Vintage TV

I like to make YouTube searches of various kinds of videos. One interesting search idea is looking for vintage TV broadcasting from the 1940’s forward.

Here are some of these finds.

Here’s a clip of Betty White (the surviving Golden Girl and current TV commercial star) from her TV show in 1954:



In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s there were live plays broadcast on TV. Playhouse 90 was one of the regular shows that featured these live productions. Here’s a 1959 production with Leslie Nielsen, Art Carney and Jack Klugman. It’s written by Rod Serling:



This is a very early TV station identification from WNBT New York, which was the first television station:



If you watch Atlanta TV news, you’ve seen John Pruitt and Monica Pearson on the WSB-TV newscasts. Here are some Atlanta news openings from almost 35 years ago that include those same two news anchors on channel 2:



TV used to sign-off the air before everything was 24/7. Here’s a recording of a WCBS-TV Sign-Off:



I watched The Dick Cavett Show regularly and I don’t think there’s been a talk show as good as his show was. But here’s a strange clip where Norman Mailer, who probably had a few drinks, plays the villain that evening:



Here's a performance by Rosemary Clooney (George Clooney's aunt) on Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis' show:





I’ll add some more clips that I find in the future.

George Ellis

I love movies and for movie lovers around my age who grew up in Atlanta, George Ellis is a familiar name. He was the proprietor of the Film Forum, a theater that showed films not seen in the main theaters. Then, there were no movie downloads and no Netflix. That made his theater an incredible place. His previous role was hosting the movies on “The Big Movie Shocker” on WAGA-TV on Friday nights. For that he used the name Bestoink Dooley.

Bestoink Dooley was a local celebrity. Everyone who loved horror and science fiction movies watched him on Friday nights. I remember watching its debut and the first movie they played was the Japanese movie, Mothra. Bestoink’s role was being the host and introducing the movie with his sense of humor.

Later, when he opened the Film Forum, there were many regular patrons there who appreciated seeing the films and also remembered George from TV. He was a film lover and it was clear that he loved running that theater. Much of the time he was selling the tickets in the lobby and greeting people. When he wasn’t there, his son Michael was in that role.

The Film Forum showed old and new. The new European films were there. My introduction to Ingmar Bergman was The Passion of Anna, a new release when I saw it there. On the other hand, he showed Marx Brothers movies and Charlie Chaplin. Also, he played the old serials like Captain Marvel.

Another feature of the theater was running a midnight showing that featured “cult” movies. That was the way to see a movie like El Topo, a very bizarre film that’s a kind of psychedelic version of a spaghetti western.

I read that he appeared in a local Theatre Under the Stars production of Oliver. The part of Fagin was played by Vincent Price and George Ellis had a small role as Mr. Bumble. Apparently, there was a lot of applause when Ellis walked on stage and his fans recognized him.

Sadly, George died several years ago, but many people remember him. He’s mentioned on a number of websites and blogs. That’s how I discovered that his son, Michael, is the founder and director of a wildlife animal rescue orgainization called Aware.

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2008/06/21/profile-michael-ellis-animal-rescuer/

www.awareone.org

On Green Dolphin Street

I used to have some music links on my Facebook profile page and one was a link to a performance of On Green Dolphin Street by The Sonny Rollins Quartet. It was recorded in 1968 in Denmark. I’m putting that link back here. Also, I’m adding two other more recent versions of this great standard.

Sonny Rollins Quartet:



Keith Jarrett Trio:



Hank Jones Trio:



While reading the comments by some listeners of Hank Jones, I discovered that he died earlier this month. He was an extremely talented musician and I didn’t realize he was 91 (he had been performing until recently).

Also, here’s Hank Jones talking about this musical style (bebop). I agree with him about not liking the term bebop for this music.