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The Bootleg Files: The Jungle

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BOOTLEG FILES 628: “The Jungle” (1967 documentary made by a Philadelphia street gang).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Murky rights issue.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It’s possible.

Movies about street gangs rarely resonate with any degree of honesty, if only because filmmakers have a tendency to sanitize or glamorize the gangs with the hope that something good can be found in their bad boy behavior. However, there was one strange little film that attempted to get a street level view of gang behavior, and what made it so unusual was having real gang members on both sides of the camera.
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Purdah (2018) [Cinequest Film and VR Festival 2018]

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A young woman is given the ok to remove her burka to pursue her dream of becoming a professional cricket player. As she fights to get her dream in one way or another, her sisters also fight to get their lives to where they can be happy. As challenges and problems keep coming, they keep fighting to get the best lives they can, even against all odds at times.

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The Marx Brothers in Love Happy

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The Marx Brothers’ final feature film was the 1949 comedy “Love Happy,” and the story behind the creation of this cinematic swan song was more astonishing than the on-screen antics. In this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” Kevin Scott Collier, author of “The Marx Brothers Love Happy Confidential,” details the film’s tumultuous production and release history, while providing insight in how Marilyn Monroe landed her scene-stealing role.

The episode can be heard here.

“The Online Movie Show” is produced at the Platinum Wolfe Studios.

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The Bootleg Files: Laverne & Shirley in the Army

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BOOTLEG FILES 627: “Laverne & Shirley in the Army” (1981-82 animated series).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Never re-released after its initial broadcast.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Oh, I hope not.

In concept, making an animated series based on “Laverne & Shirley” made perfect sense because the beloved sitcom was the most cartoonish program in the 1970s prime-time schedule. With its propensity for slapstick comedy and a line-up of over-the-top characters, “Laverne & Shirley” was a living cartoon.
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