Here are 4 more ultra rare movies that are not on VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray and gosh-darn should be!
CONVENTION CITY (1933) When the Motion Picture Production Code became more enforced in 1934, heavy censorship dominated Hollywood. Past films that pushed the censorship envelope with sex and violence, like DeMille’s The Sign Of the Cross, the 1933 King Kong and The Public Enemy were re-cut for more wholesome re-releases. Convention City, a Warner Brothers’ comedy about sin and drinking at a tire company convention in Atlantic City truly went over the top with its naughtiness. Convention City was bristling with lewd dialog (Example: “Now you take off that dress and I'll take off my toupee, huh?"), a running gag about a drunk, lovesick salesman trying to lure a goat into his hotel room, and star Joan Blondell almost falling out of her flimsy lingerie. "We must put brassieres on Joan Blondell and make her cover up her breasts because, otherwise, we are going to have these pictures stopped in a lot of states.” warned Jack Warner in some of his many memos to Hal Wallis regarding Ms. Blondell in this film. “There's nothing wrong with them, but, for Lord's sake, don't let those bulbs stick out!", the memo continued. Apparently, the film was re-released in 1937 in a heavily cut form, and it played at many Warner Brothers stag parties for years afterwards. In 1948, Jack Warner ordered that the negative be destroyed. Convention City is now a completely lost film, a “holy grail” for film historians. The descendants of the film’s stars, the crew and it’s director, Archie Mayo have been questioned if they have a print stored away somewhere. The Eastman House in Rochester found a reel of B-roll material (Cutaway shots of Atlantic City scenery to be used in the film) in the 1990’s. Check Your Attic!
CUBAN REBEL GIRLS (1959) During his quarter century acting career, Errol Flynn worked with great directors like Michael Cutiz, Raoul Walsh, and John Huston. Flynn ended his career with this film made by his no-talent agent, Barry Mahon (Mahon later created many nudie-cutie movies and possibly the scariest children's film of all time- Santa And The Ice Cream Bunny)
Adorned with under-lit, very bad photography, Flynn plays an aging war reporter following the exploits of teen-aged rebel girls fighting in Cuba in the name of Fidel Castro. The main weapon-toting chick here is Beverly, a bored New Yorker who joins the rebel girls mainly to be near her pro-Castro boyfriend. Beverly is played by Beverly Aadland, who was Flynn's girlfriend at the time. She comes across as an Eisenhower era Paris Hilton, an on screen zombie. The film is bit boring for any real camp value. It is fascinating how the love bug bit Errol Flynn, who wrote and stars in this weird film! (Update: VCI released this film on DVD last year, but instead of me deleting this entry, I hope I steer readers to check out this curious finale to a great career.- GA)
THE INVISIBLE MAN (1954) Made at about the same time as the first Godzilla film in 1954, this is a very early Japanese sci-fi film. The Invisible Man begins with a bang. A car travelling on a Tokyo street runs over an unseen mass. The motorist gets out and watches, out of thin air, a bloodied corpse appear under the car. The reporter investigates, and discovers that a local band of criminals is being menaced and taunted by an invisible man. The film has the usual surreal, dreamlike, sometimes humorous, sometimes touching nuances found in the more famous and available Japanese monster films. The ending has a fiery fight at a factory that feels influenced by Warner Brothers' 1949 White Heat. I always have fun watching this rare film.
TOMORROW’S CHILDREN (1932) 100% hysterical! This ancient cry for the end of forced sterilization will have you bewildered, and laughing. The Board of Health wishes to sterilize a family of nitwits. The parents are lazy boozehounds well past 70 years old, yet they have infant children! Their oldest daughter is up for the operation, but she's normal wants to marry some nice guy, and have kids. Highlights include a courtroom scene where a judge decides if an insane young man is to be sterilized. He plays up the craziness with an Alfred E. Newman grin, and dark, wild raccoon eyes. He giggles when he rips his nurse's gown off in front of the judge! Then there's a hospital scene where a doctor uses kindly, almost baby talk to a tough Cagney-like gangster in explaining the sterilization process. You won't want to miss these hy-jinks!
Know of any other rare films that deserve their place on DVD or Blu-Ray? Let know in the comment section here, and please comment and subscribe!
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