NOSTALGIA and CAMP HUMOR make up a one-two punch that is hard to top; for just about everyone, it seems, has an inherent interest in "the Good Old Days" and the origins of the Movies. Added to these we have that segment we have those who can only find the energy and motivation of laughter in what has gone before.
WITH the presentation of Matinée AT THE BIJOU (Bijou Productions/Public Broadcasting Service, 1980-88), we were given a whole program which was devoted to the films of bygone eras and to the recreation of just what it was like to attend a Saturday Matinée at your local movie house.
MAKING good use of a 90 minute running time, the producers gave us a program that was comprised of a good old "B" Movie; be it a Western or a Detective Story from the likes of Monogram, PRC or Grand National Pictures. To this they would add an old B & W Sound Cartoon; say a TOM & JERRY (Human Types, not the later MGM Starring duo.) This twosome was a sort of MUTT & JEFF knock-off who functioned in much the same way as did Laurel & Hardy, Clark & McCulllough, Moran & Mack or Smith & Dale.
ADDITIONALLY, they always had an on-going serial with its 20 minute chapter being a mainstay of each weekly installment. This meant that we would always be seeing the likes of Gene Autry in THE PHAMTOM EMPIRE, Bela Lugosi in THE PHANTOM CREEPS or Don Terry & Walter Sande in DON WINSLOW OF THE COAST GUARD.
POSSIBLY the singularly most impressive and most contributive toward the movement of Film History and Preservation came in the series' inclusion of so many, diversified and rarely seen Short Subjects. This is not unexpected inasmuch as the Short Subjects field was probably the largest and most varied category in Hollywood's Golden Era.
BEING that the Short Subjects used (as well as the other films used) were in Public Domain, the selection was both plentiful and downright Cheap! This is a prime requisite when your show is produced by a number of interested fans out of love for the old movies; instead of a bunch of Bottom Liner "Suits", seeking only whatever Buck$ may be had.
GOOD NEWS DEPARTMENT: WE saw on the internet the other day that Matinée AT THE BIJOU will be making a return as a new Bijou Series is slated to be shown over the PBS Television Network via its affiliates.
WE certainly hope that the new series will be long lived and handled with care and respect. As an example of what we're driving at, we draw your attention to our local PBS Station in Chicago, WTTW, Channel 11. Going back about 10 years or so ago, Channel 11 was running the BIJOU Show every day.
ANOTHER problem was that they just haphazardly ran any 1 & ½ hour day after day. There was no continuity to the sequential screenings; which meant little to any of the programs' movies shown, except for the Serial Chapters being shown. So, on Monday we'd see Chapter 3 of UNDERSEA KINGDOM, Tuesday it would be Chapter 6 of BUCK ROGERS and on Wednesday we'd be shown Chapter 12 of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN.
SUCH inattention to proper handling would be ruinous to any TV Show, let alone one that was assembled out of love for the old Saturday matinée with a proverbially shoestring budget. Ain't that right Schultz? POODLE SCHNITZ!!
WITH the presentation of Matinée AT THE BIJOU (Bijou Productions/Public Broadcasting Service, 1980-88), we were given a whole program which was devoted to the films of bygone eras and to the recreation of just what it was like to attend a Saturday Matinée at your local movie house.
MAKING good use of a 90 minute running time, the producers gave us a program that was comprised of a good old "B" Movie; be it a Western or a Detective Story from the likes of Monogram, PRC or Grand National Pictures. To this they would add an old B & W Sound Cartoon; say a TOM & JERRY (Human Types, not the later MGM Starring duo.) This twosome was a sort of MUTT & JEFF knock-off who functioned in much the same way as did Laurel & Hardy, Clark & McCulllough, Moran & Mack or Smith & Dale.
ADDITIONALLY, they always had an on-going serial with its 20 minute chapter being a mainstay of each weekly installment. This meant that we would always be seeing the likes of Gene Autry in THE PHAMTOM EMPIRE, Bela Lugosi in THE PHANTOM CREEPS or Don Terry & Walter Sande in DON WINSLOW OF THE COAST GUARD.
POSSIBLY the singularly most impressive and most contributive toward the movement of Film History and Preservation came in the series' inclusion of so many, diversified and rarely seen Short Subjects. This is not unexpected inasmuch as the Short Subjects field was probably the largest and most varied category in Hollywood's Golden Era.
BEING that the Short Subjects used (as well as the other films used) were in Public Domain, the selection was both plentiful and downright Cheap! This is a prime requisite when your show is produced by a number of interested fans out of love for the old movies; instead of a bunch of Bottom Liner "Suits", seeking only whatever Buck$ may be had.
GOOD NEWS DEPARTMENT: WE saw on the internet the other day that Matinée AT THE BIJOU will be making a return as a new Bijou Series is slated to be shown over the PBS Television Network via its affiliates.
WE certainly hope that the new series will be long lived and handled with care and respect. As an example of what we're driving at, we draw your attention to our local PBS Station in Chicago, WTTW, Channel 11. Going back about 10 years or so ago, Channel 11 was running the BIJOU Show every day.
ANOTHER problem was that they just haphazardly ran any 1 & ½ hour day after day. There was no continuity to the sequential screenings; which meant little to any of the programs' movies shown, except for the Serial Chapters being shown. So, on Monday we'd see Chapter 3 of UNDERSEA KINGDOM, Tuesday it would be Chapter 6 of BUCK ROGERS and on Wednesday we'd be shown Chapter 12 of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN.
SUCH inattention to proper handling would be ruinous to any TV Show, let alone one that was assembled out of love for the old Saturday matinée with a proverbially shoestring budget. Ain't that right Schultz? POODLE SCHNITZ!!
