing his own thoughts (OK, the thoughts of the writers) with quotes from thinkers in a bunch of different disciplines. This ranges from pretty hokey to genuinely touching. The film does give you an idea of the sense of wonder the Apollo missions generated in people during the 60s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Allied Patrol in Action on Anzio Beach (downloaded from Google Video). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This WWII-era newsreel documents the Allied victory on Anzio Beach after D-Day. Also included are stories on a State Department official’s visit to London, women in the armed services showing off their new uniforms (this is presented like a fashion show), a baby beauty contest among servicemen’s kids (good baby boom footage here), new kinds of snow plows clearing roads in the northwest, a Peruvian admiral being honored at Anapolis, a 7-to-1 win in the Kentucky Derby, and an Australian water carnival. This is a great slice of life from the war years.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Discipline During Adolescence (downloaded from Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
This is sort of a Centron “discussion film” for parents (though it was not made by Centron). Steve’s parents are worried about him because he’s been staying out late every night, neglecting his schoolwork, and generally having a bad attitude about things. Steve’s mom, amazingly enough, wants to deal with this by ignoring it, because this tactic worked with the teenaged son of one of her friends. Steve’s dad is all for punishment, but he decides to try it Mom’s way after she talks him into it. Unfortunately, Steve’s behavior just gets worse, so Dad steps in and lays down the law, grounding Steve for a week and cutting off his allowance. This means Steve can’t take his girlfriend to the big school dance, an end-of-the-world outcome for a 50s teen. So, while the narrator asks us what we think about Steve’s parents, we see Steve looking at the want ads, obviously in preparation for leaving home. Steve’s parents portray the simplistic parenting extremes of total lenience vs. unfairly harsh discipline, but I think that’s supposed to be the point. The fact that it’s more complex than that is strongly implied, making this a more intelligent film than I was expecting. Of course, it would only really be valuable if intelligent discussion and guidance followed, which is not always how educational films were used. The film’s portrayal of 50s teen life is appealingly corny––it could have served as a model for the 70s “Happy Days’ kind of idealized portraits of the 50s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Delegating Work (available on You Tube). [Category: Industrial]
Joe, a factory foreman, has a problem. He micromanages all his subordinates and has no sense of priorities, to boot. Then he wonders why his subordinates are overly dependent and undependable, and why nothing important ever seems to get done. This is another one of those Calvin discussion films that ends unresolved. It’s somewhat less campy, but more believable than the others in the series. One hopes that foremen like Joe eventually got a clue from watching this film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
A Coy Decoy (film #2 on Cartoon Explosion, Vol. 1: The Henpecked Duck/Popeye & Olive Oyl DVD (Front Row Entertainment, 2000)). [Category: Hollywood]
This is one of those Warner’s toons that takes place in a bookstore after hours, only instead of featuring random characters from the books, it features a plot that involves Daffy battling a wolf that tricks him with a wind-up female duck decoy (who, of course, Daffy immediately falls in love with and courts using his best Charles Boyer impersonation). This is not quite as weird as some of the other of the Warner’s bookstore toons, but it’s funny all the same. The politically sensitive will want to watch for an outrageous racist caricature gag near the beginning of the cartoon that was, no doubt, cut for all the prints licensed to TV. The ending charts new horizons in genetic engineering.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Are You Listening? (available on You Tube). [Category: Educational]
An elementary school teacher has trouble getting her kids to “listen and follow directions” (i.e. obey her every command), so she uses her talents in the black arts to turn them into hideous mutant giant ears, while turning herself into an even more hideous mutant giant mouth. Then, if that’s not bad enough, she actually takes the kids out into public in this condition! She tries to teach them the safety rules for crossing the street, totally oblivious to the fact that the kids can’t see, being giant ears. She does eventually change them back at the end and rewards them with ice cream for being cooperative little mutants, which almost makes up for it, but still. I bet this film scared more than a few kids into listening to their teacher!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Champs Elysses (downloaded from Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Many horse-drawn vehicles go down the Paris thoroughfare. This has historical value in capturing a scene from before the takeover of the automobile. I especially like the double-decker trolleys. A 1900 Edison film.Rating: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Blood Drinkers Trailer (extra on Beast of Blood DVD (Image Entertainment, 2002. Also, extra on Brain of Blood DVD (Image Entertainment, 2002)). [Category: Commercial]
Campy trailer for what looks to be a very cheap Mexican horror flick. The font used in the titles is cool and, of course, bright red. Fans of cheap horror should like this.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Faithful (track #2 on The Origins of Cinema, Volume 4: The Arrival of D. W. Griffith (Video Yesteryear, 1995)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A rich fellow hits a retarded man with his car, nearly missing running him over. To make up for it, he gives the man money and buys him a new suit of clothes, unaware that he is making a new friend for life. The retarded man, called "Faithful", begins following him around like a puppy dog, causing the rich fellow much grief. After a number of comic mishaps, Faithful redeems himself by saving the rich man's fiancee from a burning building. A mildly funny early comedy. A nice view of Hollywood as it was in 1910 can be seen during a chase scene in the Hollywood Hills. A 1910 D. W. Griffith film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Communal Living (downloaded from the Hippies section of WPA Film Library). [Category: Sleaze & Ousider]
Clip from a 60s documentary about communes, where they are predicted to be the wave of the future. Well, it’s the future now, and it didn’t seem to come true in any big way, but bits and pieces of it did, such as diminishing sex roles and organic food. This clip has some great footage of hippies engaging in communal life, giving it historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Alabama Highlands (downloaded from Google Video). [Category: Public Service]
This 30s film profiles the state parks near Birmingham, Alabama and shows the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in improving them. Although there’s nothing truly surprising about this film, it’s very enjoyable to watch because there are many interesting visual moments, both in terms on scenery and in terms of seeing lots of things you’re not likely to see today. In fact, this film goes way off of the historical interest scale, because it’s just so 30s. You really get a sense of the time period from this film. I especially love the title cards with their 30s graphic design. If you’re researching Alabama during the 30s, or the CCC, then this is definitely the film to watch. Also, it’s just plain well made and visually interesting.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****+. Overall Rating: ****.
Hollywood Canteen excerpt (film #9 on World War II Remembered (Diamond Entertainment, 1995)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
An excerpt from a short film about the Hollywood Canteen, a social hall in Hollywood run by the movie industry for service members. Anybody in uniform was admitted free to the canteen, which was usually packed to the gills with Hollywood stars volunteering their time. Dinah Shore narrates the film, which seems to be a filmed tour of the canteen, giving the G.I.s who couldn't make it a little taste of what they were missing. An interesting historical record of something that probably couldn't exist today, war or no war.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Aim for the Head (available on You Tube). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This bit of altered ephemera combines footage from Night of the Living Dead with footage from 3 Stooges shorts to make an instructional film on how to survive a zombie attack. Mainly this involves showing the Stooges’ various pratfalls as strategies for battling zombies. This is actually funnier than it sounds, since the title cards that drive the film are genuinely amusing. The overall premise is quite amusing and that helps.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
America in Space: The First Decade (downloaded from Google Video). [Category: News]
This NASA film from the late 60s documents and celebrates the first decade of NASA accomplishments, including unmanned space exploration, the building and launching of satellites for many purposes, aeronautic breakthroughs, and the research leading up to putting a man on the moon. It does this with very annoying narration that constantly talks about Man and His achievements in space. Other than that, it’s a pretty interesting film, with lots of striking images of space technology. Especially striking is a mildly trippy sequence showing the wide array of jobs involved in manned space flight, consisting of brief clips of all kinds of jobs, with only the sounds of the work on the soundtrack. There’s also an interesting sequence on NASA’s failures, including a bizarre-looking craft that fails in the air and crashes, and a rocket that blows up spectacularly. The film has historical interest in documenting how NASA viewed itself just before Apollo 11. All in all, this is an interesting film that’s fun to watch, though I do wish they would get off of this “Man” kick after awhile.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
House Cleaning Blues (film #16 on Cartoon Crazys: Sci-Fi (WinStar Home Entertainment, 1999). Also available for download on Film Chest Vintage Cartoons). [Category: Hollywood]
Betty Boop has those house cleaining blues, so she calls on Grampy to help with his amazing inventions, and the housework is done in no time. Oh, if housework was only this much fun, the world would be a better place. Also, I want an in-dash soda fountain, like Grampy has in his car.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Allied Drive on in Italy – Planes Smash Foe in Air (downloaded from Google Video). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This WWII-era newsreel documents Allied progress in Italy, with lots of shoot ‘em up combat footage. Also included are stories on the making of a new transcontinental air speed record by an Air Force pilot, 1300 cadet nurses being sworn in, new army divisions winning medals, crop dusting, and the Allied taking of Hollandia in New Guinea. No surprises here, but there are some striking images of combat and a fair degree of historical interest.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Coal Miner (downloaded from Google Video). [Category: Industrial]
This late-70s film, made by Bethlehem Steel, gives a profile of coal mining as a career. It shows a particular coal miner at home, at work, and in the community, letting him speak in his own voice about how he feels about his job, and about being a coal miner. Mostly, it’s very positive feelings about following in his father’s footsteps, making a good living and providing for his family. Later in the film, his fellow miners also talk about their experiences with mining, and again, it’s mostly very positive. Unions are not mentioned, risks are downplayed, and miners are shown living comfortably with their families in nice houses, implying good wages. Of course, this is what you’d expect by a film made by the Company. Still, the miners speak in their own words, and you get a feeling of sincerity from them, which makes the film at least somewhat believable and very interesting to watch. Most surprising is a scene of the miners cleaning up after work in a gang shower and engaging in very mild horseplay. The whole film seems pretty sanitized, yet enough sincerity comes through to make it an interesting portrayal of the life of coal miners during the late 70s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Dinner Party (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #430 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
Stiff, stilted manners film from the 40s featuring teens having a dull, lifeless dinner party, and the narrator reading their thoughts, most of which consist of worries that they are not doing everything absolutely 100% correct. The constant implication is that any manners gaffes, no matter how small, have the potential to totally ruin such a party, even though the narrator takes pains to deny this. Other implied contradictions include the narrator repeatedly asserting that the rules of etiquette have logical reasons behind them while never even once giving such a logical reason and further implying that even logical behaviors are forbidden if they’re not “correct”, and the assertion that being perfect in one’s manners increases enjoyment for everyone despite the fact that the both the hosts and the guests of the party are constantly worrying about whether they are doing things right or not. Simmel-Messervey seemed to have a talent for producing “manners” films that exposed the dark side of 40s and 50s middle-class conformity. Their masterpiece in this is A Date with Your Family. This film shows that even outside of the family, the straightjacket of conformity was tightly bound.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
La Bamba (downloaded from Bedazzled). [Category: Hollywood]
No, this is not Richie Valens, but a Mexican Scopitone that does the song in a more traditional fashion, with a female singer and two mariachi guitarists. No real surprises here, but this is lively and fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. 0verall Rating: ***.
And Then It Happened (downloaded from Google Video. Also available on You Tube). [Category: Educational]
We’ve come a long way from the 50s, kids. By the 70s, educational filmmakers had abandoned the “we just love being safe and following the rules” approach to safety films in favor of the scare approach. So this school bus safety film for junior high kids was based on the driver’s ed scare model, though perhaps not quite as gory. It tells the stories of two different bus accident caused by kids acting up on the bus. The kids are very realistic and extremely obnoxious, requiring the drivers to stop every few minutes to put out cigarettes, remove dogs, stop fights, and, in one case, to summon police to take a sick kid who had been popping pills to the hospital. You’re surprised that enough driving takes place to cause an accident, but the accidents eventually happen when the kids’ behavior becomes even worse. These dramatizations are portrayed with little narration, and the inevitable accidents are shown in lurid slow-motion. I suppose, if anything, this film prepared its junior high audience for the gory scare films they would later see in driver’s ed class in high school. This also qualifies as a scare film for anybody who was in junior high during the 70s, as it’s bound to bring back unpleasant traumatic flashbacks. And like watching most accidents, it’s extremely unpleasant, but you can’t tear yourself away.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: $$$$.
Champs de Mars (film #59 on Edison Film Archive. Also, film #4 on The Mechanized Eye disc of Unseen Cinema DVD Boxed Set (Image Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A whole lot of nicely-dressed turn-of-the-century people walk down a Paris street, and Edison’s camera captures them in a panoramic sweep. This is a great snapshot of a particular place at a particular time. A 1900 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Blood Bath Trailer (extra on Monster-a-Go-Go/Psyched by the 4-D Witch DVD (Something Weird, 2002)). [Category: Commercial]
Campy, lurid trailer for the 60s AIP horror flick Blood Bath, featuring a deranged artist/serial killer. What does it say about our culture that we seem to equate the artistic temperament with homicidal mania? Or maybe it’s just an AIP thing. At any rate, this trailer is mildly campy, but not very surprising.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Factory on Film (track #4 on Who Built America? CD-ROM (Voyager, 1993). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This excerpt from one of the first industrial films shows us the Westinghouse Air Brake & Electric Motor Company's huge Pennsylvania plant. Huge motor parts predominate as well as turn-of-the-century female factory workers. An interesting brief glimpse into the Industrial Revolution. A 1904 Billy Bitzer film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Clash on Rock Revolution (film #58 in the Video section of Bedazzled). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
The Clash rock out “I’m So Bored with the USA” and “London’s Burning” in this televised concert footage. You can barely hear them sing over the screams of the crowd, but they project so much energy it doesn’t matter. A great punk relic.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
National Drinking Game PSA (film #31 on AV Geeks). [Category: Public Service]
Middle-aged people at a wild, drunken party are seriously bummed out by the National Drinking Game, which is actually an assessment test for alcoholism. From the looks on their faces, I’d say most of these partygoers are alcoholics, which is no surprise, frankly. Would that it be so easy to break through denial in real life.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Holiday Greetings, 1941 (recorded off of Turner Classic Movies). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Lewis Stone extends heartfelt holiday greetings to the boys over there. Since this is a theatrical short designed to be shown over here, it's hard to know whether or not they got the message.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Antipode Polychromasia (film #3 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This experimental film is similar to Anomalies of the Unconscious, involving exposed film that has been hand-colored and altered to create abstract images. Again, this has beautiful abstract imagery and a haunting soundtrack which seems to match the imagery perfectly. Another mesmerizing experimental film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
Fight Rages on Wallace Appointment (film #185 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: News]
40s newsreel reporting opposition in Congress to the appointment of Henry Wallace as head of the Commerce Department. This is typical political wrangling and speechifying. Also included are stories on the need for more WACs to assist nurses in army hospitals, military and diplomatic bigwigs visiting various places, a fire at a navy pier, a father of triplets inventing a device that gives them their bottles simultaneously, and the invention of a new buzz bomb. The WAC story has some interesting footage of nurses which may have been taken from another film, and the baby-feeder story is pretty silly. Other than that, this is a very ordinary 40s newsreel.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Blast Berlin by Daylight (film #100 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This wartime newsreel documents the first Allied air raids over Berlin. Some great footage of pilots bantering in front of their decorated planes is shown. Also include are stories about the humane treatment of German prisoners of war in the US, Brazilian fishermen retrieving rubber from a sunken German ship, Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Douglas MacArthur making goodwill trips, a successful air raid on Saipan, and the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York. This is a great wartime newsreel that gives you a good snapshot of different happenings during the war years. Unlike most of the WWII-era newsreels on the Universal Newsreels site, this is very well preserved.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
The Hoose-Gow (film #3 on Monsters We've Known and Loved (Creepy Classics)). [Category: Hollywood]
This early silent Laurel & Hardy short features the pair getting sent up the river to the big house. We feel sorry for them, but we should feel sorry for the prison––after all, there's no bad situation L & H can't make lots worse, and they do in their inevitable slapstick fashion. It all ends with a big rice-glop fight (it's a long story). What this has to do with monsters, I don't know, but it's lots of fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Easy Does It! (film #14 on Cultoons, Vol. 1: Ads and Oddities DVD (Thunderbeam Animation, 2004)). [Category: Industrial]
Joe loves Ann. Ann loves Joe. Joe and Ann want to get married. Problem: Ann’s father’s grocery store is failing, and the mortgage holder, evil Mr. Squeeze, is threatening to foreclose on it unless Ann agrees to marry him. Joe, who works as a stockboy in the store, believes that all is lost until Easy, the Stokely-Van Camp sprite, visits him and shows him how he can increase the store’s profits by stocking Stokely-Van Camp products instead of the UK (Unknown) Brand of canned goods the store had been trying to sell. This animated film for grocery store owners is a true delight. It has just about everything I like to see in an ephemeral film: a supernatural sprite character who comes to help out the main character, singing and dancing food items, housewifey footage, and lots of scenes of 40s grocery stores and grocery products in glorious, garish color. Highlights include the UK canned goods coming to life to try to lure a customer into buying them (they are unsuccessful), Easy taking Joe to visit the gods of rain and sun, the Stokely Man showing Joe a non-animated ephemeral-film-within-an-ephemeral-film, and a delightful scene of singing and dancing tomatoes being canned on a production line. The film has been beautifully restored so that you can enjoy its garish colors in all their glory––the scene of a huge bin of redder-than-red ketchup bottles will practically blow the color rods in your eyes. A classic of ephemera that gets an easy 5 stars.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
A Cowboy Needs a Horse (film #6 on Disc #2 of Disney Rarities DVD (Disney, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
In this 50s cartoon, a small boy has a dream about being a cowboy and fighting various bad guys. This is a charming toon made in the 50s modern style, with no dialogue, just the title song on the soundtrack. I particularly like the beginning sequence, where a giant pencil draws all the things the boy needs to be a real cowboy (horse, rope, spurs, etc.), as well as the ending, where the items are all erased in turn. A great example of 50s modern style animation.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Caltrans Photolog Sample (film #6 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
You may find this silent driving footage to be oddly familiar-looking if you took driver’s ed in high school. That’s because this is film from the driving simulator, circa mid-80s. Only it’s as if the person operating the simulator was putting the pedal to the metal. Landscapes, small towns, curvy mountain roads, roadsigns––everything whizzes by at top speed. This has a slightly trippy feel after awhile, especially the curvy mountain roads, which seem to undulate sensually under their own power. Normally, I don’t review films in the educational category that are more recent than 1980, but when I found out that this was a simulator film, I just had to have it in my collection.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Dining Together (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #439 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
Extremely stiff and cheaply made manners film from the 40s that teaches kids proper table manners for Thanksgiving. They couldn’t afford synchronized sound, so all you hear is cheesy piano music and slow stiff narration, using the collective “we” a lot, such as “We like having good table manners.” Fortunately, this kind of obvious mind-control strategy is a complete washout with kids––otherwise, we’d all resemble the living dead in such films as A Date with Your Family. Brain-deadening.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Central High School Gymnastic Drill (film #35 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Boys dressed in leotards demonstrate vaulting, boys dressed in shirts and ties show us their stuff on the parallel bars, while girls dressed in priceless-looking bloomer uniforms rock back and forth on a seesaw-ladder contraption. This has a wonderful turn-of-the-century feel to it, as well as being very well preserved. A 1904 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Blood and Sand Trailer (film #19 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Commercial]
Trailer in glorious Technicolor for the 40s big-budget bullfighting movie Blood and Sand. If you want the Hollywood version of Spain and bullfighting, then this is your trailer. If you want to see beautiful costumes and sets from Hollywood at its peak, then this is also your trailer. Personally, I’d rather watch Bully for Bugs. Like most SabuCat trailers, this is remarkably well preserved.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Bob Dylan & the Band, Isle of Wight 1969 (film #15 on Bedazzled. Also, film #10 in the Video section of Bedazzled). [Catgory: Sleaze & Outsider]
The Band performs the song “The Weight” in this live footage from the Isle of Wight concert. This is one of my favorite songs of theirs, so it’s fun seeing it live. The shaky camerawork and murky lighting make me think this may be a bootleg film––it sure looks like it was filmed by a member of the audience. Despite the title, Dylan is nowhere to be found in this clip.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Driven to Kill (film #456 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]
Lowell Thomas narrates this mawkish driving safety film. He tells us the story of Hal, a nice guy and solid citizen, except when he’s driving. Hal drives like a jerk and eventually causes an accident that kills the other driver. Thomas makes a lot of emotional hay with this, but somehow I doubt the film had much impact on jerky drivers. The film is very similar to many other driving safety films of its time, with little to make it stand out, other than Thomas and the shameless overacting of the woman who plays Hal’s wife.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Eyes of the Mummy (Hollywood's Attic, 1996). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This version has its title cards all in German, so it's a little hard to follow if you don't understand the language (like I don't), but eventually the story pieces itself together. A European explorer in Egypt discovers a beautiful Egyptian woman being held prisoner in a pyramid by a strange, wild-eyed Egyptian man. The European rescues her and takes her home with him, where she has a bit of trouble adapting to straightlaced Victorian society. She eventually makes a hit with her exotic dancing (yes, you read that correctly). Unfortunately, the wild-eyed Egyptian manages to track her down and begins harassing her in secret. The nice European guy is unable to prevent a tragic ending for them both. Pola Negri plays the exotic Egyptian woman and I bet this film made her career. An interesting exotic romance with some nice visual moments. Be warned if you're a monster fan, though, that there are absolutely no mummies in the film. A 1918 Ernst Lubitsch film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Astro Boy Opening (film #44 on ToonTracker Cartoon Showcase). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Cheesy, yet lovable opening of the 60s syndicated cartoon show “Astro Boy.” A great slice of early 60s kidvid.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
5th Republic: New Era Dawns as De Gaulle Invested (film #23 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: News]
50s newsreel showing the investiture of Charles De Gaulle as president of France, ushering in France’s 5th republic. This is pretty much what you’d expect (De Gaulle even ends his speech with “Vive L’France!”), but it has historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Herr Meets Hare (film #10 on Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons (MGM/UA Home Video, 1989)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Now this is more like how we like to see Bugs Bunny! Bugs takes a wrong turn at Albuquerque and ends up in Germany's Black Forest, confronted by Hermann Goering himself. Of course, Goering is no match for Bugs. Bugs' impersonation of Hitler is priceless. And his impersonation of Brunhilde is a preview of What's Opera, Doc?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Biggest Bomber (film #99 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
Post-war newsreel showing the B-36 bomber, at that time the biggest bomber made. Also included is a story of General Eisenhower inspecting the military in Brazil. This is all very ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Flying with Arthur Godfrey (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #526 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
Arthur Godfrey hosts this film, sponsored by Eastern Airlines, where he tells us that although broadcasting is his bread and butter, his real passion is flying airplanes. He tells us all about his flying history, and shows us some early planes, but the real meat of the film is an extended section of him piloting a routine Eastern Airlines domestic flight in a Lockheed Super-Constellation. This is actually quite interesting, as he goes into detail about how a commercial airline is piloted, how to navigate over water, and how pilots use instruments to guide them when the weather prevents a visual approach. Then he shows us one of the Air Force’s latest jets, and an air force pilot does some stunts for us, as well as showing us what it’s like to be in a plane when the sound barrier is broken. The film ends with an Eastern Airlines bigwig accurately predicting that jets would soon take over commercial airline flights, and inaccurately predicting that the airlines would run helicopter shuttle services between downtown areas and airports. This is an engaging film that typifies the genre of the company feel-good film. Godfrey sweeps the viewer along on various flight adventures, while soft-selling the real message of the film, which is that commercial airline fight, at least as it’s done by Eastern, is completely safe, because nothing is left to chance. Godfrey is the perfect pitchman for this sort of thing, with all of his TV experience. In fact, his pitching goes into overdrive after awhile, causing him to plug Chesterfield cigarettes during the cruising stage (watching him and the other pilots smoke in the cockpit is a real hoot from today’s perspective), and to plug Air Force recruitment after the jet sequence. Overall, this is a classic example of the industrial film genre.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Hollywood Scrapbook (film #40 in the Documentary section of Movieflix). [Category: Hollywood]
In this 30s featurette, we see a bunch of random clips of stars engaging in various sports and recreational activities, narrated in a boring style by a guy who sounds like he’d rather be someplace else. The footage is blurry, most of the stars are minor and nearly unknown today, and the glimpses you get of them are brief. I think they could have tried harder with this one.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
County Hospital (film #10 on Laurel and Hardy DVD (Hallmark Home Entertainment, 2003)). [Category: Hollywood]
Ollie is laid up in the hospital with a broken leg, and everything is calm and peaceful until Stan arrives. Stan causes the usual mayhem and this gets them both kicked out of the hospital, but not before Stan accidentally sits on a hypo containing a powerful narcotic. Stan ends up driving Ollie home under the influence, resulting in one of the most bizarre driving process shots ever. This short is not one of the duo’s best, but it does have its moments. I like Stan’s subtle moments the best, such as his confused expression upon hearing the word “solarium.”Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Cattle Leaving the Corral (film #34 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Category: Early Film & TV]
Cattle are driven out of a corral, while a couple of cowboys sitting on the fence look on. This is pretty much as advertised, but for real cattle-leaving-the-corral action, I’d go with Cattle Driven to Slaughter. An 1898 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Development of a Salamander (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #430 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]
Silent film from the 20s that uses time-lapse photography to show the development of a salamander from egg to larva. I bet this was really amazing back in the 20s, and it’s still pretty interesting today. There’s something amazing about cell division and growth when you see it fast enough to detect the motion. This is well photographed and fairly well preserved, with some striking imagery for a video artist to mine.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Blood and Black Lace Trailer (extra on Blood and Black Lace DVD (VCI Entertainment). Also, extra on Horrors of the Black Museum DVD (VCI Entertainment)). [Category: Commercial]
Lurid, over-the-top trailer for the 50s horror movie Blood and Black Lace. The scenes shown are actually fairly scary, but the horror is skewered by the incredibly annoying narrator, who says things like, “It will skewer your emotions!” Yeah, buddy, if your voice doesn’t first.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Beatles Press Conference, Los Angeles, 8-16-64 (film #3 on Bedazzled. Also, film #3 in the Video section of Bedazzled). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This press conference from right after the Beatles arrived in the United States for the first time is a real free-for-all, with everybody talking at once, and reporters simultaneously firing questions at different members of the band. The Beatles, when you can hear them, answer with their usual humorous aplomb, especially John, who does his best to be a real smartass. This has historical value, as well as an authentic unscripted feel, but I wish you could hear the questions and answers better.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Extraordinary Illusions (film #3 on Marvelous Melies (A-1 Video)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A magician creates a woman from various parts, then brings her to life and puts her through all kinds of weird transmutations. I'd like to see both a Freudian analysis and a feminist critique of this one. A 1903 Melies film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Naomi Says Yes (film #26 in the Jewish Communities section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Public Service]
Susie, a puppet-animated member of Hadassah, is hell-bent on recruiting Naomi, a busy, puppet-animated Jewish housewife, into the organization. She does this by giving Hadassah the hard sell, and by forcing Naomi to climb a large, red line that represents Hadassah’s membership growth over the years. She succeeds eventually, despite the fact that neither she nor Naomi have working mouths. This is a cute, mildly strange film that makes its points well, though with the weird ambiance found in puppet animation. One of the more unusual films on the Spielberg Archive.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Assault from the Past (film #23 in the Action section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Imagine all of the famous armies and warriors of the past came and attacked us all today, due to a horrible mistake made during a time travel experiment. Only imagine it happened in Legoland. The result is all-out Lego war. The animation of the battle sequences is not bad, but the silent opening sequences, in which the plot is explained are kind of lame. Still, if you like war brickfilms, then this is your movie.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Feast Day Procession, Potero Hill (film #20 on Shaping San Francisco). [Category: News]
Brief clips of a church festival parade in San Francisco in 1937, narrated by somebody who remembers such festivals. The woman’s drum corps forms a striking image, but mostly this is pretty ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.
Beachhead and Breakthrough (film #2 on Side A of Disc #2 of the War in Europe section of Combat Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2006)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This documentary covers the early Allied advances after D-Day. This is one of the duller films in this series, focusing mostly on combat footage and on the takeovers of French towns. There are a few interesting moments in the liberation footage, but mostly this is very ordinary.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Flying Businessman (film #523 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
This 50s film shows us all about how planes and air travel are used in business. It starts with a section on airline travel, and we see lots of grey-flannel-suited white men on airline flights, back in the days when air travel was relatively comfortable and luxurious. Then there’s a section on custom-designed company planes, and we get to see similar businessmen and secretaries doing work, and also resting and watching TV on luxurious-looking company planes. Then there’s a long section on businessmen learning to fly, and we get to see just what it’s like to take flying lessons, which is pretty interesting. The final section shows us a bunch of different brands and varieties of planes, including weird ones like the Aerocar, a flying car that never caught on but is a wonderful little obscurity in the history of flight. All in all, this is a fun film with lots of great visuals, as well as historical interest in documenting business flight during the 50s.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Hell-Bent for Election (film #2 on The Memphis Belle (Video Treasures, 1989)). [Category: Military & Propagadna]
Chuck Jones directed this rather silly animated election promo for the 1944 presidential race. Joe the railroad switchman must throw the switch allowing the Win the War Special to get through on track 44, bypassing the Defeatist Limited, but he has to contend with a shady-looking politician from the D. Ltd. who tries to lull him to sleep. The Win the War Special has FDR's profile, while the Defeatist Limited represents the Other Leading Political Party. Of course, the Win the War Special stands for Victory, Progress, Economic Growth, Social Welfare, and everything else good, while the Defeatist Limited pulls along Depression, Inflation, Racism (the "Jim Crow Car"), Mudslinging, and even Hitler. In other words, politicking as usual, though the silliness of it makes it more palatable. Comes complete with catchy theme song with lyrics posted so you can sing along!Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
A Corny Concerto (film #7 on Cartoon Explosion, Vol. 3: Corny Concerto/Jerky DVD (Front Row Entertainment, 2000). Also, film #26 on 50 Cartoon Classics DVD. Also, film #20 on Disc #4 of 150 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]
This Warner Bros. 7-minute skewering of Fantasia is a great deal of fun, from Elmer Fudd’s embarrassing attempts to mimic Leopold Stowkowski, to seeing a standard Bugs Bunny chase toon done to the Strauss waltz “Tales of the Vienna Woods.” A necessary addition to any cartoon collection.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Cattle Driven to Slaughter (film #33 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also, film # 58 on Edison Film Archive. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project). [Catagory: Early Film & TV]
Longhorn cattle are driven out of a corral and into eternity by cowboys wielding big sticks. Short, but has historical value. An 1897 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Blood Alley (film #3 in the John Wayne and Television section of TVParty). [Category: Commercial]
Very cheap-looking trailer (or perhaps it was a TV commercial) for the 50s John Wayne vehicle Blood Alley. The cheapness is surprising, since by the 50s Wayne was making fairly big budget pictures. The cheapness adds to the camp value, as well as seeing Laruen Bacall push Wayne around, while the narrator tells us so. Brief and fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Amazing World of Psychic Phenomena (Tropic Twilight)). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
This 70s Sunn Classic film, narrated by Raymond Burr, presents us with lots of “evidence” of psychic phenomena, including historical accounts of same, scenes of lots of psychic researchers doing experiments, the claims of famous psychics, and anecdotal reports from ordinary folks of strange experiences. These anecdotal reports are perhaps the most interesting, since they are usually fairly dramatic and lack motives for deception. They are also fairly campy, as they are generally recreated with terrible actors. No arguments from skeptics or debunkers is shown, because what fun would that be? How entertaining you find this may depend on where you sit on the skeptics vs. true believers spectrum, though skeptics may nevertheless enjoy the movie for its camp/ironic value. All in all, the movie provides a good overview of the psychic fad of the 70s, as well as containing very 70s clothing, hairstyles, and interior decoration.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Hollywood on Parade (track #1 on Studio Snapshots (Kino Video, 1998)). [Category: Hollywood]
Uh, I don't know what this is supposed to prove. This was supposed to be a "screen magazine", but the only magazine it resembles is one after it has been attacked with a pair of scissors by a collage artist. It features lots of Hollywood stars and also-rans doing lots of, well, stuff. The only requirement for each segment seems to be that it fill a certain amount of screen time. Some of it is rather silly, some of it is weird, a few segments have disturbing implications (Gary Cooper flirting with a chimp?!), some are lame, and many are inexplicable. It does solve one mystery, though––it is in this film that Bela Lugosi tells Helen Kane, "You have booped your last boop!" Leaves you scratching your head.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Motorboat Explosion (film #24 in the Public Info. Films section of TVArk). [Category: Public Service]
Brief 70s British PSA that warns motorboat owners to check for gas leaks before setting out. They do this by, as you can guess, showing a boat blowing up real good. Brief, but effective.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Aggressive Brown Water in the Tubes of the Professor (film #12 on German Cinema). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
Early 70s German experimental film that appears to be about mass apartment evictions, possibly for urban renewal. A middle-aged white man argues with a group of women, possibly about the evictions. This alternates with more experimental scenes, such as a scene of a drawing of the man spewing blood from his mouth. The theme music from Shaft is somehow involved. It’s hard to make sense of this without understanding German, but there are some striking images here.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Apollo 9: Three to Make Ready (film #4 on Open Source Movies). [Category: News]
This NASA film documents Apollo 9, the mission that tested the Lunar Module and spacesuits later used in the moon landings. This is told straightforwardly, with few surprises, but in an interesting way nonetheless. There are some lovely images of the earth from space in the film, which also adds to its value. This was an important, but not very exciting mission, so the film did a good job in keeping it from being boring.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Battle of the Bulge (film #7 on Side A of Disc #2 of the War in Europe section of Combat Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2006)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This documentary covers the Battle of the Bulge, when the German lines bulged outward into northwestern Europe, slowing the Allied advance. The film covers the battle straightforwardly, with lots of compelling archival footage. There’s also an interesting section on the attempts made to allow the beleaguered GIs occasional opportunities for rest and recreation––I would like to see the original films the archival footage was taken from.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Flitful Flashes of First Alarms (film #22 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
This 30s film shows us a great variety of the everyday tasks of New York’s firefighters, from putting out vehicle fires to stopping an ammonia leak to pulling a horse carcass out of the sewer to putting out prank fires kids set on election day. Lots of great scenes of vintage firefighting equipment are in this film, including scenes of old-time steamers. Lots of historical value here, and firefighting fans should find this interesting.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Developing Self-Reliance (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #429 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Eductational]
This Coronet film stars Woody from Dating Dos and Don’ts, though it’s not nearly as campy as the other film. Now that he’s got dating under control, his next problem is being too dependent on others, so a teacher gives him a set of simple steps to self-reliance, and soon Woody is so self-reliant he’s taking over whole projects at the Student Council. Of course, the adults responsible for this film didn’t really want teens to “make their own decisions,” or rather, they only wanted them to make their own decisions if their decisions were ones the adults would have made for them. Still, this film is not quite as farfetched as the usual Coronet outing. If we take its premise at face value, the “Steps to Self-Reliance” seem reasonable, though somewhat simplistic. But the teacher even admits that, saying that it takes a long time to develop self-reliance. For the most part, though, this is pretty standard Coronet stuff, meaning it’s charming in its own innocent way.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Cops (film #7 on Feature Films). [Category: Hollywood]
Buster Keaton’s snooty girlfriend won’t marry him unless he becomes a rich businessman, so after convolutedly stealing a guy’s wallet, he makes his first big investment, buying a load of furniture off of a con-artist who tells him a sob-story about being evicted. Unfortunately, the furniture actually belongs to a family that is waiting for the movers. But Buster doesn’t know this, so he drives the furniture away in a huge wagon. Eventually, after having some trouble with his horse, he ends up in a policeman’s parade, and if that wasn’t bad enough, he ends up catching a bomb thrown by the local anarchist, using it to light his cigarette and then casually tossing it into the massed policemen. This gets the whole force angry at him, and it all ends with a wonderfully clever chase scene, as Buster takes on and prevails over every cop in town. This is a fun Buster outing, with lots of great off-the-cuff gags, and some amazing stunts that show you just what an acrobat he was.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Extraordinary Cab Accident (film #19 on The Movies Begin, Volume Two: The European Pioneers (Kino Video, 1994)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A man gets run over by a horse-and-buggy cab but emerges unscathed due to the magic of special effects. Nya! Fooled ya! A 1903 Robert W. Paul film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Catching an Early Train (film #57 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A guy gets dressed in the morning with lightning speed thanks to the magic of running the film backwards. It’s fun to watch filmmakers discover all the neat little camera and editing tricks you can play in these early films. A 1901 Edison film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Handbook for Air Raid Wardens (film #6 on WWII V for Victory War Bonds & Rallies Show (Something Weird, 1996)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This training film for air raid wardens and the general public on how to deal with air raids is quite quaint when you consider that the U.S. never had to deal with any. It has a stark, educational-film quality about it that gives it a real wartime feel. It's hard to remember that in the days after Pearl Harbor people were really afraid of being bombed. This is a great wartime relic with much historical interest and a bit of campiness as well.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
Blondie on a Budget Trailer (film #18 on SabuCat Movie Trailers). [Category: Commercial]
This trailer for a film in the 40s Blondie-and-Dagwood series is made way more annoying than it needs to be by a whiny-voiced narrator. Also, it gives away most of the plot. Still, the narration is bizarre and oblique, making this way weirder than your average trailer for a conventional comedy such as this. If ever there was a really bad trailer for a movie that wasn’t so bad, this is it.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Ain’t That Loving You, Baby (film #9 on Bedazzled. Also, film #8 in the Video section of Bedazzled). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
In this 60s TV clip, Glenn Campbell sings “Ain’t That Loving You, Baby.” This was back when he was a rock and roller, rather than the country star he would later be better known as. He really does rock out here, complete with backup singers and screaming teenyboppers. His guitar playing is impressive, though not helped at all by the dancers wielding prop guitars, though this only makes the clip more fun, reminding us that television, as well as other mainstream media of the time, just didn’t know how to deal with rock and roll.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Fireworks Recipe (film #16 in the Public Info. Films section of TVArk). [Category: Public Service]
70s British PSA urging parents to follow the Firework Code, a set of safety instructions available at fireworks dealers. This is straightforward and fairly effective at conveying its message, without resorting to sensationalistic depictions of injuries, like other PSAs of this type.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Apprentice (film #10 in the Action section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
In medieval Legoland, an old man’s apprentice battles the apprentice of an evil king in order to rescue a kidnapped girl. This silent brickfilm is technically well done, but the story seems to be only a section of a larger work, which cuts down the interest level somewhat.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Hollywood Extra Girl (film #39 in the Documentary section of Movieflix). [Category: Hollywood]
This charming short tells the story of a female extra and how she is given her big chance by Cecil B. DeMille during the filming of The Crusades. Memorable scenes include hearing the thoughts of various extras and why they keep doing it even though their chances of stardom resemble a snowball’s chance in hell, and hearing DeMille bawl out the hairdresser for letting an extra through with one of the latest 1930s hairstyles. The film is both encouraging and discouraging of ordinary peoples’ dreams of stardom, which is par for the course for this sort of thing. There’s a real charm to this, though, and despite its romanticized view of Hollywood there’s still a somewhat realistic “behind the scenes” feel to the proceedings. This film typifies the sort of thing I like to see in the Hollywood category.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
Apollo 8 – Go for TLI (film #3 on Open Source Movies). [Category: News]
This 1969 film documents the Apollo 8 mission, the first to orbit the moon. The story is well told, giving a fair amount of drama to the proceedings, and adding interesting little details, like the fact that the astronauts got to have turkey TV dinners for their Christmas meal, while the mission control staff ate burgers and chips at their desks. This mission would be overshadowed by Apollo 11, so it’s interesting to see it get its due as an amazing feat in itself.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Battle of Supply (film #5 on Side A of Disc #2 of the War in Europe section of Combat Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2006)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This documentary covers the difficulties of shipping supplies to the front in the months after D-Day. It also covers the taking of Antwerp, Belgium, important to the Allies as a port city and thus a solution to the supply distribution problem. This is all told straightforwardly, with the help of some striking archival footage, as most of the films in this series. Military transportation buffs should enjoy the extensive scenes of trucks and of rebuilding European rail lines.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
500,000 to One (film #21 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
This film about insects starts with a dramatic scene of the end of the world, with the last surviving form of animal life being a bug. Cheery thought, isn’t it? The rest of the film gives us way more information than we want to know about insects, with lots of visuals of various kinds of bugs, some creepy and some beautiful. It tells us that human beings have altered the balance of nature in ways that affect insect populations, mostly creating overpopulation of pests. The solution to this is to wage all-out war on the insects we don’t like––after all, we can’t be expected to alter our routines any, can we? Lots of spraying of everything with chemicals is shown, but to the film’s credit, other types of insect control are also mentioned, such as traps, quarantine, biological warfare, importing predators, and the good old-fashioned flyswatter. Priceless moments include the animated apocalyptic opening scene, a 50s housewife rescuing her freshly-frosted cake from an overeager kid armed with a flyswatter, a big ugly 50s car pulling a trailer that sprays everything in sight with insecticide, a scary scene of an exterminator in a gas mask fumigating a house with cyanide (says so on the warning signs), and a scientist injecting larvae one at a time with a deadly insect disease. Still, at least lip-service is paid to the idea that the cure of the insect problem shouldn’t create new problems in the future, making this a slightly more enlightened film than most 50s films on this subject. And junior entomologists will enjoy all the footage of bugs.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Destruction: Fun or Dumb? (film #11 on AV Geeks). [Category: Educational]
This 70s anti-vandalism film is as strident as any 50s film, plus it has an incredibly dorky theme song and lots of bad acting to boot. They may leave it to the students to decide if destruction is fun or dumb, but as for the film itself, I pick the latter. Sometimes you just want to break something, you know?Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Convict 13 (film #7 on Feature Films). [Category: Hollywood]
While playing golf near the penitentiary, Buster Keaton gets knocked out by his own ball just when an escaped prisoner happens by. The prisoner exchanges clothes with Buster, causing the pursuing guards to think he is the escaped convict. Buster runs, but because nothing ever goes right for him, he ends up back in the prison. The warden’s daughter helps him to escape hanging, and he gets the opportunity to exchange clothes again with a guard, but must contend with a huge bullying convict and a prison riot. Unfortunately, this is one of Buster’s weaker efforts, exchanging a complicated, farcical plot for Buster’s usual difficulties attempting to do ordinary things, which are hilarious. It does have its moments, especially in the satirical hanging sequence, but it could have been way funnier.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Explosion of a Motor Car (film #2 on The Movies Begin, Volume Three: Experimentation and Discovery (Kino Video, 1994)). [Category: Early Film & TV]
A family has their nice Sunday drive ruined when their car explodes, leaving behind only a bunch of old metal parts and flummoxing a passing policeman. After dodging falling body parts for several minutes, the cop, in true cop fashion, writes out a ticket. My husband commented upon seeing this, "He's right. Somebody deserves a ticket for this!" A 1900 Hepworth film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
Casting a Guide Box, Westinghouse Works (film #32 on America at Work, America at Leisure. Also, film #3 on Inside an American Factory. Also in the Historical section of Open Video Project.) [Category: Early Film & TV]
Molten metal pours from a huge vat into a mold. This takes a good long time and requires lots of manpower. It also looks like very dangerous work. This goes on a bit, but it has lots of historical value in documenting metal casting practices at the turn of the century. A 1904 Biograph film.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Gripes (film #3 on The Complete Uncensored Private SNAFU DVD (Image Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
SNAFU has nothing but complaints for the way the army is run, so Technical Fairy First Class gives him a chance to run things. He turns his outfit into a GI's paradise, that is, until the Germans attack. This is a pretty ordinary SNAFU, with a few good moments.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Blob Trailer (extra on The Blob DVD (The Criterion Collection, 2000). Also, film #35 in the trailers section of Movieflix.). [Category: Commercial]
Classic trailer for the classic 50s horror flick The Blob. How can you go wrong with lines like “will be oozing into this theater!” or “Starring Steve McQueen and a cast of exciting young people!” A must for your trailer collection.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.
The Clash on Alright Now, March 1979 (film #67 in the Video section of Bedazzled). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]
In this TV clip, the Clash are interviewed by a host in an outrageous black-and-white checked suit, and they tell us that they would like to be considered a rock and roll band, rather than a punk band, and definitely not a new wave band, because new wave artists wear skinny ties. Then they play a rousing version of “English Civil War”, while title cards tell us such bits of trivia as the fact that Mick Jones’ biggest influence was 3rd-rate rock bands from ’67-’73, or that Topper likes milking goats. A fun piece of rock history from the punk explosion.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Fireworks – Blind Child (film #14 in the Public Info. Films section of TVArk). [Category: Public Service]
British PSA from the 70s that tries to get parents to be careful with fireworks by putting the fear of blinding their children into them. Well made and effective.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.
Hollywood Boogie (film #1334 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Hollywood]
We get to see an all-girl orchestra in action in this lively soundie, but there’s no sign of Tony Curtis or Jack Lemmon. Seriously, this soundie is a lot of fun.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.
As It Was Beckett (film #25 on German Cinema). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]
This experimental German film seems to feature a middle-aged married couple arguing, though it’s hard to tell for sure because I don’t understand German. They do seem to be having an emotional time of it. At times, the action on screen freezes, but we still hear their voices on the soundtrack, perhaps to convey inevitability. This looks like an interesting film, so I wish I understood the language for this one.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Death on the Highway (film #6 on Hell’s Highway DVD (Kino Video, 2003)). [Category: Educational]
Excerpt from a really gory driver’s ed film showing such cheery things as cut-off limbs, blood-spattered pavement, and bodies cut in half. This would be really disturbing, except the blood was obviously retouched with bright red paint, which makes everything look fake. The film was obviously very cheaply made, with stark narration and no music. Too bad this is just an excerpt––the full film is probably a camp classic.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.
FDR Social Security Act Speech (film #1051 on Open Source Movies). [Category: News]
In this film clip, Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act and gives a speech about how it will benefit Americans. This has no surprises, but it does have historical value.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Battle for the Marianas (film #3 on Side A of Disc #2 of the War in the Pacific section of Combat Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2006)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]
This documentary covers the battles for the major islands in the Marianas: Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. These were quite bloody battles, and so there’s lots of grisly and brutal combat footage here. This is mainly a combat-focused documentary with lots of historical interest. But if you don’t like watching battles, it’s rather slow going.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
Five Fires (film #1400 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]
More spectacular fire footage from around the world. This one gets rather grisly, as it features scenes of dead bodies being taken out of ruins and identified. The aftermaths of several huge fires are shown in some scenes, and some of this footage is quite eerie. Other scenes just show lots of stuff burning up. Again, this is a great film for fire buffs.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
The Exploits of Elaine (acquired through trading). [Category: Early Film & TV]
This early serial is pretty hard to follow, since it's missing several chapters and though it's a U.S. production, some of the chapters are in French. The French chapters have lousy film quality to boot. It's about pretty Elaine Dodge and her attempts to track down her father's killer, mysterious supervillian The Clutching Hand. Helping her is Craig Dodge who appears to be a combination detective, newspaper reporter, and scientist (though I could be wrong about this––it’s kind of hard to tell). It is full of all the action and intrigue you'd expect in a serial, and one episode even includes a death ray. Still, I'm not much of a fan of the form, as you've probably guessed by now. A 1914 Pathe serial.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: **.
Fireworks – Bandage (film #12 in the Public Info. Films section of TVArk). [Category: Public Service]
70s British PSA in which a mother thoroughly mortifies her little girl by telling a neighbor in detail how she injured her heavily bandaged hand making a mistake with a sparkler. I mean, really, hasn’t the girl suffered enough? Although aimed at parents, I bet this had an impact on kids, if only to avoid embarrassment.Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.
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Better Reading
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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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