The Bootleg Files: The Entertainer

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 904: “The Entertainer” (1976 television film starring Jack Lemmon and Ray Bolger).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Earlier this week, I received an email from New York City’s Film Forum announcing an upcoming retrospective series honoring Jack Lemmon on his centennial. While I surmised that the usual round-up of Lemmon classics would be screened, I wondered if Film Forum was able to secure a print of his most elusive work – the 1976 made-for-television adaptation of John Osborne’s “The Entertainer.” Alas, “The Entertainer” is not on the Film Forum schedule.
Continue reading →

The Bootleg Files: Monteith and Rand

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 903: “Monteith and Rand” (1979 Showtime special starring the comedy team of John Monteith and Suzanne Rand).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Last week, I saw a headline in the New York Times that said: “Suzanne Rand, Half of a Once-Popular Comedy Team, Dies at 75.” And my reaction to this news was: “Who?” I am not trying to be snarky or cruel, I honestly had no idea who she was. Upon reading the article, I discovered she was part of Monteith and Rand, a comedy team that was active in the late 1970s and the 1980s. But even though I was an active consumer of entertainment during those years – yes, I am that old – for the life of me I could not remember a comedy team called Monteith and Rand.
Continue reading →

The Bootleg Files: Strawberry Fields

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 902: “Strawberry Fields” (unfinished animated feature from the 1980s).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unfinished production with music rights clearance issues.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

During the 1960s, producer Al Brodax experienced back-to-back career peaks thanks to the decade’s most influential band – he was the driving force behind the animated television series “The Beatles” and the 1968 animated feature “Yellow Submarine.” In the mid-1980s, Brodax tried to score yet another Beatles-fueled triumph with an animated feature film called “Strawberry Fields.” Unfortunately, the project fell apart well ahead of its completion and the surviving footage went unseen until last year when the unauthorized upload of a work-in-progress reel appeared on the Internet.
Continue reading →

The Bootleg Files: The World of Kurt Weill

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 901: “The World of Kurt Weill” (1967 television special starring Lotte Lenya).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Most likely, there is a music rights clearance issue.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, one of the most intriguing series on American television was “NET Playhouse.” NET stood for National Educational Television and it served as the forerunner of the Public Broadcasting Service.

“NET Playhouse” primarily focused on adaptations of classic plays and stories that featured both established stars and up-and-coming actors – then-unknowns Dustin Hoffman, Martin Sheen and Jon Voight turned up in the series’ 1966 premiere season. The series rarely offered musical presentations, and one of those tuneful diversions included the 1967 hour-long production “The World of Kurt Weill” that celebrated the career of the German-born composer.
Continue reading →

The Bootleg Files: Sticks and Bones

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 900: “Sticks and Bones” (1973 television film directed by Robert Downey Sr.).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is a complicated story.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

This article represents the 900th entry in The Bootleg Files column celebrating films and television productions that can only be appreciated in either unauthorized presentations or in problematic public domain dupes. For those who are not familiar with this column’s history, it began on Film Threat in 2003 and appeared there on Fridays through 2015, when the site went offline. Although it was one of Film Threat’s most popular features, it was not invited back when Film Threat resumed publishing in 2017. Thankfully, Felix Vasquez Jr. – who was a colleague of mine on Film Threat – invited me to resume The Bootleg Files here on Cinema Crazed. And while the column has received some nasty comments – which is to be expected from any Internet publishing effort – it has received far more appreciative input from readers during these past 22 years. For those who turn up every Friday to read this column, I offer my deepest appreciation for your support and friendship.
Continue reading →

The Bootleg Files: John Wayne Great Western Savings Commercials

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 899: “John Wayne Great Western Savings Commercials” (1978 series of television advertisements for a California financial institution).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell between the proverbial cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

John Wayne fans know their beloved actor made his final big screen appearance in the 1976 film “The Shootist,” but that was not his final performance before the cameras. In 1977 and 1978, Wayne received $350,000 per year from the Los Angeles-based Great Western Savings and Loan to promote its financial institutions to California television viewers.
Continue reading →

The Bootleg Files: No Exit

Posted on February 21, 2025 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 898: “No Exit” (1954 French film based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s play).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It was never released in the United States.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

In May 1944, Jean-Paul Sartre’s drama “Huis clos” had its premiere in Paris. The play came to New York in November 1946 with a production directed by John Huston – this would be the filmmaker’s only foray into directing for Broadway. Sartre’s title, which translated as “Behind Closed Doors,” was changed to “No Exit” for this production, and since then the work is known to American audiences by that title – in Britain, the play has been produced as “Vicious Circle” and “In Camera.”
Continue reading →