Café Roxy is an IDEA for coffee houses, cafés, restaurants, libraries and wherever people gather to eat, drink and have a good time. To attract customers during off hours: Show Free Movies! Movie Theaters as well can offer Saturday Matinees for $1.00 and profit off concessions. Public domain programs that include feature films, TV shows, cartoons and serials still hold the power to entertain. www.fesfilms.com
My last blog entry, which you can read just below, was about "Adventures in Face Book." It was viewed by 550 people who happened to find it by accident or the link at my website fesfilms.com. The simple truth is that I have stopped blogging because I now post 3 times daily at Facebook. I write comments to go along with every video I put up. These posts which amount to over 20 each week average "reaching" over 20k per week. I can reach so many by sharing each post with 10 to 15 other FB Groups such as 1950s America, Dead Comedians Society and Cinema Cafe.
The "reach" number is only visible to me, Ron Hall, the Movie Memory Time group creator and manager. Exactly what "reach" means is not clear. I think it means the post flits across their Facebook time lines, and maybe they read the title or the text, but only 10% actually watch the videos. Still, I will take 2,000 views a week anytime.
I have fallen into a rough schedule of posting an Amos n Andy TV show every Monday; Betty White on Tuesday; Space Patrol episode split up on Wednesday and Thursday; Gale Storm on Friday; and a serial chapter plus a Tex Avery cartoon on Saturday and a Sunday gospel film. Occasionally some post hits a nerve and gets re-shared multiple times. For instance I put up an ordinary Universal Newsreel that "reached" over 10k Facebookers.
This Ozzie and Harriet excerpt reached 14,670. It is special and I am happy TV fans out there recognized that and enjoyed it:
Ozzie and Harriet -- RICKY'S FIRST SONG
And Rick plays the drums and dances in April 1957 when he was only 17! This landmark episode that started Ricky Nelson's career as a pop singer also refers to Ozzie's 1940s career as a big band leader, and features all four Nelsons singing "My Gal Sal" together.
More info from IMDB: Landmark Episode For Ricky Nelson, by ccthemovieman-1 This was a historic episode in the history of this long-running sitcom: the debut of Ricky as a drummer and singer. He even dances, too! Rick winds up sitting in with the "Tommy Jackson Band" at a big charity dance that Harriet and a bunch of people had set up. It's a long story how that happened but older brother David helped Ricky out in a nice way.
Here is another example that reached over 6k this week: GALE STORM SINGS - Again and Again
Two delightful examples of Gale singing 15 years apart. First is a trailer for the 1943 Monogram musical COLLEGE RHYTHM, followed by Gale singing "I Cried for You" from a late 50s episode of THE GALE STORM SHOW / OH SUSANNA (episode title not known).
So no more blogging. I am having more fun researching and writing about fun film clips EVERY DAY while I reach far more people at the same time and can interact with whoever makes comments.
Rather than giving more Facebook examples of successful posts, I invite you to simply visit Movie Memory Time.
and spend all day scrolling down and watching posts of interest.
Just over a year ago, around 2/1/2016, I started Movie Memory Time Facebook page. The link is down below. Movie Memories are short video clips followed by questions to encourage recalling one's past and reminiscing about it with whatever friends and family watched the video with you. Some are clips from feature films, trailers, cartoons, "educational" films like they showed in schools, newsreels, TV ads -- basically anything filmed long ago can remind one of where they were in life at that time. If you never heard of Movie Memories, here is how they work:
I invited all my Facebook friends and about 100 "Liked" the new page just to see what I was doing. I had a stockpile of Movie Memory segments and began posting every other day. Not much happened for quite awhile as far as picking up viewers. Then I started using Vimeo for uploading the videos instead of youtube. I also started re-doing the segments with stills behind the questions instead of a blank screen. I added more off-the-wall humor in the questions such as "What is your favorite ocean?" Here is an original one made for Facebook that has gotten the most views:
The goal of each post is to "Reach" a lot of people on Facebook. I don't know what qualifies as a "Reach." I think it means that a post flits across one's computer screen as they are browsing Facebook. If you have 500 FB Friends, then you get a whole lot of posts on your timeline every day and might have missed most of mine. I do not repost the same video several times since that can become annoying. Anyone can intentionally come to MMT page to catch up on anything they might have missed, but I suspect few do that as we are all too busy. Only around 10% of those Reached, click on and watch the videos.
I found I could vastly increase reaches, views and new Likes by sharing my posts with other FB Groups. For instance, this Edsel one was shared with 3 groups who love vintage cars, and also to 1950s America and other nostalgia pages. I only share horror videos to horror groups, TV posts to TV groups, comedy videos to Dead Comedians Society, etc.
In October 2016 I put out lots of horror movie trailers and clips leading up to Halloween, but still only every other day. I started sharing these wider and picking up more LIKES (700 MMT page Likes as of mid February 2017). While I used to think 400 Reaches was a great success, I began wanting to reach 1K or more every time.
I started posting favorite film clips without adding questions to turn them into "Movie Memories." No one noticed or cared, and it allowed me to 1) Post more often, 2) Share videos from youtube, and 3) share copyrighted films (all Movie Memories use public domain clips). A turning point came Nov. 20, 2016 when I posted the following excerpt from an Amos 'n' Andy TV show:
There was WIDE interest in this TV show and it was re-shared by many fans all over Facebook such that the video currently has more than 13k Reaches. I followed up with several more Amos n Andy videos and my Reaches for the week soared over 20K.
In December I posted a MMT clip about Christmas every day. This routine turned to twice a day in January after I found the very supportive FB group 1950s America. In February I am posting a black musician or comedian tribute every day for Black History Month, plus second posts.
Discoveries I have made about Facebook and me this past year:
It is like a game to maintain 10K Reaches every week.
I enjoy interacting with everyone who comments on a post by Liking their comment or replying to it.
Youtube is something of a mess. Yes, you can go there searching for Amos n Andy and watch lots of them, except many are so poor as to be unwatchable. However, if a decent quality episode (from me) shows up on your FB Timeline or in a group you check every day, you are much more likely to watch it, enjoy it and re-share it.
Many Groups that I share to mostly post pictures from the members. So my videos stand out and are appreciated, so far as I can tell from the comments.
I have learned a lot about the films by scanning them for clips to use. For instance, I did not know Mantan Moreland was so funny in King of the Zombies until two weeks ago when I made this:
What do my daily MMT posts get me? When will the money start rolling in (LOL)? A growing presence on the web? Reputation as a film enthusiast? Building "Movie Memory Time" into a brand I might someday be able to sell? Well, it has brought me new friends for sure, and perhaps greater respect from many who have known me for years at the unique film clips I post. Posting is a new hobby I enjoy more now. I do get a daily sense of winning or doing good by maintaining 10K+ Reaches each week.
To join the fun, please visit facebook.com/moviememorytime/ and LIKE the page.
Here is a final film clip posted a month ago. I found out it was Phyllis Coates' birthday, realized I had this trailer to Panther Girl of the Kongo serial she starred in, posted it quickly and it has had 2,855 reaches to date. That giant claw in the thumbnail must have intrigued viewers.
This new website by Bob Campbell and myself is live and ready for your free viewing at ChristianMovieClassics.com. Please share the link with anyone who might be interested.
50 Free Film Classics are Streaming Online Right Now, Including THE LIVING CHRIST Series.
By Bob Campbell and Ron Hall
In “No Greater Power”, the life of wealthy tax collector Zaccheus is changed forever when he welcomes Jesus into his home. “Empty Shoes” tells the story of Minister William Carey who journeyed to India in 1793 to spread the Gospel. A priest tries to help restore a man’s faith in God when he turns to alcohol in the Crossroads TV episode “God in the Street”. When the circus comes to town, Charlie (inspired by Charlie Chaplin) sets out to get those clowns to church in “Charlie Churchman and the Clowns”. Who among us has ever even heard of these vintage faith-based films?
Few today are aware that literally thousands of religious films were produced from the early sound era through the late seventies that chronicle how the Bible was presented to 20th century audiences through the medium of film and television. Now, a team of veteran classic film collectors and distributors are rescuing these lost and rare film treasures from obscurity to reissue them as widely as possible.
CHRISTIAN MOVIE CLASSICS (CMC) is a new cost-free streaming video website loaded with vintage Christian films and TV shows, and without annoying ads. Many of these powerful examples of our Christian film heritage were crafted by talented Hollywood filmmakers expressly for Christian organizations. Others with strong spiritual themes were produced for mainstream theatrical and television audiences. These remarkable films reflect Biblical history and Christian belief, while addressing topics that remain relevant today.
But, where did these little-known films come from? Where have they been all these years?
In 1939, Rev. James K. Friedrich established Cathedral Films studio to produce religious films for movie theaters and church distribution. “The Great Commandment” (1939), about a Jewish zealot who shows mercy on a Roman soldier after hearing Jesus preach, was the first sound feature set at the time of Christ. Cathedral Films went on to produce dozens of short films, as well as a critically-acclaimed 12-part series on “The Life of St. Paul”, followed by the distinguished 12-part color “The Living Christ” Series. The first color, sound feature film about the life of Jesus Christ, “Day of Triumph” (1954), featured a top Hollywood cast.
In the 1950‚ a secular film producer Sam Hersh founded Family Films to compete in the emerging faith-based market. Hersh explored the trials and temptations besetting modern day Christians in films like “Rolling Stones” (1950), “Front Page Bible” (1959) and “This My Son” (1954). Other Christian studios and filmmakers soon followed such as World Wide Pictures, Gospel Films, Moody Bible Institute, the Protestant Film Commission, National Council of Churches, Broadman Films, Jan Sadlo, Ken Anderson, Rolf Forsberg, and many more.
Religious films were a natural fit for the new medium of television. In 1951, The Christophers organization recruited many renowned Hollywood stars and talent to create a weekly TV series. The first Christopher episode, “You Can Change the World”, echoed their message and was followed by dramas dealing with the faith of Abraham Lincoln, government ethics, citizen participation in elections, restraining television violence, challenges of atomic energy and other timely topics. In 1955, James Cagney made a rare TV appearance in “A Link in the Chain” as a professor who profoundly influences the lives of his students.
The TV series Crossroads (1955-57) dramatized the lives of clergymen of all faiths and the problems faced in their professional and personal lives. Hollywood stars like Vincent Price and Pat O’Brien played men of the cloth while youngsters like Michael Landon got their first start in TV. Lutheran Television chronicled the Fisher family in the beloved “This is the Life” series which ran on network TV from 1952 to 1988.
The reason these thousands of faith-based films are mostly unknown today boils down mostly to bad timing. When home video came along, the major secular film
and TV studios were financially positioned to digitize and distribute the retro content in their archives. Such was not the case with Christian film and TV libraries. The 16mm film exchanges around the country that distributed mainly to churches found dwindling interest as cable TV and home video options proliferated. As Cathedral Films, Family Films and others dissolved in the 1990s, their films ended up in the hands of private archives and collectors.
For the past four years, a collaboration of concerned classic film industry pros, engaged in production and distribution of vintage secular films since the advent of home video, have been tracking down the best surviving 16mm prints and converting them to digital. The Christian Movie Classics website is one way of returning the films to the public.
CMC is viewer supported by tax-deductible donations and the sale of a series of special DVD Heritage Collections. Our first 4 DVD releases are “Day of Triumph”, “The Gospel Blimp”, a “Christmas Classics” collection, and 4 compelling episodes of “The Christophers” TV show. Details are at ChristianMovieClassics.com/dvds.html. Contributions will go toward acquiring and restoring more films and TV shows for free viewing at the website, and upgrading to HD some films currently on the site.
Please consider helping spread the Word to family and friends worldwide that this new FREE Christian film streaming website now exists. Fans of classic movies and Bible history are sure to find the films especially appealing. The content remains engaging and inspiring and the films richly deserve to be restored, preserved and made widely accessible.
You can watch most of the films described above and many more right now, without cost, ad free, and without registration, enrollment or credit card required.
Christmas 2017 SALE: Just send $20 total via Paypal to fesfilms@aol.com. Your 2-disc set containing the 16 TV shows below will be sent right out.
The Lost and Rare 2-DVD set of PRIMEVAL TELEVISION is finished and ready to go at Amazon.com and the L&R website. The idea was born about 3 years ago when the Lost and Rare team started accumulating rare early TV shows that were not in the market place and that few had seen or even heard of. It is also available at Amazon.com for $24.95 plus shipping.
The DVD opens with a narrated introduction (by partner Derek Myers) to the 16 films in the collection. This doubles as a prevue trailer that you can watch below. The first film is a 1945 documentary about television, rather than an actual TV show, that sets the stage for the 15 shows to come.
Tomorrow Television (1945)
Fascinating documentary looks at television in its infancy: interviews with General David Sarnoff and industry insiders, the science of vacuum tubes and transmission, a look at early studios, sports events and much more. The film was made by Uncle Sam to introduce G.I.s returning from the war to the job openings in the new industry.
Public Prosecutor (1948)
John Howard stars in a 17-minute mystery. This was the first TV episode ever commissioned to be shot ON FILM, instead of broadcast live like all previous shows. "The Case of the Missing Bullets" is the pilot episode filmed in 1947. ABC then ordered 26 episodes which were made in 1948.
The Comic Strips of Television (1948)
Producer Jerry Fairbanks and Jay Ward made this 15-minute pilot with 3 proposed cartoon characters. Crusader Rabbit was the only one picked up and it debuted on Los Angeles TV in 1949 as the first made-for-TV cartoon series. The pilot also has an early Dudley Do-Right and unknown Hamhock Jones cartoon.
Art Linkletter & The Kids (c. 1950)
Before “People Are Funny,” Art talked with kids in 15-minute episodes.
Playhouse 15 (1952)
Anthology series of short dramas that only ran 12 min. to fit in 15 min. time slots. Actor Jack Klugman is featured in one of his earliest TV appearances in “Backfire.”
A Great New Star (1953)
Dinah Shore became a major recording star in the 1940s and appeared on TV from 1951 to 1994. She sings two songs in this early infomercial/promotion for 1953 Chevy cars.
Top Secret (1954)
Few remember this early 12 minute spy film starring Paul Stewart, Gena Rowlands & the first TV computer!
Felix in the Bone Age (1922/’50)
Silent Felix the Cat cartoons with added music tracks were a staple on early TV, used in kid shows hosted by local talent.
Junior Aces (c. 1950)
We can find no history at all about this children's show about aviation and aircraft. Actor Tom Brown interacts with two onscreen kid sidekicks as well as all the Junior Aces watching at home.
Telenews (1956)
Hearst syndicated this weekly newsreel featuring world events from 1954-1962.
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952) First episode of the popular sitcom with Ozzie, Harriet, David & Ricky. A very young David thinks about dating a girl. The only episode released without a laugh track.
Martin Kane, Private Eye (1952)
Lloyd Nolan in a “live” broadcast of detective show, this episode is titled “Dope Pushers.” Nolan also does the commercials live by visiting his favorite tobacco shop.
Ed Wynn Show (1949)
Ed Wynn hosted the first comedy/musical/variety show to be shot in Hollywood where it was staged in front of an audience and telecast live. 16mm kinescopes were then distributed to the rest of the country. Buster Keaton is Ed's guest in this episode.
The Magic Clown (1949)
Children’s show with kids, a clown, magic and "product placement" for Bonomo Turkish Taffy!
Learn to Draw (1950)
Artist Jon Gnagy first appeared live on TV in 1947 drawing an Old Oak Tree. His 15 min. "Learn to Draw" show was widely syndicated 1950 to 1955.
The Beulah Show (1950)
The great Ethel Waters is Beulah, a black maid in a white household. Beulah is the first African-American actress to star in her own TV series. Beulah was later played by Hattie McDaniel and then Louise Beavers. Enjoy a quick peak at each of the 16 films in Primeval Television:
Executive Producers for Lost and Rare PRIMEVAL TELEVISION are Bob Campbell, Ron Hall and Derek Myers. Visit the Lost and Rare Website.
This is a story about discovering some truly lost, unknown and forgotten theatrical quality cartoons directed by Carl Urbano, and a description of those cartoons. I am certain more of these cartoons are out there, so please comment about ones you know and we will update the Urbano filmography in a future “Part 2” of this article in 2016.
Animation director Carl Urbano is widely known and well respected for his Hanna-Barbera television cartoon series and features from 1977 to 1992: The Godzilla Power Hour, Super Friends, The New Fred and Barney Show, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Smurfs and many more. In this case, “many more” is an understatement. Just look Carl Urbano up on the IMDB. His early history mentions that he directed “industrial cartoons” for John Sutherland Productions in the 1950s. However, a complete list of the Urbano/Sutherland cartoons from this period does not exist.
Industrial films were produced by major industries and distributed, often for free, as propaganda films to promote their product, such as A is for Atom about our friend atomic energy. They were shown at sales conventions, given to libraries that loaned out 16mm prints, to schools for educational purposes, to TV stations for filler in the 1950s and ‘60s and were sometimes even shown in movie theaters. Even though free, they had to be pretty entertaining and professional or no one outside of car salesmen would watch them. John Sutherland took pride in producing excellent films that theater audiences would enjoy. The purpose and use of such films is excellently stated in this review of Rhapsody of Steel (1959) at IMDB:
The 35mm print was booked into theaters -- that was at a time when cinemas actually SHOWED short-subjects before the feature instead of TV commercials. The 16mm prints (also dye-transfer IB Technicolor) were given to 16mm non-theatrical distributors which specialized in loaning industrial type films like this free of charge to schools and institutions and other non-profit entities. The arrangement benefited the companies that produced them (getting name recognition and sometimes including not-so-subtle advertising content) and it benefited the end-user as it gave schools and the like an inexpensive and welcome means to put together screen entertainment.
Here is how we found 3 lost Urbano cartoons. "We" is me and two partners I work with in a project called "Lost and Rare Film and TV Treasures." Under this banner we have issued DVDs of extremely rare films that are not available anywhere. Our first thematic DVD collections were Sports Immortals, Lost TV Pilots and Golf Mania. The first partner is Bob Campbell, who produced Matinee at the Bijou for PBS in the 1980s. Second is Derek Myers, a film collector and Producer-Director and Senior Video Editor at WGGS TV-16 in Taylors, South Carolina. Derek has a particular knack for finding obscure 16mm films on ebay or private collections that become otherwise available. All three of us specialize in public domain films.
Early this year Derek acquired a small group of industrial films, which led to us putting six films into a Lost and Rare collection called “Industrial Strength America.” This includes The Columbia (1942) about the building of the Grand Coulee Dam in the state of Washington, featuring three original songs by Woody Guthrie.Unfinished Rainbows (1940, color) tells the story of aluminum and features actor Alan Ladd in his first credited role. Both of these are from the Bijou collection, while Derek supplied the other four films. Born in Freedom: the Story of Colonel Drake(1954, color) is a half-hour story about the drilling of the first oil well and stars Vincent Price. Asphalt Through the Ages (1957, color) tells the story of ... you guessed it ... Asphalt, and is the only routine industrial on the DVD, where in a mere 13 minutes one can learn the fascinating uses of asphalt in building the Tower of Babel and Noah’s Ark, not to mention roads, roofing, etc.
Two Carl Urbano cartoons rounded out the collection. The first is Destination Earth(1956, color) about a martian flying to earth where he discovers the power source of our mobile vehicles - gasoline! This John Sutherland cartoon directed by Carl Urbano is the only one of the six ISA films that is NOT rare, having been issued in numerous cartoon collections and is easily found on youtube. The cartoon is still one of the most entertaining industrials with Hollywood-style animation and many funny cartoon jokes. You can watch Derek’s print here:
The second cartoon that Derek acquired much by accident in that batch of industrial films is Fill ‘Er Up (1959, color). This lively animated tale presented by the Du Pont Chemical Co. blends petroleum history and propaganda along with cartoon gags starring a genii/muscle-man oil drop character. Fortunately the 16mm print had a copyright notice and date on it since many of them do not. It was never registered and so is in the public domain. Here is where the story gets interesting. We tried to research Fill ‘Er Up online but found no information at all - no listing on IMDB by title or under Carl Urbano or John Sutherland. In fact, Jerry Beck was totally unfamiliar with it as well. Long for a cartoon at 12 minutes, the extra time is used to first entertain and then expound on the many benefits of gasoline after you get hooked. Here is the opening that may leave you wanting to see more:
The discovery that Fill ‘Er Up was lost and unknown led us to look for other Urbano/Sutherland industrial cartoons in the collection. Derek says he has boxes of shorts he hasn’t even opened and who knows what treasures might be inside? He does have 16mm copies of these:
Why Play Leap Frog? (1950, color, 10m.) Harding College. No copyright notice or date. Not rare, can be viewed on youtube.
The Devil and John Q (1951, color, 10m.) 1951 copyright on the film, but never registered. RARE.
It’s Everybody’s Business (1954, color, 20m.) Copyrighted by Chamber of Commerce of the United States in cooperation with E.I. du Pont de Nemours. Not rare; on youtube.
Dear Uncle (Color, 9m.) Harding College. No copyright notice or date. No info on Internet. Not on youtube. RARE! Several researchers have found it was made in 1952 or 1953.
The films fall into two categories. Two are obvious propaganda for the petroleum industry, while the others are public service films sponsored by Harding College. A foreword to Why Play Leap Frog? explains: “This is one of a series of films produced by the Extension Department of Harding College to create a deeper understanding of what has made America the finest place in the world to live.” Another title card says “Fun and Facts About America.” These films were likely aimed at schools since they truly have educational value about american business and economics.
Here is an excerpt from Dear Uncle, which we only recently discovered that we had. Can anyone suggest the year it was made? I would guess early 50s since it has more of a 1940s animation style than the sleeker look of Fill ‘Er Up. The subject is as timely as today’s headlines -- the need to pay taxes.
The third unknown Urbano/Sutherland cartoon that we have is the most interesting one of all. The Devil and John Q (1951) opens with a vivid cartoon depiction of Hell. The Devil himself wants to vex America by spurring inflation and he takes several guises in our world to work his devilish ways. His final disguise is as a southern Senator (a Republican?) who blows his stack. The hero is a meek economist who preaches the need to control inflation.
Derek had two prints of John Q, but only recently did we notice that they were different versions. Producer Jerry Fairbanks acquired the film in the 1970s for the National Education Program (whoever they were) and planned to update and reissue it with different dialog. The revision does not have a date and we don’t know if it was ever released. Fairbanks’ last production was in 1972 and he died in 1995 at the age of 90. The story goes that just a few years ago one of Fairbanks’ storage facilities was being emptied; some friends found out and rescued this film and many priceless early TV shows from a dumpster, then put them on ebay where Derek found them. Yes, that dumpster thing still happens.
Here are the openings to both versions. The 1951 version references Communism, the atom bomb and the Cold War, which have all been removed for 1970 audiences.
Here is a list of Carl Urbano/John Sutherland cartoons that we have been able to compile so far. Since we have in our possession 3 “unknown” ones, we suspect there are a number of others out there. Please comment in this post with corrections or titles and descriptions of additional films. If we get substantial feedback, we will update the list in “The Lost Cartoons of Carl Urbano, Part 2.”
Make Mine Freedom (1948) Harding College. The dangers of Communism. On youtube.
Going Places (1948) Harding College. The profit motive. On youtube
Why Play Leap Frog? (1949, color, 10m.) Harding College. About economics. on youtube.
Meet King Joe (1949) Harding College. Economic propaganda. On youtube.
The Devil and John Q (1951, color, 10m.) 1951 copyright on the film, but never registered. RARE.
Inside Cackle Corners (1951) Co-directed by Urbano and George Gordon. on youtube
What Makes Us Tick (1952) The New York Stock Exchange. On youtube
A Is For Atom (1952, 15m.) by General Electric Co. on youtube.
Rhapsody of Steel (1959) US Steel company on youtube
And what did Carl Urbano do between Rhapsody in Steel in 1959 and Scooby’s Laff-A Lympics TV show in 1977? My thanks to Jerry Beck for encouraging me to write this story for Cartoon Research. Please check out the article there for numerous reader comments about Carl Urbano and John Sutherland.
We regret to report that Rolf Forsberg died peacefully in the hospital surrounded by family on Feb. 16, 2017. He was 93. DVD of Vol. 1 of the "Rolf Forsberg Legacy Collection has just been completed and will be released in the next few months. The final cut was on its way to Rolf, who expected to watch it on Feb. 18. He had viewed each individual film with the intros and was excited to see that his legacy was about to be rediscovered by the world.
Rolf Forsberg is a fascinating, amazing writer/director of numerous independent short films since 1964. Many of his films are religious in nature, yet told with an avant-garde surrealism suggestive of Fellini and Bergman. THE ANTKEEPER (1966) depicts mankind as ants. ARK (1970), though made 45 years ago, warns of the dangers of man-made pollution and climate change destroying the world. ONE FRIDAY (1973) is about race warfare told through the eyes of a toddler.
Rolf's very first film is still his most famous -- PARABLE -- since it was made for and shown at the 1964 New York World's Fair as the main attraction in the Protestant and Orthodox Pavilion. It was highly controversial since it depicted Jesus as a circus clown clad all in white. PARABLE was added to the National Film Registry in 2012. In 2015-16 Rolf recorded comments about 9 of his films. These will serve to introduce the films when they are released on DVD. This excerpt will introduce you to the distinguished film director and these four films.
I am a member of "Team Forsberg" dedicated to restoring and reissuing Rolf's best films, and at the same time bringing awareness of him to the film community and rallying new fans. We plan three stages to achieve the goal. First is to release the four films discussed above in Rolf Forsberg Legacy Collection Vol. 1 on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download. Stage 2 will release four more films, probably PEACE CHILD, STALKED, KING OF THE HILL and JESUS ROAST. Eventually we plan to produce a world-class feature documentary about Rolf that will preserve his legacy for future generations.
This is a costly undertaking. So far we have been working on a zero budget. Extensive interviews of Rolf have already been shot. Films are being restored to higher quality than the current excerpts on the website. But we simply can't finish Stage 1 without some financial assistance. For that purpose an Indiegogo campaign began on Oct. 2. If it succeeds, then Volume 1 will be released in November of this year. "Most of the films I've made are very much products of the Sixties, as I am. I feel that the span between 1963 and 1971 was one of spiritual seeking, and of iconoclasm. Billy Graham was the leading evangelist throughout the entire world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Christian clergyman, led mass marches for justice and equality. Theologians made the covers of Time Magazine. And the Beatles sang poetry. We have nothing like it today." -- Rolf Forsberg, June 2015
If you are intrigued about the films of Rolf Forsberg in the two video clips on this page, you can help immensely by doing one of more of these:
Gospel Films Archive is a growing library of rare and forgotten Christian films from the 1930s thru the 1970s. They include TV series such as "The Christophers," "This is the Life" and "Crossroads," feature films like "Martin Luther," "Reaching from Heaven" and "The Great Commandment" along with literally hundreds of short films made to be shown in churches and on television to tell stories from the Bible, inspire Missionary work or simply explore the problems of Christians in a modern world. All are professionally produced using Hollywood directors and actors. They hold up extremely well today since the stories are timeless, yet few remember the films or know where to view them today.
Gospel Films Archive is an ongoing project with partners Bob Campbell, Derek Myers and myself, Ron Hall. We owe a great debt to distributor Vision Video for issuing our first 7 DVD releases with a special Children's Collection coming soon.
We are dedicated to educating the public about the films such that they want to see them. We continue to explore getting them on religious TV networks where they could be widely enjoyed. We are seeking grants so we can restore and stream them on the Internet or give away DVDs to all interested parties. A long range plan includes a documentary about these "lost" Gospel films that should be fascinating to secular film fans as well as Christians.
Regarding DVD sales, video rental stores are ancient history while Beta machines and Laser Discs are mere whispers. Present viewing trends include free streaming on youtube or subscription streaming on Netflix, Hulu and similar venus, or viewing on Watch TCM, Amazon Prime or HBO-GO. With the exception of TCM, none of these venus stream many vintage films, no matter how good, and especially not religious films that few have ever heard of.
Another delivery method which we hope is the wave of the present and future (because we have jumped in with our clothes on) is ... Ta-Dah!
Video-On-Demand
under the new GFA label
GOSPEL FILMS DIRECT
Anyone with a computer, iPhone, iPad or other device can rent a film for 24 hour viewing at the affordable price of $1.99 or purchase for unlimited viewing for $3.99. The company that hosts our new Gospel Films Direct VOD product line is Christian Cinema, who is currently expanding into Video on Demand in a big way. Christian Cinema sends out weekly emails to 85,000 and has a well visited Facebook page. They will promote our weekly releases far better than we ever could via the GFA Facebook page and website.
Our ambitious plan, which we are well into, is to release 3 new films every week. Here is a preview trailer of the first four GFD releases: "A Christian in Communist China," "Africa and Schweitzer," "The Gospel Blimp" and a double feature of "This Is The Life" TV episodes. These may be rented or bought from Christian Cinema today:
Three more films were released the week of August 10. First is the 1955 Christophers production of "Lincoln Speaks for Himself," introduced by Danny Thomas with closing comments by Father James Keller. Actor Reed Hadley excels with a commanding voice as he delivers speeches from throughout the career of Abraham Lincoln. Stock footage from Lincoln's era plus new staged scenes enhance the high production values. Hadley was familiar to 1950s TV audiences through his lead roles in "Racket Squad" and "Public Defender," while action fans might remember him as Zorro in "Zorro's Fighting Legion" (1939).
"Empty Shoes" (1956, color) is the story of missionary William Carey who was the first englishman to bring the Gospel to India in the late 1700s. The final film in GFD's "Trio #2" is "Charlie Churchman and the Teenage Masquerade" (1967). Charlie is modeled after silent comedian Charlie Chaplin and is full of genuinely funny slapstick. In this episode Charlie volunteers to be youth director for his church and learns of the real problems facing teenagers behind the masks they currently wear.
Here is the preview trailer for those three films:
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