Tag Archives: Paramount Pictures

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The Bootleg Files: Roadhouse Nights

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BOOTLEG FILES 882: “Roadhouse Nights” (1930 feature starring Helen Morgan and Jimmy Durante).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

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

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope.

The 1930 feature “Roadhouse Nights” is a production that is more famous for its back story and assembled talent and less celebrated for its contents. To be frank, it is among the most interesting and most boring films ever reviewed in The Bootleg Files series.
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Singapore Sue (1932)

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This 1932 short film from Paramount was designed to highlight the musical comedy talents of Anna Chang and Joe Wong, vaudeville performers in search of a movie niche. Instead, the film unexpectedly launched the career of an unbilled actor who stole the show from the two stars.
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The Bootleg Files: Second Chorus

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BOOTLEG FILES 832: “Second Chorus” (1940 musical comedy with Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard and Burgess Meredith).

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: Not likely, although in theory there could be a rescue it from public domain hell.

In 1968, Fred Astaire returned to films after a six-year absence to star in the big-budget musical “Finian’s Rainbow.” In the media push for the film, Astaire was asked by a reporter which one of his film’s was his worst – the star stated without pause that the 1940 “Second Chorus” was the low point of his career.
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The Bootleg Files: Summer Daze

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BOOTLEG FILES 783: “Summer Daze” (1932 short comedy starring Karl Dane and George K. Arthur).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A film that fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Unlikely.

In 1926, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cast two of its character actors, Karl Dane and George K. Arthur, in comic relief supporting roles in the film “Bardelys the Magnificent.” The actors were not teamed for this production, but someone in the studio came up with the idea of pairing the tall and gangly Dane with the diminutive Arthur in an Army comedy called “Rookies,” which was released to great popularity in 1927.
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The Bootleg Files: That Certain Feeling

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BOOTLEG FILES 577: “That Certain Feeling” (1956 comedy starring Bob Hope, Eva Marie Saint and Pearl Bailey).

LAST SEEN: An unauthorized video dupe is on YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A possible problem with rights clearance.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely at this time.

During the early 1950s, a sense of staleness began to permeate Bob Hope’s film output. Movies like “My Favorite Spy,” “Off Limits,” “Here Come the Girls” and “Casanova’s Big Night” were burdened with a mechanical indifference, and even a reteaming with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in “Road to Bali” carried a sense of been-there/done-that. Yes, there were flashes of inspiration here and there, especially when Hope was paired with co-stars that matched his vibrancy – most notably in his instant-classic song-and-dance routine with James Cagney in “The Seven Little Foys.” But, for the most part, the fun was deflating and Hope’s star ranking at the box office was taking a slide.

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