Showing posts with label Multimedia Menagerie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Multimedia Menagerie. Show all posts
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Circus, Sideshow, & Carnival Posters
A smattering of vintage advertisements to occupy your ocular region...click to enlarge...
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
The Marx Brothers At the Circus!
In 1939, the Marx Brothers - Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Stinko (What, you don't remember him? He usually stood behind Zeppo) went to the Wilson Circus to wreak their special brand of havoc!
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Villainous John Carter, along with his accomplices Goliath The Strong Man (actor Nat Pendleton) and the midget Little Professor Atom (actor Jerry Marenghi, also of Wizard of Oz Lollipop Guild fame), knock out stalwart singing circus owner Jef Wilson (actor/singer Kenny Baker, who was formerly Jack Benny's "Dopey Kid" singer on the radio before Dennis Day took over), and steal his $10,000 bank roll. Wilson's lawyer J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho) arrives, and along with circus performers Antonio (Chico) and Punchy (Harpo) makes a mess of the situation by fumbling every attempt at getting the money back from Goliath, Professor Atom, and Carter's moll Peerless Pauline (actress Eve Arden, whom you may remember as Principal McGee from the 1978 Grease movie). Loophole then cons Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) into paying the $10,000 to the Wilson Circus to entertatin the "Newport 400," an upper-class society, instead of a planned orchestra performance led by conductor Jardinet (actor Fritz Feld). Groucho delays Jardinet by accusing him of being the leader of a "Dope Ring," and takes care of the orchestra by having them play on a floating dock - and then cutting loose the ropes! Meanwhile Carter and his gang of carny crooks resort to attempted Big Top Arson, but are stopped by the Marx Brothers, along with Gibraltar the Gorilla (actor Harry Gamorra) - who snatched back the original stolen $10,000!
At the Circus isn't one of the Marx boys' best film efforts, but is still a lot of fun. In his book Groucho and Me, Groucho Marx tells a hilarious story of the actor Harry Gamorra wearing the gorilla suit, which your Barker will excerpt here. It seems that the suit Harry was wearing wasn't properly ventilated, so Harry was inconveniently passing out from the heat of the studio lights quite frequently. When he complained to the suit's owner to no avail, he took it upon himself to take an ice pick and thoroughly ventilate the suit himself. When the owner of the suit found out he threatened to sue the studio, and walked out with the suit. Filming shut down for three days as the production tried to find a new one - with no luck. The Barker will let Groucho take over from here:
Buster Keaton helped work on some of the gags in this picture. Buster had fallen on hard times due to alcohol problems during this period. His complex physical gags did not work well with the Marx brand of humor, and there was ill will between them. When confronted, Buster stated that he was only doing what studio head Mayer told him to do, and that he was fully aware that the Marx boys didn't need his help to be funny.
The movie is perhaps most famous for Groucho's rendition of the catchy tune "Lydia the Tattooed Lady," which you can enjoy below:
Kids, would you like to see the fainting Ape Man in action? Well, below you can catch the climax of the film, featuring some great stunt work on the trapeze by Gibraltar:
If you've enjoyed this featurette, be sure and pick up the Warner box set "The Marx Brothers Collection" - it's only $30.99 at Amazon (click this link), and also features six more Marx Bros. classic films, along with newsreels and trailers and cartoons!
Until tomorrow, I'll see you Un Jour Au Cirque!
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Villainous John Carter, along with his accomplices Goliath The Strong Man (actor Nat Pendleton) and the midget Little Professor Atom (actor Jerry Marenghi, also of Wizard of Oz Lollipop Guild fame), knock out stalwart singing circus owner Jef Wilson (actor/singer Kenny Baker, who was formerly Jack Benny's "Dopey Kid" singer on the radio before Dennis Day took over), and steal his $10,000 bank roll. Wilson's lawyer J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho) arrives, and along with circus performers Antonio (Chico) and Punchy (Harpo) makes a mess of the situation by fumbling every attempt at getting the money back from Goliath, Professor Atom, and Carter's moll Peerless Pauline (actress Eve Arden, whom you may remember as Principal McGee from the 1978 Grease movie). Loophole then cons Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) into paying the $10,000 to the Wilson Circus to entertatin the "Newport 400," an upper-class society, instead of a planned orchestra performance led by conductor Jardinet (actor Fritz Feld). Groucho delays Jardinet by accusing him of being the leader of a "Dope Ring," and takes care of the orchestra by having them play on a floating dock - and then cutting loose the ropes! Meanwhile Carter and his gang of carny crooks resort to attempted Big Top Arson, but are stopped by the Marx Brothers, along with Gibraltar the Gorilla (actor Harry Gamorra) - who snatched back the original stolen $10,000!
At the Circus isn't one of the Marx boys' best film efforts, but is still a lot of fun. In his book Groucho and Me, Groucho Marx tells a hilarious story of the actor Harry Gamorra wearing the gorilla suit, which your Barker will excerpt here. It seems that the suit Harry was wearing wasn't properly ventilated, so Harry was inconveniently passing out from the heat of the studio lights quite frequently. When he complained to the suit's owner to no avail, he took it upon himself to take an ice pick and thoroughly ventilate the suit himself. When the owner of the suit found out he threatened to sue the studio, and walked out with the suit. Filming shut down for three days as the production tried to find a new one - with no luck. The Barker will let Groucho take over from here:
At last, the Ape Man, ill at ease outside a furry pelt, tracked down a man in San Diego who had an orangoutang skin. Even a child knows that an orangoutang is much smaller than a gorilla, but strangely enough the Ape Man didn't and he impetouously bought it without trying it on. We gave him every chance to squeeze himself into the skin but it was hopeless. When he finally realized he was too big for the pelt he broke down and cried like a baby gorilla. However, this was no time for sentiment. We were faced with reality, and also with the head of the studio. There was a picture to be finished and we were obliged to engage a smaller monkey man who specialized in impersonating orangoutangs in and around San Diego. Moreover, because of the demands of the Union we had to pay the original Ape Man standby salary, portal to portal, and psychiatric treatment.
Buster Keaton helped work on some of the gags in this picture. Buster had fallen on hard times due to alcohol problems during this period. His complex physical gags did not work well with the Marx brand of humor, and there was ill will between them. When confronted, Buster stated that he was only doing what studio head Mayer told him to do, and that he was fully aware that the Marx boys didn't need his help to be funny.
The movie is perhaps most famous for Groucho's rendition of the catchy tune "Lydia the Tattooed Lady," which you can enjoy below:
Kids, would you like to see the fainting Ape Man in action? Well, below you can catch the climax of the film, featuring some great stunt work on the trapeze by Gibraltar:
If you've enjoyed this featurette, be sure and pick up the Warner box set "The Marx Brothers Collection" - it's only $30.99 at Amazon (click this link), and also features six more Marx Bros. classic films, along with newsreels and trailers and cartoons!
Until tomorrow, I'll see you Un Jour Au Cirque!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Kid From Borneo!
Folks, one of The Barker's favorite leisure-time activities during the off-hours at Thimbleton's is to kick off his sawdust stompers, crank up the old Video Victrola, and relax in his rocker while watching some classic comedy shorts!
The Little Rascals comedy series was produced from 1922 through 1944, with an ever-rotating cast of naturally talented youngsters. Hal Roach Studios produced the series up until 1938, when he sold it to MGM. The series has been called both "Our Gang" and "The Little Rascals" over the years, but the official title of the series is Our Gang. The series produced 221 short features in all.
The Barker and freakStomp Novelties are going to share a classic Our Gang short with you today from 1933, entitled The Kid From Borneo.
In this short, Spanky's wandering Uncle George has returned from travel with a new sideshow attraction, "The Wild Man From Borneo." Spanky's Dad is none too fond of his wife's brother, and refuses to let him in the house! Spanky's Mom sends the kids down to the Carnival to meet George, but since none of them have ever met him, they mistake Bumbo the Wild Man for George! Bumbo's got a sweet tooth and a bottomless stomach, so when he sees Stymie's bag of treats he takes off after them, following them back to Spanky's house, where hilarity ensues!
FUN FACT: The "Kid From Borneo" (or Bumbo) was played by John Lester Johnson, a retired boxer who once went ten rounds with Jack Dempsey in 1916, breaking several of Dempsey's ribs!
We've broken this Abso-Loot-Lee Free-of-Charge show into two segments, so please take that opportunity to buy yourself a fresh bag of popping corn at the Thimbleton concession stand during the intermission between parts!
Yum-Yum, eat 'em up, and enjoy the show!
PART ONE
PART TWO
The Little Rascals comedy series was produced from 1922 through 1944, with an ever-rotating cast of naturally talented youngsters. Hal Roach Studios produced the series up until 1938, when he sold it to MGM. The series has been called both "Our Gang" and "The Little Rascals" over the years, but the official title of the series is Our Gang. The series produced 221 short features in all.
The Barker and freakStomp Novelties are going to share a classic Our Gang short with you today from 1933, entitled The Kid From Borneo.
In this short, Spanky's wandering Uncle George has returned from travel with a new sideshow attraction, "The Wild Man From Borneo." Spanky's Dad is none too fond of his wife's brother, and refuses to let him in the house! Spanky's Mom sends the kids down to the Carnival to meet George, but since none of them have ever met him, they mistake Bumbo the Wild Man for George! Bumbo's got a sweet tooth and a bottomless stomach, so when he sees Stymie's bag of treats he takes off after them, following them back to Spanky's house, where hilarity ensues!
FUN FACT: The "Kid From Borneo" (or Bumbo) was played by John Lester Johnson, a retired boxer who once went ten rounds with Jack Dempsey in 1916, breaking several of Dempsey's ribs!
We've broken this Abso-Loot-Lee Free-of-Charge show into two segments, so please take that opportunity to buy yourself a fresh bag of popping corn at the Thimbleton concession stand during the intermission between parts!
Yum-Yum, eat 'em up, and enjoy the show!
PART ONE
PART TWO
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Tin Toy Alley
Ah, simpler times.
Your Barker longs for simpler times, ladies and gentlemen. Before the world got wise and cynical, before the internet, a time when there were simple amusements, simple attractions, simple rides, simple games, simple toys...simple rubes who could simply be taken for every dollar in their pockets!
Today The Barker's gonna dig down real deep inside his vast footlocker and unearth something which will take you back to a simpler time, a time where craftsmanship and artistry turned simple cheap metal and paint into complex wonders which brought sparkles to many a child's eye!
Tin toys were staples in toyboxes around the world for many decades. Japan was one of the largest producers of the world's tin toys from the late 1890s up until World War II - after the war, a huge tin toy resurgence began in Occupied Japan, which lasted until the late 1960s, when cheap plastic crap became the norm. Tin toys were mass-produced in assembly lines, but were assembled by hand from many individually stamped parts (some toys were made from upwards of 300 parts!), so there was a personal touch behind each toy which was all but lost when plastic entered the picture.
The following nostalgic images are from the book Robots, Spaceships, & Other Tin Toys: The Teruhisa Kitahara Collection, published by Taschen. The photographs are by Yukio Shimizu.
Although the majority of the book has a Science Fiction theme, your Barker has chosen select pictures of toys with a carnival theme to share with you. I'm afraid the creaky photographic capture and reproductive computer device that The Barker uses can't do the pictures justice, as they're much more striking on paper.
Airship Ferris Wheel produced in the 1920s, unknown maker
Double Ferris Wheel with Swing-boats, 1950s, made by Asahi
Coney Island Rocket Ride, 1950s, made by Alps
And speaking of visual pleasure...be sure to look me up tomorrow, folks!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Coming Repulsions!
Kids, The Barker scours the worldwide web every day for you in search of oddities, and today he's found a dilly! The following is a trailer (oh, I do love trailers, those nights in the rear of the carnival, after hours, all sorts of things happen in the trailers when the lights go dim...but this isn't that kind of trailer) from a troupe called The Unholy Sideshow promoting their upcoming cinematic masterpiece entitled...well, The Unholy Sideshow.
It has Freaks, Zombies, a Sideshow Geek, Dr. Demento and Rob Zombie look-alikes, and all the wretched acting you've come to expect from an extremely low-budget independent film! Your Barker thinks it's fantastic!
So settle in, grab a tub of stale popcorn drenched with the liquid yellow death of synthetic butter, and enjoy these piercing visuals from The Unholy Sideshow!
It has Freaks, Zombies, a Sideshow Geek, Dr. Demento and Rob Zombie look-alikes, and all the wretched acting you've come to expect from an extremely low-budget independent film! Your Barker thinks it's fantastic!
So settle in, grab a tub of stale popcorn drenched with the liquid yellow death of synthetic butter, and enjoy these piercing visuals from The Unholy Sideshow!
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