Edgar Kennedy and Charlie Chaplin at Keystone

"In the Clutches of the Gang" (1915)
Edgar as Keystone Kop with mustache in back, left.

When Edgar Kennedy joined Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company in 1913 he found steady work in short after short that were filmed in a few days at most.  Edgar was not always used as a comedian.  Sennett's other large men, Mack Swain and Fatty Arbuckle, simply looked funny, but Edgar needed a funny mustache or costume.  His imposing stature and boxing experience made him valuable playing straight men or petty crooks in many films.

Biographer Bill Cassara sums up Edgar's varying roles at Keystone:  "As a stock player, Edgar was playing villains, comic heavies, cops and even handsome suitors. Oversized mustaches, face make-up, wigs and other exaggerated features and clothes were expected for character portrayals. Each actor was expected to apply their own makeup.  Stock players were supposed to be unrecognizable from one comedy to another, often depicting different characters in the same film."

Charlie Chaplin's first released film for Keystone was Kid Auto Races at Venice, impromptu clowning around at a soap-box derby filmed on Jan. 10, 1914, a full year after Edgar had joined Sennett. Charlie had already made Making a Living and his third film was Mabel's Strange Predicament with Mabel Normand.

Only recently Chaplin's fourth and previously unknown Keystone was discovered by film historian Paul Gierucki on 16mm at an antiques show in Michigan -- A Thief Catcher released on Feb. 19, 1914.  Ford Sterling stars and Chaplin plays a minor role as a policeman who helps apprehend crooks Edgar Kennedy and Mack Swain, all on display in this wonderful still along with an unidentified 4th cop. Charlie next made Between Showers without Edgar and followed with A Film Johnnie, released March 2, 1914. This is the earliest Edgar Kennedy film that has been restored to excellent quality and proves to be a milestone for both he and Charlie. Here is part of the plot from Phil Posner's Charlie Chaplin Filmography:

In Charlie Chaplin's fifth Keystone comedy we get a look inside the famous laugh factory. Charlie is a movie fan and we first see him creating havoc at a theatre where he gets too involved with the action on the screen and the beautiful actress in the film.  Ejected from the theatre, he proceeds to Keystone itself where he mooches money from Roscoe Arbuckle as he arrives at work. Charlie sneaks into the studio and disrupts the filming, much to the chagrin of the director. He mistakes a scene where the starlet is being manhandled for reality and comes to her rescue. Firing a prop pistol in all directions, he clears the stages before leaving.

Edgar plays the harried film director who can't seem to find a real cop to get Charlie out of the film he is trying to direct and out of the studio. Scenes are pretty much improvised around this basic premise.  Edgar displays several creative grimaces that would develop into "burns" years later, though nothing at Sennett was ever "slow."

Of the 35 films that Chaplin made for Sennett in his only year at Keystone, Edgar Kennedy appeared in 12 of them.  Edgar had a straight role he was born for as a boxing protagonist in The Knockout (6/11/14).  As Cyclone Finn he battles star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.  Arbuckle's wife Minta Durfee is also in the film along with a cameo by Sennett himself.  Chaplin only played a minor part in the second half as the referee.

The most famous Sennett film from 1914 is the first comedy feature film -- Tillie's Punctured Romance released 11/14/14. Marie Dressler was imported from Broadway for star power, but Charlie as a cad who romances Mabel when he can sneak it in and Marie when she has money got the best notices.  Every comedian on the Sennett lot appears from Charley Chase and Mack Swain to Slim Summerville and Al St. John as Keystone Kops.  Although the Kops run amuck in the climactic chases and pratfalls, Edgar was not one of them this time.  He played a straight role as the restaurant owner where Tillie works, as seen in this still.  In a different disguise he also plays a butler!

It's fascinating to see Edgar Kennedy in minor roles in these early Keystones.  He undeniably adds to each film but displays few glimmers of true comic talent that were to come.  Edgar watched and learned and finally hit his stride as the average man in his own shorts in the early 1930s, by which time only Chaplin remained a major star from the Sennett era.  Fatty Arbuckle, Mable Normand, Ford Sterling, Mack Swain, Charles Murray and Hank Mann had all but disappeared with the coming of sound.  Edgar survived and flourished and will entertain a new generation with "The Edgar Kennedy Show" now in development.


The definitive DVD set of "Chaplin at Keystone" is available from Flicker Alley. Good sources for DVDs of rare silent comedies are Looser Than Loose and Grapevine Video.   Please visit the Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project and LIKE Edgar, leave a comment and ask your friends to spread the word about the campaign to bring back Edgar.  Read about Edgar's dramatic films at the Bijou Blog.

Edgar Kennedy -- Original Keystone Kop!

Team Edgar plans to produce The Edgar Kennedy Show in 30 minute episodes.  The centerpiece of each will be one of his complete RKO shorts restored to high def.  The balance will consist of mini-documentaries devoted to various aspects of Edgar's career.  These will be narrated by Edgar's biographer Bill Cassara and include generous stills and film clips.  In time we hope to produce a visual biography of Edgar's World.

For example, one segment will certainly cover how Edgar got into the movies.  Was he an original Keystone Kop?  You bet!

Edgar had acting aspirations at an early age although his high-pitched voice did not fit his burly physique.  While touring with a theatrical troupe in 1911 in Chicago he appeared in his first film -- Brown of Harvard -- for the Selig Polyscope Company.  His voice did not matter in silent films.

In 1912 Edgar trained for a boxing career and had some success until being knocked out by Kid Kenneth on Feb. 8, 1913.  Shortly thereafter he walked onto the fledgling Keystone Film Company in Los Angeles and asked Mack Sennett for a job.  The year was 1913 and Edgar was 23.  He found steady employment as part of the Sennett stock company, appearing in almost every film over the next few years starting at a salary of $3 a day.  By comparison, Charlie Chaplin was a late comer to pictures making his first Little Tramp appearance in 1914's Kid Auto Races in Venice.

Some sources credit Edgar's first Sennett film as Hoffmeyer's Legacy (released Dec. 1912) and also claim it is the first with the Keystone Kops.  Neither can be verified since it is sadly a lost film.  Edgar was still boxing in San Francisco when the film was produced and so could hardly have been in it.

On April 24, 1913 Sennett released Bangville Police which does survive and is considered the first real Keystone Kops film.  Actor Fred Mace plays the police chief and is the only one dressed as a cop.  Others who rush to assist him are Edgar, Raymond Hatton who had a long career in westerns, Charles Avery, Rube Miller, Jack Leonard and Fred Happ.  Edgar is the big guy, naturally, who wields a shovel in his earliest surviving film role.

Also in the cast in an incredible coincidence is Dot Farley as Mabel Normand's mother.  Dot played Edgar's domineering mother-in-law starting 18 years later in many of his RKO shorts, and she is in the very last one, Home Canning (1948), a full 35 years later.  Dot is the woman in this still with the clenched hands.  Edgar is just behind Dot holding the shovel handle.

The simple plot of Bangville Police generates a whole lot of mayhem.  It seems that farm maid Mabel overhears two strangers in her barn and thinks they plan to rob her, so she locks herself in the house and phones the police.  When her mother and father arrive and batter at the door to get in, she thinks they are the imaginary attackers and hides in a closet.  The police chief races to the rescue in a steam driven jalopy that blows up and then continues on foot.  A crowd of deputies with badges, including Edgar dressed as a farm hand, also run to help.  See how it all turns out by watching the film right here!


The title "Bangville" reminded me of Mr. Bang.  Cartoonist Fontaine Fox created a popular comic strip "Toonerville Folks" in 1908 that was syndicated everywhere by 1913.  Toonerville was a rural town connected to the big city by the Toonerville Trolley.  One of the cantankerous characters was the "Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang" who got overly upset at almost anything.  It is possible that director Harry Sweet to some degree modeled Edgar's average man character after Mr. Bang in the early RKO shorts.  It is certain that audiences were familiar with and used to laughing at such a frustrated man from the comic, as you can judge in this sample strip:

Please visit the Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project on Facebook and LIKE Edgar!

More information about the Edgar Project is on this web page.

Edgar Kennedy -- Gathering His Fans!

The first step toward making The Edgar Kennedy Show a reality is to find his many fans and rally them to the Facebook Page.  Team Edgar is currently delving into all aspects of social media to spread the word, including emails, posts on movie Facebook pages, contacting bloggers who write about vintage films and seeking links from movie websites.  Once we learn how to reach everyone, a PR Web Press Release will publicize a Kickstarter campaign in August, with production of the first six episodes in the fall.

I have been sending out emails much like the message below, which contains links and advice for helping us find fans who LIKE EDGAR.  Liking him on Facebook is all important!

Dear Film Fan,

I would like to ask your help to bring comedian Edgar Kennedy the recognition he so richly deserves.  If you are on Facebook, simply visit the new Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project Facebook page.  Once there, click LIKE!

That's all!  Many thanks for helping!  If you don't participate in Facebook, my thanks anyways.  You can find out about the Edgar project by clicking here.

After you have LIKED EDGAR at Facebook, you can help further in two ways:

1)  Post any kind of "Message" about Edgar on the FB page.  This will then appear in the section "Recent posts by others."

2)  Post a link on YOUR OWN Facebook home page to help spread the news to YOUR FB Friends that we might not otherwise reach.  Something simple like "I love Edgar Kennedy and here's a place to watch clips of him every week."  Then type this into your post -- https://www.facebook.com/edgarkennedyshow -- and the link shown here will magically appear.

Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project

After working with Mack Sennett, Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and the Marx Brothers, Edgar Kennedy became America's first sit-com star and Master of the Slow Burn. Edgar played himself in 103 RKO comedy shorts from 1931 to 1948. In each he is driven to the edge by a zany dysfunctional famil...

"Liking Edgar" and commenting on him and telling your Friends on Facebook will demonstrate the fan support we need to secure financing.  While there, please enjoy Edgar "Clips of the Week."  A new one will be posted every Friday.  

In brief, the EKRP aims to find and restore Edgar's RKO Average Man comedy shorts to High Definition.  Each restored short will become an episode of "The Edgar Kennedy Show" and will be introduced by Edgar's biographer Bill Cassara, who will also write and narrate short biographical segments on various aspects of Edgar's Illustrious career.  These Shows will be available for broadcast, DVD sales and online streaming in due course.

Edgar Kennedy is fondly remembered as an original Keystone Kop who worked with Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang and the Marx Brothers.  Not as well known are his RKO series of 103 shorts from 1931 to 1948 in which he played the Average Man enmeshed in travails with a ditzy wife, harpy mother-in-law and do-nothing brother-in-law.  Edgar was a pioneer for all the TV sitcoms to come.  Lucy even appeared in one in 1936 -- Dummy Ache.  The shorts are still hilarious.  Getting them back before the public in pristine quality will perpetuate Edgar's legacy.

The Edgar Kennedy Show will be produced by Bob Campbell (Matinee at the Bijou) and Ron Hall (that's me, Festival Films) with the full participation of author Bill Cassara, Film Chest CEO Phil Hopkins, film collector Derek Myers, producer Pete Bedell and other members of the original Matinee at the Bijou team.  Go here for further information.  

My sincere thanks for any way you can help spread news about the Edgar Project, and especially for Liking Edgar on Facebook today.

Back to our pending plans...

Phase Two will take the Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project public on Kickstarter.  A PR Web press release will spread the word far beyond the Edgar Kennedy fans who will have found us on Facebook and been enjoying the Edgar Clips of the Week.  Kickstarter is a marvelous crowd-funding opportunity where fans can contribute any amount to help the project, or simply root on its success over the month long campaign.  We are optimistic at getting the financial support to fund the first six episodes because Edgar Kennedy truly does have thousands of fans who want to see restored versions of his rare films.

Phase Three will be production of the first six episodes in the fall.  Please check back every week for developments.  If you are not that familiar with Edgar's RKO Average Man series of comedy shorts (1931-1948) here is a Clip of the Week from 1935 -- "Edgar Hamlet":



See you on Facebook at Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project. 

The Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project

Five years ago Bob (Matinee at the Bijou) Campbell and I developed a proposal to produce "The Edgar Kennedy Show." Here is part of the description that we filed with the Writer's Guild West:

The EDGAR KENNEDY SHOW is a proposed series for television. Edgar's biographer, Bill Cassara, will introduce each 18 minute comedy short starring Edgar Kennedy and will then discuss some aspect of Edgar’s life and films. Excerpts will be included from Edgar Kennedy feature films. 

Edgar Kennedy was America’s first sitcom star. He played himself in 103 two-reel (twenty minute) short subjects produced by RKO Radio Pictures between 1931 and 1948. In each episode, Edgar is surrounded by a zany dysfunctional family consisting of dizzy wife, meddling mother-in-law and shiftless good for nothing brother-in- law. Sound familiar?

Each short revolves around a typical sitcom plot with Edgar at the center of the action and caught up in domestic discord, a household emergency, or the latest get-rich-quick scheme certain to bankrupt the household ~~ or put one of them in jail. As the tension mounts, Edgar’s pent-up impatience boils over until he finally ignites in anger, and resigns himself to fate by slowly wiping his head and face with his left hand. This symbolic white flag of defeat and “Slow-Burn” made him one of the movies’ most recognizable faces.

THE EDGAR KENNEDY SHOW is coming soon from Bijou Productions, the creators of the original hit 1980s television series MATINEE AT THE BIJOU and Festival Films.  Each half-hour sit-com episode will feature one of Edgar’s entertaining and timeless movie shorts, most of which have not been seen by the general public in over 60 years.

The Edgar Kennedy Show will be produced in High Definition and will include a comprehensive website and blog, along with a myriad of other Web 2.0 bells and whistles to help stimulate the buzz. 

Contemplating his legacy!

Those five years slipped away quickly and without much progress because we needed financing to restore film prints to high definition and to film the introductions and biographical segments with Bill Cassara that will flesh out each episode.  We also needed a broadcast platform, DVD distributor, foreign sales, publicity, marketing and other plans to generate income.  Our faith in the films and in Edgar to conquer new audiences fostered a continuing conviction that if we just produce the first shows and get them out there, then fans and sponsors will follow.

The Edgar Kennedy Show will give birth to an Edgar Revival for these indisputable (in our minds, at least) reasons:

• His best films are hilarious.  Funny is funny ... forever!
• Edgar's films have not been restored in Hi-Def for TV or DVD.
• Edgar contributed to Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers.  Their fans are legion.
• Edgar's Average Man series set the stage for all TV situation comedies to come.
• Edgar's eternal woes and slow burn are timelier than ever.  He is today's average man!

The innovative road to producing The Edgar Kennedy Show is crowd funding -- the method that recently generated $5 million to make a feature film of VERONICA MARS.  Edgar's many fans will have their chance to help us restore his films and perpetuate his legacy.  Yes, we plan a Kickstarter campaign this summer to finance the first six half-hour episodes of The Edgar Kennedy Show.

Our plan to raise money on Kickstarter for a new season of Matinee at the Bijou will delay until immediately after The Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project (the Kickstarter name) is successfully funded.  The reasons to promote and produce The Edgar Kennedy Show before Matinee at the Bijou are many: 

• We will learn the ins and outs of Kickstarter.
• Restore shorts to hi-def that can later be used in Bijou. 
• Lower budget to produce 6 Edgar Kennedy Shows than 13 Bijou shows.
• Focusing on one beloved icon is sure to succeed. 
• Simple goal: Fund Edgar and we will deliver long-lost films like Thanks Again (1931). 
• A half-hour will be easier to license to TV or find a sponsor for PBS. 
• Countless fans love Edgar, and will love to see him re-introduced to the world. 

We have a new partner in this exciting endeavor -- Phil Hopkins, one of the owners of Film Chest Media Group.  Film Chest specializes in restoring vintage films for DVD sales, foreign, television, online streaming and venues not yet invented!  Film Chest has run a successful Kickstarter campaign and will advise us there.  Phil is excited about restoring Edgar Kennedy's many shorts for the first time.

We have just launched The Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project on Facebook.   The first goal is to gather Edgar's fans.  Please visit and "Like" Edgar and you will get each Facebook update.  Leave your comments about Edgar.  Tell your friends.  Help us spread the word by sharing a photo and link on your own FB page.  Come back each week to watch the "Edgar Clip of the Week."  You can view the first one right here:

A weekly dose of Edgar will bring a smile to your face and a hearty guffaw.  Edgar suffered for all of us.  His pain is our pain.  His exasperated, slow-burn face-wipe still epitomizes the plight of the average man in a world gone mad.  His hopeless predicaments will cheer you up with laughter.  Help us revive Edgar and restore him to the world!

Visit The Edgar Kennedy Restoration Project on Facebook!

Matinee at the Bijou on Facebook!

A Kickstarter campaign is planned to raise funding for a first new season of 13 Matinee at the Bijou shows.  The campaign will begin in June when preparations and plans are all in place.

12 episodes will be in the original format with a cartoon, a serial chapter, shorts, trailers and a fitting B-film, all restored in Hi Def.  The extra, 13th show is envisioned as a kind of documentary about the Saturday Matinee that will include previews of all the other new episodes.  This special show will be designed as both an elaborate promo for the series and as a stand alone project that might be offered to PBS as a fund raiser.  We are certain there will be great interest in PBS stations carrying this Bijou Special Edition as a pledge show if it is hosted by Debbie Reynolds or another Hollywood star, with possible co-host or hosts who are experts on serials, cartoons, comedy shorts and B-films.

We contacted Ms. Reynolds through her agent around six years ago, at which time they expressed interest pending funding and Debbie's availability at the time of production.  We have re-connected with the agent about Ms. Reynolds' participation in the Kickstarter campaign and are awaiting their reply.

Should the Bijou campaign be as successful as the Veronica Mars and other recent film projects have been, and we double or triple our budget goal, then we can produce 26 new Bijou shows instead of 13.  This would hasten our dream of a weekly Matinee at the Bijou, 52 weeks a year with never a rerun, just like when America went to the movies duirng the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

The first step preparing for a Kickstarter campaign was to establish a Matinee at the Bijou Facebook page.  You can run right over and "Like" Bijou, or wait for the repeated link at the end of this blog.  I am the administrator of the Bijou FB page and have been learning lots about FB the last few weeks.  The first thing I learned is how important that LIKING thing is.  It shows we do have fans, friends and interest.  Every time we post a new photo, video or news item on MATB Facebbok page, it appears on the feed of those who have liked us, so it is a valuable communication tool.

175 "Like Bijou" at this writing, and we are just getting the hang of how to spread the word on Facebook.  Since millions watched the show on PBS in the 1980s, we feel confident we can boost this number way up with your help!  Tell your friends.  Go to the MATB Facebook page and click "Like."  Most important, and some don't seem to get this quickly, if you make your own post about Bijou on your home page in the "What's on your mind?" section with a link to Bijou, then your 400 plus friends will see it and respond if they like the show.  Also, please post a comment on the Bijou page to tell us your memories of the original series.  Here are a few examples:

Annette D'Agostino Lloyd

April 22  This is the best news I've had in a long time: plans are to resurrect the marvelous PBS program Matinee at the Bijou which, truly, kick-started my love for classic film in the early 1980s. I'd reckon you saw and enjoyed the program and its concept too. Show your support by visiting the Matinee at the Bijou Facebook page, and click LIKE ... let's show the great support there is for the classics! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Matinee-at-the-Bijou/626282440718659?fref=ts

Matinee at the Bijou

The Bijou series on PBS during the 1980s had a fan base in the multiple millions. We invite our fans and all who love classic movies to join the Kickstarter campaign in May to help fund the first new season of MATB in Hi-Def and hosted by Debbie Reynolds.

Page: 175 like this

Many thanks, Annette!  As soon as one enters that https link, the Bijou logo and bottom blurb appear in your post.  Annette has 2,657 fans who may have first heard about Bijou plans from her.  Some of them did indeed go to the Bijou Facebook page and Like Us.

Steve Latshaw

This is a program that NEEDS to come back! Everyone I know still talks about this show and how much fun it was...

Steven F. Scharff

I loved the short films from this! I eagerly await its return to TV!

Kevin Wollenweber

It was on "MATINEE AT THE BIJOU" that I'd seen "TOYLAND BROADCAST" after so many years of not having MGM classic cartoons of any kind on the airwaves, outside of TOM & JERRY. it was wonderful, and I wish that the show could see a rebirth. Sure we have TCM, but "BIJOU" gives you a wonderful impression of going to the movies in the first golden age of cinema.

Mar-Jean Zamperini

Oh, how I loved this show! I was only a kid when it was on, but I watched every episode! I tried to absorb anything with old films then.

Mar-Jean then put this comment on her own Facebook home page with the link:

Do any of you remember this great PBS show? They are trying to get a Kickstarter campaign going.

This is how you can help bring back Matinee at the Bijou today -- 

1) Go to the Bijou Facebook Page.

2)  LIKE BIJOU!

3)  Post a comment on the Bijou page about your remembrance of the series.

4)  Post a comment with link for all your Facebook fans to see.

You have the sincere thanks of the entire Bijou team.  Who are we?  Sounds like a good future blog topic!

Matinee at the Bijou Rides Again!

As long time fans of the series know, Matinee at the Bijou was a television series that premiered nationally on PBS in 1980. It recreated the American moviegoing experiences of the 1930s and '40s, with trailers, a cartoon, one or more selected short subjects, a cliff-hanging serial chapter “to be continued,” and a tightly edited feature presentation. The 90-minute series ran for five consecutive first-run seasons, each consisting of 16 episodes, and continued on PBS for three subsequent years in reruns. The series was an independent production from Bijou Productions, Inc., of Medford, Oregon.  

Vintage Hollywood movies proliferated on television in the 1950s and 60s, but began tapering off in the 1970s as trends moved to color only.  The black and white B pictures were extinct on TV by 1980 and it was even hard to see classics like Bogart, Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy.  I recall when I ran a film society in the early 70s one could not see any old movies on TV.  When MATB debuted in 1980, around the birth of home video and 14 years before the debut of Turner Classic Movies, it brought back memories and started new ones.  Bijou remembered the Saturday Matinee, which died off in the mid-1950s because of television.  

In 1984 I contributed a single film print for use in the 4th season, the 1934 Mascot spooky house mystery One Frightened Night.  Thus my name (Ron Hall) appears far down in the closing credits for that season, which my new Bijou partners may be surprised to discover one day on a molding VHS tape.  

Around 7-8 years ago I started the Café Roxy programs of Saturday Matinees that pretty much copied the Bijou formula of cartoons, shorts, serial chapter and short feature in one package and meant for showing in small movie theaters or by TV stations on Saturdays.  One day the original Bijou producer Bob Campbell called to talk, not in any way to discourage what I was doing but to invite participation in his plan to revive Matinee at the Bijou with new episodes in high definition with a celebrity host.  We were introduced by a common friend, Conrad Sprout, and had another friend in common from Budget Films in the 1970s, Larry Fine (who has sadly passed on).  Or did I start Café Roxy after meeting Bob?  Darned if I can recall.  In either event my matinees never aspired to compete with the return of Bijou to public consciousness.

We started the Bijou Blog in 2006, or Bob started it and I joined in, to build name recognition and document revival efforts.  For awhile we tried to put up a new post every single week, and since they are still online you can read them for hours on end.  Bob first approached PBS and, after reintroducing the new players to their former hit series, they welcomed the Bijou sequel series ... if we found sponsors, produced it and gave it to them free. Finding the sponsorship has been the singular challenge! 

Some wonder whether the world needs Bijou anymore since we do have TCM and thousands of films are out on DVD, a medium that did not exist in 1980.  My resounding YES answer addresses many issues.  First, TCM's own success with their Classic Film Festival illustrates that vintage film interest is at a peak.  But TCM is a pay channel whereas PBS would reach millions more and for free.  The family values exemplified in Hollywood films of the 1930s, '40s and '50s never outdate.  The films themselves are as entertaining and uplifting as ever.  The Saturday Matinee is a fascinating slice of Americana that millions enjoyed and remember fondly.  It deserves to be chronicled in a documentary, which is included in our plans for the sequel series. 

BIJOU HEADS TO KICKSTARTER

A Kickstarter campaign to bring back the UPN/CW series "Veronica Mars" as a movie just broke major contribution funding records on Kickstarter and raised triple the amount sought! Matinee at the Bijou is following in Veronica Mars footsteps and launching our own Kickstarter campaign in May to fund the first 13-episode sequel series.

The first phase of this strategy was to set up a Bijou Facebook page to locate Bijou fans, send them to Facebook and ask them to "Like" us.  You can help via emails, Facebook posts and blog mentions.  Tell everyone.  Go to Facebook and Like us.  This will allow us to spread news about phase two, which will be  an official Kickstarter campaign in May to raise the funding.  To anyone unfamiliar, Kickstarter is a revolutionary way to raise money for artistic projects that allows anyone to contribute any amount to help a dream come true.  See the results of the "Veronica Mars" campaign that we hope to follow.

Here is an early history of Bijou on PBS.  You can read more about the revival plans at The Bijou Blog and at the new Bijou Facebook Page.  How is all this working so far?   To Be Continued Next Week!

Visit my websites at Festival Films and Lost and Rare.

Festival Films -- Public Domain Confidential!

A few days ago I was asked by an editor of Home Media Magazine about public domain titles and how Festival Films fits in: "Public domain films/titles can be accessed legally for free by anyone … how has Festival Films make public domain titles attractive, something people are willing to pay for?"  This gave me a chance to explain what Festival Films has been doing all these years to bring public domain films to the public.

Festival Films has never targeted selling public domain films to the public.  We don't have a retail line in stores.  We have helped supply Mill Creek Entertainment with films for their 50 packs, which are a terrific value even if quality on some may not be the best.  Quantity sells but I leave that up to others.  My main clients include:

1)  Small, independent, Christian and college TV Stations.  When vintage films and 1950s TV shows are broadcast free the audience swells among seniors, families and those discovering the films for the first time.  This audience does not know the films are public domain and would never think to watch them on Youtube or Internet Archive.

2)  Movie Theaters.  Our Café Roxy line of programs contains the best public domain features paired with cartoons, comedy shorts and serial chapters along the lines of the old PBS Matinee at the Bijou.  Every theater has a video projection system and small, restored theaters often try showing the matinees free and making money on concessions.  I just mailed off the 12-part "Sagebrush Saga" series to a theater in Lockhart, Texas.

3)  For online streaming.  Last month I sold 100 features to West TV in Perth, Australia.  This is an online TV station one can check out here: www.wtvperth.com.au/watch  They list lots of sponsors!

I have also just started supplying a new online streaming enterprise called Wiener Entertainment, whose website is not yet up.  I will happily promote them when they are live.

4)  Video masters of rare films.  Many public domain films are lost, unknown or not yet released to the public. Watching films no one has seen in recent years, ones without reviews or synopsis on the IMDB, is the most fun I have.  We sell rare masters to Alpha Video who will take almost any PD film they don't have, to Timeless Video, to Film Chest, Synergy and others.  Some upcoming "previously lost" films these companies will soon issue include:

PUBLIC PROSECUTOR -- 1948 TV mystery in 20 minute segments was the very first show ever shot on film for Television.  Then CBS decided they didn't want 20 minute shows and they ended up on Dupont Network with some filler about a panel talking about who the murderer might be.  It stars John Howard.

FLIRTATION (1934)  Country boy Ben Alexander and his frisky dog hit the big city and get mixed up with a burlesque troop featuring the Street Singer Arthur Tracy.  The star singer's mother comes to visit and expects a husband and child, so ....

VENGEANCE OF THE DEEP (1938)  Concert pianist Lloyd Hughes leaves London to dive for pearls in the South Seas at the whim of his fiancee.

KING OF THE CIRCUS (1935)  Lion tamer Gregory Ratoff raises orphan girl until he can marry her, then holds an iron fist over their relationship.

WOMAN TO WOMAN (1929) Silent star Betty Compson's favorite film.  She plays a French singer who has a child by an English soldier during the war, but he gets amnesia and disappears.  They meet years later in London with their child.

5)  Last year with partners Bob Campbell and Derek Myers we started a line of rare short subjects called "Lost and Rare Film and TV Treasures."  We have four releases to date -- Lost TV Pilots, Lost Sports Immortals with a superb 1939 documentary on Baseball, Heavenly Christmas Classics including "Star of Bethlehem" with James Mason and a cast of children performing the Nativity, and Golf Mania that explains itself.

6)  I use public domain films for a series of "Movie Memories Activities" for senior residences.  After a short segment from the 1930s through 1950s, 4 questions come onscreen to foster reminiscing and discussion.  Watch, recall, share the memories.

7)  Working with original producer Bob Campbell to produce a new season of the hit PBS show "Matinee at the Bijou" in high definition.  We plan a Kickstarter campaign in May.

In short I am enjoying many projects that use public domain films, although I do not sell directly to the public.

A few special notes about Matinee at the Bijou...

I have been working with Bob Campbell for quite a few years to produce new episodes of Matinee at the Bijou in high definition and hosted by a major name in show business.  PBS would love it, as long as we find the sponsors, produce the shows and give it to them for free.  Of course, since 1980 there are so many other options at networks, Netflix, online streaming, etc.  Bijou literally had millions of loyal fans in the 1980s.  Interest in vintage films is at a high as evidenced by the continued success of Turner Classic Movies.  Unlike TCM, PBS is free and can reach a larger audience.  Yes, thousands of vintage films have been released on DVD, but we have a higher goal to recreate the movie going experience of the 1930s, '40s and '50s.  The Saturday Matinee is part of our cultural heritage that should be remembered and brought back for the enjoyment of generations to come.

I have rarely mentioned reviving Bijou in this blog since I prefer to wait until there is concrete news to announce.  And now there is.  To produce the first season of 13 new MATB shows we are planning a Kickstarter campaign in May.  To learn more about this plan please visit the Bijou Blog.

This may jog your memory or whet your apetite for the Return of Matinee at the Bijou: 

Watch for Matinee at the Bijou on its own Facebook page next week.  Visit my websites at Festival Films and Lost and Rare.