Tag Archives: Short Films

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The Bootleg Files: Innocently Guilty

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BOOTLEG FILES 868: “Innocently Guilty” (1950 comedy short starring Bert Wheeler).

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: Unlikely, unless it is part of an anthology of miscellaneous Columbia Pictures shorts.

Bert Wheeler is remembered today as one-half of the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy team that starred in a series of comedy films beginning in 1929 with “Rio Rita” and ending with “High Flyers” in 1937. After the death of his on-screen partner Robert Woolsey in 1938, Wheeler struggled to maintain a solo career – he starred in the forgettable films “The Cowboy Quarterback” (1938) and “Las Vegas Nights” (1941) and then disappeared from the big screen to find work in nightclubs, on radio and on stage. Wheeler found a larger audience in 1950 when Jackie Gleason invited him to appear on his “Cavalcade of Stars” television show on the Dumont Television Network.
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The Bootleg Files: Naked Yoga

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BOOTLEG FILES 851: “Naked Yoga” (1974 Oscar-nominated short).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

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

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

It has been said that the 1970s was the decade that good taste forgot, and that cogent designation is on full display in a 1974 short film called “Naked Yoga.” The film earned a footnote in cinema history as being among that year’s nominees in the Academy Award competition for Best Documentary Short Subject.
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The Bootleg Files: Should Wives Work?

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BOOTLEG FILES 834: “Should Wives Work?” (1937 Oscar-nominated comedy short starring Leon Errol).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe as part of an anthology of comedy shorts.

Unless you are too-serious student of film comedy, there is a good chance that you either never heard of Leon Errol or you may only know of him through a few supporting performances in other comics’ movies. But during the 1930s Errol became a prominent as the star in a series of comedy shorts made at RKO. These films are mostly forgotten today, although one of them – the 1937 “Should Wives Work?” – secured a niche in movie history through its Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).
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Western Wednesdays: The Show Down (1921)

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SYNOPSIS:
Orphan Betty Gray’s [Marcella Pershing] inheritance is taken by her greedy guardian Gunnison [Ed Burns], who increasingly profits off his ill-gotten gains. Gunnison hears that “Snapper” Walton [Art Acord], a man whom Betty fancies, aims to do away with him and confides in Betty that Walton is untrustworthy. Walton, on his way out of town, attempts to bid farewell to Betty, but she won’t have anything to do with him.

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