Month: May 2012

Why they fought

During World War II the English, minus Alfred Hitchcock who had left for America, somehow managed to not only make movies, they made some truly outstanding ones. I am particularly fond of the films that showed life on the home front. One of them is This Happy Breed, by Noel Coward and David Lean, and another is Millions Like Us, by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder. The latter film has a funny surprise in it for animation fans, because it uses Raymond Scott’s tune Powerhouse in a factory scene.

[flv:http://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Video/2012/Millions.flv 400 300]

That double turntable setup with a single tonearm is neat. Powerhouse became a fixture in the Warner Bros. cartoons starting with Porky’s Pig Feat, as seen in this post from about a year ago. Porky’s Pig Feat was released on July 17, 1943, and Millions Like Us was released in the UK on November 5, 1943, so it would seem likely that somebody involved with the making the film had seen the cartoon.

Schulz original on Antiques Roadshow

Antiques Roadshow is in Minneapolis, and a visitor has the original art to the December 4, 1949 installment of Li’l Folks by Charles Schulz.

Watch Appraisal: 1949 Charles Schulz “Li’l Folks” Original Cartoon on PBS. See more from Antiques Roadshow.

The owner says the art was found in his attic! The appraiser, Phillip Weiss, estimates the value of the piece at $18-24,000, and while it’s certainly a rarity I’m not sure a Li’l Folks original can get that much at auction. Ideally, it would go to the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Note: the missing eyes were due to a printing error, which was a problem that also plagued the early installments of Peanuts in some newspapers.

May is Beatless month

It had been my plan to be at an in-theater screening tonight of the Beatles concert from February 11, 1964 at the Washington Coliseum. Unfortunately, “last minute issues” came up, and the shows were postponed.

MAY 2012 LIMITED ENGAGEMENT OF “THE BEATLES: THE LOST CONCERT” POSTPONED

New York, N.Y., May 8, 2012 — Screenvision announces the postponement of the May 17 and 22 limited engagement of “The Beatles: The Lost Concert.”

The new 92-minute documentary charts the birth and impact of Beatlemania and includes, in its entirety, their first U.S. concert from February 1964 at D.C’s Washington Coliseum.

According to sources at Screenvision, the film’s distributor in the U.S., the postponement is the result of last-minute issues which are being resolved by the documentary’s producers. The distributor hopes the issues will be resolved in short order so the attraction can be rescheduled for an even longer theatrical run in late Summer 2012.

“It’s regrettable that these issues have caused the cancellation of our planned limited engagement” adds Darryl Schaffer, EVP of Exhibitor Relations, Screenvision. “We are looking forward to their resolution so we can bring ‘The Beatles: The Lost Concert’ to even more Beatles fans and theaters in the U.S.”

Anyone who purchased advance tickets can obtain a refund through Fandango, MovieTickets.com or their local exhibitor.

For updated information on the film and future screenings, please visit www.lostbeatlesconcert.com