Cartoon Brunch!

The Minneapolis Suburban World Theater, that I wrote about on Oct. 11, suddenly revived their Cartoon Brunch. The interior had been remodeled several years ago into dinner theater type seating with small tables in alcoves, and they have a kitchen as well as a full bar. Between 9am and 2pm every Saturday and Sunday the theater shows free cartoons on a giant movie screen while serving brunch. The new video projector gives a superb image.

The cartoon brunches began over two years ago. They were programmed and presented by my long-time friend David Mruz, who lives a block from the theater, and David got many of the cartoon DVDs from me. We even added serial chapters from "Undersea Kingdom" in an early attempt at what Café Roxy is programming now. The brunches became quite successful when some parent group mentioned in a newsletter that it was a great weekend activity where the kids could run up and down the aisles. It seems unlikely someone actually wrote that, but it's what David told me. The success was up to 400 diners/viewers each weekend, who all ordered food.

The brunches screeched to a halt when the kitchen staff was not increased to handle the demand. When you wait 40 minutes for an omelette you are not likely to return! The audience also died when summer came. There were problems with the films as well. Which disc was shown when? Most audiences don't want to watch an hour of Popeye, etc., at one sitting. Some had racial jokes. Many were copyrighted and should not have been shown in public. The cook ran the films. While I had attended one cartoon brunch, I live a half hour away and did not pay much attention to what David was trying to do each weekend.

So the brunches are suddenly back! I went to the one today and talked to the owner, Don Driggs, about programming future shows. As I walked in, color Warner Bros. cartoons were playing from one of the Looney Tunes discs. They kept playing one after another, some good and some bad, but all color Warners. Don wanted more vintage cartoons, so he ran the sample show I brought that contained the cartoons listed on the first poster (shown on left).

I can provide a different poster each week for him to post on the Suburban World Website, and also to print out for his front door. I list the specific cartoons in each show so that repeat customers can be assured they won't see cartoons they saw at the brunch last month or even last week. This should make it easier for the projectionist! All cartoons are in the public domain and so are legal to show. All are top quality. None are duds. None have racial jokes. I alternate color with black and white cartoons. Each show has a few rare or lesser-seen cartoons like "The Haunted Ship," "Song of the Birds" and "Humpty Dumpty" on this program.

Because the average diner only stays an hour, I only include about an hour of cartoons and then repeat them to make up a two-hour DVD that the projectionist only needs to re-start twice at most.

Apparently we have a deal for me to supply future shows. Because it is a bohemian, trendy area, young people are always willing to try something new. The popular Uptown Bar, next door to the theater, closed last week to be torn down and something or other rebuilt in the spot. The Uptown served breakfast, so the Suburban World is ripe for success. Don's main challenge is to get free publicity in the form of a newspaper article or TV spot. We'll see what he comes up with.




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Post Halloween Apocalypse!

Or watch classic horror year round!

I missed posting on Halloween, so here's a belated one. These notes were made for The Bijou Blog, and please check it out, but then cut because of space down to just the House on Haunted Hill review. Other contributors to the Bijou Blog Halloween post are Bob Campbell and Victoria Balloon, who meshed it into a single voice.

Johnny Legend
Behind the fearful beard lurks an American Rockabilly musician, actor, wrestling manager and film producer and archivist. Johnny released dozens of obscure cartoons, exploitation films, low-budget horror flicks and his popular Sleazemania series through Rhino Home Video. His rare and restored videos are currently ballyhooed at Legend House and Raunchy Tonk Video. Here are three Legend(ary) releases of Johnny's to chill your Halloween.

“House on Haunted Hill”
This high quality, 50th Anniversary Edition is presented in widescreen by Johnny Legend, a video pioneer who released low-budget horror and exploitation films in the early days of Rhino Home Video. William Castle’s 1959 thriller still shocks and mystifies with ghoulish plot twists. Vincent Price invites five random guests to stay overnight in a haunted house and get $10,000 for surviving. Not all of them make it. The bonus extras are true delights starting with two trailers for House, one trumpeting the “Emergo” process (skeleton flies over audience during climax), and trailers for Vincent Price and William Castle shockers -- The Fly, Tingler, Macabre, 13 Ghosts, Mr. Sardonicus, Zotz, Straight-Jacket and more. Mr. Castle appears in many trailers to explain his latest gimmicks. Johnny himself discusses the “House” today and actress Carol Ohmart. The disc closes with Vincent Price on the Jack Benny and Red Skelton Shows and as persecuted missionary John Hayes on “TV Reader’s Digest” from 1955.

Sweeney Todd and Crimes at the Dark House
Johnny Legend loves Tod Slaughter and you will too. Never shy about appearing in his own videos, Johnny relates how he discovered Tod in the late 1960s in Los Angeles’ Cozy Theater. This bonus is followed by British horror trailers, Slaughter poster art and a rare audio of Mr. Tod as Sweeney Todd.

Tod Slaughter, affectionately known as Europe’s Horror Man, is the ultimate old-fashioned melodrama villain. He laughs maniacally as he gleefully chokes his victims... in every single film! The fiend is simply mad. Tod’s over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek villainy is not to be believed until one sees it, which has made him a cult hero among Cinephiles. In most films Slaughter is a man of wealth or position who lusts after the heroine, often gets her by lies and murder, but is foiled in the end. This is the plot of Crimes at the Dark House (1940), based on the novel “The Woman in White.” Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936) is Slaughter’s career zenith that years later spawned the stage musical and Johnny Depp film. The maniac barber kills for money, but the detail about turning his victims into meat pies is barely hinted at. Tod as Sweeney coos: “What a lovely throat she has for the razor. How I’d love to polish her off! The razor’s nice and sharp.”

Halloween in Hell
Johnny roams Hollywood Boulevard on Halloween interviewing denizens between horror trailers, then on to talks with horror directors Tim Sullivan and Ray Dennis Steckler and cult legend Arch (Eegah!) Hall Jr. If more Johnny is not enough, how about two more Tod Slaughter films! In Murder in the Red Barn (1935), Tod not only seduces the heroine but murders and buries her, laughing all the while. The Face at the Window is the most traditional horror film of the four with a monster and mad scientist scene. Is wealthy Tod the sinister Wolf Man whose hideous face appears at windows when murder strikes? All four Tod Slaughter films are highly recommended for their exceptional quality and refreshing dementia!

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Matinee Jr. for Libraries!

Several observations unexpectedly merged into a new project this week. Some parents attending the Parkway Theater Saturday Matinee brought very young children, pre-schoolers who looked to be 4 and 5 years old, to see Flying Deuces. I'm sure they enjoyed the cartoons in a theater setting. I hope they laughed at Laurel and Hardy and who knows what they made of the serial? The point is, we had parents who wanted to introduce their kids to the vintage films but the show wasn't quite right for the extremely young. They surely won't be back for John Wayne or White Zombie, but maybe for the Our Gang / 3 Stooges festival that follows or for Gulliver's Travels.

On Monday Bob DeFlores offered to put up a Matinee flyer in a library where he had presented a jazz program and so he knew the program director quite well. Libraries are busy these days because the economy has driven families to seek free entertainment. Most libraries do give regular special programs in all-purpose meeting rooms that happen to be equipped with video projection. Library budgets keep getting cut, but the "Friends of the Library" parent group helps fund programs they feel are worthwhile. Bob had been paid $100 to introduce and present his jazz show. A Café Roxy show goes for $25, which is a library bargain.

Duh! An idea at last -- a Café Roxy series tailored to the special needs of Libraries. Thus was born Matinee Jr.

We felt library programs needed to be a short and snappy 65-75 minutes long. The solution for attaining that is ... drop the features! Shorts only. The idea was modified to abridge some features with an onscreen note such as: "Many Matinees included westerns. This excerpt from a Roy Rogers western gives a taste of the action and fun." This will allow the inclusion of John Wayne, Gene Autry, the Three Mesquiteers and obscure comedians like Joe E. Brown and Wheeler & Woolsey. Libraries don't have time to show features but excerpts will entertain and educate just as well.

Since all Library Matinees will be free shows, I will edit and abridge where needed to make each show educational, fun and family acceptable by deleting any racial content. The fun part is easy. The educational part is explaining in an opening montage what a Saturday Matinee was. While I dislike censoring innocent stereotype material, it is simply necessary because you can't expect young kids to understand and you don't want to offend anyone in a public library. It also easy to do without destroying a short. For instance, I cut a brief scene in the Our Gang "School's Out" where Farina salivates over eating watermelon. That's a stereotype that might offend today no matter how innocent in 1931. In the rest of the short Farina is just one of the gang and good friends with Chubby, Mary, Wheezer and Jackie Cooper.

So a typical "Matinee Jr." will include two cartoons, a serial chapter, comedy short and feature excerpt. A 3 Stooges/Our Gang Festival will include one short of each, two cartoons, serial chapter and that's it. Two longer shows in "Matinee Jr." will be serial chapter and Gulliver's Travels or serial chapter, cartoon and Flying Deuces. You can see the series develop as the 12 posters gradually appear at Matinee Jr. for Libraries.

We picked "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" as the best serial because of the science-fiction adventure, sets, spaceships, costumes, villain, and also because it has less fist fighting than a typical serial. Each chapter runs 20 minutes. Should five minutes be cut out of each to accommodate short attention spans?

The first response from Bob's library contact was great enthusiasm for the idea and the low price. They saw the value of reviving a lost chapter of popular culture -- historical, educational and, yes, still entertaining. One concern was that they could only run one show a month because of other programming commitments. That is OK with me. Run the first four shows one a month and schedule them more often if there is demand. Other libraries might be able to schedule a film show in every Saturday at 10am, noon, 2pm, or sometime.

The next step was to create a Sample DVD for libraries. Done! Like the Roxy Sampler, I will send a free DVD Sampler of Matinee Jr. to any interested Libraries. You can view Matinee Jr. excerpts that includes the library pitch, comedy and cartoon scenes, a chapter ending from Flash Gordon and a trailer for Gulliver's Travels. This is followed on the sample disc by 7 minutes from "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor," 9 minutes from Our Gang's "Bear Shooters," 7 minutes of the color Abbott and Costello film "Jack and the Beanstalk" where Lou first meets the giant, and the last 8 minutes of Roy Rogers' "Heldorado."

Onward to plan the shows, design 12 posters, tailor shows to the local library time and content requests, learn how to reach libraries all over the country and... onward!



www.caferoxy.com

Laugh Out Loud!

I just finished editing comedy clips that will run in an upcoming exhibit in Tampa, Florida called "The Amazing You." It will play continuously, I assume as part of a comedy segment. They requested 10-12 minutes as the maximum time a viewer might hang around to watch in the same spot. My first version ran over that at 16 minutes, but then I heard they might want 20 minutes, so I sent the 16 minutes, a 12 minute abridgement plus an extra 14 minutes of out takes in case someone there wanted to edit further.

This comedy montage is for the MOSI project, but I was not sure what that was until after I finished and finally googled MOSI. I found it to be Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry, and also found a link to The Amazing You, a 12,000-square-foot exhibition at which guests are invited to explore the developmental stages of life, from the beginning through adolescence. Part 1 opened in May, while Part 2 (that promises to be funnier) opens in November.

Dave Conley at MOSI first broached the project to me about supplying comedy clips and later about editing them myself. I thank him for trusting my editing ability when he had no such work of mine to look at. In fact, I have only been learning how to use iMovie on my MAC computer this year, and only got a DVD ripper last month so I can take film clips off DVDs to work with. Once you import a clip into iMovie you can delete fractions of a second and move clips around easily to see how each edit plays.

Dave's only requests were that all films be in the public domain and that I include Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" routine because he always liked it. Fortunately the boys performed an exceptional version in a 1951 Colgate Comedy Hour that was never registered for copyright. The best version of the entire routine is on Youtube here. I excerpted four segments running 41, 31, 57 and 1:32 seconds and spaced them through the montage in order.

The rest of the film selections were mine. It was time consuming but fun to pull favorite clips, trim them to the absolute minimum running time, move them around so they flowed smoothly and then watch to see if I thought people would laugh today. This must have been the process Robert Youngson went through when he made clip classics like "When Comedy Was King."

Besides the TV "Who's On First," I included clips from Steamboat Bill Jr., The Boat, One Week, The Pawn Shop, Never Weaken, Stolen Jools, Flying Deuces, Road to Bali, Fatal Glass of Beer, The Dentist, Disorder in the Court, Beverly Hillbillies and cartoons Jerky Turkey and Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions. Looking at it from another perspective, the greatest slapstick comedians are included: Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, Hope and Crosby, W.C. Fields and the Three Stooges.

I was somewhat surprised by what I included over what I had expected to put in. In Fields' The Dentist, one first recalls the hilarious scene of the woman wrapping her legs around Fields as he tries to pull her tooth, but while editing I found the scene funnier when a piece of the ceiling falls into her mouth and she thinks he pulls out her tooth easily. "Why, it came out easily!" "Yes, yes it did. It surprised me."

I felt that splitting clips up from the same film was effective. For instance, Buster pulling his boat out of the basement and demolishing his house is followed a few clips later by Buster going down with the Damfino when the boat launches and sinks. Short jokes, quick laughs and on to the next clip. If an audience laughs the first time, then catches on that there will be more of the same later, they may well watch the entire montage. MOSI can of course edit out any clips they do not find funny. They may remove the 4 short clips from "Fatal Glass of Beer" where W.C. intones "It ain't a fit night out for man or beast." I thinks it's surreal hilarity, but someone who has never seen the film may not.

Youtube only permits films that are under ten minutes long, so here is a shortened version of my finished comedy montage minus the 4 segments from "Who's On First" that you can enjoy by itself. Have fun, and let me know if you laughed out loud!!!

Watch Laugh Out Loud! montage on Youtube!


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Spooky Wallpaper! Ooooo!

I stopped by the Minneapolis Suburban World Theater on October 5 to see what their video projection system looked like. Monday night football was running with the local Vikings beating the Packers. The picture looked awesome. Don, the owner, said the state of the art projector had been installed that afternoon. I may have mis-heard the price Don quoted so I won't repeat it. I don't want to discourage any future Roxy entrepreneurs from buying equipment. I know projector prices have come down in recent years while quality has gone up. State of the art, however, is not cheap, especially to project from the back of the theater. Let's just say the Suburban World's system is pricey.

Built in 1927, the Suburban World is truly a unique venue. Built in classic Granada Style, the Spanish facades and original stars still shine and clouds float by giving the effect of being in an open air Spanish courtyard. Originally called the Granada Theater, this historic building was designed by local architect Jack Liebenberg. His innovative design featured stadium seating in an atmospheric theater giving the illusion that viewers are seated outdoors in a Spanish courtyard.

The photo of the screen on the right here is so clean that it almost looks like an artist's rendering, but it is an actual recent photo. Note the tables near the screen. The entire lower area has been transformed into dinner theater seating, while the raked rear section still holds traditional theater seats. A full bar downstairs center serves guests.

The theater remains much as it was when the Granada originally opened. Stars and moving clouds adorn the ceiling - making it appear as if it has no roof. Stucco facades of balconies, statues and plants further enhance the illusion. These features led the Minneapolis City Council to place the Suburban World Theater on a list of historically significant buildings in 1991. It is the only surviving example of an atmospheric theater in Minneapolis and one of few remaining in the state.

In 1954, the theater became known as the Suburban World Theater and it was during this period that extensive remodeling was completed. Wrought iron doors that adorned the front of the theater, as well as the lobby's iron chandelier, were removed and replaced by more modern fixtures. Further restoration has succeeded in restoring much of the original façade of the theater.

The Suburban World programming is in a state of flux, meaning I don't know their imminent future and neither do they! It hosts concerts by local bands, private meetings and parties, independent film festivals and a recent talk by liberal radio host Bill Press. A few years ago the theater held Saturday and Sunday cartoon brunches, which became extremely popular with the locals.

I would naturally like the World to show a few Café Roxy programs. I keep pushing, at the very least, for them to show Reefer Madness since the theater is in the hip Uptown area of Minneapolis. Charge $2 and make money off drink sales. This may happen and I will discuss the theater more if it does. Don did say he could use some Halloween "wallpaper" to run on the movie screen during an upcoming party or some event TBA on Friday, Oct. 30. Costumed party goers might watch some of the trailers some of the time, or just party through the spooky ambience.

So I put together two hours of classic horror movie trailers, including the public domain cartoons "Mad Doctor," "Wot a Night" and "Magic Mummy." The poster on the left features Frankenstein. I hope the theater runs the disc and discover that the old classic films are still fun today, or rather that "Trailers" for the old films are fun. The Monster Mania disc is for sale. Too bad it is too close to Halloween for me to find many buyers. If you know any bar, café or eating emporium in your area that will be open Halloween night -- send them my way!

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Good Start!

The first Saturday Matinee at the Parkway Theater ran smoothly this afternoon. Cutting to the numbers -- about 50 people -- but lots of positives. The theater decor has been spiffed up since I last visited over a year ago and shortly after it was acquired by Pepitos Restaurant. In particular all the seats are in and the walls have new mural paintings. There are some tables and chairs in the lobby, presumably for use by the beer and wine drinkers before or during an evening show. Currently playing at the Parkway is "Julie and Julia."

The video projection looked good, and that was my main fear since I had not seen a test run. The sound on the Betty Boop cartoon was way too loud so I ran up to the booth to alert the projectionist, except he was downstairs selling popcorn. That got worked out so the sound was booming but not too loud the rest of the way. Even the night scenes looked bright enough and there are plenty in "The Most Dangerous Game," which mostly takes place in a jungle at night. Showing DVDs in a small theater for 400 is more than viable. The black and white Popeye looked tremendous. Radar Men looked good.

The audience clapped after chapter 1 of "Radar Men from the Moon," and the cartoons. There were some young kids who came and went. Popcorn was sold.

The Parkway did not get any free newspaper notices in various "What's Happening?" columns. The only notice I saw was the one they paid for on the page of movie listings: "SATURDAY FAMILY MATINEE SERIES. The Most Dangerous Game/Radar Men from the Moon/Toon favs Superman and more! All seats $2."

No TV coverage, which is not surprising. However, Return of the Saturday Matinee is the kind of story the media likes to report -- neighborhoody, cheap, different, historic, fun, etc., so I bet someone wants to do a story soon. That is my number one suggestion for promoting the show. In particular the free "Sun Newspaper" would be ideal to get a little article in since it goes to neighborhoods. That goal is being pursued.

My second suggestion is more posters. The poster at the top promotes the next 3 Matinees, and it will go in 3 comic book stores next week. The promo that splits into two half-page posters will be handed out at a big Twin Cities Comic Book convention next weekend, which is why it promotes Flash Gordon in the third week. The Parkway needs to get poster/flyers in 2 coffee houses only a block away, and in the Used Book Store might help as well.

Next Saturday is Laurel and Hardy, who have been phenomenally popular in the Twin Cities for decades, so if we can only get the word out...

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Counting Down to Next Saturday!

One week from today the Saturday Matinee series starts at the Parkway Theater. It's been a quick learning experience preparing shows which will actually be seen by an audience in a 400-seat theater, and helping promote the series at the same time. Since last week....

Program Changes. I replaced the Kid's TV Show (that did not really fit with Matinee fare) with Gulliver's Travels, as you can see by the new poster. I moved White Zombie to Halloween and added the Buster Keaton short "Haunted House" to the same show for obvious reasons. You can see all 12 posters here.


Trailer for each week. I already had theatrical trailers for Ghosts on the Loose, Gulliver's Travels, White Zombie and House on Haunted Hill. I created "Coming Next Week" trailers for the others. Flying Deuces contains the song and dance number "Shine on Harvest Moon," a few shots of the boys flying wild and appropriate "Coming Next Week" words over the pictures. Terror By Night, New Adventures of Tarzan and Rocket Ship also contain scenes from the films. John Wayne, Roy Rogers and 3 Stooges / Our Gang shows are composed of stills or movie posters with music and "Coming Next" blurbs.

Press Release. I wrote one up as shown on the left below. You can read it full size at the new Press Release Page. Also at that page is a sheet of Free Passes. Pepitos will give out a limited number each week to those who eat in the restaurant. A poster inside the front door and at the cash register tells them to ask for passes.

The publicist for the Parkway is sending out normal releases to newspapers and TV station. We are hoping one will see the "Return of the Saturday Matinee" as a news item worthy of additional coverage. Film clips are available to TV stations, who like to promote new, fun and family activities.

Radio Discussion. This past Wednesday Bob DeFlores talked about the series for more than a half hour on the educational channel KFAI-FM radio. Bob had already been scheduled to talk about a Ginger Rogers series at the Heights Theater and was happy to have more to discuss during the hour and a half he was on. Bob was so good I wanted to go. Although that promo was ten days before the first show, KFAI plans to discuss the Matinee series each Wednesday since they have a good history with the Parkway. The Parkway has supplied food for KFAI fundraising drives and a benefit jazz show will be staged this fall in the Parkway.

Series Trailer in the Theater. Just yesterday I thought to give the Parkway a trailer for the series that they can run before their regular features. This is very close to the Trailer already accessible from the website. I gave them two versions on DVD for video projection -- one with and one without the Giant Claw Trailer. I was happy to hear that whenever they plan to project DVD shows, the projectionist runs it in advance and watches every single second to make sure the disc will not freeze.

Thanks to Tracy Tolzmann for plugging the series in the Laurel and Hardy club announcement for the October 5 meeting. 350 movie fans got the newsletter only yesterday. Some must live in South Minneapolis. Some might want to see Flying Deuces for the tenth time, but this time in a movie theater with a live audience. Hmm, does that mean "Blockheads" audiences are zombies? In the spirit of the club, Who Cares!?


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