Friday, April 30, 2010

Noveltoon: Tarts and Flowers (1950)


Little Audrey makes a gingerbread man, then takes a nap and dreams that the Gingerbread Man goes to cakeland where he tries to marry his sweetheart, Angel Cake. But Devil Food Cake interferes and carries off the bride. Cop Cakes and Animal Crackers come to the rescue. Animation by G. Germanetti. Story by Bill Turner and Larry Riley. Scenics by Robert Little. Music by Winston Sharples. Produced in 1950.

Director: Bill Tytla
Production Company: U.M.&M. TV Corporation & Famous Studios Productions
Audio/Visual: sound, color

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Merrie Melodies: A Tale of Two Kitties (1942)


Two inept cats attempt to catch Tweety bird.

Director: Bob Clampett
Production Company: Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.
Audio/Visual: mono, color

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Fleischer Studios: Superman (1941)


Director: Dave Fleischer
Producer: Max Fleischer
Production Company: Fleischer Studios
Audio/Visual: sound, color

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Popeye: It's The Natural Thing To Do (1939)


Another rarely seen Popeye classic.

Producer: Max Fleischer
Production Company: Paramount Pictures/AAP
Audio/Visual: Monophonic Sound, Black & White

Monday, April 26, 2010

Tex Avery's Jerky Turkey (1945)


A Home Front cartoon by Tex Avery.

Release date: 7 April 1945. Quicktime version.

Plot taken from IMDb: The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock and found a colony. A very large number of Pilgrims can be seen standing in line... for their cigarette rations. A Pilgrim goes hunting for Thanksgiving dinner. He meets a black market turkey.

Audio/Visual: sound, color

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Felix the Cat: Felix in Hollywood (1923)


Felix meets celebrities from the time such as Charlie Chaplin.

Producer: Pat Sulivan
Audio/Visual: sound, color

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Paul Haesaerts' Visite à Picasso (1950)


"Visite à Picasso" (1950) 20m, dir. Paul Haesaerts

A poetic treatment which includes the artist painting on glass while facing the camera, shot at Picasso's home in Vallauris, accompanied by some fairly moody organ music in this very dark, but captivating film. The artist here takes on the character of an eminence-grise, an alchemist engulfed in the "sol y sombra" of his laboratory-studio, filmed in gorgeous black and white.

Producer: Paul Haesaerts
Sponsor: THE PROCESS of Santa Fe
Audio/Visual: sound, b&w

Friday, April 23, 2010

Classic Montmarte Film: Clown (1968)


Along with Larry Yust's "Lottery," "Clown" was possibly one of the two best selling ed films ever made. On the surface, it's a cute kid & dog story. Underlying is a possible subtext that fascinates us every time we view the film, and makes for a satisfying, yet ultimately ambiguous ending. Gilou Pelletier is outstanding as the small boy, and the camera work by Guy Suzuki takes wonderful advantage of the terraces of Montmartre.

Producer: Richard Balducci
Sponsor: Scott Hammond
Audio/Visual: sound, color

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Edgar Ulmer's Goodbye Mr. Germ (1940)


This film courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

DIRECTOR: Edgar Ulmer. SPONSOR: The National Tuberculosis Association

PRODUCTION: DeFernes Studios. CAMERA: Joseph Noble. ANIMATION: H.L. Roberts SETTINGS: Stanley Levick. EDITOR: Hans Mandl. CAST: James Kirkwood. NARA ARC Identifier: 98577

Geared towards very young children and featuring the brilliant animation of H.L. Roberts, the film takes place one dreary, rainy evening at home. John and Mary, desperate for their father to take them to the movies, tease him about his old-fashioned attachment to his science books and mock his interest in an image of the tubercle bacillus. This sends their father into a strange and, to the children, deeply engaging scientific reverie. What if, he wonders, we could talk to this fascinating germ? What story would it tell? The animation involves an invention called a “germ radio,” a convenient conceit that allows “Tee Bee” (who is, perhaps, a bit too adorable) to tell his own story.


Directed by Edgar Ulmer.

This movie is part of the collection: Vintage Educational Films

Director: Edgar Ulmer
Producer: DeFernes Studios
Production Company: DeFernes Studios
Sponsor: The National Tuberculosis Association
Audio/Visual: sound, black & white

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Cliché Family in Televisionland (1965?)


This outrageous parody of the prototype 'commercial' family was apparently made as an in-house joke by one of the largest producers of television commercials. Their clients would have never seen this gem, which parodies products as well as the people that buy them.

Producer: MPO Productions
Production Company: MPO Productions
Sponsor: Rob McGlynn

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Marijuana (1968) Hosted by Sonny Bono


Marijuana (1968) is an anti-marijuana propaganda film hosted by Sonny Bono.

Director: Max Miller
Producer: Max Miller
Production Company: Avanti Films
Audio/Visual: sound, color

Reefer Madness (1936)


Classic Anti-Marijuana Propaganda film from 1936.

Producer: Samuel Diege, George A. Hirliman
Production Company: G&H Productions
Audio/Visual: sound, black and white

Cafe Conversation with Timothy Leary and Paul Krassner (1990s)


This is video footage of a conversation between Timothy Leary and Paul Krassner at a cafe in Los Angeles. Introduction by Zach Leary. A conversation in American politics and society in the 1990's.

Audio/Visual: sound, color

Monday, April 19, 2010

Neuromancer (1990s)

A promotion video spot for William Gibson's book "Neuromancer," with commentary by William Gibson and Timothy Leary, from the 1990s. This video was used to promote the book to be made into a film.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Timothy Leary's Last Trip (November 9, 2007)

A documentary called "Timothy Leary's Last Trip with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters" by A.J.Catoline, O.B.B.Babbs, and David Herman. Film features soundtrack including previously unreleased Grateful Dead tracks. Original footage of Leary, The Merry Pranksters and the Grateful Dead. Includes narration by author Ken Kesey. Exclusive footage of Leary’s final "Cyber Chat" with Ken Kesey on the internet.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Finding His Voice (1929)

Cartoon showing how sound motion pictures work, produced by a company that was an innovator in the field. Story by W.E. Erpi (pseudonym for Western Electric, Electrical Research Products Inc.). Directors: F. Lyle Goldman and Max Fleischer.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Duck and Cover (1951)

Famous Civil Defense film for children in which Bert the Turtle shows what to do in case of atomic attack. Selected for the 2004 National Film Registry of "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" motion pictures.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Betty Boop's Rise To Fame (1934)

A newspaper man interviews Fleischer who animates Betty and then goes into a retrospective of past episodes. Interesting to see Betty interact with real life characters.

Producer: Max Fleischer

Saturday, April 3, 2010