The Bootleg Files: Boogie-Woogie Dream

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 798: “Boogie-Woogie Dream” (1944 musical short starring Lena Horne).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain labels.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A lapsed copyright.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: There are no plans for a restored version.

In September 1941, an unlikely group of creative artists converged in a New York City movie studio to shoot an independently financed musical short film. The finished production sat on a shelf for three years before it was seen, making very little impression in its day. But today, this film is considered an invaluable asset for capturing an iconic performer at the cusp of her rise to prominence while providing the only filmed record of two of the greatest jazz performers of all time.
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The Bootleg Files: Have Badge Will Chase

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 797: “Have Badge Will Chase” (1959 8mm one-reel excerpt from “Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops”).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

Long before video cassette recorders invaded living rooms in the 1970s, movie lovers who wanted to replay their favorite films at home would purchase projectors and screens and create their own private cinematic viewing experience.
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The Bootleg Files: The Three Stooges in Stupor Heroes

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 796: “The Three Stooges in Stupor Heroes” (2012 fan film).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unauthorized production that borrows copyright protected material from the Three Stooges and DC Comics.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

There seems to be a surplus number of fan films based on “Star Wars,” superhero flicks, James Bond adventures and popular horror franchises. But how come there is a deficit of Three Stooges-inspired fan films?
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The Bootleg Files – The Batman: Deadly Madness

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 796: “The Batman: Deadly Madness” (2022 Russian film).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None (hey, it just came out).

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unauthorized production that borrows copyright protected material.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nyet.

This week marks the debut of two new films inspired by Bob Kane’s Gotham City-based superhero. There is the big Hollywood film that everyone is waiting for – do I really have to identify it? – and there is the tiny Russian film that no one is waiting for but everyone should see, if only to learn an invaluable lesson on how not to make a fan film.
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The Bootleg Files: Duck Amuck Reanimate Jam

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 795: “Duck Amuck Reanimate Jam” (2020 fan film that reimagines the classic cartoon “Duck Amuck.”).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Unauthorized remake of a copyright-protected work.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nil.

In 2018, an unlikely project caught the fancy of animation addicts: a group of 90 animators were gathered together to reanimate the 1942 Warner Bros. cartoon classic “The Dover Boys at Pimento University.” Each animator was given a small slice of the cartoon to reanimate – the soundtrack of the original film remained and the scene had to adhere to the basics of the sequences’ actions, but the animators were able to redesign the characters and animation style in any manner they desired.
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The Bootleg Files: Der Januskopf

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 794: “Der Januskopf” (1920 unauthorized version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” directed by F.W. Murnau).

LAST SEEN: When it was theatrically released.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Murnau did not clear the rights to the Robert Louis Stevenson source material.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Excellent, provided that someone finds a print of the film.

In the early 1920s, the great German director F.W. Murnau made back-to-back horror films based on popular books from his era: “Der Januskopf,” based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” and “Nosferatu,” based on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” There was just one problem: Murnau never bothered to secure the rights to these books and tried to get circumvent copyright laws by making slight adjustments to their respective stories and changing the names of the characters.
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The Bootleg Files: Ouanga

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 793: “Ouanga” (1936 horror film starring Fredi Washington).

LAST SEEN: On Vimeo.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On cheapjack public domain labels.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No one is rushing to get it into home entertainment release.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: The film has been restored, but no one is rushing to put it out on Blu-ray.

Fredi Washington earned a degree of cinematic immortality for her startling performance as Peola, the light-skinned Black woman who is repeatedly thwarted in her attempts to transcend the racial barriers of Jim Crow America by passing for White in the 1934 classic “Imitation of Life.” This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime role for Washington, both in terms of the quality of role and the exposure it afforded her – at a time when Black women in Hollywood studios were either cast as maids or nightclub singers, Washington found no offers to score a dramatic encore.
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