Recent Posts

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General Discussion / Re: Crappiest Cartoon Studio

« Last post by GreenCanaries on Today at 01:14:26 PM »

No biggie, Sam. Happens to all of us!

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Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Our Gang silents being prepped for DVD/Blu Ray

« Last post by Mark The Shark on Today at 11:54:44 AM »

I bought my Cabin Fever DVDs brand new on eBay several years after they went OOP. QC was bad as one of them would freeze up on some titles and now the whole DVD has become unplayable -- though it does not have one scratch on it.

I had the same experience, I got the Cabin Fever DVDs second hand and had similar issues with them. The cover inserts look like they could be color Xerox. I figured I got a pirate set.

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General Discussion / Re: Crappiest Cartoon Studio

« Last post by Umbrella Sam on Today at 08:27:20 AM »

Just watched some of the CAPTAIN FATHOM episode “The Sub Enchanted Garden”, and Sitka is definitely voicing one of the supporting characters there. And you’re right, the more I listen to “Shark” in CLUTCH CARGO, it does sound more like someone imitating Sitka instead of Sitka himself. Again, I apologize; should have double checked that interview before posting.

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General Discussion / Re: Crappiest Cartoon Studio

« Last post by Umbrella Sam on Today at 08:14:08 AM »

Hmm... interesting: according to this Cartoon Research article, Margaret Kerry stated that Emil never partook in a CLUTCH CARGO recording session, and that he started working for Cambria after the series completed production. As for the episode you posted, U.S., I can hear some similarity vocal-wise with the "Shark" character, but I don't quite think it's Emil. I can't quite pinpoint the exact difference (perhaps a bit higher pitched), but I think it's someone else.

EmilSitka.com mentions Emil worked on at least two episodes of CAPTAIN FATHOM (here and here), another Cambria Syncro-Vox show. Perhaps Emil misremembered that gig as being CLUTCH CARGO?

Yeah, I’ve seen that article and that’s why I was always hesitant to post about this, as Kerry would know given her husband owned Cambria. That being said, I also went back to the source of Sitka’s interview (the book, “The Golden Age of Chicago Children’s Television”) and it turns out I misremembered what Sitka said; Sitka just claimed to have worked for Cambria’s Synchro-Vox shows, he didn’t mention CLUTCH CARGO specifically. So for that, I apologize; there’s no official source confirming Sitka worked on CARGO.

That being said, there are multiple cartoons with that Sitka sounding voice, and it is possible too that Sitka came in during post-production, which would explain why Kerry wouldn’t have remembered working with him. However, I don’t want to spread any misinformation, so I think you’re correct, it’s not Emil on CLUTCH CARGO.

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General Discussion / Re: Crappiest Cartoon Studio

« Last post by GreenCanaries on May 26, 2024, 09:40:52 PM »

Hmm... interesting: according to this Cartoon Research article, Margaret Kerry stated that Emil never partook in a CLUTCH CARGO recording session, and that he started working for Cambria after the series completed production. As for the episode you posted, U.S., I can hear some similarity vocal-wise with the "Shark" character, but I don't quite think it's Emil. I can't quite pinpoint the exact difference (perhaps a bit higher pitched), but I think it's someone else.

EmilSitka.com mentions Emil worked on at least two episodes of CAPTAIN FATHOM (here and here), another Cambria Syncro-Vox show. Perhaps Emil misremembered that gig as being CLUTCH CARGO?

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Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Vitagraph Comedies Blu-Ray 4/30/24

« Last post by J_Kasumi on May 26, 2024, 05:39:01 PM »

OK, so there’s a TON to take in here.  I am only slightly into the second disc at this point.  Here are my early thoughts.

- Most, if not all, of this stuff is indeed more domesticated comedy versus broad Sennett like slapstick.

- The only comedians so far I would label as clowns are Edith Storey and maybe Hughie Mack and John Bunny.  The latter two simply based on what they look like (I.e. overweight) versus any internal gifts.  Edith Storey is delightful and in the case of John Bunny, I’m convinced he was a star because of what he looked like.  In a world with a lot of boxed in medium shots and standard looking generic handsome young leading men and pretty young leading ladies, there’s no doubt Bunny visually stood out.

- Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew are by far the best of the domesticated comedians.  They’re believable, likable and funny with well written shorts that make sense.  There appears to be a lot of shorts coming up next on disc two and I’m looking forward to them.

- Frank Daniels on screen character, on the other hand, gives me the creeps. 

- The Montgomery/Rock short I have indeed seen before on The Silent Comedy Watch Party.  Crazy to think it’s the only surviving short in a series of forty plus films.  Probably the most Stooge like film in the collection in terms of pacing and gag construction.  I enjoyed it.

Some stuff better than others and all of it interesting.  I haven’t even gotten to the Larry Semon disc yet and that I know I’ll enjoy.  Hopefully other studio based silent comedy collections from Kino can see release like this if this sells well enough.

You said it better than I could, since most of what you said is similar to what I think.

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Stooges DVD/VHS/Home Video / Re: Vitagraph Comedies Blu-Ray 4/30/24

« Last post by metaldams on May 26, 2024, 09:10:54 AM »

OK, so there’s a TON to take in here.  I am only slightly into the second disc at this point.  Here are my early thoughts.

- Most, if not all, of this stuff is indeed more domesticated comedy versus broad Sennett like slapstick.

- The only comedians so far I would label as clowns are Edith Storey and maybe Hughie Mack and John Bunny.  The latter two simply based on what they look like (I.e. overweight) versus any internal gifts.  Edith Storey is delightful and in the case of John Bunny, I’m convinced he was a star because of what he looked like.  In a world with a lot of boxed in medium shots and standard looking generic handsome young leading men and pretty young leading ladies, there’s no doubt Bunny visually stood out.

- Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew are by far the best of the domesticated comedians.  They’re believable, likable and funny with well written shorts that make sense.  There appears to be a lot of shorts coming up next on disc two and I’m looking forward to them.

- Frank Daniels on screen character, on the other hand, gives me the creeps. 

- The Montgomery/Rock short I have indeed seen before on The Silent Comedy Watch Party.  Crazy to think it’s the only surviving short in a series of forty plus films.  Probably the most Stooge like film in the collection in terms of pacing and gag construction.  I enjoyed it.

Some stuff better than others and all of it interesting.  I haven’t even gotten to the Larry Semon disc yet and that I know I’ll enjoy.  Hopefully other studio based silent comedy collections from Kino can see release like this if this sells well enough.

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General Discussion / Re: Crappiest Cartoon Studio

« Last post by Umbrella Sam on May 26, 2024, 08:54:17 AM »

Also...

 

...came in CLUTCH.

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General Discussion / Re: Crappiest Cartoon Studio

« Last post by Umbrella Sam on May 26, 2024, 08:50:49 AM »

Cambria also did THE NEW 3 STOOGES; Margaret Kerry and Hal Smith did voices for both that and for CLUTCH CARGO. I dunno if Emil ever did voices for THE NEW 3 STOOGES cartoons (at least, any voices that are documented; the database just lists him for live-action roles), but there is a connection there, production company-wise, that I suppose Emil could've...

I remember there was a guy here several years ago who thought that Emil did voices for the Stooges cartoons, and like you mention, Sitka has that Cambria connection, so it’s definitely logical. However, I have yet to find any cartoons where I hear Sitka’s voice and, in the case of THE NEW 3 STOOGES, if they had a voice that they couldn’t have Hal or Margaret do, it’s likely they would have asked one of the Stooges to take a crack at it before Emil, as proven by Moe voicing Orville Wright (and probably Curly Joe as Wilbur) in FLYCYCLE BUILT FOR TWO.

Here’s one of the CLUTCH CARGO cartoons I have Emil down as voicing. To me, the character “Shark” in this cartoon sounds exactly like Emil.

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General Discussion / Re: Crappiest Cartoon Studio

« Last post by GreenCanaries on May 25, 2024, 10:58:44 PM »

Ironically enough, longtime Stooges costar Emil Sitka claimed to have done voices for Clutch Cargo. There’s been some debate on this, but I do recall a few cartoons that had voices that I thought sounded like Sitka. Plus, I find it difficult to believe someone would lie about being associated with Clutch Cargo. If anything I feel the opposite would be true; I wouldn’t think anyone would want to associate themselves with Clutch Cargo.

Cambria also did THE NEW 3 STOOGES; Margaret Kerry and Hal Smith did voices for both that and for CLUTCH CARGO. I dunno if Emil ever did voices for THE NEW 3 STOOGES cartoons (at least, any voices that are documented; the database just lists him for live-action roles), but there is a connection there, production company-wise, that I suppose Emil could've...

 

...came in CLUTCH.