This week, The Bootleg Files is on a break. However, for those who never experienced the column during its original run on another site, there were that ran between March 2003 (debuting with Disney’s “Song of the South”) and September 2015 (ending with Satyajit Ray’s “Sikkim”). I will add that I am glad to be part of Cinema Crazed and grateful that The Bootleg Files are now here. A new column in The Bootleg Files will be online next week.
During the early 1970s, “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” was a bright spot on the television schedule. The eponymous couple would team up with a stellar guest line-up (including Jerry Lewis, Jimmy Durante and Tony Curtis) and a rather voluminous supporting ensemble (including then-unknowns Steve Martin and Teri Garr) for comedy sketches and musical numbers.
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Cinema Crazed’s Phil Hall’s podcast “The Online Movie Show” was nominated for the Best Multimedia Site Award in the 2020 Rondo Awards competition! This is a fan-driven award, meaning that you need to vote to help get him up to the award podium. Votes can be emailed to taraco@aol.com by Sunday night at midnight, March 29.
BOOTLEG FILES 718: “The Box” (1981 short film starring Terry Jones and Michael Palin, directed by Micky Dolenz).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It seems to have fallen through the proverbial cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.
Terry Jones’ death on January 22 brought forth a wave of warm and cherished memories of the Welsh funnyman’s classic moments with Monty Python. Jones’ passing also encouraged some die-hard Python fans to unearth a genuine rarity: a little-seen short film that Jones and fellow Python Michael Palin co-wrote and co-starred together under the direction of ex-Monkee Micky Dolenz. One could imagine these three distinctive talents would have created something truly remarkable, but they strangely came up with a weird little bore.
During the late 1910s and through 1920s, Douglas MacLean enjoyed stardom in a series of light comic films. Most of his cinematic output has been lost and his surviving work is almost never revived.
One of the strangest films of the Pre-Code era was Mack Sennett’s 1932 comedy “Hypnotized” starring the blackface duo Moran and Mack. On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” film historian and broadcaster Geno Cuddy offers insight on the history of this highly irregular production and the distinctive talent behind its creation.
BOOTLEG FILES 717: “Hawaiian Punch Commercials” (long-running series of comically violent advertising).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived commercial reissue for a home entertainment anthology of these commercials.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Utterly unlikely.
In concept, the notion of an advertising campaign anchored on deliberate physical abuse seems like a spectacularly bad idea – especially if the target audience is children. However, one of the most successful campaigns in advertising history involved a series of television commercials for a sugary drink that featured a strange little man who almost always punched a pleasant but dimwitted soul in the face, knocking him flat on his back.
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