Making some "Shortie Checklists"...

[Jlewis]

... and not sure how they will look on this messageboard.

 

Think of this a bit like Topbilled "A Year In Hollywood" series with lots of reading material... if with more spelling errors involved.

 

I do not want to "hog up" the forum with these. It was easy to put them on the other CMU forum, starting back in 2009, because I could go back and re-edit even this year... AND the readers over there were used to me being A Nerd.

 

Feel free to chew me out on THIS thread... although if you do on the one I am making for Paramount, it is OK. I will respond on this one though.

[Jlewis]

This is definitely an experiment... and like all experiments, open to failure.

 

I was OK for the first four posts on the other thread.

 

Now all of the messages like... you know... "Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded"

 

I think the object of the game is only post a few each day.

[Jlewis]

OK... I had a bit of a panic attack earlier when I was uploading a post on that other thread and the ominous "account suspended" message popped up. 

 

I thought I had done a baaaaaad thing and was in deep trouble.

 

I would never want to cause any trouble. I also hope my posts didn't CAUSE any "account suspended" trouble. No telling what my "experimentation" may lead to.

 

All joking aside... if any administrators are reading this and have any issue with my posts, please let me know... and delete anything that needs deleted.

 

I may wait a while before continuing... if it is OK to continue. I am still having technical issues adapting my Microsoft documents to this forum.

[Jlewis]

I managed to complete my "epic" Paramount shorties thread. I was going to do MGM and Warner, but I think I will wait a while and see if anybody is even interested in the thread I posted.

 

Again... I hope everything is "good" here, since I was hammering away with these when this forum went through its... um... "spell".

 

Wonderful thing... in all of my wording, I can relax in using no naughty dialogue. The censors are quick to fix that and I see a few **** "edits" already over words I would never have thought would be... um... naughty. Yet I hope it is all somewhat readable. I do not know how many times I can re-edit these thangs.

[TopBilled]

This is definitely an experiment... and like all experiments, open to failure.

 

I was OK for the first four posts on the other thread.

 

Now all of the messages like... you know... "Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded"

 

I think the object of the game is only post a few each day.

I think the solution is to keep the posts a certain length. It's not how many posts but how big the posts are, that seems to be when it times out more frequently.

[Jlewis]

I do try to keep them within a certain length. My problem was that the "full editor" was not working well, so I couldn't post images after the first three posts. Yet I was OK posting videos.

 

I figure I will wait a bit before attempting this again... maybe a week? Today was DEFINITELY not the day for experimenting with all of the goofy stuff going on.

[TopBilled]

I do try to keep them within a certain length. My problem was that the "full editor" was not working well, so I couldn't post images after the first three posts. Yet I was OK posting videos.

 

I figure I will wait a bit before attempting this again... maybe a week? Today was DEFINITELY not the day for experimenting with all of the goofy stuff going on.

Yes, take some time to figure it out. There is a limit, by the way, on the number of images you can include in a single post. I believe it's five or six, depending on how large the images may be. 

[Jlewis]

Attempting the Warner Bros. list and... ooooohhhh!!!!... this one is a challenge. The edit features on this forum ain't workin' well.

[Jlewis]

Completed Warner Brothers. Yes... I know. I am ssssoooooo qwayzeeee!

 

What I wanted to do is attach images to the lists so that they would be more interesting, but the silly edit functions do not work.

 

Well... maybe here...

 

Here are a couple...

Baby Rose Marie The Child Wonder

Robert Ripley in his first shortie of 1930

Gypsy Sweetheart with Margaret DuMont (of the Marx Brothers) and Howard Hickman

 

 

... and a few more...

 

Marvin Glenn roping a frisky kitty in Desert Killer

Men Of The Sky with Eleanor Parker and Tod Andrews

Sons of Liberty with Claude Rains and Donald Crisp

 

 

Why I can't post these on the other thread is a mystery, but... it is what it is. Guess there is a quota for threads?

 

I was going to do MGM next, but maybe I will wait a bit. You folks probably think I have done enough damage here already. Ha ha!

[Jlewis]

OK... whipped up MGM. Did not even ATTEMPT to add pictures this time and... *presto*... I got all of the posts up within 15-20 minutes.

 

I hope these lists are useful for TCM viewers, especially the MGM and Warner ones. At least these can help with the ol' question of "What was that short TCM just aired last week?"

 

For fun... a few MGM shorties worth noting pics...

 

Two Tars (1928) with Laurel & Hardy

 

 

Teacher's Pet (1930) with June Marlowe as sexy Miss Crabtree and little Jackie Cooper

 

 

Trader Hound (1931)

 

 

Fine Feathers (1933)... an early Pete Smith "Oddity" in Technicolor

 

 

One of the FitzPatrick Traveltalks... Ireland the Emerald Isle (1934)

 

 

Every Sunday (1936) with Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin

 

 

Home Movies (1940) with Robert Benchley... after he lights a cigarette around nitrate film. Ooops!

 

 

Van Johnson in a "Crime Does Not Pay" short For The Common Defense (1942)

 

 

A moody "Passing Parade" short Stairway To Light (1945)

 

 

Widescreen and stereophonic music: Johnny Green in Strauss Factory (1954)

 

[TopBilled]

Thanks for doing these, JLewis. I know people will appreciate your efforts.

[Jlewis]

I dunno... should I plop RKO on here next?

[Jlewis]

Nevermind... I did it.

 

Just stuck to words... wonderful words... and no pictures this time.

 

I know, I know. I am one nutty weirdo!

 

I will wait a bit before tackling Fox, Educational Pictures, Universal and Columbia. You folks need a rest!

[Jlewis]

OK. I waited long enough. Time to plop Fox and Educational Pictures.

 

Man the forts everybody! I will stop traffic on the Shorts Forum... again.

 

I will, however, wait a few months before doing Universal and Columbia.

 

I dunno. Maybe SOME of you find these dopey lists helpful. My RKO one only has 156 "views" so far, but Paramount's is gradually making it past 734. If nothing else, my Fox list will give you some idea when the CinemaScope cameras started documenting Japan and South Korea for the first time.

[Jlewis]

Always fun posting more videos... two released by Educational Pictures in 1920. That company is profiled with Fox here:

 

A Bruce Scenic titled Tropical Nights (released October 10, 1920).

 

 

The very first National Geographic Special was handled by Educational Pictures as one of their "specials": Valley of 10, 000 Smokes was released to theaters on July 2, 1920, but filmed four years earlier in an expedition lead by Robert F. Griggs. Father Hubbard returned there in the late thirties for Fox Movietone in his Alaska adventure series. Too bad his film isn't available online, although it was part of a VHS compilation in the 1980s.

 

[Jlewis]

Also covered in the Fox & Educational thread, there are two of the 20th Century Fox CinemaScope Specials. 20th Century Fox made more widescreen travelogues than any other studio, but it is fair to say that other studios like Warner Brothers sometimes put a bit more "oomph" into theirs (and you can't beat mighty Marvin Miller narrating those with as much gusto as he did the Walt Disney TV shows and UPA cartoons).

Fifth Avenue To Fujiyama  / © February 17, 1955

 

 

Outpost Korea / © February 8, 1957

 

[Jlewis]

Man the forts! I am going to hog up the "Shorts" forum... AGAIN.

 

Will do Columbia, then Universal.

[Jlewis]

Very impressive research, Jlewis! I've also been researching, listing and logging shorts for many years and have numerous sheets, folders, lists, charts, etc. and it's nice to see them all in the order you have been listing them.

I was especially interested to see your Musical Novelties listing, as I have done especially extensive research over many years on this particular series and have learned and acquired a large amount of material on the eight shorts in the series. I thought I would offer a few corrections and clarifications in the interests of accuracy:

You should have the short WOMAN HATERS included in the list (even though it is also listed as a Three Stooges short - it is actually technically a Musical Novelty short, not a "Three Stooges" short).

SCHOOL FOR ROMANCE was not filmed first. It was filmed third and released third. The first two however were filmed and released in reverse order: UMPA was filmed first but released second, while ROAMIN' THRU THE ROSES was filmed second but released first. I figure that was because UMPA is so bizarre that they realized they would probably scare audiences away from the series if they released that one first, so held it back and released the more traditional romance ROAMIN' THRU THE ROSES first.

You have Conrad, Gottler & Mitchell as Directors of UMPA - they were the writers, not directors. That short, as were all eight in the series was directed by Archie Gottler. (I uncovered an uncredited co-director for one of the shorts, SCHOOL FOR ROMANCE, but officially Gottler was the director of all the Musical Novelty shorts).

One last thing - and perhaps most important: WHEN DO WE EAT was NOT a Musical Novelty short. NOT part of this series! I know where this often perpetuated misconception came from, but it is a mistake. That short was just a regular "All Star" or "Broadway Comedy" (as Columbia called it) short. 

Thanks and keep up the good work!

 

I hope I made all of the right corrections. I knew I could count on some Eagle Eyes who have studied these better than I have. You should have helped me here... had I known. Ha ha! I am also going by a lot of old magazines that don't always list things correctly... and I make spelling errors galore. I kinda assumed the Stooges fans already knew that Woman Haters is a Musical Novelty, but I should have mentioned that fact here.

[Jlewis]

I have the feeling a lot of these lists will need updated as time progresses and more films are available for viewing. For example, many "plots" are paraphrased from Film Daily and other magazine reviews and NOT always because I saw them personally.

[Jlewis]

Featured in the Shortie List for Universal...

An "extract" from one of their 1936 "specials", narrated by Lowell Thomas: You Can't Get Away With It. The full film runs a half hour.

 

 

 

[Jlewis]

Added Castle Films to the other Shortie Checklist thread. Here is a fun little reel, called Ten Fathoms Deep.

 

This is the third edition of Jacques Yves Cousteau's Épaves. Universal-International adapted it to the American market as a 2-reeler called Danger Under The Sea, released September 1951 and nominated for an Academy Award. Since Castle was owned by Universal, it was able to make a shorter cut with a new title easily for its home rental and school markets. Unfortunately 8 minutes does not do justice to the subject that the longer version did... or the later feature films like The Silent World. Our energetic narrator hopes something menacing will appear to add danger, but I think we are fooled into being more afraid than we should be.

 

 

 

Here is the original. The video copy is a bit murky, but it is great seeing early Jacques Yves Cousteau speaking in French.

 

Épaves

Produced by Ministére de l'Éducation Nationale and Institut Pédagogique National

Supervised by Jacques Yves Cousteau and Frédéric Dumas

Filmed June 1943, but widely released as a 28 minute featurette in May 1946

 

 

[Jlewis]

Deleted this post since the YouTube video recently went kaput. Interesting that such very old and forgotten films still have copyright issues.

[Jlewis]

 

I dunno. Maybe SOME of you find these dopey lists helpful. My RKO one only has 156 "views" so far, but Paramount's is gradually making it past 734.

 

Yoo hoo! 265+ days later and RKO's list made 2,441 views and Paramount's a whopping 3,624.

 

*hint hint* Any chance somebody "in charge" can unlock some vaults so we can watch more shorties either on DVD or online? Maybe TCM gets the hint of what could be tapped for renewed discovery?

[Jlewis]

Oooooohhh... I am going to be naughty again. Don't panic, people.

[Jlewis]

OK. Since this messageboard went through "maintenance", our "Shortie Checklist" threads were out of wack. Hopefully I have fixed everything. The "eagle eyes" here can correct me here on this thread. Sorry I could not keep all of the videos on the Paramount one.

This one I only altered a few posts and you can identify which ones due to a different font.

I didn't do anything to the two Topbilled succeeded with, but I think they are OK since they are short:

 

Sooo... hopefully all of you Turner Classic Movie movie geeks have the studio-by-studio checklists back in order. I hope this helps in identifying SOME unknown short films, although TCM pretty much sticks to airing Warner and MGM with an occasional RKO.