Monday, September 30, 2024

British Pathé: The Highland Games (1969)

The hills are alive with the smell of heather and the sounds of bagpipes during the week of the Highland Games in Braemar, Scotland. This British Pathé newsreel shows footage of the event from the 1969 games. The annual Scottish sport ceremony was sponsored by the Royal Highland Society and gathered dignitaries from throughout Scotland - even the British monarch and her children attended this event since they lived in nearby Balmoral castle. 

This traditional test of "men who really are men" included cannon ball tossing, log throwing, tug-of-war games, hammer throwing, and highland jig dancing. Of course, the Queen handed out the prizes to the winners which made them all the more proud to be Scotsmen. 


Ready to watch The Highland Games? Simply click on the link below: 

The Highland Games (1969) - 1:44 minutes 


Similar British Pathé newsreels:





Saturday, September 28, 2024

Paganini Strikes Again (1977) - A CFF Film

We are continuing our coverage of Children's Film Foundation (CFF) films with Paganini Strikes Again, a rare mystery/adventure from 1977. The "Paganini" in the title refers to Mike (Andrew Bowen) and his friend Bill (Philip Bliss) who are both violin students. On their way to music class, they get stuck in the elevator of a small building and from their viewpoint are only able to see work boots of a man running up a flight of stairs. They later find out that a robbery had taken place and realize that this was the robber escaping. 

Inspector Mainwaring (John Arnatt) of the London police does not believe their shoe clue is enough to begin a search and so the boys decide to play detectives themselves and hunt down the man with the boots. Unbeknownst to them, he happens to be the uncle of one of their classmates. 

Paganini Strikes Again cannot really be classified as a mystery because everything is shown to the audience. The robbery is evident, and it is clear that Raddings (Dudley Sutton) is the criminal. However, watching the boys track him down is entertaining and for light Saturday afternoon juvenile fare (which this was intended to be) Paganini Strikes Again is pleasant enough. It doesn't rank as one of the best CFF films, nor the worst. 

Both Bowen and Bliss do a good job of acting as the young musician detectives. Bowen had done some acting previously (Bachelor Father) and would later appear in the television series Grange Hill. Dudley Sutton (Lovejoy), a veteran of British television, plays one of his usual nasty criminal roles. Arnatt is good as the Inspector, Patrick Jordan plays a detective, and Julia Dawn Cole has a small part as the sister of one of the boys. 

Paganini Strikes Again is currently not available on DVD or on Youtube, but check every once in a while as it may appear again. 

Saturday, September 21, 2024

The Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie Game

 

It's that time of the month again.... stumping time! Here we have a clever scene (at least, we think so) featuring a man in a convertible. No hints, just a picture. Remember this movie? 

As always, if you are not familiar with the rules to the Impossibly Difficult Name that Movie game or the prize, click here!

GAME OVER. 

Congratulations to Betty for correctly identifying this screenshot from Good Neighbor Sam (1964) starring Jack Lemmon and Romy Schneider. In this scene, this unknown actor is being filmed for a Hertz television commercial and has just been "dropped" into the driver's seat. 

Saturday, September 14, 2024

Film Albums: The Avengers Album


This month's film album is actually a compact disc album and it's an oldie and a goodie: The Avengers by the London Studio Orchestra. The cover states in big letters that it also includes themes from Dr. Strangelove, First Men in the Moon, etc... but Laurie Johnson's name is in small print at the bottom. The album really should have been called "The Music of Laurie Johnson" because it features a lovely sampling of some of his most popular themes. 

This was a Varese Sarabande release (VCD 47270) that implements songs from one of its Soundtrack Series LP releases from 1982 titled The Avengers. 


Of course, "The Avengers" theme is the highlight of the album but you don't want to miss hearing "The Joker" theme from the famous Emma Peel episode, or the lovely romance theme from "First Men in the Moon." The themes to "Hedda" and "Captain Kronos" are also worth listening to. 

Click here to listen to the album in full on Youtube. 


Track Listing


The Avengers - Suite

Theme 

Pandora

The Joker

The New Avengers - Suite

Theme 

Cat Amongst the Pigeons

Obsession

Tale of the Big Why

Dr. Strangelove

The Bomb Run

First Men in the Moon

Title

Moonscape and Descent

The Selenites

Trek to the Giant Doors

Monster Caterpillar

Eclipse and Staircase

Escape of the Sphere

End Title

Hedda - Suite

Title

Hedda and Thea

Judge Brack

Hedda and Lovborg

The Manuscript

Death and End Title

Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter

Title

Death Duel

Top Picks: The Avengers, The Joker, First Men in the Moon main title, Hedda main title.

Saturday, September 7, 2024

From the Archives: The Princess and the Pirate (1944)


In this still from The Princess and the Pirate (1944), Bob Hope is in the company of dangerous pirates and knows it! What he doesn't know yet is how to get out of the sticky situation that he is in... but he'll think of something. He always does! 

From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)

Them thar kiddies are armed and dangerous. They're loaded with winsome ways and beguiling smiles. Why, one glance at them can drive a man.... to marriage? For Mr. Donovan (Bill Bixby), that's exactly what happened. 

Mr. Russell Donovan was just passing through the town of Quake City enjoying a game of poker, when he volunteered to pick up some valuables that was coming in on the next stagecoach for an old acquaintance . Those "valuables" turned out to be three children: Bobby (Clay O'Brien), Clovis (Brad Savage), and Celia (Stacy Manning), and his old acquaintance was nowhere to be found. 

Judge McCoy (Harry Morgan) was of the mind that since Mr. Donovan accepted a down-payment for the valuables, they are rightly his. After numerous attempts to pawn of the youngens fail, Mr. Donovan reluctantly becomes a family man, but the townsfolk suddenly want to adopt the children after the little ones strike gold in an old derelict mine belonging to them. If Mr. Donovan wants to safeguard the children and their fortune, he better "find himself a wife" (the judge declares) and so Mr. Donovan grasps at a last straw and proposes marriage to one of the few single women in town, the rough and tumbled "Dusty" Clydesdale (Susan Clark).

Walt Disney Studios released The Apple Dumpling Gang in 1975, when most of the theaters were showing movies filled with violence and not many laughs. However, Disney knew what families wanted to see and this comedy-western struck gold. The picture reaped in nearly $32 million in box-office receipts and became the 11th top-grossing film of the year*. 

What made the film so entertaining was the featured comedy duo of Don Knotts and Tim Conway. This was their first pairing and the characters of Amos and Theodore ("dumb and dumber") were a boot-fit for this team. Theodore (Tim Conway) had accidentally shot Frank Stillwell (Slim Pickens) of The Stillwell Gang in the leg and so he and Amos (Don Knotts) decide to strike out on their own as the newly dubbed "Hashknife Outfit". They wanted to leave a trail of crime in every town they passed but all they were leaving was a mess. Now the giant gold nugget that the children find is sitting on display at the local bank and Amos and Theodore have their eye on stealing it!

Like most of the scripts for Walt Disney films, there are multiple stories going on at once, all of which intersect and conclude nicely during the finale. The Apple Dumpling Gang was written by Don Tait who had just started with the Walt Disney Studios in 1972 when he wrote Snowball Express. He went on to write many more scripts for the studio, including the sequel to this film, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979), which also featured Don Knotts and Tim Conway. 

Bill Bixby gives a wonderful performance (as usual) as Mr. Donovan and Susan Clark is entertaining as Dusty, but the children are the real scene-stealers. Clay O'Brien has long been a favorite of mine ever since I watched him on Saturday morning showings of The Whiz Kid series, where he played Alvin's friend Shooie. All of the children were well-cast, as were the character actors which also included David Wayne and John McGiver. 

Director Norman Tokar (Leave it to Beaver) kept the action and the entertainment at a steady pace and The Apple Dumpling Gang never becomes dull or tiresome...even after multiple viewings. The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again is equally entertaining. In fact, it is one of those rare sequels that is actually better than the original because most of the story centers on Amos and Theodore instead of Mr. Donovan and the children, and who could pass up more of Knotts and Conway?

* Based on the website The Numbers

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Film Albums: Songs from Annette and other Walt Disney Serials


Every once in a while you come across a gem of an album that you never even knew existed. This one caught my attention because Annette Funicello was on the cover but then I saw the subtitle "and other Walt Disney serials" and my heart skipped a beat. This album is actually just an updated release of Disney's "Songs from the Mickey Mouse Club Serials" album (another one I never knew existed) but with the inclusion of Annette's music from her latest serial Annette. If you enjoy Walt Disney serials then that one is well worth watching. 

This album features songs from some of the popular Mickey Mouse Club members including Tim Considine, David Stollery, Darlene, and Annette, as well as tunes performed by the Walt Disney studio chorus. In my own humble opinion, these are the best ones on the album. There is a ripping version of "Pieces of Eight", the theme song to The Hardy Boys - The Mystery of Applegate Treasure; a lilting tune called "Moochie" (about Moochie, of course); a rosing version of The Boys of the Western Sea, the theme from a rare serial about Norwegian fishermen; and "Annette" performed by Jimmie Dodd. 

Click here to listen to the album in full on Youtube. 


Track Listing


Side One

How Will I Know My Love

Annette

Meetin' at the Malt Shop

Buckwheat Cakes

Hap-Happy Snowman

Pieces of Eight

What I Want to Be Theme


Side Two:

Don't Jump to Conclusions

Theme from Spin and Marty

Triple R Song

Uncle Dan

Moochie

The Boys of the Western Sea


Top Picks: Annette, Pieces of Eight, Meetin' at the Malt Shop, Theme from Spin and Marty, Moochie