Buster Times 2

 (imdb)

SHERLOCK JUNIOR-1924-A movie projectionist (Buster Keaton, who also produced and directed) tries to solve the theft of some pearls after he's framed for stealing a watch belonging to the father (Buster's father Joe) of a woman (Kathyrn McGuire) he's sweet on. 

Very clever and funny with a couple of great stunts. The story is credited to Jean Havez & Joe Mitchell and Clyde Bruckman who all worked on many Keaton films.

 (imdb)

BATTLING BUTLER-1926-Socialite Alfred Butler (Buster Keaton; also in the director's chair) goes on a hunting trip and falls in love but his valet (Snitz Edwards) tells the woman (Sally O'Neill) and everyone else that his boss is boxer Battling Butler and then the trouble starts. Especially when the real boxer (Francis McDonald) shows up. 

This is pretty funny but it doesn't have the wild stunts like some of Buster's other comedies. The training scene is great though. Released the same year as Keaton's THE GENERAL, it's regarded as one of the comedian's best. 

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Wood on TV?

 

 (youtube)

FINAL CURTAIN-1957-In an empty theater, the lead actor (Duke Moore) in the play "The Vampire" investigates the spirit world which is supposed to exist after the living have left. He thinks about various spooky things and screams when he hears the cries of a cat. Later he decides to explore. In one room he finds a life like mannequin (Jenny Stevens; also in NIGHT OF THE GHOULS) which seems to come to life. Eventually, he finds what he's looking for. 

This short film (22 minutes) was produced, written and directed by Ed Wood Jr. as a pilot for a planned TV series “Portraits in Terror”. If the scenes with the mannequin seem familiar, most of it (probably Wood's best work) was used in his NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (1959). The bombastic desperate out of control (but typical Wood) narration is by Dudley Manlove.

Once thought to be a lost film, a copy was discovered by the great grand-nephew of Paul (Kelton the Cop) Marco.

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Superboy on TV (almost)

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY-1961-This was a TV pilot produced by SUPERMAN producer Whitney Ellsworth. The simple plot involves a trio of thugs who plan to rob a movie theater in Smallville. Fred, the doorman (Ross Elliot) has a son Jimmy who's kind of ashamed of his old man's occupation. For some reason to promote their new movie the theater manager has 200,000 dollars in uncut diamonds on display. One bad guy (Richard Reeves) causes a ruckus out in Bronson canyon to distract the police from their real target. 

While Superboy talks by radio to the chief of police, the other two use knockout gas on the police guards and make off with the diamonds. Superboy arrests Reeves just as he gets the word the theater has been robbed. Fortunately Fred is also a crack artist and he draws portraits of the two robbers. Superboy uses his super pressure on some coal to create new diamonds for the display and uses his super hearing as a “lie detector” to listen to Reeves' heart rate. They use Fred as “bait” to trap the robbers but it kind of backfires and Superboy instead makes the fleeing crooks crash their car. For Fred's courageous work, Jimmy wins a scholarship and his father wins Jimmy's respect.

There are interviews with the 4 different actress auditioning for Lana and then screen tests and an interview with the lead actor John Rockwell (in his costume)

This has been available as a bootleg for years and is on Youtube.

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All About...???

ALL ABOUT EVIL-2010-This dumb comedy gore-fest begins with a little girl singing in front of her school when she pees herself and is electrocuted while her dad plays the piano and her mother laughs hysterically. Later a stupid woman named Deborah Tennis (Natasha Lyonne from the AMERICAN PIE films) runs a movie theater she inherited from her father. She rants to a librarian (John Waters' veteran Mink Stole) about her father. When her mother informs Deborah that she is going to sell the theater Deborah kills her. The killing is caught on security cameras and accidentally shown to the horror movie loving audience who of course think it's just a movie. Deborah decides to make more movies and goes around killing innocent people with the help of a moronic old projectionist, a homeless maniac and psychotic twin sisters. A horror film dork named Steven (Thomas Dekker) kind of falls for Deborah but he becomes the chief suspect when Deborah uses his date in one of her movies. His mother is played by Cassandra Peterson (TV's Elvira). 

This crazed and derivative gore film was the creation of Joshua Grannell, an underground drag queen known professionally as Peaches Christ (who appears in the film). It's obviously a take off but I found it rather nasty. Just another excuse to show senseless violence and torture.

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