The Fort Lee [NJ] Film Commission is sponsoring a festival honoring the film heritage of New Jersey, at The Fine Arts Center in Beverly Hills CA, June 23 - 26.
Shemp Howard appears in two A&C comedies scheduled for the afternoon of June 25, IN THE NAVY (1941) and HOLD THAT GHOST (1941). They will be screened with new 35mm prints supplied by Universal Studios.
http://www.fortleefilm.org/events.html"Greetings From New Jersey" at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, California
Presented by The Fort Lee Film Commission
Silent film musical accompaniments by Fort Lee's own Jeff Barker.
Friday, June 23 @ 7:30pm
Program I
- ROBIN HOOD restoration, introduced by Film Historian Richard Koszarski
ROBIN HOOD Éclair 1912 - 27 -min.
The earliest existing Robin Hood film, starring Robert Frazer and Barbara Tennant. First screening of the Fort Lee Film Commission's 35mm color restoration.
- THE VAMPIRE Kalem Studio, 1913 - 43-min.
Bert French and Alice Eis perform their notorious "Vampire Dance" in the protoypical "vamp" film. Library of Congress 35mm print.
- HE DID AND HE DIDN'T Triangle-Keystone, 1916 - 21-min
A nightmarish romantic slapstick with the great Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Mabel Normand. Library of Congress 35mm print.
Saturday, June 24 @ 2pm
Program II - Auteurs from Fort Lee
- FOR HIS SON Biograph, 1912 - 15-min.
In the most bizarre of D.W. Griffith's hundred Fort Lee productions, Dopokoke sweeps the nation. New 35mm print courtesy of Film Preservation Associates and Lobster Films.
- WHITE FAWN'S DEVOTION Pathe 1910 - 15-min.
One of Pathe's first American productions, a Palisades western directed by James Young Deer. Library of Congress 35mm print.
- A GIRL'S FOLLY Paragon-World, 1917 - 65-min.
While suffering from nitrate damage, this complete print of Maurice Tourneur's vision of Fort Lee filmmaking is a revelation. Library of Congress 35mm print.
Saturday, June 24 @ 4:30pm
Program III - Forgotten Classics
- HIS WIFE'S MISTAKE Triangle-Keystone, 1916 - 21-min.
Speed, slapstick and satire in one of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's most politically incorrect comedies. Library of Congress 35mm print.
- PHIL FOR SHORT World Studio, 1919 - 76-min.
A startling screwball comedy featuring a cross-dressing farmerette and a woman-hating classics professor who share a love for Sappho in the original. Library of Congress 35mm print.
Saturday, June 24 @ 7:30pm
Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello - Program I
Opening program includes appearances by Lou Costello's daughters Chris and Paddy, celebrity guests and the teens of the Lou Costello Jr, Recreation Center.
- LOU COSTELLO - HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE SHORT 7-min - Sirk Productions - NYC - Digital
This tribute reel shows highlights from the professional and personal life of comic legend Lou Costello.
- 10,000 KIDS AND A COP Lou Costello - Producer - 1948, 20-min
Premiere of restored 35mm print of this Lou Costello produced short film. This film was shot on location at the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center in East Los Angeles. Bud Abbott & Lou Costello appear along with actors William Bendix and Jimmy Stewart as well as the kids of the center.
- THE LOU COSTELLO PROJECT – Premiere The Mary Pickford Institute - Fort Lee Film Commission, 2006 - 20-min Digital.
This centennial tribute film was shot by the teen group of the present day Lou Costello Jr. Recreation Center in East Los Angeles.
Runtime approximately 90 minutes for this program.
Admission $10 - all proceeds go towards the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center
Sunday, June 25th @ 2pm
A Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello - Program II
- IN THE NAVY Universal Studios, 1941 - 85-min
Originally titled ABBOTT & COSTELLO AND DICK POWELL IN THE NAVY this follow-up to the Abbott & Costello blockbuster BUCK PRIVATES teams Bud and Lou with film crooner Dick Powell, Dick Foran and their singing sidekicks from BUCK PRIVATES the Andrews Sisters. Lou wreaks havoc on the seven seas in one of Bud & Lou's early Universal releases. Universal 35mm print.
- HOLD THAT GHOST Universal Studios, 1941 - 85-min
HOLD THAT GHOST was actually filmed prior to IN THE NAVY but based on the blockbuster status of BUCK PRIVATES Universal decided to send Bud and Lou into Uncle Sam's service as sailors. HOLD THAT GHOST (originally titled OH CHARLIE!) was released in August of 1941 following the May release of IN THE NAVY. This was Bud and Lou's first haunted house comedy and teamed them with comedienne Joan Davis. The Andrews Sisters are featured in two numbers. Universal 35mm print.
Admission - $5
Sunday, June 25th @ 6:15pm
A Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello - Program III
- RIDE 'EM COWBOY Universal Studios, 1942 - 86-min
At the time of the release of RIDE 'EM COWBOY in February, 1942, Abbott & Costello were voted the number three box-office attractions of 1941 by exhibitors. Universal sends the boys out west to a dude ranch where they perform the classic "crazy house" routine. The boys also assist Ella Fitzgerald (in her screen debut) with her hit tune "A Tisket, A Tasket." Universal 35mm print.
- HIT THE ICE Universal Studios, 1943 - 82-min
Bud & Lou portray newspaper photographers Flash Fulton and Tubby McCoy. The fun starts when gangster Sheldon Leonard mistakes them for two hit men from Detroit. Shot at Sode Springs, California, in January 1943, the film features big band singer Ginny Simms as Lou's love interest. HIT THE ICE contains two classic Abbott & Costello routines, "Pack and Unpack" and "All Right - the Piano scene." Universal 35mm print.
Admission - $5
Monday, June 26 @ 7:30pm
A Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello - Program IV
- IN SOCIETY Universal Studios, 1944 - 75-min
Plumbers Bud & Lou are plumbers who masquerade as society types. Singer Marion Hutton portrays Lou's love interest Elsie Hammerdingle who warbles the tune "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time." Arthur Treacher and Thomas Gomez add to the antics. This film features the classic burlesque routine "Floogle Street" where Bud & Lou search in vain for the Susquehanna Hat Company. Universal 35mm print.
- HERE COME THE COEDS Universal Studios, 1945 - 88-min
Bud & Lou join basketball player "Miramar Molly" at Bixby College where their boss is Lon Chaney Jr. This film allows Lou to show how he became the basketball foul shoot champ of the state of New Jersey. Another sidelight is that Bixby College is on the same Universal Studio "Courthouse Square" back lot set as was the 1962 film TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the 1985 film BACK TO THE FUTURE, and Jim Carrey's 2003 hit BRUCE ALMIGHTY. Universal 35mm print.
Admission - $5
We wish to thank Universal's Paul Ginsburg for making these 35mm prints available for this retrospective and for his kind assistance in making this festival possible.
