Alucarda Trailer (extra on Alucarda DVD (Mondo Macabro)). [Category: Commercial]

Trailer for a late-70s Mexican horror movie that features lots of blood and sadism. This has some pretty disturbing imagery, though it looks like it’s from a well-made horror film. The trailer seems to pack in all the most disturbing imagery into its couple of minutes, though I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know if there’s even worse stuff they didn’t show. This is not particularly recommended unless you really like this sort of thing, or are interested in the movie.

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

Chaplin - The Masquerader (film #36 in the Silent section of Movieflix). [Category: Early Film & TV]

The makers of the film Tootsie stole the plot from this movie. The Little Tramp is, amazingly enough, a movie actor who soon gets fired for behaving like the Little Tramp. He returns to the studio in drag and makes fools of all the men. Chaplin is a most convincing woman in this one, so convincing he might fool you, too. And there are some wonderful slapstick moments here, too, like when he tries to steal another actor's beer. A fun outing for the Little Tramp. A 1914 Charlie Chaplin film.

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

Arrests at HUAC in City Hall (film #2 on Shaping San Francisco). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]

Brief clip from 1960 of police officers removing protesters forcibly from the steps of San Francisco’s city hall, where House Unamerican Activities Commission hearings were going on. A historically interesting blip from the first rumblings of the 60s protest movement.

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

Invitation to the Nation (film #764 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]

This 40s travelogue about Washington, DC, narrated by ol’ George himself (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), is pretty standard, with no real surprises. It does provide lots of color footage of Washington in 1946, which gives it some historical value. But mostly, this is ordinary.

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

Alien Factor Blooper Reel (extra on The Alien Factor DVD (Retromedia Entertainment)). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

Blooper reel for an incredibly cheap monster movie called The Alien Factor. Proof that such films actually are edited! Though this production crew is so incompetent that even the guy with the clapboard bloops twice!

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

Beatlemania (film #7 in the British Invasion section of WPA Film Library). [Category: News]

Silent newsreel footage of the huge crowds of people, especially teenage girls, that mobbed the Beatles wherever they went. These are scenes that are an unforgettable part of the 60s, so that gives this historical value.

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

Akron, Ohio (film #125 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

Short newsreel clip showing a huge Navy blimp which carries a radar antenna, “a valuable addition to America’s airborne early warning system.” Other than a brief campy moment involving the words “gas bag,” and the msting possibilities of blimps, this is pretty ordinary.

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

A Wonderful New World of Fords (film #38 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager). Also in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #1692 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Commercial]

This short film introduced to the world the 1960 model Fords. And it's not so much an introduction as a society girl's debut. The three cars are in virginal white and surrounded by rich folks in formal dress singing about the "wonderful new world of Fords". Somebody at Ford was taking the new model year way too seriously. This was made in 1960, near the end of the populuxe era, and so was a kind of swan song for this sort of thing.

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

Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 3, No. 3 (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #304 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

This fairly standard edition of Chevrolet Leader News features an ROTC marching band, the first drive-in bank, complete with offensive Italian stereotype, a Boy Scout Jamboree in which the foreign scouts are all fascinated by American cars (yeah, you wish, Chevrolet!), the usual lawsuit invitation in the form of a really strange and dangerous –looking contraption that allows acrobats to swing in circles while on top of a moving car, and the usual animal abuse in the form of dressed-up and made-up performing monkeys. Just a typical day at Chevrolet, I guess.

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

Bargain Counter Attack (film #5 on Film Chest Vintage Cartoons). [Category: Hollywood]

Little Lulu wreaks havoc in a department store, stimulating the ire of its prissy manager. In addition to the general anarchy, this has some wonderful ironic moments, including the manager being transformed into a baby, and the manager floating through the flooded store just in front of a sign that says “THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.” Dennis the Menace pales next to Little Lulu!

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

Combat Bulletin No. 4 (film #1 on tape #1 of This Film Is Restricted Boxed Set (Marathon Music & Video, 1997)). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

The Combat Bulletins of World War II were made by the Army Pictorial Service to inform officers on the progress of the war. In general, they are a hodgepodge of all kinds of military footage from the front, some of it boring, some of it fascinating, some of it typical, some of it highly unusual. All of it is very gritty and real––since these were made strictly for viewing by military officers and not the public, no punches were pulled. We get an uncensored soldier's-eye-view of the war with all its horrors, heroism, and boredom. This one starts with "Cassino", a report on the taking of the Monte Cassino Abbey and the town of Cassino in Italy, a difficult job since the Nazis were heavily entrenched in the surrounding hills. Highlights include lots of animated map sequences and a bizarre shot of a giant Nazi soldier's head looking through binoculars superimposed over a shot of the hills behind Cassino. In "Japs and Jungle: Southwest Pacific" we see gritty footage of infantry soldiers slogging through south Pacific jungles, taking territory from the Japs inch by inch. The highlight is a reenactment of a couple of scared GIs talking in the dark.

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

Bird’s-Eye View of San Francisco, Cal. from a Balloon (film #3 on Before and After the Great Earthquake and Fire. Also, film #28 on Edison Film Archive). [Category: Early Film & TV]

This one really is a bird’s-eye view of the rooftops of 1902 San Francisco. It would have historical interest if it wasn’t so dark and blurry. A 1902 Edison film.

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

The Alligator People Trailer (extra on The Alligator People DVD (Fox, 2004)). [Category: Commercial]

Campy, fun trailer for The Alligator People, that classic of silly 50s sci-fi horror. You’ll be pulled down into the quicksand of terror, in Screaming Horrorscope! Or die laughing, you decide. Great fun.

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

Technicolor for Industrial Films (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #2 on Our Secret Century, Vol. 1: The Rainbow Is Yours CD-ROM (Voyager). Also, film #1481 on Prelinger Archive. Also, film #23 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager) (excerpts)). [Category: Industrial]

In the 1950s, people went color crazy. New technology allowed advertising and products to be made in all kinds of bright colors and consumers ate it up, which is why so much 50s stuff seems so garish today. This industrial film was made for industrial filmmakers (even they weren't exempt from watching this stuff) to try to get them to make their films in Technicolor. All kinds of brightly-colored products are shown while the narrator tells us how they can only properly be portrayed in Technicolor. Strangest moment: While the narrator talks about "family dinners we all know and love", we see the mixing of a scotch and soda. Most mstable moment: A black maid helps her white mistress get dressed––in a film about color this really begs for msting! Most unbelievable moment: The claim that Technicolor reproduces fabrics so accurately that films could replace swatch books.

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

Cupid Gets His Man (film #66 on Open Source Movies). [Category: Sleaze & Outsider]

There’s lots of sign-language interpretation in this one, but for once, I think it’s necessary, since the story involves cultural conventions that deaf kids may not be familiar with. Of course, the idea that deaf kids need to be exposed to such bizarre concepts as a cupid firing squad is not questioned. But I guess hearing kids get plenty of exposure to these bizarre old cartoons, so we might as well not leave the deaf kids out. I just hope the kids watching this won’t come away with the idea that human reproduction somehow involves a roulette wheel and rubber stamps.

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

The Inner City (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #754 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Public Service]

This pitch for the United Fund in St. Louis focuses on how the United Fund agencies help people with disabilities and orphaned children. It’s fairly tearjerking, especially the soundtrack, yet I didn’t find it to be insufferably so. Of course, it was made in the days when people with disabilities were portrayed as pitiable creatures, yet the often well-shot visuals often don’t bear this out. This gives you a good idea about how charitable funds were solicited back in the 50s, and how those funds were used.

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

Aladibababad (film #15 in the Action section of Brickfilms. Also, film #14 in the Comedy section of Brickfilms. Also, film #1 in the Fantasy section of Brickfilms). [Category: Outtakes & Obscurities]

This is one of the most entertaining brickfilms I’ve ever seen. It features Ali Baba and several of his 40 thieves, a cave of treasure that is opened with a Burger Doodle jingle, treasure that is ignored in favor of a rare Pokemon card, a plucky hero that keeps fooling an evil bottle genie with the same trick over and over, and a very brief “action” sequence. The biggest strength of this brickfilm is its script, which is very funny, but it also has well-done animation, funny special effects, and a folksong for the end credits. This is one brickfilm not to miss.

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

BBC World News – Live Coverage (film #25 in the News section of TVArk). [Category: News]

Cut-in bulletin from the BBC announcing a 2003 terrorist alert. This is a little recent to have much interest, but should have more interest as time goes by.

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

Air Force Gets a New Theme Song (film #110 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Military & Propaganda]

A chorus sings an air force theme song I’ve never heard of, while lots of different planes fly. A slice of mid-50s patriotism.

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

Chevrolet Leader News, Vol. 3, No. 2 (film #303 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

Warning to all animal lovers! This edition of Chevrolet Leader News takes animal abuse to new heights! No more dogs packed in cars––this quote-newsreel-unquote has two very upsetting scenes of animal abuse. The first involves the capture of a beautiful old sea turtle, who is strapped upside down to the boat for purposes of humiliation, then strapped to the top of a Chevrolet (remember the name, folks!) while the narrator gleefully delights in telling us he is going to be turned into turtle soup and eyeglass frames. The other segment involves two cats who are forced to fight each other in a miniature boxing ring with mittens on until one gets knocked out (though I must admit the doggy journalists look like they are enjoying themselves––must be the liquor). In between are stories of a deluxe horse trailer for police horses, an invitation to a lawsuit involving a golf instructor hitting golf balls at bathing beauties, and an inexplicably serious story about the Dust Bowl, in which car engines are purported to be the solution. It looks like the folks at Chevrolet (remember that name, PETA!) were hitting the sauce when they wrote this one.

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