The Andy Griffith Show #2 (film #2 on Side A of Disc #8 of TV Favorites DVD Megapack). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

Cute, charming story involving a bunch of dogs and a state inspector who will determine if the Sheriff’s Department qualifies for new funds. This is typical Andy Griffith fare, with a number of amusing Barney moments.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

EBC1 – Grandstand of Sport (film #2 in the Sport section of TVArk). [Category: News]

Attention Pythons: I’ve spotted a genuine British looney in the form of the host of this sports show. I was expecting a dull sports intro, as I hate televised sports. What I was not expecting was a manic bird puppet, a giant banner being pulled by a bicycle, and a set inspired by the set of “Shenanigans”. Which, of course, gives this a much higher rating than any conventional sports show would have.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: ***** (this has to be preserved in some form!). Overall Rating: *****.

Battle Rages Along Nazi Wall (film #84 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

Newsreel clip from World War II reporting on the Allied drive across Europe towards Germany. Also included is another story about the drive across France. This is quite straightforward, with some grisly scenes of dead bodies in places.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.

Eleventh Hour (film #8 on Cartoon Scandals (Goodtimes, 1987). Also, film #112 on Feature Films. Also, film #26 on Film Chest Vintage Cartoons. Also, film #35 on Disc #4 of 150 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005). Also, film #15 on V for Victory WWII Cartoons & Shorts Show (Something Weird, 1996)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

No wonder we won World War II––we had Superman on our side! Clark Kent and Lois Lane are interred in Yokohama and Superman uses this opportunity to sabotage the Japs right and left. But that dumb Lois Lane still doesn't get it! A fun little piece of propaganda.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Facts on Friction (film #498 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

This 30s Jam Handy film tells us way more than we want to know about how brakes work and why Chevrolet breaks are the best. It’s very straightforward and didactic, with the narrator getting way too excited about friction at various points. There’s little of the usual Jam Handy wackiness here, but it does teach you about brakes and give you some great visuals of streets and highways in the 30s.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Barnyard Bunk (film #22 on 50 Cartoon Classics DVD. Also, film #5 on Disc #3 of 100 Cartoon Classics DVD Magapack (Treeline Films, 2004). Also, film #5 on Disc #1 of 150 Cartoon Classics DVD Megapack (Mill Creek Entertainment, 2005)). [Category: Hollywood]

Dick and Larry, who are indistinguishable from Tom and Jerry (the other Tom and Jerry), show a broken-down farmer how to increase agricultural production with jazz music. This involves lots of weird incongruities, cartoon mince, and, yes, singing and dancing inanimate objects. This is a very tooney 30s cartoon, which, though not great, is thoroughly likable.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

Frosty the Snowman (track #26 on Chicago Television (Hollywood's Attic, 1996). Also, film #3 on ToonTracker Cartoon Showcase). [Category: Hollywood]

This is just a cheesily-animated Castle Films portrayal of the Christmas song. Frosty has a slightly epileptic manner, but for the most part, this is harmless.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.

Buster and the Dude (film #49 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]

Buster Brown, despite his sissy clothing, was actually an early version of Dennis the Menace (who was an early version of Bart Simpson, for all you whippersnappers); i.e. a kid who could be counted on to wreak havoc wherever he goes. In this episode, Buster meets a dandy walking a dog in front of a hat shop. While the dude chats politely with some ladies, Buster gets his dog into a rousing battle with his own dog, Tige. Eventually, the dude’s hat gets into the melee––oh, the horror! A charming early version of the younger generation creating anarchy in polite society. A 1904 Edison film.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Adam’s Rib Trailer (extra on Adam’s Rib DVD (Warner Bros.)). [Category: Commercial]

This trailer for the 40s romantic comedy Adam’s Rib is not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, but the movie has enough class that it’s not totally stupid either. Meaning it’s not as interesting a piece of ephemera as it might be. Follow that?

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Control Your Emotions (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #376 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Educational]

A rather bogus-sounding psychologist lectures us on the benefits of emotional control. His arguments are based on behaviorist theory, but he is seemingly ignorant of the fact that behaviorism, in the simplistic fashion that he uses it, undercuts his arguments because it’s so mechanistic and deterministic. For instance, he says emotions are based on “stimulus-response patterns,” hitting his knee at the reflex point to illustrate this. But if emotions were that automatic and involuntary, we wouldn’t have any control over them at all. But I’ll forgive him for that because he has the coolest audio-visual aids ever: bricks that say “RAGE,” “FEAR,” and “LOVE,” and a big round black piece of cardboard with the word “PERSONALITY” written on it in plastic letters. These great props would have a place of honor in the Film Ephemera Museum of Quirky Devices, right up there with the wire rack from Speech: Using Your Voice, though I think I’d save the “RAGE” brick to throw at the television screen. Anyway, back to the movie. After his lecture, the psychologist shows us the story of Jeff, a teen who flies into a rage at the least provocation, culminating in almost beating his little brother to death with a coat hanger––his mother stops him, fortunately. This is a tantrum that Joan Crawford would approve of, since he uses a wooden coat hanger, rather than a wire one. The psychologist then steps in and shows us alternate ways Jeff could have handled the situations that made him angry. These are good solutions for the most part, but he gives us no clue as to how somebody with a serious anger control problem like Jeff could simmer his feelings down enough to be able to put these suggestions into practice. This is a typical campy Coronet film that takes a complex psychological problem and makes it seem like it could be solved in the space of a 13-minute film. Which, of course, makes it a great deal of fun and very mstable.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.

The Cameri Theater Celebrates Its New Home (film #1 in The Arts section of the State of Israel section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]

This 60s film celebrates an Israeli theater company’s move to a new theater. Many scenes from plays are shown and there’s lots of premiere footage, all in Hebrew. This gives you a chance to see lots of Israeli theater, though many of the clips seem to be of English plays translated into Hebrew––William Shakespeare is mentioned a number of times, and the scene from the play about royalty mentions Mary Stuart. This film is hard to follow, due to the language barrier, but it’s lively.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

If I Forget Thee: The History of Hadassah on Mt. Scopus (film #11 in the Health section of the State of Israel section of Stephen Spielberg Jewish Film Archive). [Category: Public Service]

This 70s film gives an overview of the history of the Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem, from pre-state Palestine to the present days of renovation. War, terrorism, and violence are a part of this story at many points. The film provides a sense of context to the other Hadassah Hospital films on the Spielberg Archive, helping the viewer to figure out where those other films fit into the bigger picture. The story is well told and touching at times, though there are few surprises. But it’s a historically valuable film that would be good to watch before the other Hadassah Hospital films on the site.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Dragoons Crossing the Saone (film #13 on The Movies Begin, Volume One: The Great Train Robbery and Other Primary Works (Kino Video, 1994)). Also, film #13 on The Art of Cinema Begins (Video Yesteryear, 1997)). [Category: Early Film & TV]

A bunch of shirtless guys on horseback ford a river. Not particularly interesting, as the shirtless guys aren't particularly good-looking (well, where else can interest be found in such a film?). An 1896 Lumiere film.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: *.

The Andy Griffith Show #1 (film #1 on Side A of Disc #8 of TV Favorites DVD Megapack (Treeline Films, 2003)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This early 60s episode of The Andy Griffith Show features Rafe Hollister, a country bumpkin with a beautiful singing voice. When he wins an audition to sing and the Ladies’ Club Musicale, the snooty mayor tries to object, thinking Hollister too white trash (they’re too nice to use the term, but it’s obvious that’s what was meant) to represent Mayberry. Of course it all turns out well in the end when they hear Hollister sing. This is a charming episode with a the kind of fluffy problem typical to the show. What I was waiting for, though, was for Andy’s guitar to blow up while they were singing “Those Endearing Young Charms.” Sadly, it never happens.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

The Dust Bowl (film #6 in the 1929 Stock Market Crash and Great Depression section of WPA Film Library). [Category: News]

Newsreel footage, mostly silent, of parched farmlands, dust storms, and rural people battling dust. Most of this is sepia-tone, so it really has an old-time feel to it. The last clip is from a British sound newsreel reporting the dust bowl refugees immigrating to California. These clips are historically interesting, giving you a real feel for the long-term disaster of the Dust Bowl.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: N/A. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

The Battle of France (film #516 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

Newsreel story about the Allied drive across France after D-Day. This is pretty standard, though there are a few striking images of soldiers and prisoners of war. Unfortunately, the footage is murky, so it’s hard to see those striking images.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: *. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.

The Face in the Mirror (I Wonder) (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #493 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

I was utterly charmed by this Jam Handy sales training film. In it, a salesman on his day off gets sent by his wife on a shopping spree in one of those downtown areas that don’t exist anymore. There he deals with salesmen from terrible to excellent in all the different stores he goes into. And this was in the days before self-service in retail, so he has to deal with salesmen in all of them. After buying a bunch of stuff, he drops in on his boss (why, I don’t know, since it’s his day off––must be a workaholic) who encourages him to use the experiences he had with salesmen that day to help him sell better himself. This is actually one of the most effective Jam Handy films I’ve seen. Although working in sales is anathema to me, I found myself being swept along by the message of this film that selling mainly involves being friendly, helpful, and considerate of your customers, along with knowing your product and being enthusiastic about it. The successful salesmen show a masterful knowledge of psychology in the way they smoothly convince the main character to buy without making him feel like he’s been sold something. And the simple, commonsense advice given in the film makes sales seem a much friendlier, and less exploitative, a profession. The film is also appealing from a historical perspective, in showing a way of shopping that doesn’t exist anymore. Jam Handy has made some stinkers, some howlers, and some films that are extremely weird, but this film shows that when he was at his best, his films were right on the money in conveying the message they were designed to convey.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.

The Effects of Atomic Bomb Explosions (film #2 on Atomic Memories (Video Yesteryear)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

This film has a real campy opening: an army officer on furlough encounters a culture gone atom-crazy ("That guy's got a punch like an atom bomb!" "Try our Atomic Cocktail") and lots of ordinary folks with outrageous misconceptions about the bomb ("What scares me is that awful gas that deforms ya!"). Back from leave, he relates his experiences to his commanding officer, played by Hugh Beaumont, and Dad––uh, I mean Hugh––has a man-to-man talk with him, setting him straight on the facts of life about the a-bomb. Actually, this is one of the few cold-war propaganda films from this period that doesn't grossly underestimate or gloss over the destructive effects of the bomb. Of course, it was made to be shown to army personnel, rather than average citizens––the average folk were watching things like Duck and Cover and You Can Beat the A-Bomb, in which the bomb only musses things up a bit (which nobody believed). So no wonder people were confused. A great relic of the Cold War.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

The Barber Shop (film #1 on Six Short Films: W.C. Fields DVD (The Criterion Collection, 2000)). [Category: Hollywood]

W. C. Fields plays a small town barber in this short, and all I can say is don’t allow him near your face, or any other part of your body, for that matter. The short has the usual cranky wife, bizarre plot, and witty Fields asides you expect from one of his films. There’s also a perfunctory chase scene with a bank robber and an ending where you find out where tiny violins come from. As usual with Fields, this is inspired strangeness, with a creakiness that makes you feel like you’re in the 19th century instead of the 20th.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

From Beatnik to Beauty (film #8 in the Makeovers, Diets & Fitness section of WPA Film Library). [Category: Hollywood]

In this clip from a British newsreel featurette, a swinging beatnik chick goes into a beauty shop full of staid, girdle-wearing middle-aged suburban women and, through the miracle of “the deception that is a part of a modern women’s lifestyle,” gets transformed into a staid, girdle-wearing, middle-aged (her “beauty treatment” ages her at least 20 years) woman who is all ready to find a nice husband and move into the suburbs. More horrorific than The Stepford Wives, because such places actually exist! One of the campiest films from the WPA Film Library, which is usually pretty staid itself.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ****.