post

Conrad the Sailor (1942)

For every Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck that becomes a pop culture icon, there are countless cartoon characters that get tested in one or a few shorts before being dropped for lacking versatility and viability. Conrad the Cat, a yellow bipedal feline created by Chuck Jones, is an example of a character that was jettisoned after failing to immediately click on the screen.
Continue reading

post

The Bootleg Files: The Red Detachment of Women

BOOTLEG FILES 932: “The Red Detachment of Women” (1970 Communist Chinese ballet film).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:
None.

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

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:
It is possible that someday it would appear on a US label.

I need to prefix this review by admitting that I am not a big fan of the ballet and I have even less enthusiasm for Chinese Communist propaganda. Thus, having me review “The Red Detachment of Women,” a feature-length ballet film produced during the Chinese Communist era known as the Cultural Revolution, might run the risk of ingrained bias.
Continue reading