The Bootleg Files: The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 603: “The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon” (a 1966-2010 annual televised fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association).

LAST SEEN: Bits and pieces can be found on YouTube and other video sites.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No attempt was made to release the entire telethon broadcasts in their entirety for home entertainment viewing.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: None.

For many people, this week’s passing of Jerry Lewis was followed by commentary and articles on his classic films. But for my generation – those who grew up in the 1970s and early 1980s – the emotional connection to Lewis was less about his movies and more about the bizarre, elephantine mayhem that he unleashed annually on the American public over the Labor Day weekend that became known as the “Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.” Never in the history of fundraising has a greater display of slapstick, vulgarity and pathos been slapped together around the personality of someone who was certainly the most brilliant egomaniac in show business.

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The Bootleg Files: A Free Ride

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 602: “A Free Ride” (the oldest surviving extant pornographic film made in the United States).

LAST SEEN: It can be found on Wikipedia.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: It was included in at least once porn anthology and a documentary on erotic cinema.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The difficulties in releasing this type of film back in the day.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Eh, you can watch it online for free.

One of the most historically significant films in the development of the American cinema is also one of the most mysterious and obscure. And if you never heard of the silent short film called “A Free Ride,” do not consider yourself ignorant – this is not the kind of film that you will see in a college film appreciation class or in a TCM showcase.

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The Bootleg Files: Jack Benny’s First Farewell Special

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 601: “Jack Benny’s First Farewell Special” (1973 television production featuring Bob Hope, Johnny Carson and Dean Martin).

LAST SEEN: It can be found on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No one wants to put it out on commercial DVD.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: There is no great push to get this released.

I don’t know who came up with the term “special” to define the one-shot variety productions that pockmarked television broadcasting from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. For the most part, these offerings were anything but special – most were forgettable, some were dreadful, but only a handful possessed the emotional or artistic quality that truly deserved to be called special.

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The Bootleg Files: The Banana Splits Adventure Hour

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 600: “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour” (1968-70 television series).

LAST SEEN: Bits and pieces can be found on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is a bit complicated.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not in its original form.

Contemporary children’s television is a fairly boring scene that offers little in the way of genuine fun for the young viewers. Indeed, some shows are so lacking in energy and personality that you can’t help but wonder if the programming is designed to narcotize the kiddie audience into a state of numbness.

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The Bootleg Files: Fantasia – The Censored Centaurs

Posted on July 28, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 599: “Fantasia – The Censored Centaurs” (deleted characters from Disney’s 1940 masterwork).

LAST SEEN: It is on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Racially motivated humor that the Mouse Factory does not want you to see.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Oh, Lawdy!

In many ways, Walt Disney was way ahead of his times: his pioneering work in sound and color animation set new standards for filmmaking, and his genius for merchandising laid the foundation for contemporary Hollywood’s marketing machinery.

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The Bootleg Files: Arsenic and Old Lace

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 598: “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1969 television production starring Bob Crane, Helen Hayes and Lillian Gish).

LAST SEEN: It is on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The reason may be a little complicated.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Remaking a beloved classic film is always a tricky endeavor – the new offering is inevitably judged against its predecessor, and it is rare for the second effort to be found superior to the work that came first.

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The Bootleg Files: The Skin of Our Teeth

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Phil Hall

BOOTLEG FILES 597: “The Skin of Our Teeth” (1959 British television production starring Vivien Leigh).

LAST SEEN: The first two acts of this three-act play are on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Considered lost for many years, but now only available in a truncated version.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Vivien Leigh was one of the most extraordinary talents of the 20th century cinema, and also one of the most elusive. After the British actress conquered Hollywood in “Gone with the Wind,” she would only star in eight films made between 1940 and 1965. Instead, Leigh focused most of her post-Scarlett O’Hara acting in the theater, although she made one detour into live television with a 1959 production of Thorton Wilder’s satire “The Skin of Our Teeth.”

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