SYNOPSIS:
Janet Allison [Muriel Evans] returns home to Loma to discover that the town she grew up in has become overrun with bandits and outlaws. One such outlaw is Art Holden [Robert Frazer], referred to as “Silverspurs,” whom Janet takes an immediate disliking to. Janet, while waiting for her father at the train depot, witnesses a holdup wherein a large sum of money is stolen and the depot attendant killed.
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BOOTLEG FILES 827: “Uforia” (1985 comedy starring Cindy Williams, Fred Ward and Harry Dean Stanton).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Vimeo in unauthorized postings.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Only on VHS video.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The film is hampered by music rights clearance issues.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: There doesn’t appear to be a great rush to get this out.
When Cindy Williams passed away earlier this week, news sites and social media postings recalled her brilliance on the sitcom “Laverne & Shirley” and her early film work in features including “Travels With My Aunt,” “American Graffiti” and “The Conversation.” But far less attention was given to one of Williams’ most interesting work – a small film from the early 1980s called “Uforia” (sometimes spelled “UFOria” – it is hard to say which version is correct because the film’s opening spells the title entirely in upper case letters). “Uforia” never found the audience it deserved – and, by extension, Williams never found the big screen stardom she should have enjoyed.
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BOOTLEG FILES 775: “Doom of Dracula” (8mm reissue of sections from the 1944 “House of Frankenstein”).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No perceived commercial value.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
In the years before video cassette recorders invaded living rooms in the late 1970s and early 1980s, movie lovers who wanted to own copies of their favorite films relied on portable projectors that screened the 35mm or 70mm Hollywood theatrical fare in the much smaller 16mm, 9.5mm, 8mm and Super 8 formats.
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BOOTLEG FILES 680: “Keeping Fit” (1942 all-star short film).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Not to my knowledge.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Rare World War II-era film that had no postwar reissue value.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe in an anthology of wartime shorts or as a special feature on a DVD.
After the United States entered World War II, the Hollywood studios churned out a series of morale-building films were created to keep civilian audiences engaged in supporting the war effort. The studios often put their biggest names into these films to add a level of star wattage to the messaging.
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BOOTLEG FILES 661: “Murder in the Blue Room” (1944 mystery-musical flick).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely at this time.
During the 1940s, Universal Pictures arguably produced the most entertaining films playing in American theaters. This is not to say that Universal had the most artistically extravagant or intellectually provocative output. But for sheer pleasure viewing, this scrappy little studio was aces when it came to noir, Westerns, jukebox musicals, cheesy horror and lowbrow comedies. Back in the day, nobody ever left a Universal film feeling bored.
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BOOTLEG FILES 618: “Christmas Holiday” (1944 noir drama starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly).
LAST SEEN: It is on YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It is unclear what happened.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: It’s possible.
During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Deanna Durbin was the reigning teen queen of Universal Pictures’ musicals – which made her something of a big fish in a small pond, considering musicals were not really that studio’s forte. Nonetheless, audiences loved the pretty Canadian-born star with the peerless soprano singing voice, and Universal loved that audiences loved her. But the love did not extend to Durbin herself, who bristled at the saccharine persona created by her employers. She derided her screen image as “Little Miss Fixit who bursts into song,” claiming that films like “One Hundred Men and Girl” and “Mad About Music” created a corny image that “represented the ideal daughter that millions of fathers and daughters wished they had.”