Creepy Puppet Films at Moore

Friday, November 20
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

Puppetry is an age-old artform that has charmed and delighted both children and adults for countless generations. And, puppets have been a source of inspiration to filmmakers almost since the movies began.

So why do puppets become so...creepy, when filmed and projected on a giant screen?

On Friday, November 20, the Secret Cinema will attempt to answer that question -- or at least show our favorite examples of this peculiar genre of cinema -- when we present Creepy Puppet Films. Using assorted educational and entertainment shorts from past decades, we'll show films using hand puppets, marionettes, and stop-motion animated figures and claymation. Some were made by great masters of special effects like George Pal and Ray Harryhausen. Others were made by nameless hacks for forgotten educational film mills. Yet, they are all creepy.

Many Secret Cinema fans will recall our popular Creepy Christmas Films program of some years back. This will be similar, except that these are all puppet films, and minus the Yuletide theme (well, maybe we'll throw one of those in).

There will be one complete screening starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00

A few highlights of Creepy Puppet Films include:

Hansel and Gretel (1951, Dir: Ray Harryhausen) - This early work from stop-motion master Ray Harryhausen was from a series of animated fairy tale shorts in which he explored the techniques he would soon perfect in features like Jason and the Argonauts. Harryhausen began his experimentation as a teenager, shortly after being entranced by Willis O'Brien's pioneering special effects in King Kong.

Phillips Cavalcade (1942, Dir: George Pal) - George Pal's "Puppetoon" shorts showed a brilliant imagination and flawless stop-motion technique. This example also showed Pal's business savvy -- early on he made a series of sponsored films that were shown in theaters to promote Phillips shortwave radios, including this entertaining example.

Making Change (1970s, Dir: Unknown) - From the sublime to the hackneyed-beyond-belief: This short was made during the peak sales years of the 16mm educational film industry. It employs the crudest of stick puppets to teach money math skills to grade school kids.

Gumby: Hot Rod Granny (1957, Dir: Art Clokey) - Claymation superstar Gumby encounters a speed crazed senior citizen racing an animated plastic model kit roadster around the town.

Pirro and the Scale (1948, Dir: Alvin J. Gordon) - Marionette clown Pirro imparts a valuable lesson on weight and measurement. A 1951 guide book for teachers thought that "Pat Patterson, who created and manipulates the puppet, provides the running commentary, which is warm and pleasant at its best, at worst too nervously repetitive." That's part right.

...and much, much more!

The Secret Cinema to provide films at

Dead Milkmen Halloween gala at Trocadero

Saturday, October 31 (Halloween)
8:00 pm
$18.50 advance, $21 day of show

The Trocadero
1003 Arch Street, Philadelphia
215-922-6888

You may have read in the Philadelphia City Paper that this Saturday, October 31 -- Halloween -- the Secret Cinema will be bringing its 16mm projection equipment to the Trocadero nightclub (for the first time in many years). The occasion is a special Halloween concert with the Dead Milkmen and friends, and we will be showing assorted "scary" short films before and between the three bands that are playing that night. The Dead Milkmen have reunited for some scattered concerts around the country after a long time away. For about ten years they were Philadelphia's most successful and enduring band on the national alt-rock/punk rock/college radio/underground music circuit.

This message is not meant to convince you to attend this event. If you are mainly interested in the films, the ticket price might seem kind of high ($18.50 advance, $21 day of show). If you are a fan of the Dead Milkmen, you likely already have tickets (and if not, you might want to hurry and buy some!).

Instead, we send this message just to brag and say how happy we are to be supporting our friends...and to reminisce a little.

In the "pre-history" of the Secret Cinema, there were a handful of events that were trial runs for what developed into what SC ultimately became. Probably the most prototypical was a screening at Penn's Pi Lam fraternity house, around 1986-7, of the great "Swinging London" feature Smashing Time, plus assorted shorts and cartoons. The event was booked by future member of the Wishniaks Jim Moran, and timed to coincide with their weekly "happy hour" (yes, there was a time in America when college fraternities could promote regular free booze nights!). Most of the attendees passing through the doors were only momentarily distracted/confused by the movies showing near the entrance, which they quickly passed on their way to the open kegs in the basement. But sitting and enjoying the movies were a small handful of people, including, yep. the Dead Milkmen.

This led, some time later, to another experiment in 16mm film showing. The band was booked at the (now long-gone) Chestnut Cabaret, and asked me to bring my projector and show some of the same short films before their show...this time in front of hundreds of fans. The boisterous audience enjoyed the old cereal commercials, but asking them to get into films of 1940s swing music was probably a miscalculation on my part (though in fact, this very same reel was shown with good results this week at Ursinus College).

Our next project together was better received. Joe and Dave from the group had begun to play live in small clubs as "Ornamental Wigwam," a folky duo that actually pre-dated the Dead Milkmen. They felt that this act, which performed seated, needed another dimension to make it entertaining, and they wanted films projected on themselves. They wore white lab coats to make it easier to see the films, and we hung a screen as a background. I have fond memories of the three of us splicing random lengths of educational and industrial films in my kitchen for the set-long reel we pieced together (although ultimately, the parts that worked best with the music were longer uncut films about a river and the solar system). My table still has a mark where someone (I think me) spilled splicing cement on it that night. It was probably one of the last times I used cement (rather than tape splices), and I think it was the only time Dave Blood was in my home. I've come to like that the table still has this scar.

My one regret about Saturday's show is that Milkmen bassist Dave Blood will not be present. As many of you know, he took his own life in 2004, several years after the band originally broke up.

That said, we're lucky to have them back (and Dandrew Stevens does a great job filling in on bass). Sure, the Phillies are playing and the Spectrum is closing, but you could have no more fun this Halloween than to see the Dead Milkmen at the Troc.

Hope to see you there...

Jay Schwartz
The Secret Cinema

Here is the tentative schedule of activities for Saturday's concert:

8:00 pm - doors open
8:15 pm - Secret Cinema films
9:00 pm - Tough Shits
9:30 pm - Secret Cinema films
9:50 pm - Live Not On Evil
10:20 pm - Secret Cinema films
10:40 pm - Dead Milkmen

DEAD MILKMEN WEBSITE

The Secret Cinema comes to Ursinus College with

"History of the Film Jukebox" talk, film screening

Tuesday, October 27
7:00 pm
Admission: FREE

Musser Lecture Hall, Pfahler Hall
Ursinus College
601 E. Main Street, Collegeville, PA
(610) 409-3000

On Tuesday, October 27, the Secret Cinema will travel for the first time to Ursinus College to present "The History of the Film Jukebox." This multi-media presentation will include an illustrated talk by the Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz on the early pop music clips known as "Soundies" and "Scopitones," as well as screenings of several examples of both.

As at all Secret Cinema events, the films will be projected using 16mm film on a giant screen (not video).

The presentation begins at 7:00 pm, and is open to the public. Admission is free.

Ursinus College is in Collegeville, Pa., about 30 miles Northwest of Center City Philadelphia, in Montgomery County.

About Soundies and Scopitones
Before MTV, before rock promo clips, indeed before rock and before video, there were rock videos. Well, not exactly, but beginning in 1941 people could see short visualizations of top performers singing hit pop songs, on small screens across the land.

What they were seeing were Soundies -- the 16mm film software that fed an exhibition network of thousands of film jukeboxes, conveniently placed in bars, restaurants and bus terminals. Patrons of these gathering spots would insert a dime into a large cabinet resembling an overgrown record jukebox, but with a glass rear-projection screen. Shortly after, a 16mm projection mechanism inside would rumble to life, and the lucky clientele would see what was probably their first moving image of performers they had previously only heard on the radio.

Some of these film clips were straightforward recordings of a visual and audio music performance, showing a band in a nightclub-like setting. Others were much more complex and imaginative, using multiple scenes, fantasy story lines, comic relief and sophisticated optical effects -- in other words, exactly like what would later be shown on MTV, except shot in black and white and featuring swing and pop music of the World War II era.

In the early and mid 1960s, the film jukebox concept was revived. A French device called Scopitone entertained viewers in both Europe and America. The Scopitone film clips, featuring performers both famous and obscure, are considered (like Soundies) one of the more important of the many predecessors to the modern rock video. Today they are quite scarce, and difficult to see in their original form.

The "History of the Film Jukebox" talk will be given by Secret Cinema director Jay Schwartz, who has now presented similar programs at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Columbia University in New York, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Gijon (Spain), the Benicassim music festival (also Spain), and the "Gimme Shelter" rock film festival in Athens, Greece.

The film screening will include rare jukebox clips with performances by Buddy Rogers, Yvonne De Carlo, Francis Faye, Paul Anka, Dion, Nancy Sinatra, Procul Harum and many more.

The Secret Cinema presents

Bookworms' Revenge at 215 Festival

Friday, October 2
9:00 pm (door/bar opens at 8:00 pm)
Admission: FREE

Philadelphia Society of Free Letts (Latvian Society)
531 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia

The Secret Cinema is excited to participate in, for the first time, the 215 Festival, Philadelphia's weekend-long celebration of the written and spoken word. We'll be presenting a special program called Bookworms' Revenge: Various Short Films on the themes of Reading, Writing, and General Nerdy Bookness.

It happens on Friday, October 2 at the multi-leveled Philadelphia Society of Free Letts (Latvian Society), at 7th and Spring Garden Streets. The films will be screened in the venerable hall's roomy upstairs ballroom.

Throughout the event, the Latvian hall's funky (and reasonably priced!) downstairs bar will be open and serving refreshments. Immediately after the films, stick around for the built-in after-party, featuring music by D.J. Joey Sweeney.

Best of all, admission is free.

The bar will open at 8:00 pm, and the film screening will start at 9:00 pm.

Secret Cinema fans will recall the Latvian Society as the site of our 2007 screening/author event Riot on Sunset Strip.

The 215 Festival is a celebration of the written and spoken word, and has been held in Philadelphia since 2001. This annual festival focuses on Philadelphia-based writers, performers, and word connoisseurs, along with special guests from outside our fair city. The 2009 Festival will be held October 2nd through 4th, with performances, parties, and revelry scattered throughout Philadelphia.

Details of other festival events can be found here

Just a few highlights of Bookworms' Revenge: Various Short Films on the themes of Reading, Writing, and General Nerdy Bookness are:

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: A Self Portrait (1975, Dir: Harold Mantell) - The late and great author is captured in his own words, in his home and walking around New York City.

Revenge of the Nerd (1983, Dir: Ken Kwapis) - Not to be confused with that Anthony Edwards feature film you're thinking of (that was made one year later, and with plural Nerds), this charming short film was initially seen on CBS' "Afternoon Playhouse" series. It follows a similar (if more concise) plot arc, however, with the titular hero using his superior skills with early microcomputers and other high-tech devices in an attempt to gain the respect of his intellectually inferior classmates.

How to Use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (1966) - Surfy guitar music and a spy movie plot enliven what might otherwise be a rather dry instructional film, about...well, you know exactly what it's about.

Grammar Rock (1973-4) - We'll unspool several episodes of this groundbreaking and much-loved short educational cartoon series, originally aired as add-on bits to regularly-scheduled Saturday morning television programs. Most feature the wonderful songwriting of Bob Dorough, and a post-psychdelic animation style that only could have been created during the early 1970s. If there's time, we may throw in Multiplication Rock as well.

...and much, much more!

Jazz & Swing Rarities at Moore

Friday, September 25
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, September 25, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will present Jazz & Swing Rarities, a program of short films from Hollywood's golden age showcasing musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Stan Kenton, Eubie Blake, Rodgers & Hart, and many others.

Jazz, America's own music, came of age roughly at the same time as the motion picture, and they have shared a long and fruitful history together. Many of the first experiments in synchronizing sound with movies were used to capture performances of early jazz musicians, and the first talking feature film starred Al Jolson as The Jazz Singer.

Jazz & Swing Rarities will include a variety of vintage short subject genres: straight performance films, musical shorts with dramatic and comedic plots, a cartoon with both animated and live-action jazz, and "Soundies" films produced for use in the Mills Panoram film jukebox of the early 1940s. The Secret Cinema has presented other programs in the past that have included these types of films, but most of the films to be included in Jazz & Swing Rarities will be making their Secret Cinema debut.

There will be one complete screening at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Just a few highlights Jazz & Swing Rarities are:

He Was Her Man (1929, Dir: Dudley Murphy) - The traditional 1870 murder ballad "Frankie & Johnny" has been sung by countless performers in the last 139 years (including Lena Horne, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley). It is also the basis for this early melodramatic musical short, easily the rarest offering of Jazz & Swing Rarities. Director Dudley Murphy had a singular career, working both in the avant garde (he collaborated, with Fernand Léger, Man Ray and Ezra Pound on the experimental classic Ballet Mécanique) and the Hollywood mainstream, where he excelled in films focusing on black characters (such as Paul Robeson's The Emperor Jones or the Duke Ellington short Black & Tan Fantasy). This early project for Paramount shows some of the techniques he would use in all these projects. At least two film history books (including the recent biography Dudley Murphy, Hollywood Wild Card) state that He Was Her Man is a lost film, but the Secret Cinema archive has recently acquired a very scarce 16mm print.

Makers of Melody (1929, Dir: S. Jay Kaufman) - This enjoyably corny piece of fluff features Great American Songbook composing superstars Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart playing themselves, being interviewed by a pretty reporter about how they wrote some of their classic songs. Their anecdotes are interrupted by performances of "Manhattan," "The Girlfriend" and "The Blue Room." Filmed against some very false-looking backgrounds at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Queens, New York.

Pie Pie Blackbird (1932, Dir: Roy Mack) - This surreal one-reeler packs a lot of crazy visuals and hot music into it's short length, starring ragtime innovator Eubie Blake and his Band, striking actress/singer Nina Mae McKinney, and the jaw-dropping tap dancing of young Fayard and Harold Nicholas. Made by Warner Brothers' Vitaphone division, whose short films captured countless performers otherwise lost to history. Many of the more interesting Vitaphone shorts were directed by Roy Mack, whose career deserves further exploration.

Minnie the Moocher (1932, Dir: Dave Fleischer) - Contemporary music was used to enliven every product of the film industry, and animated cartoons were no exception. Amongst the producers of cartoons, Max Fleischer was surely the most astute at following trends in American music. His various cartoon series are filled with hot jazz scores, and some series were based on music itself, such as the sing-along bouncing ball shorts that he invented (and patented). Besides using great music, Fleischer recorded and photographed early performances of several jazz legends, including Louis Armstrong, Rudy Vallee, the Boswell Sisters and Don Redman. This incredible entry in the Betty Boop series includes a filmed performance of jazz wild man Cab Calloway, as well as an animated walrus that was rotoscoped to copy Calloway's filmed movements.

Let's Make Rhythm (1947, Dir: Wallace Grissell) - The originator of the phrase "Wall of Sound," was not Phil Spector, but innovative West Coast band leader Stan Kenton, who stars in this mini-musical comedy with his orchestra and vocalists June Christy and the Pastels. Kenton and combo perform several samples of what he would label "progressive jazz," including "Down in Chihuahua," "Concerto to End all Concertos" and "Tampico." The romantic subplot is based on a returning sailor's infatuation with the attractive voice on the other end of a switchboard jukebox line, highlighting a long-extinct technology sure to surprise (or perhaps puzzle) modern viewers.

...and much much more!

Laurel & Hardy prison classic

at Eastern State Penitentiary

Friday, September 11, 2009
8:00 pm (doors open 7:00 pm)
Admission: $8.00

Eastern State Penitentiary
22nd & Fairmount Sts., Philadelphia
(215) 236-3300

Now entering our second decade of collaboration with popular tourist destination Eastern State Penitentiary, we will present our first screening there of an outright comedy film on Friday, September 11. That's when we'll unreel Pardon Us, the prison-themed (naturally!) first feature-length film to star beloved comedy duo Laurel & Hardy. One of the pair's best effort's, this will be a one time opportunity to see this classic film as never before -- inside a genuine prison, with real steel bars in the screening room echoing the scenes on screen in a unique twist on "3-D" movies.

Pardon Us will be shown with a prison-themed short film to be announced. There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Doors open at 7:00 pm, allowing the audience time to take a look at many new and existing museum exhibits at ESP. Admission is $8.00.

As always at our annual film screening at ESP, seating is limited, so early arrival is suggested (there's plenty to look at while you're there!).

Pardon Us (1931, Dir: James Parrott)
When Stan & Ollie get caught selling bootleg beer during the prohibition era this film was made in, they get sentenced to the big house, sharing a cell with the toughest convict in the joint. The comic misadventures find them mixed up in a jailbreak, a prison riot, and at one point they even resort to using blackface to hide from the law! This fast-paced film, starring the most famous comedy duo in movie history, still amuses after nearly 80 years.

When production started on Pardon Us, Laurel & Hardy and their employer Hal Roach Studios were arguably at the peak of their respective powers. The comedy team had effortlessly survived, and even thrived during the recent transition from silent to sound filmmaking. They had just made a series of classic shorts, and would make their Academy Award-winning film The Music Box in less than a year. Roach was the most savvy producer of comedy shorts in the business, not only with Laurel & Hardy, but with Our Gang and other series starring less-remembered but still brilliant comedy talents, like Charlie Chase, Thelma Todd and Max Davidson.

Pardon Us was originally going to be another two-reel short, but Roach convinced his distributor MGM to allow re-use of large sets left over from their prison drama The Big House. He was thus able to afford to make the first feature film with his biggest stars, filling it out with memorable scenes supported by familiar comedy talents from the Roach stock company, like James Finlayson, Walter Long, Charlie Hall and Tiny Sandford.

Eastern State Penitentiary, built in the 1820s, is a world famous historic landmark, which influenced the design of hundreds of other prisons. Closed as a working prison since 1971, the decaying structure, which once housed Al Capone and Willie Sutton, has become a popular tourist attraction and museum over the last decade. The film will be projected right inside the main prison building in a hallway just outside Capone's cell, surrounded by iron bars and ghosts of convicts past.

The Secret Cinema and the Galleries at Moore

celebrate bike culture with Bicycle Shorts

Friday, May 29
8:00 pm
(Gallery reception 6:00-8:00 pm)
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, May 29, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will present Bicycle Shorts, a program of vintage short films all about the bicycle. The screening will happen in tandem with the opening kickoff of the Galleries at Moore's new exhibition series "Bicycle: people + ideas in motion," celebrating various facets of local bike culture.

The Bicycle Shorts film program will include rare retro educational films on bike safety, as well as bicycle-focused documentary, drama, and even a musical short.

There will be one complete screening at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

There will be also be a gallery reception from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, open to all.

Just a few highlights are:

The Day the Bicycles Disappeared (1967) - By way of intriguing special effects, a town's population of bicycles ride off by themselves and announce they are on strike, until they can be convinced that local kids will adopt safer riding practices.

We Decide: Trade-offs (1978) - In what will likely prove to be a prescient educational film, a class must analyze and then vote on how to solve a serious problem in their school: a severe shortage of bike rack spaces!

I'm No Fool with a Bicycle (1955) - A colorful, animated history of self-propelled locomotion precedes a comical safety lesson, hosted by beloved Disney character Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards).

The Bike (1969) - When two young boys steal a neighbor's fancy new banana-seated bike for a joyride, it's just the beginning of their problems. A suprisingly compelling mini-drama, with then-unusual handheld camerawork from future Oscar-winning cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, a Philadelphia native and father of actress/singer Zooey Deschanel.

Bicycle Built for Two (1941) - A "Soundies" musical clip originally shown on coin-operated film jukeboxes, this features the Eton Boys belting out the title song (a.k.a. "Daisy Bell") in a barbershop quartet style that was already quite retro in 1941.

...plus much more.

Pop culture critic Thomas Hine in person at

'70s screening/talk The Great Funk

Friday, April 24
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, April 24, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will present a unique exploration into the style and meaning of 1970s design, called The Great Funk. The Seventies, though much-maligned, is the decade that will not go away, constantly referenced in movies (Boogie Nights, Almost Famous), television (That 70s Show), radio (oldies formats embracing disco), and advertising ("Survive the '70s?" Geico campaign). What forces have kept these loud, turbulent, and mismatched years in our consciousness?

The Great Funk will include the showing of Seventies short films and clips from the Secret Cinema archives, plus an illustrated talk and discussion with acclaimed pop culture critic Thomas Hine. Hine, whose first book Populuxe both defined a style and coined a new word, has recently written The Great Funk: Styles of the Shaggy, Sexy, Shameless 1970s, which just this month was released in paperback (yes, we borrowed the title).

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

The look of the Seventies will be revealed in rare films, including industrial propaganda, school films, television and feature clips, commercials, and trailers, all chosen for maximum visual impact.

Thomas Hine will present an introductory, illustrated talk, offer commentary between films, and answer questions from the audience.

We've dipped into the Seventies in many past Secret Cinema presentations, but this will surely be our most thorough, illuminating and entertaining look back at the double-knit decade -- a confused, confusing era that preached being "natural," yet often practiced a stylistic excess that seems more surreal with each passing year.

Thomas Hine writes on design, culture, and history. He is the author of five books, including Populuxe, the book which propelled his reputation as one of the world's most important and insightful analysts of pop culture. That title, coined by Hine to describe the style and enthusiasms of post-World War II America, has entered the American idiom and is now included in the American Heritage and Random House dictionaries. From 1973 until 1996, Hine was the architecture and design critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he wrote a weekly column called "Surroundings." He has worked as an adviser for museums across the country and contributes frequently to magazines, including The Atlantic, Martha Stewart Living, Architectural Record, and others. He lives in Philadelphia.

This month The Boston Globe commissioned Hine to write an article on current echoes of 1970s style, viewable here.

THOMAS HINE WEBSITE

FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX WEBSITE

Secret Cinema co-presents Films from the Urban Archives:

Secrets from Philadelphia's Past

Thursday, April 16
4:00 pm & 6:00 pm (different programs)
Admission: FREE

Lecture Hall
Samuel L. Paley Library
1210 W. Berks Street, Philadelphia
215-204-2828

On Thursday, April 16, the Secret Cinema will team up with Temple University Libraries' Urban Archives to present Films from the Urban Archives: Secrets from Philadelphia's Past. This event will be the first ever public screening of films held in this unique collection, comprised of the former news and public affairs film libraries of two Philadelphia television stations.

The Secret Cinema long ago added to its mission the collecting, documenting and exposing of lesser-known and rarely seen films made in the Philadelphia region. Thus, we are thrilled to help explore treasures from what is surely the city's largest film archive. The Television Audiovisual Collections of the Urban Archives consists of approximately 14,000 cans of 16mm film from WPVI (formerly WFIL) and KYW. They include both aired and unused news footage, original documentaries and other special programming. The footage dates back to 1947 (when WFIL-TV first went on the air) and continues through the early 1980s.

Our screening will take place in the Lecture Hall of Paley Library, in the center of Temple University's main campus. We will show two different blocks of film, each lasting approximately 90 minutes. The start times for each block is 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm.

Admission is free (photo ID is required to enter the library building).

The films to be shown are still being selected. In a hectic but fun collaboration, the staffs of Secret Cinema and the Urban Archives are pulling and checking items of potential interest that span the eras and subjects of the collection. Here are a few highlights that will be included:

Assignment: 1747 Randolph Street (1966) - A hard-hitting documentary from an ongoing series produced by WFIL-TV, this episode focuses on North Philadelphia's Ludlow neighborhood -- then awash with gangs, graffiti, abandoned homes, and violent crime. While many of these problems may now seem eternal, this close-up view of urban decay not yet taken for granted remains powerful and shocking.

The Electric Factory, news footage (1968?) - This reel of silent, outtake footage from a news report provides an invaluable look inside Philadelphia's legendary psychedelic rock ballroom, then located in a former tire warehouse at 22nd & Arch Streets. On display are lightshows, see-saws and sliding boards, clothing and face paint vendors, and coffin-like "body racks" for patrons in need of relaxation -- the one detail of the old club that was faithfully recreated in the much larger concert venue of the same name that opened in the 1990s. The original Electric Factory, which hosted concerts by Jimi Hendrix, The Mothers of Invention, The Who, and many other legends, closed forever in 1970.

Connie Mack Stadium closing, news footage (1970) - Another reel of outtake footage, showing the final game, fans removing seats, the man who stole home plate, and the final fan-made wreckage of the once proud baseball stadium in the calm of the following day.

The Spirit of Philadelphia: The Unending Renaissance (1966) - "By the end of the second World War, Philadelphia was a sick city." This documentary takes a hopeful look towards a better future, with looks at the redevelopment of Society Hill, Market East and Penn's Landing, archival scenes of the building of the Ben Franklin Parkway, and interviews with visionary city planner Ed Bacon.

Broad Street Station closing news footage (1952) - A nostalgic and sad view of the last train to leave Frank Furness' grand railroad station, with music played on board by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Plus much, much more.

The Secret Cinema presents early science films

in historic setting for Media, Pa.'s Second Saturday

Saturday, March 14
7:30 pm
Admission: FREE

Delaware County Institute of Science
11 Veterans Square, Media, Pa.
(610) 566-5126

The Secret Cinema will bring its roving film projectors to Media, Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 14, to present a program of early science films. The screening will take place in the historic 1867 lecture hall of the Delaware County Institute of Science, in downtown Media. The event coincides with Media's monthly "2nd Saturday" arts stroll -- as well as with Pi Day, an international celebration of math and science that happens annually on March 14 (or 3.14, an approximation of the mathematical constant that expresses the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter).

The short film program (running about 45 minutes) will feature an assortment of vintage "popular science" shorts, all shown from rare original 16mm prints. The films range from the silent era through the 1950s, and were made by early film companies such as Pathe, Urban-Kineto and Eastman Classroom films. Titles include The Mysteries of Science (1910s), Food and Growth (1930), and Our World in Review: Astronomy (1932), which provides an early look at the Mount Wilson Observatory.

The screening begins at 7:30 pm. Admission is free.

This event, and Media 2nd Saturdays, are sponsored by the Media Arts Council.

On the 2nd Saturday of every month, over 30 businesses on and around State Street in Media stay open late as part of a free arts event. From 6:00 to 9:00 pm, shops, galleries and cafes host local musicians or display the work of local artists. Visitors can stroll the friendly streets of Media and use M.A.C.'s map to find music, art and participating shops.

The Delaware County Institute of Science was formed on September 21, 1833 as an association of five individuals interested in sciences and natural history. Today, its historic 1867 headquarters in Media's Veterans Square houses a museum, library, monthly lectures and other special events.

Scopitone Party screening

and talk at Moore

Friday, February 27
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, February 27, The Secret Cinema will present Scopitone Party, a unique collection of music films from the early and mid 1960s. They were originally made for a French film jukebox called Scopitone, which entertained patrons in bars, cafes and bus stations in both Europe and America. The film clips, which feature performers both famous and obscure -- and are considered to be among the more important of the many predecessors to the modern rock video -- are today quite scarce, and difficult to see in their original form.

Shown will be a large assortment of the precious prints (most of which were discovered by a film collector, in pristine, never-used condition, in the long-warehoused inventory of a retired Virginia jukebox dealer). Adding interest to the Scopitone Party program will be a special talk about the history of film jukeboxes (which date back to the 1940s), illustrated with color slides of rare photos and original advertising materials.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

The talk will be given by Secret Cinema director Jay Schwartz, who has now presented the Scopitone Party program at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Columbia University in New York, the Festival Internacional de Cine de Gijon (Spain), the Benicassim music festival (also Spain), and a rock film festival in Athens, Greece.

Scopitone Party will include performances by such well-known names as Dion, Nancy Sinatra, Paul Anka and Procul Harum. Also on view will be many French pop performers, including currently in retro-vogue names like Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, Michel Polnareff, Juliette Gréco, rockabilly-belting Johnny Hallyday, and doomed chanteuse Dalida. And then there are mystifying, bizarre clips by the British Elvis imitator Vince Taylor, a quartet of singing Jerry Lewis-types named Les Brutos, and even a few songs by performers whose names were lost to history.

EARLY EDUCATIONAL: Classroom Films of the Silent Era

(new 2009 edition) & live music at Moore

Friday, January 30
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, January 30, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will revisit an unusual program concept not tapped since we last used it in 2001: Early Educational: Classroom Films of the Silent Era. These ultra-rare reels, most of which haven't been seen in seven or eight decades, are still potent in their powers to entertain, amuse, and yes, educate modern-day viewers about a variety of subjects. The various short films, most of which were made in the 1920s, include now ancient travels to distant lands, historical dramatizations, looks at industry and nature studies.

And, just to keep things interesting, our 2009 edition of Early Educational will include no duplication of titles from our 2001 show. Most of the films have never been shown by Secret Cinema -- or anyone else, since the 1920s.

The prints to be projected, many of which are believed to be exclusive to the Secret Cinema archive, are mostly original prints (rather than restored or duplicated prints) dating to the time of the production, from pioneering companies such as Kodascope Libraries, Eastman Teaching Films, and Urban-Kineto. They are mostly in excellent condition, and many were made on tinted stock. The films will be projected at the correct speeds, with a live musical accompaniment from Don Kinnier.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Don Kinnier has played music for several previous Secret Cinema presentations of silent movies. Don is Pennsylvania's most prominent silent film accompanist, and has been plying his craft for over forty years. The Philadelphia native (now based in Lititz) has studied the techniques and repertoires of the original theater musicians of the silent era. Don recently played for our screening of Nanook of the North at the American Philosophical Society.

A few highlights of the program include:

Studies in Animal Motion (1922, British Instructional Films, Ltd.) - A seemingly random (though no less fascinating) assortment of animals are shown ambulating in normal and slow motion, including seagulls, flamingos, snakes, snails...and a boxing kangaroo, seen with his human sparring partner!

First Aid: Control of Bleeding (1932?, Eastman Classroom Films) - Made in cooperation with the Department of Biology and Public Health, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This film demonstrates the application of tourniquets to stop blood loss in various types of wounds, using simple animation as well as real models.

America's Little Lamb (1928, Fox Varieties, The World We Live In series) - Here's an example of how a Hollywood studio approach (i.e., lots of cute animals and corny subtitle copy) to an otherwise standard documentary about animals and industry can result in a releasable theatrical short. It was subsequently distributed to schools through the Kodascope rental library; their catalog entry promised that "in an unusually attractive portrayal, this film tells the story of a typical American range sheep...You'll like this picture."

Modern Basketball Fundamentals (1925, Eastman Classroom Films) - Basketball was a young sport when this instructional film was produced: metal hoops and backboards had replaced the game's original peach baskets just 19 years earlier, and the NBA was decades away from being formed. Vital passing and shooting skills are demonstrated in this film directed by legendary University of Kansas coach F.C. "Phog" Allen, who learned basketball while a freshman there directly from the sport's inventor, James Naismith.

Mendelsohn (1926, FitzPatrick Pictures, Famous Music Master series) - A fanciful dramatization of the famed composer's supposed inspiration for writing "The Wedding March," and a sweet love story as well. Producer James A. FitzPatrick became well-known as a leading producer of travelogues for MGM, but few have seen this earlier series, showcasing his flair for staging narrative scenes. We'll show a beautiful multi-tinted original print from the Universal Show-at-Home library.

PLUS In Rural Belgium, Monkeys of Asia, Ethyl Alcohol, and much, much more!

The Literary World of Frank and Eleanor Perry

at International House

Co-presented by Secret Cinema

Thursday, January 22 - Saturday, January 24
Co-presented by Secret Cinema

International House Philadelphia
3701 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 387-5125

Secret Cinema is co-presenting a three-day screening at International House, called The Literary World of Frank and Eleanor Perry. We'd like to take full credit for this great idea, but in fact our participation was really limited to making sure the series included the great David and Lisa, and finding a rare television drama made by the Perrys, The Thanksgiving Visitor.

However, I've been curious about these filmmakers for a long time (since seeing David and Lisa and the equally amazing Diary of a Mad Housewife), and this is a great opportunity to see some rarely shown films on the big screen.

From the plot description (and from the site of my original viewings of this film, in school auditoriums), David and Lisa sounds potentially less than exciting. Two lonely, mentally-disturbed teenagers meet in a residential home for their kind, and form a romantic bond. Sounds like a TV movie-of-the-week, something that gets shown because it's good for you, educational about an important cause, and probably full of cliches?

David and Lisa is the opposite of such a film. It's incredibly entertaining, fun, funny, offbeat, weird and psychotronic (and indeed, is viewed as politically incorrect by some modern mental health experts). It features a stunning pair of performances from its young leads, especially Keir (2001) Dullea, seen here in only his second feature film, in the full-on, intense, nervous mode he was so good at). It has striking black and white photography. It has surrealist nightmare sequences worthy of Dali. If all that weren't enough reason to see it, it's a low-budget, independent production shot in the Philadelphia area 46 years ago, with key scenes taking place in the art museum!

We've never seen the other two features (Ladybug Ladybug and The Swimmer) but they both enjoy strong reputations as original (and bizarre) works. I'm looking forward to seeing them both.

Below is International House's program notes for the series, with a few added notes from me.

Jay Schwartz
The Secret Cinema

Thursday, January 22 at 7pm
David and Lisa
dir. Frank Perry, US, 1962, 16mm, 95 mins, b/w
Both Frank and Eleanor Perry were nominated for Academy Awards in 1962, (he for Best Director and she for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) for this screen adaptation of the Theodore Isaac Rubin novel. David suffers from a severe obsessive compulsive condition. At a treatment center he meets Lisa, who is dealing with a split personality disorder. The two forge a unique romance despite the disapproval from the adults around them. This low-budget feature is an excellent example of filmmaking which paved the way for independents in the decades to follow.

[Shot entirely (I think) in the Philadelphia area. According to Irv Slifkin's book Filmadelphia, the building that served as the school was the former Isaac Clothier estate in Wynnewood. Clothier was the famed department store partner of Justus Strawbridge. The Victorian mansion, near the intersection of Lancaster and Wynnewood Avenues close to the Wynnewood train station (which also appears in the film), was originally known as Ballytore. It was used by the Agnes Irwin School from 1933 to 1961, and was evidently conveniently vacant at the time of David And Lisa's filming. It was then remodeled for the Armenian Church of St. Sahag and St. Mesrob, which it remains today. Other scenes take place inside and outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and on a bustling nighttime Chestnut Street.]

preceded by

The Thanksgiving Visitor
dir. Frank Perry, US, 1967, 16mm, 51 mins, b/w
This made for television film is based on a short story by Truman Capote, who also narrates. It's the tale of Buddy, who seeks to humiliate his tormenter Odd at the family Thanksgiving dinner. Starring Geraldine Page as Buddy's cousin Sook, who teaches him that kindness is better than revenge. Page won the Best Actress Emmy for the role.

[We'll see the original version that was broadcast by ABC-TV in 1967. In late 1969 it was shortened and renamed "A Christmas Memory" as one part of the Perrys' Truman Capote's Trilogy, aka Trilogy. This limited-release theatrical feature also included filmed versions of the Capote short stories "Miriam" and "Along The Paths To Eden."]

Friday, January 23 at 7pm
Ladybug Ladybug
dir. Frank Perry, US, 1963, 16mm, 82 mins, b/w
Frank Perry's second feature, this odd and disturbing film goes far beyond the genre of cold-war drama. At a small rural school, the siren signifying a nuclear attack goes off. Unable to determine if it's a false alarm, the children are sent home accompanied by their teachers. Tension mounts as the feeling of impending doom weighs heavy on the young, impressionable minds. This overlooked early work by the Perry's is a truly haunting emotional roller-coaster ride.

Saturday, January 24 at 7pm
The Swimmer
dir. Frank Perry, US, 1968, 35mm, 95 mins, color
Shifting from the fragile emotional world of children and young adults, The Swimmer focuses on the seemingly banal yet deeply dysfunctional lives of middle-aged suburbanites. Burt Lancaster brilliantly plays Ned Merrill, who after a mysterious long absence returns to his affluent Connecticut town where he proceeds to slowly unravel in a psychological nightmare. John Cheever's short story is brought to life as a fascinating juxtaposition of the materially wealthy and the emotionally bereft.

Free admission members above Internationalist level; $5 Internationalist members, students + seniors; $7 general admission.

The Secret Cinema at Moore welcomes

A/V Geeks with S is for Sissy

Friday, December 12
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, December 12, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will, for the first time ever, welcome a guest programmer: Skip Elsheimer, of A/V Geeks will come up from Raleigh, North Carolina just for us and present a unique program called S is for Sissy!

What could be worse than to have a little boy become a sissy? The program includes vintage and campy social guidance school films from the 1950s through the 1980s that examine the behavior of potential wimps and what can be done to correct it.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Skip will also project some nostalgic educational filmstrips as part of this presentation.

Skip Elsheimer founded and maintains the A/V Geeks Educational Film Archive, an archive of over 22,000 educational and industrial films which he screens for audiences across the country. He presents them at such venues at the American Museum of the Moving Image, Coolidge Corner Cinema, Anthology Film Archives, Aurora Picture Show and Chicago Filmmakers. He produced a popular series of DVD compilations called the "Educational Archives." Recently, Skip co-wrote an article with Marsha Orgeron entitled "Something Different In Science Films -- The Moody Institute of Science and the Canned Missionary Movement," published in The Moving Image: Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists.

Just a few highlights of S is for Sissy! are:

Soapy the Germ Fighter (1951)
Billy Martin is concerned that being clean is tantamount to being a sissy. Perhaps a giant cake of soap in pantaloons can convince him otherwise.

William's Doll (1985)
William is an athletic kid but his fascination with baby dolls has his father concerned and his friends picking on him. Can Grandpa fix things with William's birthday gift?

Fears of Children (1951)
Paul's being a little stinker by challenging his father and moping about the house. Is his mother babying him too much and his Dad being too strict?

Neurotic Behavior - a Psychodynamic View (1973)
College-aged Peter has problems talking to girls. Could stern toilet training be making him a sissy?

...plus much more!

Look at early South Street, talk featured at

From Philadelphia With Love 2008: More Industrial,

Educational and other Lost Local Films

Friday, November 14
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, November 14, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will offer From Philadelphia With Love 2008: More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. This new entry in one of our most ambitious and best-loved series (first presented in 1999) will feature 100% new programming -- and a special look back at the South Street Renaissance of the 1970s. After a rare showing of the 1977 documentary South Street Philadelphia: Street of Contrasts, there will be a live conversation with Ezekiel Zagar, who grew up in the neighborhood (and appeared in the film when he was 10 years old!).

While most area residents are familiar with Philadelphia films such as Rocky, Trading Places, and the works of M. Night Shayamalan, there is a whole world of locally-made films that has been forgotten -- the "ephemeral" short films that were primarily made by small independent companies for the then-booming non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesman have long ago discarded their 16mm film projectors, we at Secret Cinema have not, and are proud to present a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia With Love 2008 are:

South Street Philadelphia: Street of Contrasts (1977, Dir: Paulette Jellinek) - This early examination of what was then called the South Street Renaissance captured the vibrancy of a vital new part of the city, at a time before chain stores invaded. Interviews with the older shopkeepers (mostly Jewish immigrant garment sellers) and a younger generation of artists and merchants reveal the two groups' shared excitement about the recent changes on South Street. Shown are such pioneers as Rick and Ruth Snyderman of the Works Gallery, the Group Motion dance group, and now-legendary mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar, along with his wife Julia and young son Ezekiel. Following this film will be a discussion about the early days of the South Street renaissance with Ezekiel Zagar.

Ezekiel Zagar literally grew up with the new South Street, from the its rebirth in the late 1960s through its full blossoming in the 1970s. As a teenager he played music with early-'80s Philly hardcore bands F.O.D. and McRad. Today he upholds the traditions of South Street merchants with his new store, Ezekiel's Music and Culture, around the corner from where his parents helped revive the venerable shopping district.

Modern Magazine Magic (1956) - This colorful promotional film looks at the many skilled workers who are needed to produce the magazines we read, from the paper plant to the writers, editors, photographers, layout designers, illustrators, cartoonists, advertising salesmen, pressmen, and even typists of Braille editions. Made in vivid Kodachrome, the short film resembles a stock-footage company's "Fifties Lifestyles" demo reel, as we also glimpse families reading at home and shopping for groceries, not to mention artist Norman Rockwell at work in his studio. The film was sponsored by and made in the facilities of the Curtis Publishing Company, perhaps the most important publisher of periodicals in the 20th century, with The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and Jack & Jill among their roster. The company's eventual collapse is legendary and the subject of multiple books, though founder Cyrus Curtis' legacy endures today through his former real estate: the company's mammoth Independence Square headquarters building, and Curtis Arboretum in Wyncote, once the site of his palatial estate. His daughter founded the Curtis Institute of music.

Is a Career in Television or Radio For You? (1970s) - This educational film, part of a series of career guidance shorts for high school audiences, was shot locally at the City Line Avenue studios of WCAU and WPVI (shortly after the latter's call letter change from WFIL).While showing the work of different kinds of jobs available in the field, we see glimpses of past local broadcasters John Facenda, Gene London, Joe Pellegrino and Jim O'Brien.

The Philadelphia Story of 1963 (1963) - This rare sales film was made to promote a new televised bingo game/program called "RINGO," played with game cards distributed to shoppers at Acme Markets.

The Spirit of Success (1984) - A tourism and business promotional film touting the many benefits of life in Montgomery County, showing off numerous historical sites (Valley Forge, Pennypacker Mills, Hope Lodge), recreational and leisure facilities (Elmwood Park Zoo, Lily Langtry's nightclub), business headquarters, and bountiful shopping opportunities (including both King of Prussia Plaza and then-new Willow Grove Park Mall).

Friends in Philadelphia (1970) - A quick cinematic portrait of the Friends Select school on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

And much, much more, including a commercial for the Liberty Bell Park racetrack, a clip from an old Nova episode about Legionnaire's Disease, and home movies.

The Bela Lugosi Halloween Grab Bag

at Moore College of Art & Design

Friday, October 31
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

October is always a special time for the Secret Cinema, and we've used it to showcase many different cinematic observances of Halloween, including "Scream-O-Thons," all-night horror feature fests, and even a William Castle feature shown with an approximation of its off-screen "Emergo" process (a skeleton that traveled through the theater on a wire). Well, this year we offer another SC first by actually showing films on Halloween!

Yes, a careful review of our records shows that we've never actually had a Secret Cinema screening on October 31. This year, with Halloween falling on a Friday night, it was time to change that. On Friday, October 31, the Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design presents The Bela Lugosi Halloween Grab Bag. The program will be comprised of a surprise selection of spooky short films, two rarely-shown B-movie features starring Bela Lugosi (including a rare archival print of Scared To Death, Lugosi's only color film), plus for the first time in years, a dusting off of the two scariest reels of film in the Secret Cinema archives.

As with most 1940s B-movies, the running time of each feature is just over an hour, keeping our whole program to a manageable length.

Wearing of costumes is definitely encouraged!

Admission to any or all of the screening is $7.00.

All Secret Cinema programs are projected in 16mm film (not video).

Below are complete descriptions of the features.

Scared To Death (Dir: Christy Cabanne, 1947. 65 min.)
This obscure wonder was the only horror film made in 1947, and Bela Lugosi's sole color feature. Told in a series of flashbacks narrated by a female corpse lying on a mortuary slab, the strained story brings together George Zucco as the victim's sinister physician father-in-law, Lugosi as a mysterious stranger with a murky past as a vaudeville hypnotist, prolific movie dwarf Angelo Rossitto (Freaks) as Bela's wordless and completely-unexplained sidekick, star-in-decline Joyce Compton, and comic character players Nat Pendleton and Douglas Fowley (father of weirdo record producer Kim Fowley). Scared To Death is a bewilderingly surreal, comic opera of overwrought dialogue and ripe performances, with a script that recalls the "best" of Ed Wood (though perhaps not quite as floridly written as the master's works). "Watch it closely and decide: Had the actors ever seen the script? Were some of them under the influence of a very disorienting drug? Fascinating." - The Psychotronic Encylopedia of Film.

Scared To Death was made in the now-obscure Cinecolor process, a would-be rival to Technicolor that used a similar imbibition dye-transfer process, but with less chromatic range. The result is a gaudy, dreamlike look that perfectly suits this bizarre little film. We will be projecting a very rare, 61-year-old original Cinecolor print from the year of the film's production.

Director Christy Cabanne (pronounced CA-ba-nay) entered motion pictures in 1910 as an actor in D.W. Griffith's Biograph films. He soon became Griffith's assistant, and started directing in 1913, working with many of the greatest stars of the silent era. Cabanne worked as second unit director on the 1926 classic Ben-Hur, before settling into a later career of making low-budget programmers. Cabanne directed well over 100 feature films, of which Scared To Death was one of his last.

The Ape Man (Dir: William Beaudine, 1943. 64 min.)
Bela Lugosi was forced to accept some embarrassing roles during his B-movie exile of the 1940s; perhaps none were more ludicrous than in The Ape Man. Bela plays a mad scientist who's experiment of injecting himself with the spinal fluid of apes goes awry. Thus, he appears throughout most of this film covered in hair, walking with a silly sway in poor imitation of a half-simian. Hidden away in his basement lab, he sleeps in a cage with a real ape ("I locked myself in there with him...fearing I might do something terrible!"), which he periodically takes out to kill unsuspecting victims whose spinal fluid may bring him back to normal. Wallace Ford (Freaks) and Louise Currie play a pair of reporters investigating the weird goings-on, and Minerva Urecal plays Bela's protective, spooky sister.

In The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, Michael Weldon raved: "An unbeatable combination: Beaudine and Lugsosi!...great stuff!" Beaudine was William "One Shot" Beaudine, a prolific director of mostly grade B and lower exploitation films of every genre, from The Cohens and Kellys in Paris to Mom and Dad to Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula. He earned his nickname by rarely shooting more than one take of any scene. Like Christy Cabanne, he started by assisting D.W. Griffith, and directed his first films in 1915. His early work included such prestigious, quality silent features like Mary Pickford's Sparrows; he later worked in television, directing episodes of The Mickey Mouse Club and Lassie. When he died in 1970 he was 78, and Hollywood's oldest active director.

Surprise Shorts
Assorted spooky cartoons, TV bits, and more, to Not be announced…it's a surprise!

...and the promised two scariest reels of film?

Options To Live (1978)
Earl J. Deems, a former accountant, started the Mansfield, Ohio based Highway Safety Films, Inc. in 1959 to release Signal 30. This notorious Drivers' Ed short, shocking even today, gave viewers a front-row seat to gore-filled, still-smoking car wreck scenes, in an effort to instill respect for careful driving practices. His company became the most successful purveyor of this nightmarish film genre, and sold many copies of titles like Mechanized Death, Wheels of Tragedy, and Highways of Agony. In 1978 Deems completed Options To Live, his swan song and a "greatest hits" (in every way) compilation of the bloodiest scenes from his footage library. "This is what pain looks like!"

Non-Syphilitic Venereal Disease (195?)
This short film made for the medical community -- in still-stunning Kodachrome color -- details a variety of exotic venereal diseases, in close-up after horrifying close-up. This repulsive reel of film (like Options To Live) is guaranteed to have audiences screaming in terror.

at Moore College of Art & Design

Friday, September 26
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, September 26, The Secret Cinema start its eleventh season at Moore College of Art and Design, with Curator's Choice 2008: Unseen Corners of the Secret Cinema Archives. This hand-picked program of nearly-lost treasures from the deepest depths of the Secret Cinema film vaults will include just that -- with all films never shown before by us, and for that matter, probably 100% guaranteed to have never been seen before by any of the audience!

Some popular Secret Cinema programs get repeated over the years, to expose them to new audiences; other program ideas have been reused but with new/different films. Curator's Choice 2008 falls in the latter category. This is only the third outing for the Curator's Choice concept, which we last did exactly two years ago. We have never shown any of these actual short films ever before.

The Secret Cinema's private archive contains literally thousands of reels of 16mm (and 35mm, and 8mm) features, theatrical shorts, cartoons, newsreels, television shows, educational films, travel films, industrial films, and home movies. Together, they add up to well over one million feet of often rare celluloid, with several prints thought to be the only extant copies in the world.

Since 1992, the Secret Cinema has sought to create programming that exposes every type of these films, by showing these fascinating, historical, and often hilarious short films before features or in themed groupings. Yet, despite exposing hundreds of rare works this way, there are still many choice reels that we've never got around to screening publicly, often unclassifiable films that had inconvenient running times or could fit into no common theme.

Some of the best of these amazing films will again see the light of a projector bulb in Curator's Choice 2008. This previously ungroupable group of short films will include films that were made to entertain, to teach, to encourage commerce and to alter opinion. Spanning many decades, many show wondrous places, styles and things that have long-since vanished. Some of them now seem campy, others still have valid lessons to teach, but all are fascinating, and extremely unlikely to be seen anywhere else, including on video.

There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

The program is still being assembled, but just a few highlights are:

You in Great Britain (1954) - This Armed Forces Information Film was never meant to be seen by a general audience, but a uniformed one -- specifically, members of our military who were stationed in a recovering England in the post-war era. The short begins with a short historical segment showing why the U.K., despite a very different temperament in its citizens, was much closer to the American ideal than other nations being harmed by "aggressive communism." We then take a more intimate peek at the lives of typical Britons. As England was still struggling to put its economy back together, the American soldiers were cautioned not to throw their money around in a boastful way that might offend our less-fortunate allies. A fascinating document, with Larry Hagman yet.

Coca Cola: Operation Tiger (1975?) - Yet another private film made for privileged eyes: This corporate motivational film was made to instill pride and passion in the hearts of Coca Cola bottlers and their delivery men, in hope that they would take extra care when setting up store displays of the "beautiful red and white labels" on countless cases of Coca Cola. It was part of a 1970s campaign secretly titled "Operation Tiger," and attempted to inspire these men to become fierce kings of the soft drink jungle. A rare view from inside the belly of the carbonated corporate beast!

The Making of the President 1960 (1961) - This timely classroom short, made entirely from period newsreel footage, looks at the presidential campaigns and political conventions that launched our most tumultuous decade. Includes close-up looks at the winners (Kennedy and Nixon) and also-rans (Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Nelson Rockefeller, Adlai Stevenson and others). This was the first presidential election to collect votes from our two newest states, which coincidentally were the childhood homes of Barack Obama (Hawaii) and Sarah Palin (Alaska). Neither were yet born, but they were no doubt later inspired by the presence of local voting booths.

Red Light, Green Light: Meeting Strangers (1969) - This potentially scary educational film uses a simple color-coded visual effect to allow its primary school audience to quickly divide people into two possible categories -- strangers, all of whom seem to be predatory perverts, and known, trustworthy authority figures (such as teachers, police, clergy and friends' parents!). Perhaps a more reliable litmus test would be to beware of anyone with an undue interest in the 1924 silent film Wild and Wooly.

Wild and Wooly (1924, silent) - The opening credits inform us that Wild and Wooly is "one of the Novelty Comedy Ribticklers," but little else is known about the origin of this truly bizarre short from the golden age of silent comedy. The brief story of a genteel mother who grooms her young boy to look like a sissy when he would rather play rough with the neighborhood tough kids is creepy enough...but it is rendered that much more disturbing by the filming of a gratuitous and shocking nude scene of the curly-haired child, as his mother dries him off after a shower! Not to be confused with the better-known Douglas Fairbanks film of the same title.

...plus much, much more!

Bon Voyage II: More Vintage Travel Films

at Moore

Friday, May 16
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, May 16, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present Bon Voyage II: More Vintage Travel Films. Another collection of rare original prints from the Secret Cinema archives, this program will focus on one of the earliest yet most enduring uses of motion pictures -- bringing views of far-off lands to audiences unlikely to experience them in person. This will be a sequel to the original Bon Voyage show, first presented at Moore in 2005 (and recently reprised at the Hiway Theatre). Bon Voyage II will feature 100% new programming with no repeats from the previous edition.

The assortment of short subjects collected for Bon Voyage II: More Vintage Travel Films illustrates the range of styles and approaches used by travel filmmakers through the years. There will be examples of shorts made by Burton Holmes, who originally gave live lectures illustrated by silent film footage, and also by his latter-day rival, James A. FitzPatrick, who produced dozens of one-reel "Traveltalks" for MGM. There will be some color and some silent tinted prints, some films made as promotion for travel and others meant to be more educational. Yet all are fascinating (and sometimes amusing) just by virtue of their vintage. The styles of filmmaking and narration are definitely from another time, and often politically incorrect by present standards. On the other hand, most of the films still have a lot to teach in the context of their original intent, too.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Just a few highlights of Bon Voyage II: More Vintage Travel Films are:

In Old New Orleans (1930s, Talking Picture Epics) - Made decades before Hurricane Katrina, with vintage views of Canal Street, a pre-Girls Gone Wild Mardi Gras, and dancing street kids -- all filmed an narrated in a style very much like the travel films of James FitzPatrick.

Sights of Suva (1918, Paramount-Burton Holmes Travel Pictures) - Burton Holmes, dubbed "the World's Greatest Traveler" in a recent Taschen book showcasing his hand-colored photography, was famous throughout the early 20th Century as a prolific travel lecturer, writer, photographer and filmmaker. His films are now the hardest of his works to find and experience. This rare early short takes us to the primitive capital of Fiji, where we see a general store, "coolie" laborers, a "good Indian" porter, and locals referred to as "sons of Fiji cannibals."

Bonus Land (1954, Universal-International Color Parade) - A trip through Venezuela, from bustling downtown Caracas streets to dizzying Angel Falls, all in blazing Kodachrome.

The Mystic East (1935, Ideal Pictures Corporation) - From the series "Quaint People in Queer Places," a look at then-unified Korea, which was under Japanese rule from 1910 through the end of World War II.

Hawaiian Islands (1926, Eastman Classroom Films) - Lovely multi-tinted print from long ago, showing Waikiki Beach complete with surfers, early animated graphics, an active volcano, and a fascinating look at the Dole Pineapple cannery.

Song of Siam (1948, Paul White Productions) - This independent production used vivid color photography to highlight the differences, and similarities, of Siamese culture to our own: "Witness these teenagers -- they could be any high school students from Main Street -- and their favorite dance music is American swing!"

Across the World in Three Seconds (1962, Pan-Am) - Color promotional short from Pan-Am Airlines, showing off a new ease of booking international travel reservations, thanks to their new "Panamac" IBM computer system.

...and much, much more

The Secret Cinema celebrates Women's History Month

with Girl Films

Friday, March 21
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

In the past the Secret Cinema has presented programs of films about cars, films about war, and even a program called He-Man Films. In recognition of National Women's History Month (March), it's time for a kinder and gentler program, as the Secret Cinema presents special selections from the better half of our archive: Girl Films.

No, not "girlie films" (although we've been known to show those too) -- Girl Films is a program of rare short films made for, about, or by women. OK, only one of the shorts was (partially) produced by females, but that was kind of unusual in the time that these films were made (the 1930s through the 1970s).

Some of the shorts selected for Girl Films were originally intended for an all-girl audience, in segregated hygiene or home economics classrooms. Others were made for all to see, and celebrate women's contributions to sports, arts, the military, and industry. The one quality they all share is that they were the products of very different eras than the present one.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Highlights of Girl Films include:

Mother Melodies (1930s) - Forgotten crooner Jack Arthur, with help from Philadelphia-born organist Lew White, sings a trio of sentimental songs about mothers, in what is surely the most maudlin film in the Secret Cinema archive.

The March of Time: Careers for Girls (1949) - This topical newsreel from Louis DeRochemont's legendary series (produced under the auspices of Time, Life and Fortune magazines) takes a look at the likely jobs women could aspire to in the post-war years. These included expected jobs in offices and retail stores, but also shows more glamorous possibilities, as we see glimpses of singing great Marian Anderson performing in the NBC radio studios.

The Ancient Art of Belly Dancing (1977) - An intimate look at an art form 5000 years old, featuring interviews with several of its practitioners. Produced by the Belly Dancing Co-op.

Arranging the Buffet Supper (1946) - Kodachrome educational film that instructs the precise rules of etiquette for the title subject.

She Serves Abroad (1943) - Produced by Britain's Ministry of Information, this fast-moving newsreel shows the female role in World War II, ranging from teletypists in the RAF's Middle East Command, to ambulance drivers in South Africa.

Women's Wrestling Matches (1950s) - Two pairs of tough gals go at each other in no-holds-barred style -- and heaven help the poor referee who winds up between them!

Love Carefully (1970s) - "This movie is about having babies...and about NOT having babies." Most hygiene classes were still single-sex at the time of this film, aimed at a presumably female audien/ce, but that didn't stop the male hippie announcer's gentle narration style from using "street" slang and terminology as he explains various birth control options.

...and much more!

Famous Films II at Moore

Saturday, February 23 (new date because of Friday's snow)
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

The Secret Cinema is known for presenting rarest-of-the-rare, otherwise impossible to see celluloid treasures. That changes on Saturday, February 23, as we present our second program of Famous Films.

Once again, we've scoured our archive shelves for the most famous short film titles we could find...and realized there was still more great, non-obscure viewing that we'd not shown before. The program will include legendary documentaries, silent films and theatrical subjects. Some were landmark achievements for their unusual style, use of music, or other innovative techniques. Others endure simply as great entertainment.

Of course, "famous" is a relative term, and fame is a fleeting thing. One reason we wish to air these great works is the growing realization that even classic films are becoming hard to see in their original form (projected celluloid on a large screen). Not so long ago, all of these films would have been mandatory viewing (via 16mm or 35mm prints) in university courses and repertory cinemas, but that is sadly no longer true. Indeed, several of these reels will be unknown to today's casual viewer -- all the more reason to celebrate them again.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Highlights of Famous Films II include:

Kid's Auto Races (1914, Dir: Henry "Pathe" Lehrman) - Charlie Chaplin's second film -- and the first in which he adopts the "Little Tramp" costume and persona he was to use for more than 30 years. Improvised at a real-life children's soapbox derby in Venice, California, Charlie plays a mischievous troublemaker who comically interferes with the shooting of a newsreel.

The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936, Dir: Pare Lorentz) - This unique film documents not only its subject (soil erosion and the resulting dust bowl of the depression years), but a fascinating, long-gone time when the federal government funded politically progressive and artistically avant-garde art. FDR's Resettlement Administration assigned this project to Pare Lorentz, a political columnist freshly-fired by William Randolph Hearst. Lorentz assembled a crew of notable photographers, including Leo Hurwitz, Ralph Steiner and Paul Strand, all from the leftist Film and Photo league. He set their dramatic footage to haunting music from prominent modernist composer Virgil Thomson, and poetic narration read by Metropolitan Opera baritone Thomas Chalmers. The troubled and controversial production ultimately became one of the most famous documentaries of all time. It was hugely popular with theater audiences, and its influence on later Hollywood productions like The Grapes of Wrath is clear.

A Trip to the Moon (1902, Dir: Georges Méliès) - One of the very first science-fiction films, and one of the longest and most elaborately produced motion pictures of its time. Former stage magician Méliès employed his trademark whimsical two-dimensional sets and innovative special effects to their best and grandest use yet, showing the planning and execution of a manned flight to the moon and back (even predicting the "splashdown" landing method still used by NASA). Much of the story ideas were based on books by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, but Méliès' unique vision infuses every frame. The shot of the rocket ship landing in the eye of the "man in the moon" is one of the most iconic (and charming) images in film history.

Toys (1966, Dir: Grant Munro) - This notable anti-war short was seen by millions, both in international film festivals and by schoolchildren (it was a staple of school film libraries). A group of schoolchildren stare into the window of a toy shop, where the toys come to life via stop-motion animation, to horrifying effect.

The Stolen Jools, aka The Slippery Pearls (1931, Dir: William C. McGann) - Over half a century before Band Aid's "Do They Know it's Christmas," this curio was made as an all-star and all-studio effort to raise funds for a Tuberculosis sanitarium (later to become the Will Rogers Hospital), under the aegis of the National Variety Artists. Every movie studio contributed its production facilities and contract players to make a star-studded spoof of a detective yarn, about the search for Norma Shearer's missing jewelry. Paramount handled distribution; the film stock was paid for by sponsor Chesterfield Cigarettes. The gigantic cast includes such 1930s superstars as Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang, Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Maurice Chevalier, and Barbara Stanwyck, plus many beloved character players such as Eugene Pallette, Charles Butterworth, Mitzi Green, and Gabby Hayes.

Plus: Men in Black (1934), The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912, Dir: D.W. Griffith), Porky's Hare Hunt (1938), and more.

Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films

at Hiway Theatre film series

Friday, February 15, 2008
10:00 pm
Admission:
Adults, $8.50; Seniors/Students: $6.50;
Children: $5.50; Hiway members: $5.00

Hiway Theatre
212 Old York Road, Jenkintown, Pa.
(215) 886-9800

On Friday, February 15, 2008, The Secret Cinema will present its first-ever screening at the historic Hiway Theatre, in Jenkintown. As part of the Hiway's Road Trips and Amazing Journeys, a week-long series of special programming, the Secret Cinema will show Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films. A collection of rare original prints from the Secret Cinema archives, this program will focus on one of the earliest yet most enduring uses of motion pictures -- bringing views of far-off lands to audiences unlikely to experience them in person.

(This is the same program that was shown at Moore College of Art & Design in 2005. An all-new Bon Voyage program is in the works for Moore in the coming months).

The assortment of short subjects collected for Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films illustrates the range of styles and approaches used by travel filmmakers through the years. There will be examples of shorts made by Burton Holmes, who originally gave live lectures illustrated by silent film footage, and also by his latter-day rival, James A. FitzPatrick, who produced dozens of one-reel "Traveltalks" for MGM. There will be some color and some silent tinted prints, some films made as promotion for travel and others meant to be more educational. Yet, all are fascinating (and sometimes amusing) just by virtue of their vintage. The styles of filmmaking and narration are definitely from another time, and often politically incorrect by present standards. On the other hand, most of the films still have a lot to teach in the context of their original intent, too.

There will be one complete show at 10:00 pm.

Just a few highlights of Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films are:

The Story of Our National Parks (U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1920s silent) - Early government film promoting use of National Park system. Begins with the framing device of a well-to-do housewife showing off a photo album of her recent trip to Yellowstone; soon, the photos come to life for a detailed look at the park and its attractions.

6-1/2 Magic Hours (Pan Am, 1954) - This delightful color film takes a promotional look at 1950s transatlantic air travel, complete with onboard powder rooms, lounges and gourmet food.

A Dutch Treat (1920s) - Four very short films (in yellow and amber tints) made for direct sale to owners of home 16mm projectors, with picturesque looks at Amsterdam, Volendam, and "The Cheese Market of Alkmaar."

An Egyptian Adventure (1928) An early sound adaptation of an even earlier silent film, "produced in Egypt" by Louis de Rochemont, who later created the acclaimed March of Time documentary series. This short previews the March of Time modus operandi of using staged scenes in reality films, by mixing in an amusing story of U.S. sailors on shore leave being hoodwinked by crafty Egyptian antique traders.

Hong Kong: Gateway to the Orient (Castle Films, 1957) - Color short showing, by day and night, an already-crowded city that has changed greatly since this film.

European History Atlas: Ethiopia (1930s, Burton Holmes) - Rather disparaging narration sets the tone for this short, which shows then-ruler Haile Selassie, and the Coptic Church, "a strange mixture of the supernatural and barbarism."

Fairest Eden (1931, William M. Pizor Port O' Call series) - Early sound ("recorded on the Cinephone System") travel film of Pago Pago in American Samoa. See tattoos, ukuleles, a nude boy in a canoe made from discarded gasoline cans, and much more. "Unlike the women, the men are rarely corpulent."

Native Africa (1940s, Castle Films) - Sensational if exploitive narrated short made for the non-theatrical market, with looks at tamed elephants, rickshaws, Victoria Falls, ritual scarification, and much more.

Panama - The Peculiar Prodigy (1933, Kodascope Libraries) - A look at the Canal Zone and operations at the Panama Canal. Old tinted print has added bonus of a spliced-on title from its sub-distributor, Cunard-White Star Ltd.'s Sunshine Cruises.

With roots going back to 1913, the Hiway Theatre has had many names and owners over its nearly century-long history. After a period of being closed, the Hiway was bought by local residents and set up as a non-profit organization. The comfortable single-screen cinema has since undergone a major renovation. The Road Trips and Amazing Journeys series celebrates one year of operations in its present incarnation, and in addition to special programming, the Hiway shows first-run foreign and independent features throughout the year.

Remember Pearl Harbor!

Films of Vengeance and Fear

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

Remember Pearl Harbor! Films of Vengeance and Fear
Friday, December 7
8:00 pm - Behind the Rising Sun + short subjects
10:00 pm - Samurai + short subjects

On December 7, 2007 -- the 66th anniversary of the "Day that will live in infamy," the Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design presents a very special program, reflecting on both world history and film history. Remember Pearl Harbor! Films of Vengeance and Fear is a look back on Hollywood's response to the Japanese sneak attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The pre-emptive military strike by the Empire of Japan's Imperial Japanese Navy (which killed 2,333 men) not only immediately drew the United States into World War II, it just as quickly ignited flames of anti-Japanese hatred that would smolder for many years. And, as usual, Hollywood films both reflected and exploited their times, for better and worse.

Much popular culture of that era became xenophobic, racist, and jingoistic, though it is important to view them through the context of their place in history: the threat to the U.S. and the free world was certainly not imaginary, and there were clearly identifiable bad guys. That said, the Japanese probably fared even worse in Hollywood product than Hitler did.

Remember Pearl Harbor! will include two feature films, one made on a big budget by a major studio (R.K.O.'s Behind the Rising Sun) and one extremely independent "Poverty Row" production (Samurai). Filling out the program will be short films of the era, including rare propaganda reels and cartoons.

There will be a single admission charge of $7.00 for one or both parts.

Descriptions of the two features follow:

Behind the Rising Sun (1943, Dir: Edward Dmytryk)
"SEE captive women treated with unspeakable barbarity! SEE girls forced into gilded Geisha palaces! SEE cruel acts of war committed against even babes in arms!" The ad campaign for this look at the face of America's new enemy pulled no punches, nor did the film itself, created by the same writer/director team that one year before made the similarly themed Hitler's Children. When a Japanese minister of propaganda forces his American-educated son (played in heavy makeup by Tom Neal, of Detour fame) to join the Nipponese army, the son becomes more of a nationalistic warmonger than he wished for. Though filmed as a sensationalistic call to arms, the atrocities depicted -- including Japanese soldiers tossing Chinese babies onto bayonets -- were based on fact. Scenes like American boxer Robert Ryan's fight with a Japanese jiu-jitsu expert (played, like many of the Japanese villains, by a white American), however, were more likely the concoction of the script department.

Samurai (1944, Dir: Raymond Cannon)
American evangelists adopt a boy orphaned by a Japanese earthquake, and raise him in their home in San Francisco. He becomes Americanized and a talented artist, but is visited by a Japanese priest, who recruits him into the doctrine of Bushido. When the boy travels to Europe for his education, he comes back a changed man, believing the Japanese are destined to conquer the world. He hides code messages in his paintings, murders a reporter and his parents, and in preparation for the military invasion of California, becomes governor of that state with the help of fellow double agents.

This incredible tale is told in documentary style, with narration about the Samurai, "a creed of hate, lust and death." The film was made by the otherwise unknown Cavalcade Pictures on an incredibly low budget, making use of unknown Chinese actors, stock footage, and even backgrounds of stock still photos! Marketed with an exploitation-style ad campaign, the film was released in the final days of the war in the Pacific, and is virtually lost to history. "Has to be one of the most outrageous (and cheapest looking) American WWII propaganda movies" - Michael Weldon, Psychotronic Video magazine.

A Birthday Salute to Larry Fine

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

Friday, September 14, 2007
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Just a year and a half after a memorable tribute to underappreciated "third Stooge" Shemp Howard, the Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design is excited to now turn the spotlight onto another member of the Three Stooges: one of Philadelphia's greatest movie stars, Larry Fine.

On October 5, 1902, Larry entered the world as Louis Feinberg, at the Southwest corner of Third and South Streets (today the site of Jon's Bar & Grille, which now features a giant mural of Larry). A childhood mishap with a bottle of acid in his father's jewelry shop burned his arm badly, and doctors suggested violin lessons as a form of therapy. His musical skill soon became so impressive that he became a professional entertainer, leading him, after graduation from Central High School, to a vaudeville career that took him across America. At a fateful Chicago booking in 1925, he was asked to join a rising comedy act called Ted Healy and his Stooges. Larry clicked with the group, and after they left Healy some years later, the Three Stooges began a movie career unparalleled in film history, starring in 190 two-reel shorts for Columbia that have been replayed on television around the world ever since. Today they are more popular than ever.

On Friday, October 5, 2007 -- Larry's 105th birthday! -- we will begin a two-day, two-location celebration that includes a screening of some of his greatest Stooge appearances, rare footage, guest speakers, and a special Secret Cinema visit to a nearly unbelievable, private Three Stooges museum containing the world's largest and greatest collection of Stoogeiana.

A Birthday Salute to Larry Fine, Part 1: The presentation at Moore
Friday, October 5 - 8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

At the auditorium of Moore College of Art and Design, to celebrate Larry Fine's 105th birthday, we will present several of the best Three Stooges shorts from throughout their career, focusing on films that show Larry to especially good (or unusual!) effect. Additionally, we will show some extra-rare Stooges footage, including TV commercials and other little-seen clips.

Our presentation at Moore will also include two very special guest speakers, both of whom are travelling to Philadelphia just to be a part of this weekend celebration:

Scott Reboul is a lifelong Stooges fan, who in the early 1970s began a cross-country correspondence with Larry Fine. Larry invited his young pen pal to visit him if he was ever in Los Angeles, and thanks to a very understanding father, Scott got to do just that! In fact, he not only met Larry Fine, but also Moe Howard, Joe Besser and Curly Joe DeRita too. Scott will share his memories with a multi-media presentation, employing unique photos, audio recordings and home movie clips. This fascinating, funny, and touching talk will provide a revealing look at the real personalities of some of the world's best-loved screen comics.

Also appearing at Moore will be Larry Fine's niece, Phyllis Goldbloom. Phyllis' mother was Larry's younger sister Lyla Budnick, and her father Nate Budnick served as the Stooges' road manager for their personal appearance tours in the 1950s and '60s. Like Scott, as a child Phyllis was able to meet not only her famous uncle Larry, but the other Stooges as well (including Shemp!). Phyllis has many funny anecdotes to share.

All who attend the Moore event will receive a free voucher and directions to...

A Birthday Salute to Larry Fine, Part 2: The museum visit!
Saturday, October 6, 10:00 am through 5:00 pm
Admission: Included free with voucher from Friday night Moore screening

Screening of newly discovered color footage of the Three Stooges, and more.

In recent years, the Secret Cinema has partnered with some of the Philadelphia area's greatest museums to create some unique film events: The Franklin Institute, The Academy of Natural Sciences, and Eastern State Penitentiary, to name three. However, we've never been prouder than we'll be on this day, when we offer the second Secret Cinema visit to The Stoogeum.

What's a Stoogeum? Opened in 2004, it's a fantastic private museum devoted exclusively to the Three Stooges! This is not simply an array of collected objects mounted in somebody's rec room -- it's a bonafide, purpose-constructed, multi-floored museum, with exhibits created by a museum design firm in collaboration with owner Gary Lassin, president of the Three Stooges Fan Club and possessor of the world's largest and best collection of Stoogeiana. Housed there are thousands of rare posters, photos, clippings, fan merchandise, and jaw-dropping personal objects (The Three Stooges' pay checks! Jules White's driver's license! Shemp's custom-made watch chain! Shemp's honorable discharge papers from the army -- documenting his bedwetting!!) More than a collection of memorabilia, the informative displays and groupings provide a context explaining the Three Stooges long journey through stage, movies and television to become pop culture icons. There are also exhibits devoted to the many other performers and creative personnel they worked with. Even if you don't like the Three Stooges, the Stoogeum would provide a fascinating walk through the history of 20th century American show business.

Of course the designers of The Stoogeum thought to include a screening room, and our visit will take advantage of it! Throughout the day there will be various presentations (our Saturday trip coincides with a meeting of the Three Stooges Fan Club), including a viewing of newly discovered color footage of the Three Stooges at work filming a comedy short.

The Stoogeum would be on the maps of every regional tourism group, except that it is not open to the public. This private museum is usually open only to fan club members by special invitation, and very occasionally has special event open houses like this one. There is no extra charge to visit the Stoogeum, but to attend you must pick up the voucher (with directions) at the Friday night Moore screening. The Stoogeum is located in the nearby Northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia, easily accessible by car. Do not miss this rare opportunity!

The Stoogeum was recently covered in a nationally-distributed story by Associated Press, viewable here.

The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design

celebrates 10-Year Anniversary!

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

Friday, September 14, 2007
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Earlier in 2007, the Secret Cinema marked 15 years of showing weird and wonderful film fare in Philadelphia and beyond. This fall, we have another milestone to note. On Friday, September 14, The Secret Cinema will celebrate our tenth anniversary of showing films at our flagship venue, Moore College of Art & Design.

In September of 1997 we inaugurated the series with the Philadelphia premiere of So Wrong Theyt're Right, a feature-length documentary about people who collect 8-track tapes. Since then we've presented 87 unique programs on the big screen at Moore, including hard-to-see features, themed groupings of rare shorts and cartoons, silent films with live accompaniment, special guest filmmakers and speakers, and more.

We're very happy to be partners with Moore in this endeavor. Their auditorium is by far the best, most cinema-like setting we've been able to call home in all of our years of showing films, with a screen larger than that in many multiplexes, comfortable seating and great sight lines.

Friday, September 14 will be an opportunity to look back on our years at Moore, with another of our always-popular best-of programs, Secret Cinema Shorts: The Best of a Decade.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Since we began in early 1992, all Secret Cinema screenings of feature films have included bonus short subjects, and some of our best presentations have been comprised entirely of short films. While we have shown several rare old theatrical shorts (including classic cartoons and musicals), often the most popular shorts have been such oddities as campy educational reels, industrial films, TV commercials, and home movies. Most of these films have only been shown once, despite frequent requests to repeat them. Just four times before, we presented all--encompassing "Best of" shorts programs. Secret Cinema Shorts: The Best of a Decade will highlight strange, funny and fascinating short subjects chosen from the 486 titles we've run at Moore in the last ten years.

The program is still being compiled, but a few highlights will likely be...a surprise! You'll just have to come and see!

To further mark this momentous occasion, we've prepared a mini-history of our years at Moore.
Click here to read it!

Riot on Sunset Strip: super screening and author event,

rare photos and films, plus after-party! Exciting new venue!

Philadelphia Society of Free Letts (Latvian Society)
531 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

Friday, August 10
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00 (for talk, film, & after-party)

Earlier this year, the Secret Cinema presented a sold-out evening of music and rock history, when Lenny Kaye co-hosted a garage-rock themed event called Nuggets. We're happy to continue that tradition on Friday, August 10, when the Secret Cinema presents another very special program called Riot on Sunset Strip, celebrating an old movie and a brand new book of the same name.

The subject of each is Hollywood's famed Sunset Strip itself, the winding road that for a brief but memorable time became the epicenter of a whole new world of youth based excitement, especially including a new wave of home-grown rock music. From the moment the Byrds debuted at Ciro's on March 26th 1965 -- with Bob Dylan joining them on stage -- through the demonstrations of November 1966, Sunset Strip nightclubs introduced Love, Buffalo Springfield, the Mothers of Invention, the Doors, and so many more.

Our special guest will be rock historian Domenic Priore. His just published book, Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood (published by Jawbone Press, with foreword by the late Arthur Lee), shows how this legendary scene came together, burned briefly but brilliantly, and then fell apart after the Summer of Love.

Our August 10 event takes place in an exciting new venue for the Secret Cinema: The roomy upstairs ballroom of the venerable Philadelphia Society of Free Letts (Latvian Society), at 7th and Spring Garden. The night starts with an illustrated talk by Domenic about this fascinating moment in pop culture, accompanied by rare slides from original scene photographers like Henry Diltz, Yoram Kahana and Marc Wanamaker, as well as some relevant film clips from the Secret Cinema archives.

After some Q&A with our guest author, there will be a screening of the classic, garage rock-filled exploitation feature film Riot on Sunset Strip, which obviously provided the inspiration for the book's title (as well as the scorching Standells' theme song). The film will be presented, as usual, in glorious 16mm film on a giant screen.

Then, we provide a built-in after-party, in the funky (and reasonably priced!) downstairs bar of the Latvian hall with music provided by Domenic Priore and D.J. Silvia. Domenic will bring a choice selection of Sunset Strip sounds, including records by L.A. locals (Byrds, Standells, Bobby Fuller Four) and touring bands that made the Strip scene (Them, Velvet Underground), plus some valuable vinyl rarities. D.J. Silvia will add some international flavor, to show how the new sixties teen scene reverberated around the globe.

The approximate schedule is as follows:

8:00 pm - Illustrated talk by Domenic Priore: "Rock 'n' Roll's Last Stand in Hollywood"
9:00 pm - Film screening: Riot on Sunset Strip
10:30 pm until ? - After party with Domenic Priore and D.J. Silvia, book signing, etc.

Admission to all of the above is $8.00

More info follows about both the guest speaker and feature film...

Domenic Priore is a writer and television producer specializing in pop culture and music. He is the author of Beatsville (with Martin McIntosh) and Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece (with forewords by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks), and was the main writer on the AMC documentaries Hollywood Rocks The Movies. His great and long running, if infrequently published (four issues spanning three decades!) zine, The Dumb Angel Gazette, explores his various obsessions; its 1989 book-sized special edition Look! Listen! Vibrate! Smile! kick-started a revival of interest in Brian Wilson's unreleased Smile project that ultimately led to Wilson recording a new album of this music. A native of Los Angeles, Priore met Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz when both served as contributing editors to Marshall Crenshaw's book Hollywood Rock: A Guide to Rock 'n' Roll in the Movies (1994, Harper Collins).

Riot on Sunset Strip (1967, Dir: Arthur Dreifuss)
One of the best loved of American International's late-60s drive-in fodder movies, "the most shocking film of our generation" purported to blow the lid off the wild goings on in the Hollywood discotheques of the day. Producer Sam Katzman, ever watchful of trends, based the film on the real-life violent riots that erupted on the Sunset Strip after police harassment of the mobs of teenagers there.

Mimsy Farmer (who also starred in Hot Rods to Hell before moving to Europe) plays a troubled girl who gets in with a bad crowd at the local rock club. She then goes off to a wild party where she is slipped LSD in her diet coke and is taken advantage of by five boys. Her absent father happens to be the chief of police, and the previously-tolerant man's violent reaction triggers a massive demonstration (the father is played by the late Aldo Ray, who began his career in mainstream movies and by the '70s had fallen to accepting a non-sexual role in a hardcore porno film).

As fun as all of this acid-crazed wild youth business is, the best reason to see Riot on Sunset Strip is the great footage of the garage rock heroes who appear in the nightclub scenes. The Standells (of "Dirty Water" near-fame) play the great title track and "Get Away From Here." The amazing Chocolate Watch Band, featuring genius Mick Jagger-imitator Dave Aguilar (now an astronomy professor) dish up two scorching punk anthems. Aguilar's snarling performance of "Don't Need Your Lovin" (a canny rewrite of "Milkcow Blues") stands as the cinematic definition of punk rock, past, present and future. The underrated Enemies (who left behind a few 45s on MGM before singer Cory Wells reunited with founding member Danny Hutton to form Three Dog Night) also perform.

The Secret Cinema brings '50s shockumentary Karamoja!

to International House

International House
3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

Thursday, May 17,
7:00 pm
General admission is $7.00 ($5.00 students & seniors)

On Thursday, May 17, the Secret Cinema will return to guest program a night at International House, featuring a rare "shockumentary" from the early 1950s. The film, Karamoja!, features an unforgettable look at the primitive and brutal rites of an obscure African tribe. This rare film will be presented using an archival 35mm print.

The screening will include surprise short subjects.

There will be one complete show, starting at 7:00 pm.

General admission is $7.00 ($5.00 students & seniors)

A complete description of the feature follows:

Karamoja! (1954, Dir: William B. Treutle)
"This is the story of a man with six months to live...and of the strangest honeymoon a bride ever had." California dentist William B. Treutle had never made a film when doctors gave him his fatal prognosis. It gave him the courage to fulfill his lifelong ambition to travel to Africa, and while doing so, he filmed this unforgettable documentary, in a closed territory of Uganda.

An early entry into the "Shockumentary" genre (an international phenomenon ten years later, in the wake of Mondo Cane, Ecco, and countless others), this often-unsettling look at the rites and lives of the primitive people of Karamoja does have a fascination with the bizarre and the visceral. There are graphic scenes of blood drinking, ritual scarification, tattooing, and knocking out of teeth, and the eating of raw bull intestines, not to mention copious full frontal nudity, both male and female.

Notorious exploitation distributor Kroger Babb played this up to the fullest ("See it all! Uncut! Uncensored! Unclothed! Unashamed!"), but behind the sensation was a revealing, sincere and even sensitive look into a way of life 6000 years out of step with the Western world. Treutle, who met and married his wife early on his African voyage (she worked as sound recordist while he ran the camera), surely felt a kinship with the excited, shy young nuptials in a filmed Karamojan wedding ceremony...as he documented their many differences (in one tradition, the bride and groom smear cattle dung on each other).

The Secret Cinema at Moore presents

Counter-Culture Obscurities double-feature

Saturday, May 12
The Monitors - 8:00 pm
A Session With the Committee - 10:00 pm

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Saturday, May 12, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will offer a special double-feature event called Counter-Culture Obscurities. Comprised of two ultra-rare feature-length films from the late-1960s. The two films are quite different from each other, but both clearly could only have been made in the hippie era, and oddly, are both centered around underground comedy troupes. Needless to say, both of these features are hopelessly forgotten in 2007, not available on DVD, and unlikely to be shown anywhere else ever again on the big screen!

First off will be The Monitors. This sci-fi farce, about an Orwellian race of bowler-hatted aliens who set out to control human behavior, was centered around the talents of the already-legendary Second City comedy group. It was produced by film-equipment maker Bell & Howell, who hoped to encourage filmmaking in their hometown of Chicago.

Next we'll show A Session With the Committee, a straight-up performance film showcasing a long-lost live concert with the titular improv comedy group, whose familiar faces included Howard Hesseman and Peter Bonerz.

Each feature will be preceded by unusual short subjects. Admission is $6.00 for either one or both films.

Complete descriptions of the two features follows:

The Monitors (1969, Dir: Jack Shea)
In an Orwellian dystopia of unknown date, an omnipotent army of suited, turtle-necked, bowler-hat clad overseers monitor citizens for illegal acts -- including sex, violence, politics and display of emotions -- in an effort to force peace on the world. Loudspeakers instruct that "The Monitors are your friends." Underground, a right-leaning resistance movement plots the overthrow. That's the minimal storyline, and it frequently makes little sense.

The Monitors is a real curiosity from a time when filmed strangeness was in theaters everywhere (just a few examples from the same year are Head, Alice's Restaurant, The Bed-Sitting Room, Putney Swope, and Wonderwall). The production of The Monitors was a collaboration between Bell & Howell (makers of motion picture equipment -- including Secret Cinema's most-used projectors!), prolific industrial film studio Wilding, and the then fast-rising (and now truly legendary) Second City comedy troupe. They all had hoped to promote Chicago as a major feature-filmmaking city, but The Monitors did not succeed in this mission (though the city's futuristic skyline contributed a suitably eerie look). The cast includes all of the following, and more: Guy Stockwell, Susan Oliver, Avery Schreiber, Keenan Wynn, Ed Begley, Larry Storch, Alan Arkin, Xavier Cugat, Senator Everett Dirksen, Stubby Kaye, Peter Boyle and Jackie Vernon. The often-excellent music was composed by Fred Kaz, with singing by Odetta. Cinematography was by Vilmos Zsigmond.

A Session With the Committee (1968, Dir: Del Jack)
In the "head-y" atmosphere of the late-'60s/early-'70s, pot-friendly comedians could be like rock stars, and some popular hipster comedy teams were even named like bands: The Firesign Theater, The Conception Corporation, Ace Trucking Company...and The Committee. Though forgotten today, The Committee were among the most visible during their brief prime, even providing some "relevant" improv scenes to popular films like Petulia, Billy Jack, and Steelyard Blues. Before those, they made this lost concert film, shot minimally and cheaply, capturing the troupe's propless, setless skits in a nightclub, live in front of a real audience.

The cast includes a few instantly recognizable faces -- Howard Hesseman (then calling himself "Don Sturdy") and Peter Bonerz (best known as the dentist on The Bob Newhart Show) -- and perhaps a few familiar yet less-placeable ones (character actors Garry Goodrow and Mel Stewart). Being from the late 1960s, there are some predictable comedy themes: marijuana, race relations, draft boards, and fear of police. Quite a few bits are still funny, however, and deserve to not be lost. Thanks to the past golden age of repertory cinemas (which provided a readymade market for movies like this), and to the hardy nature of non-digital media, the hippie humor of the Committee is still with us, to amuse and confuse future generations.

The Secret Cinema at Moore presents

Totally Wired: The Films of Bell Telephone

Friday, April 20
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, April 20, the Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present an evening of short films from one of the major motion picture producers of the 20th century -- the phone company!

For 99 years, until its breakup in 1984, the Bell System (aka A.T. & T.) enjoyed an unprecedented monopoly of the telephone communications business in America. And one of the ways it consolidated its strength was by utilizing movies to their fullest potential as a shaper of attitudes: of its employees, its business customers and the general public.

Totally Wired: The Films of Bell Telephone is a varied collection of short, non-theatrical films produced by the Bell System, covering all of these uses. As the largest corporation in the world, Bell had unlimited resources, producing corporate films more skillfully and more entertainingly than most companies could. They spared little expense, with frequent use of color, animation, and expert talent, on both sides of the camera.

We will show an assortment of rare Bell sales films, in-house training films, commercials and public relations films. As they depict the various missions and agendas of one business throughout the years, the movies also provide a revealing look at mid-century America in general. Many of these reels have never been shown to the general public -- until now.

As with all Secret Cinema presentations, Totally Wired will be shown using real 16mm film projected on a giant screen (and not using video or DVD projection, which is inferior).

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00

Just a few of the highlights of Totally Wired: The Films of Bell Telephone will be:

Telephone Highlights (1947) - Using the lively techniques of the classic theatrical newsreel (quick editing, enthusiastic narration, peppy background music), this action-packed one-reeler details post-war news and accomplishments of the New York Telephone Company. Shown are the top-to-bottom construction of a new (pre-electronic) phone exchange in midtown Manhattan, and the connecting of the one-millionth telephone in upstate New York. Producer Leslie Roush was a veteran director of short subjects for Paramount in earlier years.

What's in a Name? (1950s) - This rare business office training film uses a dramatized story to explain the potentially snowballing impact of getting just one character of a customer's phone listing incorrect.

Dial "O" for Operator (1965) - A peculiar and possibly frightening short, using dramatic scenes from the Sidney Poitier film The Slender Thread to demonstrate the advancements made in the technology of...tracing phone calls.

Invisible Diplomats (1965) - This humorous look at business telephone etiquette, made in gorgeous Technicolor, tells its message through the perspective of two cheerful but harried PBX (private branch exchange, or in-house switchboard) operators. The familiar cast includes not only The Honeymooners' Audrey Meadows, but also One Day at a Time's Bonnie Franklin and Harold Peary of radio's The Great Gildersleeve (he was also a character actor in countless TV and voiceover credits). Directed by prolific Hollywood choreographer Leroy Prinz.

Operator (1969) - Documentary pioneer Richard Leacock (working here for Maysles Films) uses the cinema verite techniques he helped invent to show the challenging but rewarding work of a telephone operator, in an effort to recruit young women into the profession. With psychedelic music provided by the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble.

Picture Phone (1970) - This demonstration film shows off the enhanced business capabilities of an updated version of the Picture Phone, famously demonstrated at the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was sadly to remain one of Bell Telephone's greatest failures.

D.J.'s Silvia & Jay spin international vinyl rarities at

third Made in Spain night at Tritone

Thanks for the kind words in response to our emailed memories of Rick D.

The last time we saw Rick was at the second Made in Spain party, a night of Spanish rock 'n' roll spun at Tritone by D.J. Silvia and Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz (me). Our final conversation was about when we would do Made in Spain next -- while we originally contemplated this being a monthly event, as we parted that night we decided to hold off on doing it in April. Rick really felt it could build into a very popular monthly party, and I felt almost guilty saying we preferred to space them out more.

Well, as it turns out Rick will get his wish of an April Made in Spain: It seems he never did get a chance to book another event for Tuesday, April 24 before he passed away, which we realized when we saw Tritone's strip ad in the Philadelphia Weekly and City Paper this week. Rick's surviving Tritone partner Dave Rogers confirmed that he had nothing else available to book for this date, so we agreed to pack up the vintage vinyl and do it again. In fact, D.J. Silvia will be out of the country in May, so this will be the last MIS until at least late June.

So, if you missed out previous MIS's, or if you came and dug it, then come next Tuesday for another night of rare rock and Iberian oddities, plus a chance to meet some interesting bilingual party-ers. And while you're at it, raise a drink to Rick. Admission is free. More details below...

Tuesday, April 24,
9:00 pm until late
Admission: FREE

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 545-0475

On Tuesday, April 24, Tritone will once again host a special music party called Made in Spain, featuring a variety of beat, mod and soul music from the sixties -- all of it recorded in Spain.

It all starts at 9:00 pm and runs until the end of the night. Admission is free.

The first Made in Spain party, in February, was a smashing success. Crowding into Tritone were a happy mix of Spanish expatriates, other Spanish-speaking locals, sixties/mod music devotees, and just regular people seeking some fresh sounds and good times. A few days after the event, D.J. Silvia was even interviewed live on Spain's RTPA radio station, to report on the growing presence of Spain's culture in Philly!

The event will again be hosted by "La Chica Ye Ye," D.J. Silvia. A favorite spinner at many past sixties-music events in Philly, New York and her native country of Spain, Silvia is sure to have some new surprises and rare sides in the multiplying boxes of discs she keeps bringing over. Silvia moved to Philadelphia in 2004, from her birthplace in the Spanish city of Gijón, in the green province of Asturias.

Assisting will be Jay Schwartz. Jay is of course the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital!) partner of D.J. Silvia.

Some of the artists to be played at Made in Spain will be Los Brincos (the period's most inventive group; arguably the Beatles of Spain), Los Bravos (Spain's most successful export act, of "Black is Black" fame), Los Iberos (produced by U.K. "Nothing But a Heartache" songwriting team Bickerton and Waddington), Los Salvajes, Los Sirex, Formula V, and many more, plus Spanish "Ye Ye" girls like Karina and Conchita Velasco. Records played will include both original songs and several Spanish language versions of familiar American and British pop hits.

In addition to sixties sounds, some time will also be devoted to Spanish music of today in the garage, indie and power pop styles.

As part of what is planned to be a regular series of events, Made in Spain is co-sponsored by The Secret Cinema and Los De Pata Negra En Philadelphia, a group recently formed to unify the growing community of Spaniards in Philadelphia and promote friendship, culture and networking.

The Secret Cinema returns to Philadelphia Film Festival, dirty movies

...plus a selective guide to PFF highlights

We at the Secret Cinema are excited to be back presenting a program in the Philadelphia Film Festival. It happens next Friday the 13th, and is a reprise of an old SC classic, Stag Movie Night: Vintage Porno From the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Some of you may remember our past presentations of these naughty reels at the late (and deeply lamented) Silk City Lounge. It's been about five years since we've shown them, however, and it seemed like a good time and good place to dust them off and corrupt some more unsuspecting viewers. If you've never seen vintage stag movies, you're in for a surprise! More details below...

Meanwhile, we'd like to possibly steer you towards some of the other very nice repertory/classic programming in this year's PFF, with appearances from some of our favorite people! The shows cater to many film obsessions of the Secret Cinema...

This weekend, don't miss the opportunity to see and hear Leonard Maltin present several great programs...well, we THINK he is going to be at the Disney shorts programs (the festival's program guide does not make this clear). But, Leonard will definitely lead A Conversation with Roy Disney (Walt's nephew), and also present Silent Our Gang shorts (accompanied by our friend Don Kinnier!).

Leonard Maltin is a true national treasure, a movie maniac who wrote the first edition of his best-selling Movie Guide books (originally called TV Movies) before he reached voting age. His many other published works are classics and well-thumbed reference sources in the Secret Cinema programming office (our favorite: 1972's The Great Movie Shorts). Besides being the leading authority on Hollywood's golden age, Leonard manages to see and review every new movie, too!

If you didn't take our last-minute advice to catch Leonard Maltin at the Syracuse Cinefest in March (and I think only one of you did), here's a much easier appearance to get to! If you only know Leonard from his television appearances, you probably like him anyway, but if you own any of his books or numerous video/DVD intros/commentary tracks, then you're already planning to attend these very special events.

Our afore-mentioned friend Don Kinnier will be adding music to another PFF silent film presentation, Saluting Siegmund Lubin on Wednesday, April 11. If you attended our 1999 special program A Tribute to the Siegmund Lubin Film Studios of Philadelphia, note that this will be a somewhat different event (though also presented by our friend Joseph Eckhardt, with contributions from Don Kinnier's wife Judy, and another good friend of Secret Cinema, Lou DiCrescenzo! It also affords another opportunity to see The Silver King, a rare Lubin short discovered by the Secret Cinema. Here's a full description of the show:

The Philadelphia Film Festival presents "A Tribute to Siegmund Lubin." Experience a recreation of movie-going one hundred years ago with this nickelodeon program in tribute to Philadelphia movie pioneer, Siegmund Lubin.

April 11 at 7:00 p.m. at International House. $10.00

Curated by film scholar Joseph Eckhardt, the Lubin film program will recreate the unique experience of a nickelodeon circa 1907-- with live music, Magic Lantern slides, songs, narration, and sound effects. The films program includes comedies, melodramas and westerns, and offers a glimpse of Oliver Hardy in his earliest surviving movie role, and a cameo appearance by Siegmund Lubin himself. Live musical accompaniment will be provided by Don Kinnier with vintage songs and sound effects by Judy Townsend. In addition, film technology expert Lou DiCrescenzo will demonstrate the way that movies were originally shown by hand-cranking one film through a vintage Edison 1897 Kinetoscope.

The importance of film pioneer Siegmund Lubin to the American film industry would be hard to overestimate. He was America's first movie mogul, opening theaters, building projectors and fighting Edison in an endless stream of patent litigation. By 1910 he had built one of the world's largest studio complexes, "Lubinville," located in Northern Philadelphia. By 1917 he was bankrupt. In recognition of Lubin's work, the Philadelphia Film Festival is proud to participate in an evening screening of some of his best surviving films, on a day that also will see the unveiling of a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker at the site of his former home at 1608 N. 15th St.

[and don't miss the Lubin-centric Betzwood Film Festival in May; check the Betzwood link below]

On Friday, April 13, just before our own Stag Movie Night, you can see The Burglar, showing at the Ritz 5 at 7:00 pm. This is the shot-in-Philadelphia Jayne Mansfield film noir that we presented at Moore in 2001, produced by Secret Cinema hero Louis Kellman. This time, however, you can see it in an improved 35mm print, with introduction by our friend Irv Slifkin, author of the new book Filmadelphia: A Celebration of a City's Movies. Then, grab a taxi and tell him to step on it, to catch...

The Secret Cinema presents
Stag Movie Night: Vintage Porno from the 1920s, 30s And 40s

Friday, April 13
9:30 pm
Admission: $10.00 (see here for ticketing info)

International House
3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 387-5125

This collection of rare erotica films will surprise and shock those who believe the "sexual revolution" of the sixties and seventies gave birth to the celluloid depiction of sex.

The seedy adult theaters of the seventies and the home video industry that followed it did not exist when these films were made behind closed doors. The classic stag movies were distributed through a covert network of all-male screenings at lodges, bachelor parties, and fraternities. Though illegal contraband at the time, seeing these forbidden films was nonetheless a fairly common rite of passage for the American male back then, as the surviving reels testify.

The earliest extant pornographic film dates from 1915, and they were probably made well before then. The introduction of 16mm film in 1923 really opened the floodgates of stag production, and a standard format was established. Virtually all stag films are black and white, one reel in length (10 to 15 minutes), and silent -- assuring compatibility with the relatively low-cost home movie projectors that were rented along with a night's worth of programming.

What shocks today's audiences about these films is that most (though not all) of them are completely explicit in their depiction of sexual acts. The variety of acts and couplings filmed long ago is another eye-opener, and it is somehow comforting to note that the camera angles for such action, worked out nearly a century ago, survive in today's adult videos.

All of the films will be projected using 16mm film prints from the Secret Cinema archives onto a giant movie (not video) screen. The films will be accompanied by vintage period music, including early jazz, swing and dirty blues.

Titles to be screened include Sally's Sunbath, Mortimer The Salesman, Through A Keyhole, A Jazz Jag, Buried Treasure and more.

The Secret Cinema celebrates 15-Year Anniversary

with screening of The Touchables, more

Friday, March 23
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

We almost let the occasion pass, but through a last-minute programming change, it came to our attention that we've just had our 15th birthday.

The Secret Cinema was born on March 9, 1992, with its debut film screening in a then unused upstairs at the Khyber Pass nightclub. The program consisted of the 1956 rock 'n' roll movie Don't Knock the Rock, plus bonus "unusual short subjects." Shorts shown that night included an educational film called Effective Listening, a 1950s infomercial for a spot-removing product, and a "coming attractions" trailer for an obscure psychedelic wonder called The Touchables. Total attendance for the event was eight persons, but the Secret Cinema continued on. A four-film schedule had already been distributed, so we really had no choice. By the fourth program (yep, The Touchables), we had our first sell-out.

The full history of the Secret Cinema is beyond the scope of this announcement, but suffice to say that since that humble start, we have presented hundreds and hundreds of screenings, in countless venues from San Francisco to Spain. The vast majority of those events happened right here, in the nightclubs, cafes, bookstores, art galleries, open fields and even movie theaters of Philadelphia. In every single one of them -- even when they took place in as informal an environment as a coffee house with whooshing espresso machines -- we took great pains to make the presentation as high-quality as possible, always using real film in real movie projectors. And each one of them has continued the mission that we began 15 years ago: To show the neglected, the rare, and the unclassifiable parts of film's rich culture, both high and low -- films that would otherwise just not get seen.

To celebrate this anniversary, we thought it would be appropriate to bring out a favorite film that has been an enduring part of Secret Cinema history. The Touchables, an incredibly inventive, fast-moving, colorful and wholly original plunge into late-sixties pop culture (directed by famed Beatles photographer Robert Freeman), is a movie that seems to get no love elsewhere. Either wholly ignored or quickly dismissed by traditional critics as so much psychedelic excess, it has enjoyed a tremendous reception at each of several screenings we've presented. Having created an audience for this essentially lost film is one of our proudest achievements.

The 15-Year Anniversary screening of The Touchables will happen at Moore College of Art & Design*, on Friday, March 23.

Rounding out the program will be an extra helping of surprise short subjects.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00

A complete description of the feature follows:

The Touchables (1968-Great Britain) Dir: Robert Freeman
A group of four beautiful, inexplicably wealthy and exceptionally whimsical girls live together. When not attending their American friend's ballet-like pro-wrestling bouts, they commit outlandish pranks, such as stealing a wax dummy of Michael Caine. They take their impulsive behavior a step further when they kidnap a young pop star and take him to their bizarre country retreat, a large inflatable dome filled with pinball machines and mod furnishings. There they tie him down and take turns having their way with him. Things start to get out of hand -- especially when their friend's wrestling rival, a wealthy black gangster, decides he must also possess the pretty boy.

The Touchables is a cult film waiting to be discovered. Ignored or quickly dismissed in most film reference books, it is both ahead and wholly a part of its unique moment in time. The Touchables is also the best example of a heretofore unrecognized film genre, the Psychedelic Screwball Comedy (other British examples include The Magic Christian and the obscure Work Is A Four Letter Word). Like the classic screwball comedies of earlier decades, the plot zigzags through a series of unlikely complications and is populated by outrageous characters. Unlike any Carole Lombard or Cary Grant vehicle, The Touchables is set in a surreal, pop-art world and features characters that act irrationally and with little exposition (possibly Cary Grant imagined such a world during his admitted LSD experiments!).

Robert Freeman was a top fashion photographer who made many memorable photos of the Beatles (including the Rubber Soul album cover). He directed The Touchables with great pop-art flair. Combining bright, colorful photography, stylish editing, spirited performances, and a zippy Ken Thorne score, Freeman has left a film that is both a unique vision and an evocative time capsule.

*Another Secret Cinema anniversary will be marked later this year, in September, when we celebrate a full decade at our flagship venue, Moore College of Art & Design.

Lenny Kaye and Nazz singer Stewkey join Secret Cinema

for Nuggets: Celluloid Artyfacts of Sixties Rock

Friday, February 16
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, February 16, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will revive a special program last shown over six years ago. Nuggets: Celluloid Artyfacts of Sixties Rock is a unique hodgepodge of ultra-rare reels consisting of various short films and television shows showcasing mod, garage and pop music from the mid-to-late 1960s. When we named that program back in 2001, it was in naked homage to the inestimably influential 1972 garage rock compilation album of the same name. This year, we are thrilled to announce that in addition to the rare films, we will have with us the creator of the original Nuggets, Lenny Kaye.

Prior to his 30-plus years as Rock Hall of Fame inductee Patti Smith's chief musical collaborator, Lenny Kaye was a prolific rock critic and historian. He contributed to leading rock periodicals, wrote legendary liner notes (even earning mention within a Steven King novel), and was one of a handful of rock critics at the time to take serious interest in the supposedly frivolous corners of rock history, from doo wop to the previously-unlabeled genre of garage rock. This work reached a pinnacle when he compiled for Elektra Records a double-LP of what were then considered regional obscurities and "one hit wonders" of mid-late sixties rock, titled Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968. The collection brought together great proto-punk singles by The Electric Prunes, The Standells and The Seeds, sides that had been recorded just a few years earlier but had already been forgotten in the wake of progressive rock and singer-songwriters.

Nuggets insured that this music would never be forgotten again. It first spawned a host of similarly-named compilations of garage rock (Pebbles, Boulders, et al), and then Rhino Records turned the name Nuggets into something of a sixties reissue franchise, culminating in no less than three deluxe CD box sets of psych and garage rarities. Lenny Kaye, meanwhile, moved on, as leader of the Patti Smith Group, record producer, teacher of a university class in rock history, and author. His latest book is You Call It Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon.

At Nuggets, the film screening, Lenny Kaye will discuss sixties rock and add his insightful commentary between films.

To make this an even more special event, we'll have Stewkey (lead singer and keyboardist of Philadelphia's greatest sixties band The Nazz) in person to present a rare print of the promo film for "Open My Eyes."

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A few highlights of Nuggets include:

Girls In Short Short Dresses (1966) - Paramount made this topical film in the final days of the theatrical short subject era, to capitalize on the worldwide interest in then very-Swinging London. It stars actual mod band The Thoughts, who are best known to collectors for their recording of Ray Davies' otherwise unreleased song "All Night Stand," on Shel Talmy's Planet Records label. In this previously unheralded Technicolor film, they perform two songs in the famous Blaise's nightclub, and in a reverse on the usual rock band scenario, they chase girls around tube stations and Carnaby Street boutiques. The film also makes a visit to the studio of fashion designer Mary Quant, inventor of the mini-skirt.

The Ecstasy Is Sometimes Fantastic (1966) - Made by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, this is a rare cinema verite look at a working, not-quite-made-it rock group. Toronto garage band Jon and Lee and the Checkmates reveal all sides of their world, from belting out James Brown numbers in packed clubs, to going over itineraries and accounting, to the crucial business of getting the right haircut.

The Nazz: Open My Eyes (1968) - Rock videos weren't invented in the eighties; they've been around since sound film was perfected. In the sixties they were called "promo films," and this was one of the better ones. Stewkey, the lead singer and keyboardist of Philly's greatest mod band, will introduce this rare public screening of his personal 16mm print (which is actually a rare alternate edit of the clip MTV has shown!)…and be interviewed by Lenny Kaye, who included this great song on the original Nuggets LP!

Plus clips from feature films and television with music performed by The Standells, The Chocolate Watchband, The Seeds, The Birds (UK), The Marmalade, The Orphan Egg, The Zombies and more!

D.J.'s Silvia & Jay spin international vinyl rarities

at Tritone's Made in Spain night

Tuesday, February 27,
9:00 pm
Admission: FREE

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 545-0475

On Tuesday, February 27, Tritone will host a special music party called Made in Spain, featuring a variety of beat, mod and soul music from the sixties -- all of it recorded in Spain.

It all starts at 9:00 pm and runs until the end of the night. Admission is free.

Some of the artists to be played at Made in Spain will be Los Brincos (the period's most inventive group; arguably the Beatles of Spain), Los Bravos (Spain's most successful export act, of "Black is Black" fame), Los Iberos (produced by U.K. "Nothing But a Heartache" songwriting team Bickerton and Waddington), Los Salvajes, Los Sirex, Formula V, and many more, plus Spanish "Ye Ye" girls like Karina and Conchita Velasco. Records played will include both original songs and several Spanish language versions of familiar American and British pop hits.

In addition to sixties sounds, some time will also be devoted to Spanish music of today in the garage, indie and power pop styles.

The event will mark the return of "La Chica Ye Ye," D.J. Silvia. A favorite spinner at many past sixties-music events in Philly, New York and her native country of Spain, Silvia is sure to have some new surprises and rare sides in the multiplying boxes of discs she keeps bringing over. Silvia moved to Philadelphia in 2004, from her birthplace in the Spanish city of Gijón, in the green province of Asturias.

Assisting will be Jay Schwartz. Jay is of course the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital!) partner of D.J. Silvia.

The first night of what is planned to be a regular series of events, Made in Spain is co-sponsored by The Secret Cinema and Los De Pata Negra En Philadelphia, a group recently formed to unify the growing community of Spaniards in Philadelphia and promote friendship, culture and networking.

Indie beatnik rarity The Greenwich Village Story

to headline The Secret Cinema Holiday Spectacular at Moore

Friday, December 8
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, December 8, the Secret Cinema will present The Secret Cinema Holiday Spectacular. The Spectacular will begin with an assortment of surprise short films, then climax with a screening of The Greenwich Village Story, a super-rare 1963 independent feature about life among the beats, shot entirely on location in downtown Manhattan.

The short film portion will probably total about one hour in running time, and is included as a bonus Christmas gift to the Secret Cinema audience. The final selection has not been completed, but it will include unusual tributes to some film talents that we lost in 2006, including Robert Altman and Don Knotts.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A full description of the feature follows:

The Greenwich Village Story (1963, Dir: Jack O'Connell)
This independently produced movie -- which has seemingly vanished from all channels of film, video and television distribution -- offers an invaluable, inside look at New York bohemia in the early-1960s. Its heartfelt (if slight) plot involves a young writer struggling to complete his first novel, his live-in ballet dancer girlfriend who wants to marry, and their circle of eccentric friends. The camera follows them to parties that get raided by the cops, poetry readings, and smoky cafes. Shot in 1961, and with a strong (and early) pro-choice message, this arty exploitation film's real strength is its documentary-like photography of real locales and faces, shot in the heart of the world capital of beat-era bohemia, Greenwich Village. We go on location to Washington Square Park singalongs, or to legendary folk club the Gaslight Café (including a brief glimpse of Noel Paul Stookey's pre-Peter & Mary comedy act), or to Elaine Starkman's real-life clothing boutique (where a young Mary Travers once worked).

Most of the cast, including ex-Off Broadway lead actors Robert Hogan and Melinda Plank, would remain unknown, but they give good, earnest performances. A few went on to bigger things: James Frawley, who plays a bearded, horn-rimmed, pipe-smoking publisher's agent, would just a few years later help develop The Monkees as the start of a long directing career in television. John Avildsen, who has a minor role and served as assistant director, would later direct Joe, Rocky and The Karate Kid. But TGVS director Jack O'Connell stayed true to form: His later made the hippie documentary Revolution (which spawned a soundtrack album that was much more successful than its film), then updated it decades later as The Hippie Revolution.

"With the aid of the principals and the unwitting citizens of Manhattan's Bohemia who never previously faced cameras professionally, and with the excellent assistance of his photographer, Baird Bryant, Mr. O'Connell has roamed the bars and beatnik caverns, the dingy pads and lofts and the colorful, clangorous confines of Washington Square Park and Bleecker Street to come up with a Cook's Tour that is both picturesque and germane to his tale of young love and desire for a place in the arts in Gotham." - A. H. Weiler, New York Times

Hot Wheels! Short Films About Hot Rods, Slot Cars,

Skateboards and More at Moore

Friday, November 17
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, November 17, the Secret Cinema will revisit a favorite themed program of shorts that has not been seen in nearly seven years. Focusing on all things that go! go! go!, the title of Hot Wheels! Short Films About Hot Rods, Slot Cars, Skateboards and More, pretty much says it all -- except for the fact that most of the films come from those wonderful mid-1960s.

Last shown at the late, lamented Silk City Lounge back in January of 2000, this new presentation of Hot Wheels! will include some new acquisitions never before shown.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few program highlights are:

The Wonderful World of Wheels (1965?) - This super-colorful industrial film, produced by the Petersen group of automotive magazines, is hosted by the late actor Lloyd Bridges. Covering all forms of car racing, from the NHRA Winternationals of drag racing, to slot cars, the Indy 500, and the custom space-age creations of George Barris and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, this 30-minute film was the inspiration for this entire Secret Cinema presentation! With great "now sound" music, photography by Vilmos Zsigmond (around the same time he was shooting Mondo Mod) and Laszlo Kovacs, plus an appearance by "Fabian, the popular singer-actor," you just can't go wrong.

Skaterdater (1966) - This amusing, touching, and wordless drama tells the story of an adolescent boy who is shunned by the fellow members of his skateboard gang when he falls for a young girl. The much-praised soundtrack consists of instrumental surf rock played by Davie Allan and the Arrows (and included his first use of fuzz guitar). The film was directed by Noel Black (Pretty Poison).

Hot Wheels (1969) - An episode from this rarely seen Saturday morning cartoon show, loosely based (or at least named after) the popular, then-new Mattel toy. The plot concerns crime fighting auto racers, and the theme song is by "Mike Curb and the Curbstones" (also with Davie Allan involvement?)

It's Wanton Murder (1946) - Lowell Thomas narrates this melodramatic driver safety film, which includes some rather graphic car crash images considering the film's age. Eerier, however, are shots in which fatal accident victims fade away from scenes of their once-daily life. One old-fashioned touch in our original release print of It's Wanton Murder is the use of hand-colored frames of a traffic light, a technique harking back to the earliest days of cinema.

Plus much, much more!

From Philadelphia With Love Again:

More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films

at Sedgwick Cultural Center

Friday, October 6
8:30 pm
Admission: $7.00

Sedgwick Cultural Center
7135 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 248-9229

On Friday, October 6, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will offer From Philadelphia With Love Again: More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. This latest entry in one of our most ambitious and best-loved series will include the same set of films shown last spring in Center City. Note that it is 100% different programming than what was previously shown at the Sedgwick.

A sure highlight of this new Sedgwick event will be the appearance of Chestnut Hill resident Ralph Hirshorn, who will be on hand to introduce his 1960 satirical short film The End of Summer.

While most area residents are familiar with Philadelphia films such as Rocky, Trading Places, and the works of M. Night Shayamalan, there is a whole world of locally-made films that have been forgotten -- the "ephemeral" short films that were primarily made by small independent companies for a once booming non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesman have long ago discarded their 16mm film projectors, we at Secret Cinema have not, and are proud to present a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

If you've never been to the Sedgwick and are interested at all in classic movie theaters, you really need to check it out -- and this Secret Cinema event offers a rare chance to see actual projected celluloid in this site that was once a cathedral of celluloid. The Sedgwick Cultural Center consists of the surviving lobby areas of what was once the Sedgwick Theater, a mammoth movie palace built in 1928. The survival of even some of the Sedgwick's areas reminds us that earlier generations were lucky enough to have amazing theaters not just downtown but also in their residential neighborhoods. The huge auditorium, which once seated 1636 patrons on one level, was bricked up and essentially gutted in the 1960s (it survives as a giant storage warehouse with a rather ornate ceiling). What remains in today's Cultural Center are the original facade, and two separate lobbies, which together are larger than many multiplex screening rooms. Many original art deco features are intact.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia With Love Again are:

Wonders of Philadelphia (1962) - This amusing and rare theatrical short was part of a series of musical "Travelarks" that Columbia Pictures released. This segment is narrated by Dick Clark, who takes a look at Philly nightlife and other local sites as they were in the early sixties.

The Cherry Hill Story (1969) - Produced by the Cherry Hill, New Jersey Board of Education, this colorful short takes a quick look around local sites before settling down to the main business at hand -- trumpeting the strengths of the local school system, with an emphasis on the newly-constructed, state-of-the-art Cherry Hill East High School.

The Maestro (1971, Dir: Jim and Janet Hirschfeld) - This color documentary short, produced for local television, gives a behind-the-scenes look at Eugene Ormandy, legendary conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The film shows Ormandy at work in Philadelphia, on tour, and at rest in his Berkshires summer home. Includes nice looks at the Academy of Music and the Robin Hood Dell, and its illustrious "cast" includes Zubin Mehta, Isaac Stern, Marian Anderson, Aaron Copland, Frank Rizzo and Richard Nixon! Narrated by the great John Facenda.

The End of Summer (1960, Dir: Ralph Hirshorn) - This award-winning satirical short was intended as a gentle spoof of then popular avant-garde films, somewhat in the style of Roman Polanski's Two Men and a Wardrobe. It shows "a girl in summer" as she wanders around such bucolic locales as West Mount Airy, Wissahickon Creek, Fairmount Park, the Curtis Arboretum and the Art Museum. Print courtesy of the director, who will be familiar to many as a film festival regular and overall friend of film.

United We Stand, Issue #112 (1949) - This title was made by the American Legion for distribution to their members, and in this episode takes a look at their largest ever national convention, held in Philadelphia in 1949. The members are seen parading and convening all around our fair city, the film providing invaluable recordings of how it (Ben Franklin Parkway, Bellevue-Stratford, the navy yard) looked 57 years ago. Most speeches mention "the shadow of Communist power." Of special interest are the many scenes shot inside Convention Hall (aka Municipal Auditorium, later renamed the Civic Center), including a visit from President Truman. This monumental Art Deco structure that previously hosted presidential conventions and later was the site of the first Beatles concert in Philadelphia was sadly demolished only last year.

And much, much more...

Curator's Choice 2: Unseen Corners and

Forgotten Favorites from the Secret Cinema Archives

at Moore

Friday, September 29
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, September 29, The Secret Cinema begin its ninth season at Moore College of Art and Design, with a hand-picked program of nearly-lost treasures from the deepest depths of the Secret Cinema film vaults. Curator's Choice 2: Unseen Corners and Forgotten Favorites from the Secret Cinema Archives will include just that -- films never shown before, and films not shown in many years.

The Secret Cinema's private archive contains literally thousands of reels of 16mm (and 35mm, and 8mm) features, theatrical shorts, cartoons, newsreels, television shows, educational films, travel films, industrial films, and home movies. Together, they add up to well over one million feet of often rare celluloid, with several prints thought to be the only extant copies in the world.

Since 1992, the Secret Cinema has sought to create programming that exposes every type of these films, by showing these fascinating, historical, and often hilarious short films before features or in themed groupings. Yet, despite exposing hundreds of rare works this way, there are still many choice reels that we've never got around to screening publicly, often unclassifiable films that had inconvenient running times or could fit into no common theme.

Some of the best of these amazing films will again see the light of a projector bulb in Curator's Choice 2. This previously ungroupable group of short films will include films that were made to entertain, to teach, to encourage commerce and to alter opinion. Spanning many decades, many show wondrous places, styles and things that have long-since vanished. Some of them now seem campy, others still have valid lessons to teach, but all are fascinating, and extremely unlikely to be seen anywhere else, including on video.

There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The program is still being assembled, but just a few highlights are:

It Takes Everybody to Build This Land (1951) - This unusual educational film tells the story of "our basic interdependence," by showing various workers in industry and agriculture, and weaving their stories together through the voice of "Oscar Brand, American Folksinger." Brand, a nationally prominent performer since the 1940s, hosted radio and TV programs of American folklore (some of which featured a young Bob Dylan).

Dream Girl (1967?) - This reel -- combining both black & white and color scenes -- is actually unfinished workprint footage from what was going to be either an unusually arty softcore sex film, or an unusually adult student film.

Wings to Tomorrow (1957) - Pan Am produced this colorful short about teen aviation buffs that build working model airplanes out of balsa wood. Printed in non-fading Kodachrome stock, the better to enjoy the super-saturated colors of a long-gone era.

The Meaning of Patriotism (1961) - Produced by school film giant Coronet Films at the height of the Cold War, this film wonders out loud if ordinary citizens like teachers and housewives can be true patriots, by comparing them to great figures that preceded them in American history. Coincidentally (?), the film's title was shared by that of a speech made by presidential candidate Richard Nixon just one year earlier.

The Mysteries of Science (1920s) - This film gives an example of the final activities of one of the great pioneers of early cinema. American-born Charles Urban developed one of the first projectors, then moved to England to avoid patent problems from his rival Edison. He experimented with an early color process, and when this failed to catch on, produced this, one in a series of early educational films making full use of such techniques as time-lapse and macro-photography, exploring the science to be found in soap bubbles and sound waves.

...plus much, much more!

Convicted

at historic Eastern State Penitentiary

Friday, June 2, 2006
8:30 pm (doors open 7:30 pm)
Admission: $8.00

Eastern State Penitentiary
22nd & Fairmount Sts., Philadelphia
(215) 236-3300

The Secret Cinema will return to its most historic and atmospheric venue ever on Friday, June 2, with a screening at Eastern State Penitentiary of the 1950 prison-break thriller Convicted.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:30 pm, which includes the usual unusual short subjects. Doors open at 7:30 pm, allowing the audience time to take a look at many new and existing museum exhibits at ESP. Admission is $8.00.

Eastern State Penitentiary, built in the 1820s, is a world famous historic landmark, which influenced the design of hundreds of other prisons. Closed as a working prison since 1971, the decaying structure, which once housed Al Capone and Willie Sutton, has become a popular tourist attraction and museum over the last decade. This will be the seventh Secret Cinema presentation at ESP. The film will be projected right inside the main prison building in a hallway just outside Capone's cell, surrounded by iron bars and ghosts of convicts past.

A full description of the feature follows:

Convicted (1950, Dir: Henry Levin)
Glenn Ford plays an innocent man framed for the murder of a prominent citizen, and when denied parole after years in prison he joins in with hardened violent prisoners in an escape plot. Broderick Crawford is the honest warden trying to set things straight, in this noir era remake of the 1931 film (and earlier Broadway play) The Criminal Code. "Some good twists and turns in this well-scripted and tautly directed wrong man story wherein Ford excels as the victim." - Motion Picture Guide.

"There is a noir quality in (Convicted) due primarily to the presence of Glenn Ford. Ford's presence in many of the noir films of Columbia Pictures during that period (Framed, Undercover Man, and the superb Gilda), established a screen personality that. of itself, articulated a close affinity to the noir world. The ironies of the plot, playing off Ford's assumed persona, imbue Convicted with a noir sensibility that would have been unattainable without Ford." - Carl Macek, Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style. Glenn Ford recently turned 90.

Director Henry Levin was a University of Pennsylvania graduate who worked for many years in Broadway theater. After being brought to Hollywood as a dialogue coach, he enjoyed a lengthy career directing films for Columbia and 20th Century-Fox in an amazing variety of genres, ranging from his first film Cry of the Werewolf in 1944 to Dean Martin's Matt Helm movies in the 1960s.

Exploration/Exploitation double-feature

closes season at Moore

Saturday, May 13
Congorilla - 8:00 pm
Beyond the Caribbean - 10:00 pm

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Saturday, May 13, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will offer a special double-feature event called Exploration/Exploitation. Comprised of two ultra-rare feature-length films from the 1930s, the program will take a look back on a time when exploration and exotic peoples were the stuff of popular entertainment, and the concept of political correctness was many years away.

First off will be Congorilla. Made by the then-famed husband and wife explorer team of Martin and Osa Johnson, this 1932 documentary was the first sound film made in Africa. While offering many fascinating glimpses of pygmy life and nature in the wild, Congorilla is most notable today for the sometimes-excruciating political incorrectness of the filmmakers, who show a disrespect for their subjects worthy of the most sensational exploitation film producers.

Our second feature is even more obscure and curious. Beyond the Caribbean was produced and directed by a nephew of Theodore Roosevelt. It mixes actuality footage shot in Central American jungles with a concocted plot about lost treasure and heathen savages who follow the strange sado-masochistic rituals of the Penitente cult.

Showtimes for Exploration/Exploitation are as follows:

Saturday, May 13
Congorilla - 8:00 pm
Beyond the Caribbean - 10:00 pm

Each feature will be preceded by exotic short subjects. Admission is $6.00.

Complete descriptions of the two features follows:

Congorilla (1932, Dir: Martin & Osa Johnson)
Congorilla was the first sound film from Martin & Osa Johnson, a husband and wife explorer team who achieved huge popularity in the early 20th century by blending daring adventure with Hollywood entertainment values. Martin Johnson had traveled the South Pacific with Jack London. While home in Kansas he met 16-year-old Osa and promptly married her. Thus began a lifelong partnership summed up in the title of Osa's later autobiography, I Married Adventure. They journeyed to Africa, the South Seas and Borneo, becoming celebrities as pioneering pilots, filmmakers, authors, photographers and lecturers, sharing their studies of the people and nature of previously unseen lands. Their eight feature films were released by major Hollywood studios and were box office hits. Their successful marketing concepts included their own clothing line, and even early product placement in their films.

Congorilla, covering trips to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Congo basin, and billed as being about "big apes and little people," is a good example of their movie style. Martin usually manned the camera, allowing perky Osa to frequently star on screen, and make friends with monkeys and pygmies alike. The Johnsons clearly had a love of their subjects, but latter-day writers have taken a more critical view of their efforts. Film historian Erik Barnouw (in his book Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film) noted that "Self-glorification was the keynote. Unabashed condescension and amusement marked their attitude toward natives...Johnson's narration speaks of 'funny little savages,' 'happiest little savages in Earth.' His idea of humor was to give a pygmy a cigar and wait for him to get sick...to give a monkey beer and watch the result. During a shot of a crocodile opening its mouth. Johnson's narration comments: 'Gee, what a place to throw old razor blades.'" We will be showing a flawless archival print of Congorilla.

Beyond The Caribbean (1938, Dir: Andre Roosevelt, Ewing Scott)
Not even listed in most film reference books, we guarantee that you will never see this movie projected again in your lifetime. Produced and directed by Andre Roosevelt (a nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt), it mixed actual travel footage with awkwardly staged dramatic scenes, cheaply shot with post-dubbed dialogue. The simple yet contrived plot concerns a pair of fortune hunters who get stranded on an island. They are rescued by Andre Roosevelt (playing himself), and find their way to a dangerous tribe of natives who are engaged in weird voodoo ceremonies.

Though reportedly filmed off the coast of Panama and in Central American jungles, the natives are labeled "Penitentes." They perform the sado-masochistic rituals of the actual, mainly New Mexico-based Catholic cult, including flagellation and crucifixion (perhaps not coincidentally, Beyond The Caribbean was filmed as the 1937 exploitation film Lash of the Penitentes was gaining notoriety). This strange production (which lasts only 51 minutes) has always-stilted dialogue, endless use of stock music, some horrendous acting, and confusing action and continuity. Its strengths are the documentary footage of exotic/cute jungle animals and the depictions of religious rites, clearly calculated to give nightmares to white audiences.

According to the film's own dialogue, Andre Roosevelt was an authority on underwater life. He also directed the more widely-distributed, Balinese-themed exotica semi-documentary Goona-Goona (1932).

The best of From Philadelphia With Love:

Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films

at Sedgwick Cultural Center

Saturday, May 6
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Sedgwick Cultural Center
7135 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 248-9229

Hot on the heels of a highly-successful screening of From Philadelphia With Love 3 at Moore College of Art & Design, the Secret Cinema is happy to have a chance to present a night of highlights from earlier entries in this series of rare locally-oriented films at the newly re-opened Sedgwick Cultural Center, on Saturday, May 6.

Many area residents are familiar with Philly films such as Rocky, but there is a whole world of locally-made movies that have been forgotten -- "ephemeral" shorts made by small companies for a once-booming non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesman have long discarded their 16mm film projectors, the Secret Cinema has not, and proudly presents a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

This special presentation of rare Philly film at the re-opened Sedgwick Cultural Center includes the best short films from the first two editions of From Philadelphia With Love, previously presented by Secret Cinema years ago at Moore College of Art & Design (however, there will be no overlap with any of the films just shown in From Philadelphia With Love 3 at Moore).

If you've never been to the Sedgwick and are interested at all in classic movie theaters, you really need to check it out -- and this Secret Cinema event offers a rare chance to see actual projected celluloid in this site that was once a cathedral of celluloid. The Sedgwick Cultural Center consists of the surviving lobby areas of what was once the Sedgwick Theater, a mammoth movie palace built in 1928. The survival of even some of the Sedgwick's areas reminds us that earlier generations were lucky enough to have amazing theaters not just downtown but also in their residential neighborhoods. The huge auditorium, which once seated 1636 patrons on one level, was bricked up and essentially gutted in the 1960s (it survives as a giant storage warehouse with a rather ornate ceiling). What remains in today's Cultural Center are the original facade, and two separate lobbies, which together are larger than many multiplex screening rooms. Many original art deco features are intact.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia With Love are:

Our Changing City (1955) - Made by the city during the administration of Mayor Joseph Clark, this vivid color film makes the case for urban renewal (i.e., demolition and new construction) while showing a wide range of cityscapes, from new homes in the Northeast to the poverty of people living in houses without plumbing or electricity.

Philadelphia With Love (1972) - Our "title film" is a colorful, tourism boosting paean to "Philadelphia, a fabulous city that puts it all together!" The most recently-made part of our program, this perky reel still manages to show a lot of things that are gone, including Playhouse In The Park, the Perelman Toy Museum, Pub Tiki and George X. Schwartz -- not to mention a lot of long-vanished hairstyles. With special guest Sergio Franchi, singing the theme song on the Ben Franklin Parkway!

Brooklyn Goes To Philadelphia (1954) - This obscure theatrical short from Universal was part of a series of humorous travelogues narrated by wisecracking, thickly-accented Brooklynite Phil Foster. "Philadelphia is the third largest city in America ... big deal!" Aside from dwindling population, the jokes about demolition of historic property and confusing parking regulations show that some things don't change.

The Story of Bubblegum (1952) - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Along the way we get a complete tour of the recently shuttered Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney, from its giant vats of pink rubber to its plant cafeteria and gardens and their amazing R&D department. Fleer is believed to have invented bubblegum in 1928, and its Dubble Bubble brand was a household name for most of this century. The best film ever made, anywhere?

The Troc (1966) - A confusing yet amusing Penn student film, with dancers creative interpretive art along colorful views of the banks of the Schuylkill River, and a climactic visit to the titular burlesque house.

And much more...

Free parking is available in the municipal lot across the street.

From Philadelphia With Love 3: Still More

Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films

Friday, April 21
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099

On Friday, April 21, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will offer From Philadelphia With Love 3: Still More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. This new entry in one of our most ambitious and best-loved series (first presented in 1999, with FPWL2 following in 2001 and a "Best of FPWL" show in 2003) will feature 100% new programming.

While most area residents are familiar with Philadelphia films such as Rocky, Trading Places, and the works of M. Night Shayamalan, there is a whole world of locally-made films that has been forgotten -- the "ephemeral" short films that were primarily made by small independent companies for the then-booming non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesman have long discarded their 16mm film projectors, we at Secret Cinema have not, and are proud to present a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia With Love 3 are:

Wonders of Philadelphia (1962) - This amusing and rare theatrical short was part of a series of musical "Travelarks" that Columbia Pictures released. This segment is narrated by Dick Clark, who takes a look at Philly nightlife and other local sites as they were in the early sixties.

The Cherry Hill Story (1969) - Produced by the Cherry Hill, New Jersey Board of Education, this colorful short takes a quick look around local sites before settling down to the main business at hand -- trumpeting the strengths of the local school system, with an emphasis on the newly-constructed, state-of-the-art Cherry Hill East High School.

The Maestro (1971, Dir: Jim and Janet Hirschfeld) - This color documentary short, produced for local television, gives a behind-the-scenes look at Eugene Ormandy, legendary conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The film shows Ormandy at work in Philadelphia, on tour, and at rest in his Berkshires summer home. Includes nice looks at the Academy of Music and the Robin Hood Dell, and its illustrious "cast" includes Zubin Mehta, Isaac Stern, Marian Anderson, Aaron Copland, Frank Rizzo and Richard Nixon! Narrated by the great John Facenda.

The End of Summer (1960, Dir: Ralph Hirshorn) - This award-winning satirical short was intended as a gentle spoof of then popular avant-garde films, somewhat in the style of Roman Polanski's Two Men and a Wardrobe. It shows "a girl in summer" as she wanders around such bucolic locales as West Mount Airy, Wissahickon Creek, Fairmount Park, the Curtis Arboretum and the Art Museum. Print courtesy of the director, who will be familiar to many as a film festival regular and overall friend of film.

United We Stand, Issue #112 (1949) - This title was made by the American Legion for distribution to their members, and in this episode takes a look at their largest ever national convention, held in Philadelphia in 1949. The members are seen parading and convening all around our fair city, the film providing invaluable recordings of how it (Ben Franklin Parkway, Bellevue-Stratford, the navy yard) looked 57 years ago. Most speeches mention "the shadow of Communist power." Of special interest are the many scenes shot inside Convention Hall (aka Municipal Auditorium, later renamed the Civic Center), including a visit from President Truman. This monumental Art Deco structure that previously hosted presidential conventions and later was the site of the first Beatles concert in Philadelphia was sadly demolished only last year.

And much, much more...

A special night featuring the best films from past editions of From Philadelphia With Love will be presented at the re-opened Sedgwick Theater in Mount Airy on Saturday, May 6.

The Secret Cinema presents long-promised

A Loving Tribute to Shemp Howard

Part 1:
Friday, March 24
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00
at
Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Part 2:
Saturday, March 25
11:00 am through 5:00 pm
Admission: FREE with voucher from Friday night Moore show
at
The Stoogeum (see below)

Many comedy fans love The Three Stooges, and most Three Stooges fans would name Curly as their favorite Stooge. A growing cult would argue that the oft-overlooked Shemp is the greatest, funniest Stooge, and the Secret Cinema is proudly among that group. In fact, for many years we've promised a night in tribute to Shemp, but wanted to wait until the effort was as worthy of its great subject as possible. That time has come. On Friday, March 24 (111 years after his birth, nearly to the day!) we will begin a two-day, two-location tribute to the original "third Stooge" that includes a screening of some of his rarest and funniest films, and a special Secret Cinema visit to a nearly unbelievable, private Three Stooges museum containing the world's largest and greatest collection of Stoogeiana.

For those confused about all of this third Stooge business: What would become the best-loved, most-televised comedy team in the history of film began as the trio of brothers Moe and Shemp Howard, and Philadelphian Larry Fine. They worked under straight man Ted Healy and became stars of vaudeville, finally answering Hollywood's call to bring their slapstick to the movies just as the talkie era began. They made but one film with this original lineup, the 1930 feature Soup To Nuts, before Shemp decided he was tired of Healy and left to work solo. A third Howard brother, the rotund, crew-cut Curly, was recruited to fill Shemp's place, and not much later they all left Healy to begin what would be the longest running act in two-reel comedy. After suffering a stroke, Curly needed to be replaced, so Shemp rejoined in 1946, and continued with the group until his own death in 1955. After that, The Three Stooges continued to make shorts with Joe Besser, and later made features with "Curly Joe" DeRita.

The first decade's worth of shorts that the Curly-featured lineup made for Columbia were undeniably the best films ever to star The Three Stooges. They had the biggest budgets, and employed the best gagmen in the business (many of whom had cut their teeth in the early silent films of Mack Sennett). And younger brother Curly was a comic natural, whose often childlike mannerisms and high-pitched exclamations were both hilarious and original. Does this mean Curly is the greatest Stooge? We say no!

Shemp Howard (born Samuel Horwitz on March 17, 1895) had already proved himself to be his own man by the time he rejoined the Stooges, having already starred or co-starred in multiple series of comedy shorts for Vitaphone, R.K.O. and Columbia, and also appeared as a comic character actor in at least 38 feature films, alongside the likes of W.C. Fields and Abbott and Costello. Through his film career, in and out of the Three Stooges, Shemp maintained a singular presence -- comically unattractive (he was once even voted "The ugliest man in Hollywood"!), nervous, and with a seemingly endless supply of improvised, side-splitting asides.

A Loving Tribute to Shemp Howard, Part 1: The screening at Moore
Friday, March 24 - 8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

At the auditorium of Moore College of Art and Design, to celebrate Shemp Howard's 111th birthday, we will present a special program featuring his "solo shorts." Since most people are very familiar with the films of the Three Stooges, we will instead focus on the little-seen two-reel comedies Shemp starred in away from the Three Stooges.

While perhaps only the Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang shorts are as well-known as the Three Stooges' are, during the era of the sound short subject (1930s through 1950s), Hollywood's studios produced dozens of other comedy series in much the same format. Shemp Howard's unique gifts were tried in a number of these series, sometimes as the star performer, and sometimes in experimental pairings with other once-famous comic players like Tom Kennedy, Andy Clyde, Ben Blue and Roscoe Ates. Many of these films featured the same producers, directors, writers, character actors and sometimes gags as Three Stooges shorts from the same time. In some, all that's missing is Moe and Larry!

Just a few highlights of the feature-length program will be: The Choke's On You (1936; one of a series of shorts based on the popular comic strip Joe Palooka, with Shemp appearing as the young fighter's trainer Knobby Walsh), the cruelly hilarious Mr. Noisy (1946; Shemp plays an obnoxious, heckling baseball fan; with famed Three Stooges player Vernon Dent.), the very Stooges-like Boobs in the Woods (1940; Shemp is the trouble-making brother-in-law of Andy Clyde, as they go on a camping trip; directed by frequent Stooges director Del Lord), and much more!

The evening will begin with a brief illustrated talk on the life and work of Shemp Howard, by Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz.

All who attend the screening at Moore will receive a free voucher and directions to...

A Loving Tribute to Shemp Howard, Part 2: The museum visit! (and another screening)

Saturday, March 25, 11:00 am through 5:00 pm
Admission: Included free with voucher from Friday night Moore screening

Screening of Soup To Nuts at 2:00 pm

In recent years, the Secret Cinema has partnered with some of the Philadelphia area's greatest museums to create some unique film events: The Franklin Institute, The Academy of Natural Sciences, and Eastern State Penitentiary, to name three. However, we've never been prouder than we'll be on this day, when we offer a Secret Cinema visit to The Stoogeum.

What's a Stoogeum? Opened in 2004, it's a fantastic private museum devoted exclusively to the Three Stooges! This is not simply an array of collected objects mounted in somebody's rec room -- it's a bonafide, purpose-constructed, multi-floored museum, with exhibits created by a museum design firm in collaboration with owner Gary Lassin, president of the Three Stooges Fan Club and possessor of the world's largest and best collection of Stoogeiana. Housed there are thousands of rare posters, photos, clippings, fan merchandise, and jaw-dropping personal objects (The Three Stooges' pay checks! Jules White's driver's license! Shemp's custom-made watch chain! Shemp's honorable discharge papers from the army -- documenting his bedwetting!!) More than a collection of memorabilia, the informative displays and groupings provide a context explaining the Three Stooges long journey through stage, movies and television to become pop culture icons. There are also exhibits devoted to the many other performers and creative personnel they worked with. Even if you don't like the Three Stooges, the Stoogeum would provide a fascinating walk through the history of 20th century American show business.

The Philadelphia City Paper ran a nice article about The Stoogeum last year, viewable here

Of course the designers of The Stoogeum thought to include a screening room, and we will be taking full advantage of it! At 2:00 pm there will be a special screening of the first film starring The Three Stooges, Soup To Nuts (details below). As with all Secret Cinema screenings, we will project this in real film, using an archival 16mm print restored through the efforts of the Three Stooges Fan Club.

The Stoogeum would be on the maps of every regional tourism group, except that it is not open to the public. This private museum is usually open only to fan club members by special invitation, and very occasionally has special event open houses like this one. There is no extra charge to visit the Stoogeum, but to attend you must pick up the voucher (with directions) at the Friday night Moore screening. The Stoogeum is located in the nearby Northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia, easily accessible by car. To accommodate the carless, the Secret Cinema will pick up attendees at the nearby Septa train station, and details about this will also be provided at the Moore screening. Do not miss this rare opportunity!

Soup To Nuts (1930, Dir: Ben Stoloff. 71 min.)
This early talkie, written by popular cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is quirky and undeniably dated, but not always in a bad way. A madcap mix of music, stagy vaudeville humor and grand-scaled cinematic slapstick, it shows some early approaches to using the new medium of sound movies to showcase the previously uncapturable American arts of musical theater and variety. The thin plotline concerns a troubled costume shop owner who invents wacky devices (like a hat-tipping machine) as a hobby. Soup To Nuts' greatest value is the vivid snapshot it provides of the earliest lineup of the Three Stooges, as they were still honing their unique comedic style (The Three Stooges films would not again include Shemp Howard for another 16 years). It also shows how they worked with their straight man mentor Ted Healy, the top-billed star of the picture and one of the biggest names in vaudeville. His physical comedy and cynical manner were a great influence on the Stooges and others -- no less than Milton Berle called him "my idol" -- but Healy was doomed to be forgotten after his early, tragic death, following a vicious beating by three men outside a Hollywood nightclub.

The Secret Cinema presents evening with legendary

'60s Apple Records recording artist Brute Force

(plus Mr. Unloved and D.J.'s Silvia & Jay)

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 545-0475

Saturday, January 28
9:30 pm to 2:00 am
Admission: $7.00

On Saturday, January 28, the Secret Cinema will produce its first music event in nearly a year. It will be a special one, though -- headlining will be unique '60s songwriter/performer Brute Force, giving his first Philadelphia concert ever! Supporting will be Philadelphia's own Mr. Unloved, and in between there will be rare sixties pop records from d.j.'s Silvia & Jay.

The event starts at 9:30 pm and runs until 2:00. Admission is $7.00.

Brute Force (who was born Stephen Friedland), is a fascinating performer, a music industry veteran, and possessor of a wholly original sense of humor. Beginning as a professional songwriter in the golden era of the Brill Building, he went on to record his own releases, some of which are among the most valuable collector's items in rock.

A few Brute Force factoids:

- He had a lengthy stint as a staff songwriter for Bright Tunes, the innovative music publishing and production company owned and operated by vocal group The Tokens. He later performed as a singer and guitarist for the band.

- His songs have been recorded by The Chiffons, Little Peggy March, Randy & The Rainbows, Del Shannon, The Cyrkle, and legendary UK mod band The Creation ("For All That I Am," recorded while Ron Wood was in the group).

- Brute recorded the unusual pop album I, Brute Force - Confections of Love, released in 1967 by Columbia Records. It combines Brute's often strange lyrical perspective with inventive arrangements and orchestrations. Just two highlghts are "Tapeworm of Love" and "To Sit on a Sandwich."

- George Harrison personally signed Brute Force to Apple Records upon hearing his song "King of Fuh," which EMI subsequently refused to press because of its alleged obscenity. The few copies of the single that Apple did manufacture constitute the rarest release on the Beatles' label.

- Life magazine published a photo of Brute in 1969 when he swam halfway across the Bering Strait.

- Another mega-rarity was the LP Extemporaneous, which captured a set of improvised music and comedy, live in a recording studio in front of a small audience. Originally released in 1969 on the B.T. Puppy label, it has recently been issued on CD by England's Rev-Ola label.

The show at Tritone will feature a full band: Brute Force (vocals and keyboard), Christy Edwards (drums), Steve DeSeve (bass), Peter Pierce, (guitar), plus background singers Lilah (Daughter of Force) and Aaron Diskin. New songs and selected songs from his 1967 album Confections of Love are in the set.

Also playing is Chaz Zimerman, aka Mr. Unloved. The solo performer is a self-described "insensitive singer-songwriter," combining elements of Tom Waits and Tom Smothers.

Manning (and womaning) the record players throughout the evening will be D.J.'s Silvia and Jay, with a mix of sixties pop emphasizing Brill Building and girl group sounds (among other things). The (now married!) duo haven't aired their record collection in public for a long time now, and will have some great new/old sides to share.

OFFICIAL BRUTE FORCE WEBSITE

BRUTE FORCE APPRECIATION BY ROCK HISTORIAN DAWN EDEN

BEATLES UNLIMITED WEBSITE WITH BRUTE FORCE INTERVIEW

A Child's Introduction to Social Guidance Films

at Moore

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, January 20
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

We've shown many themed groupings of short films over the nearly 14 years of Secret Cinema programming -- nights devoted to music films, stag films, travel films, old color films, TV commercials, World War II films, films made in the 1970s, films made in Philadelphia, and yes, even boring films. Somehow, though, we've never devoted an entire program to the now-celebrated social guidance film.

A subset of the educational, or classroom film genre, social guidance films exist not to teach children the traditional school wisdom of history, science and grammar, but to impart to their unformed minds the correct attitudes and behavior. They came into their own in the post-war years, and were omnipresent in American schools in the 1950s and '60s. More recently, they have been rediscovered, in documentaries like The Atomic Cafe, in the 1999 book Mental Hygiene, and on cable television and numerous home video compilations. The Congress-created National Film Registry has even selected one of the most (in)famous social guidance films, Duck and Cover, for eternal preservation.

Well, now it's our turn. While social guidance shorts have made appearances throughout the history of Secret Cinema (within other programs and before feature films), on Friday, January 20, we will compile for the first time some of the best S.G. reels from our private archive into one big show. And while social guidance films seem to be everywhere nowadays (yep, on the internet too), the best way to see them is in the dark -- using real film projected onto a big screen (albeit a screen much bigger than found in any classroom), among a group of one's peers (albeit peers many years past the target audience of most of these films).

There will be one complete show, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A Child's Introduction to Social Guidance Films will include many rare titles never before shown by us, and others not seen for many years. They will span many different years and show examples of work from important producers of social guidance film like Coronet (originally a division of Esquire Magazine) and Young America Films. Just a few highlights will be: Courtesy at School, Helpers in the Community, What is a Contract?, Toward Emotional Maturity, What Does Our Flag Mean?, It's Wonderful Being a Girl, and Safety Patrol.

If you are near a radio or internet connection this late afternoon, we understand there will be a piece about BORING FILMS during WHYY's broadcast of ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (4:00 - 6:30 pm), including an interview with Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz.

You can also read about BORING FILMS in Philadelphia Weekly's "A-List" of this week's best happenings.

Secret Cinema presents

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

"I like boring things." - Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol died at least 18 years too early; he would have loved December's Secret Cinema program at Moore College of Art & Design. On Friday, December 9, we will present Boring Films -- a collection of the most maddeningly mundane movies ever to be screened in one sitting.

Past Secret Cinema programs have aimed to find the fascinating in lowly educational films, industrial films, home movies, and other film flotsam that was never meant to be saved and re-examined decades past their initial need to exist. And generally, those programs were successful, proving that for those with a healthy curiosity about the world about them and the richness of the past, almost any short film can be interesting, amusing, even illuminating.

This collection is different.

Boring Films has nothing to prove except that sometimes old found films can indeed be boring. And while some audience members with a particularly perverse sense of humor may find themselves laughing out loud at what they are experiencing, we will make no promises, save that the longest any single short subject will run is 20 minutes.

What won't we show in Boring Films? We won't show a 1960 film called On Solder, which runs about 18 minutes. It shows old ladies operating soldering irons on an assembly line, then includes a discussion about the long history of man's use of the alloy of tin and lead as an adhesion agent, and then covers the fine points of making a good solder joint. We will not be including this short in Boring Films, because it is too interesting.

What will we include in Boring Films? You will have to come and find out, but we can share some of the titles: Typing Lessons, Speckled Trout Across Canada, Operation of the Bell & Howell Sound Projector, Dodge Dancing Party with Lawrence Welk, On the Road to Damascus, and, in a nod to the Yule season, How the Animals Discovered Christmas. Plus, many other surprises.

Virtually 100% of this program has never been included in any previous Secret Cinema screening. We didn't dare.

There will be one complete show starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

No admissions will be refunded.

Colorful program The Rainbow Is Yours

at Moore

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Color in motion pictures is taken for granted now; it's the default setting in most of our modern media world, where black and white films or photographs are seen as arty and anachronistic. But imagine when that wasn't so, when a burst of color projected on a screen gave an extra thrill to moviegoers, firing heretofore untested neurons in the pleasure zones of viewers' brains.

Color motion pictures were in the minority in movie theaters until the 1960s, but were even lesser seen in the nontheatrical world of industrial and educational films, where lower budgets made the use of color an exotic luxury.

On Friday, November 18, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present the special program The Rainbow Is Yours: Color in Ephemeral Films. A celebration of the sheer sensuality of color motion pictures, the program will include a variety of films that used color to sell products, educate school children, or simply to entertain. Besides indulging in the dazzling hues, watching the various shorts will provide ultra vivid scenes of a still-innocent mid-century America.

Additionally, the screening will serve as a primer on historical color film stocks, including examples of such non-fading processes as dye-transfer Technicolor, Kodachrome, Anscochrome and Cinecolor. These rare prints are all part of the Secret Cinema film archive.

There will be one complete show starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of The Rainbow Is Yours: Color in Ephemeral Films include:

The Rainbow Is Yours (1951) - This sales film, produced by the legendary Jam Handy industrial film studios, served to introduce the new line of Chevrolets, and the many new paint combinations available to post-war consumers, in a veritable orgy of screaming colors. It was made at a time when nobody paid attention to the price of gas -- the smallest model shown would be challenging to park on today's streets!

Cranberry Industry of New Jersey (1947) - An often fascinating, always beautiful look at the complicated process of harvesting cranberries, in the nearby town of Chatsworth. Your next Thanksgiving dinner will contain a new appreciation for all the work that went into it.

Arranging a Buffet Supper (1946) - Made to show to girls' home economics classes, this instructional film covers fine points of serving etiquette that appear to have been forgotten by today's all-you-can-eat chain restaurants.

Boundary Lines (1945) - This political cartoon, by Phillip Stapp, makes effective use of simple animation and avant garde music to delineate the differences between men which lead to war. This short was included in the very-first program of Amos Vogel's long running Cinema 16 film society, in November of 1947.

All-35mm program The Secret Secret Cinema

at International House

Friday, October 14
8:00 PM
Admission: $7.00; $5.00 for International House members, students and seniors

International House
3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
215-387-5125

Come to International House on Friday, October 14 for an evening of hidden treasures from the rarely seen 35mm section of the Secret Cinema archives -- most of which have not been shown anywhere in decades.

Like most Secret Cinema programs, The Secret Secret Cinema strives to expose forgotten delights from the often-overlooked annals of motion picture ephemera, films which would be difficult to experience in any other way.

The program of forgotten advertising films, theatrical short subjects, clips and trailers is still being assembled, but some highlights will include La Danse a Go Go, a 1964 short about twisting discotheque go-go dancers; A Touch of Magic, a surreal Technicolor musical promoting Populuxe cars and kitchens; Mexican Rhythm, a 1953 one-reeler starring "Mexico's Jazz King" Luis Arcaraz; network TV promos; ads for long-gone local businesses; and original previews for such offbeat classics as Groupies, Hells Angels '69, Bummer, Mondo Mod -- and much more!

While we normally are proud to announce that "All Secret Cinema presentations are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen," this time we are even prouder to announce that the entirety of The Secret Secret Cinema program will be projected in even higher-quality 35mm film (the standard for theatrical film presentation from 1895 through the present!), on an even gianter screen than usual. As always, we will be having nothing to do with inferior video/DVD presentation.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm.

Admission: $6.00, $5.00 for International House members, students and seniors

Free screening of The Choppers

on roof of Whole Foods Markets

Wednesday, June 1
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

Whole Foods Markets
929 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 733-9788

The Secret Cinema returns to the rooftop of the Whole Food Markets store on South Street on Wednesday, June 1, for a screening of The Choppers, a drive-in classic about car-stripping juvenile delinquents, starring cult-actor Arch Hall, Jr.

The screening, which will also include selected short subjects, begins at 8:30 pm.

In the event of rain, the event will be moved to the store's covered loading dock, directly behind the store on Rodman Street.

Admission is free. Moviegoers should bring something to sit on (a chair or cushion). A variety of snacks, refreshments, and prepared foods for a complete meal are available inside the store, which will be open throughout the screening.

A description of the feature follows:

The Choppers (1961, Dir: Leigh Jason)
This drive-in classic was the screen debut of platinum-pompadoured cult actor Arch Hall, Jr. (Wild Guitar, Eegah!). In this film he's part of a car-stripping gang of juvenile delinquents who have names like "Torch," "Flip" and "Snooper." He still finds time to sing two songs, "Konga Joe," and "Monkeys in My Hatband," the latter performed in a junkyard with bongo accompaniment. The Choppers was written and produced by Arch Hall, Sr., a former actor in B-Western films whose own life was portrayed by no less than Robert Mitchum in The Last Time I Saw Archie. The senior Hall produced six films starring his son, in an unsuccessful attempt to make a teen idol out of him.

You can read more about Choppers star (and rock 'n' roll recording artist) Arch Hall, Jr. here: www.nortonrecords.com

Secret Cinema at Moore presents

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

This month, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will revive and expand the most popular presentation in its thirteen-year history, with The Velvet Underground Film Festival -- Re-Loaded. Two separate programs will feature films made by Andy Warhol (and Warhol's right-hand filmmaker Paul Morrissey) in the peak years of the legendary rock band's innovative career. New for this edition are three films, all of which can be considered Philadelphia premieres*. And to make it timely, there's even an appearance by Salvador Dali!

Once again, we will show the feature The Velvet Underground And Nico: A Symphony Of Sound, which contains the only known sound footage of the group performing live. Additionally, the programs will include rare reels that were projected during The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, the live multi-media happening that Warhol produced in 1966 to showcase his new musical discoveries.

Complete details of the individual films are as follows:

PROGRAM 1

The Velvet Underground And Nico: A Symphony Of Sound (1966, sound, 67 mins. Dir: Andy Warhol)
While Andy Warhol introduced the Velvets to the world though his multi-media extravaganza "The Exploding Plastic Inevitable," he was also immersed in making a groundbreaking series of experimental films. He would use VU music in a number of his films as well as occasional band member cameos in works such as The Chelsea Girls. This, however, is the only title from Warhol's prolific 60s output to star the group. It features a live performance at the Factory, captured in the only sync-sound footage of the VU known to exist. Symphony Of Sound is shot in Warhol's minimal, laissez-faire style, which generally let events unfold before the camera without intrusion. In this case, the events included an otherwise unreleased, freewheeling "Sister Ray"-esque jam, Nico's (and Alain Delon's) young son Ari wandering around in the mayhem, and New York Police officers coming in to stop the racket.

Warhol Screen Tests (1966, silent, 35 mins. Dir: Andy Warhol)
Between 1964 and 1966, visitors to the Factory with "star" potential would be seated in front of a stationary camera and asked to hold still while 3 minutes of 16mm film were shot. Proving the adage that less is more, these clips contain some of Warhol's most striking and enduring film images. Real celebrities would join the Warhol "Superstars" and forgotten passers-by in these time capsule miniatures. This reel includes tests of Nico, Lou Reed, and John Cale, along with Susan Sontag, Helmut Newton and others.

PROGRAM 2

EPI Projection Reel aka Salvador Dali (1966, silent, 22 mins. Dir: Andy Warhol)
Intended for projection behind the Velvet Underground during live performances of The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, this reel contains Factory-shot Screen Tests of the one and only Salvador Dali, plus Nico, Sterling Morrison and Lou Reed, followed by two rolls of EPI dancers Gerard Malanga and Mary Woronov performing their S&M "whip dance" for the camera.

The V.U. aka Moe Gets Tied Up (1966, sound, 66 mins. Dir: Andy Warhol)
These intriguing reels were also filmed for use as background projections during the Velvets' live shows, but with Warhol's Auricon camera, which recorded a live soundtrack as it ran. Shot on a staged "set" at Warhol's Factory, the band enact an improvised psychodrama in which Reed, Cale and Morrison bind drummer Maureen Tucker to a chair with ropes and proceed to torment her with whips and food. There is no music in this minimal narrative, but much to analyze, in a fascinating discovery for dedicated Lou Reed/VU fans.

*There is the distinct possibility that any or all of the films that were made to be shown during the live performances of The Exploding Plastic Inevitable were seen just one time previously in Philadelphia, back in 1966 -- that is when The Velvet Underground, with Nico, played at the Y.M.H.A. (today known as the Gershman Y), along with the projections and dancers that comprised the EPI.

Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films

at Moore College of Art & Design

Friday, March 25
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, March 25, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films. Another collection of rare original prints from the Secret Cinema archives, this program will focus on one of the earliest yet most enduring uses of motion pictures -- bringing views of far-off lands to audiences unlikely to experience them in person.

The assortment of short subjects collected for Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films illustrates the range of styles and approaches used by travel filmmakers through the years. There will be examples of shorts made by Burton Holmes, who originally gave live lectures illustrated by silent film footage, and also by his latter-day rival, James A. FitzPatrick, who produced dozens of one-reel "Traveltalks" for MGM. There will be some color and some silent tinted prints, some films made as promotion for travel and others meant to be more educational. Yet all are fascinating (and sometimes amusing) just by virtue of their vintage. The styles of filmmaking and narration are definitely from another time, and often politically incorrect by present standards. On the other hand, most of the films still have a lot to teach in the context of their original intent, too.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of Bon Voyage: Vintage Travel Films are:

The Story of Our National Parks (U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1920s silent) - Early government film promoting use of National Park system. Begins with the framing device of a well-to-do housewife showing off a photo album of her recent trip to Yellowstone; soon, the photos come to life for a detailed look at the park and its attractions.

6-1/2 Magic Hours (Pan Am, 1954) - This delightful color film takes a promotional look at 1950s transatlantic air travel, complete with onboard powder rooms, lounges and gourmet food.

A Dutch Treat (1920s) - Four very short films (in yellow and amber tints) made for direct sale to owners of home 16mm projectors, with picturesque looks at Amsterdam, Volendam, and "The Cheese Market of Alkmaar."

An Egyptian Adventure (1928) An early sound adaptation of an even earlier silent film, "produced in Egypt" by Louis de Rochemont, who later created the acclaimed March of Time documentary series. This short previews the March of Time modus operandi of using staged scenes in reality films, by mixing in an amusing story of U.S. sailors on shore leave being hoodwinked by crafty Egyptian antique traders.

Hong Kong: Gateway to the Orient (Castle Films, 1957) - Color short showing, by day and night, an already-crowded city that has changed greatly since this film.

European History Atlas: Ethiopia (1930s, Burton Holmes) - Rather disparaging narration sets the tone for this short, which shows then-ruler Haile Selassie, and the Coptic Church, "a strange mixture of the supernatural and barbarism."

Fairest Eden (1931, William M. Pizor Port O' Call series) - Early sound ("recorded on the Cinephone System") travel film of Pago Pago in American Samoa. See tattoos, ukuleles, a nude boy in a canoe made from discarded gasoline cans, and much more. "Unlike the women, the men are rarely corpulent."

Hawaiian Islands (1926, Eastman Classroom Films) - Lovely multi-tinted print from long ago, showing Waikiki Beach complete with surfers, early animated graphics, an active volcano, and a fascinating look at the Dole Pineapple cannery.

Native Africa (1940s, Castle Films) - Sensational if exploitive narrated short made for the non-theatrical market, with looks at tamed elephants, rickshaws, Victoria Falls, ritual scarification, and much more.

Panama - The Peculiar Prodigy (1933, Kodascope Libraries) - A look at the Canal Zone and operations at the Panama Canal. Old tinted print has added bonus of a spliced-on title from its sub-distributor, Cunard-White Star Ltd.'s Sunshine Cruises.

It's a Wonderful Lifestyle:

A Valentine to the 1970s

at Moore College of Art & Design

Friday, February 18
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Weary of the current vogue for 1980s synthesized clothing and asymmetrical music? Are you longing to long for a more organic flavor of retro? Then travel back to the Seventies again on Friday, February 18, when the Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design presents It's a Wonderful Lifestyle: A Valentine to the 1970s*. This hodgepodge of historic kitsch aims to restore the glittery glory of the original Decade of Bad Taste, via an assemblage of rare short films including forgotten school films, television shows, commercials, and trailers.

We've dipped into the Seventies in many past Secret Cinema presentations, but surprisingly, have never devoted a whole program to the disco decade. Plundered from the depths of the Secret Cinema archives, most of these films are unlikely to be shown anywhere else. Enjoy a time when pop culture stars had names like Kreskin, Meadowlark Lemon and Donny and Marie. Catch up on your Seventies nostalgia now and you'll be well-prepared for the inevitable revival of the 1990s -- when Seventies appreciation first started to bloom and our current mobius strip of self-reference began.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of It's a Wonderful Lifestyle: A Valentine to the 1970s are:

The Energy-Environment Game (1973) - In this fascinating slice of pre-Three Mile Island history, a "hip" teacher offers a "relevant" "role-playing" game to his class: high school students (in various Brady Bunch/Over The Edge fashions) take on the roles of different members of a fictional community to debate the proposed installation of a nuclear power plant. As the film was produced by a utility company, you can guess the result.

Television: Behind the Scenes (1978) - Educational film takes a look at the workers and work needed to put together a national TV series. Lucky for us it's The Donny and Marie Show!

The Amazing World of Kreskin (1971) - Rare kinescope from the first year of this popular syndicated TV series. Kreskin was a nebbishy Canadian magician who performed standard mindreading tricks but achieved a brief stardom by appearing at a time when audiences were hungry for proof of "paranormal" phenomenon.

Plus much, much more!

*NOTE: The phrase "It's a Wonderful Lifestyle" is both homage to and utter theft from Candi Strecker's identically-named fanzines of 1990 and 1993. Her brilliant analysis of the Seventies stands as the last word on the subject. The fanzines may still be available somewhere in cyberspace.

Sixties-themed music night

FRIDAY ON MY MIND with

The Up!, D.J. Silvia & friends

Friday, February 25
9:30 pm - 2:00 am
Admission: $5.00

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 545-0475

The Secret Cinema will produce another chapter in its Friday On My Mind music series, featuring d.j.'s, a live band, colorful projections and swinging sounds. It all happens on Friday (of course!), February 25 at the Tritone nightclub.

The party starts at 9:30 pm and runs until 2:00. Admission is $5.00.

Headlining the live portion of the night are The Up! As young, mod/soul roots-inspired musicians, The Up! are focused on creating modern pop hooks that remain true to the sixties style sounds they admire. Fingerpicked 12-string Rickenbacker chimed melodies blend with upbeat soul drum chops, rich driving bass, and flawless three part harmonies to produce songs for any generation. The local trio, fronted by always sharp-dressed scenester Damon Levine, will be performing two sets during the evening.

Playing a mix of great mod, beat, and garage sounds will be D.J. Silvia, making her first starring appearance behind the turntables since her recent move to Philadelphia. A veteran of many past sixties-music events in Philly, New York and her native country of Spain, the cheeky "Chica Ye Ye" is sure to have some new surprises and rare sides in her box of discs.

Also showing off their record collections will be Jay Schwartz and special guest Christian Osgood. Jay is of course the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital!) partner of D.J. Silvia. Mod man-about-town Christian has been seen and heard at recent Immediate! parties and at the Pontiac Grill.

Creepy Christmas Films is back,

at Sedgwick Cultural Center

Friday, December 17
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

Sedgwick Cultural Center
7135 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 248-9229

On Friday, December 17, the Secret Cinema will return to the Sedgwick Cultural Center, to present Creepy Christmas Films -- a special program of vintage Yuletide shorts featuring frightening puppets, demonic animals, and maudlin sentiments (this popular program was shown last year at this time at the Prince Music Theater).

As an added bonus, interspersed randomly between the films will be glimpses of strangers' Christmas home movies, showcasing a nostalgic array of old toys and synthetic trees.

There will be one complete screening, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $7.00.

Free parking is available in the municipal lot across the street.

If you've never been to the Sedgwick and are interested at all in classic movie theaters, you really need to check it out-and this Secret Cinema event offers a rare chance to see actual projected celluloid in this site that was once a cathedral of celluloid. The Sedgwick Cultural Center consists of the surviving lobby areas of what was once the Sedgwick Theater, a mammoth movie palace built in 1928. While 2004 Philadelphia struggles to save it's last intact downtown movie palace (The Sameric/Boyd), the survival of even some of the Sedgwick's areas reminds us that earlier generations were lucky enough to have amazing theaters not just downtown but also in their residential neighborhoods. The huge auditorium, which once seated 1636 patrons on one level, was bricked up and essentially gutted in the 1960s (it survives as a giant storage warehouse with a rather ornate ceiling). What remains in today's Cultural Center are the original facade, and two separate lobbies, which together are larger than many multiplex screening rooms. Many original art deco features are intact.

A few highlights of the program include:

Santa In Animal Land - In this bizarre one-reeler, animal puppets (with some of the most painfully cloying voices ever recorded) bemoan the fact that there is no official Christmas celebration in the animal kingdom, and set out to protest to Santa Claus about their situation.

Davey & Goliath: Christmas Lost & Found - A special edition of the early-'60s, long-rerun clay animation series from Gumby creator Art Clokey (and funded by the Lutheran Council of Churches). Sourpuss Davey searches his town in desperation for the true Christmas spirit, finding little consolation even in the antics of his lovable dog Goliath.

A Visitor For Christmas - "But we can't have Aunt Hattie here-she'll ruin our Christmas!" Mawkish live-action drama produced by religious studio Family Films, in which every member of a typical American family complains about the impending visit of their hated Aunt Hattie. With Lassie star Tommy Rettig.

Howdy Doody's Christmas - Buffalo Bob, Clarabelle, "Ugly Sam," and the grandfather of creepy marionettes, Howdy Doody, all join forces in this excruciating short film that was made especially for home and school projectors in 1951, to capitalize on the popularity of television's The Howdy Doody Show.

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films 4

at Moore College of Art & Design

Friday, November 19
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Since we began in early 1992, all Secret Cinema screenings of feature films have included bonus short subjects, and some of our best presentations have been comprised entirely of short films. While we have shown several rare old theatrical shorts (including classic cartoons and musicals), often the most popular shorts have been such oddities as campy educational reels, industrial films, TV commercials, and home movies. Most of these films -- literally hundreds of them -- have only been shown once, despite frequent requests to repeat them. Just three times before, we presented all--encompassing "Best of" shorts programs. Well, it's time to do it again!

On Friday, November 19, we take a look back, with the unique program The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films 4.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films 4 will be a one-time only showing of the funniest, strangest, and rarest of all of the shorts shown in the last twelve plus years -- this time, with an emphasis on films not previously compiled before. Nearly all of these films can't be seen anywhere else, including video.

Just a few highlights are:

Test City U.S.A. (1953) - Readers Digest magazine produced this promotional film explaining how Columbus, Ohio is our most representative test market, resulting in a ravishingly beautiful Technicolor time-capsule of mid-century America.

Food and Growth (1930) - School children conduct a somewhat cruel experiment in which different white lab rats are fed a diet of coffee, candy, and milk. Which will be the healthiest?

Let My Puppets Come (1971) - A porno comedy film made with Muppet--like puppets, directed by Deep Throat auteur Gerard Damiano.

Big Mouth Goes to the Dentist (1984) - A frightening, McDonaldland-esque giant mouth attempts to teach kids not to be afraid of the dentist.

Maids In Music (1937) - Musical short starring hot riot-girl big band The Ingenues, shaking their stuff and displaying equal proficiency on banjos, accordions and harmonicas.

Highway Mania (1930s) - Government produced driving safety film featuring a laughing corpse that would fit in any Dwain Esper drug exploitation classic.

Skateboarding To Safety (1976)- One of the most beloved films ever shown by Secret Cinema is this look at thrills and spills of young daredevils as they maneuver skinny wheeled boards through the streets of Southern California -- enhanced in this print by a dubbed Swedish soundtrack.

Free Halloween screening on roof of

Whole Foods Markets

Thursday, October 7
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

Whole Foods Markets
929 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 733-9788

The Secret Cinema has presented hundreds of film screenings since 1992, in a variety of unusual settings around the city. On Thursday, October 7, we will present our first rooftop movie -- with a free Halloween event at the Whole Food Markets store on South Street, featuring the weird, sick humor '60s horror feature The Undertaker and His Pals.

The screening, which will also include selected spooky short subjects, begins at 8:00 pm.

In the event of rain, the event will be moved to the store's covered loading dock, directly behind the store on Rodman Street.

Admission is free. Moviegoers should bring something to sit on (a chair or cushion). A variety of snacks, refreshments, and prepared foods for a complete meal are available inside the store, which will be open throughout the screening.

A description of the feature follows:

The Undertaker And His Pals (1967 - Dir: David C. Graham) - A genuinely disturbing blend of gore and sick humor, this unusual obscurity tells the story of a leather-jacketed group of bikers who randomly slay innocent females, then serve up the body parts in their greasy spoon restaurant. In the process, they create business for their silent partner, a prissy, Franklin Pangborn-esque undertaker who sells cut-rate funerals complete with trading stamps. "A classic of its kind," says The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film -- but surely one of the only of its kind as well.

Rediscovered views of Philadelphia in

City of Brotherly Crime

at Moore College of Art and Design

Saturday, September 11
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Saturday, September 11, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will begin its fall season with yet another unique program of rare, long-unseen films about Philadelphia, this time with a unifying theme: City of Brotherly Crime.

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a turbulent time for big American metropolises. While many still resembled, at least architecturally, their peak years of prosperity from earlier in the century, cities were decaying fast in the wake of increasingly violent crime, riots, gang warfare and subsequent white flight. Philadelphia was no exception, and in fact was chosen by NBC to stand in for a typical, crime-wracked city in their special The Besieged Majority.

Meanwhile, in North Philadelphia, the 12th & Oxford Street Gang were learning to tell their own story on film, through the intervention of an inspired young social worker, and their short film, The Jungle, was shown to audiences all over the world. Project director Harold Haskins will be present at our screening, to tell the full, fascinating story of how, 38 years ago, he converted a warring street gang into a working filmmaking cooperative.

City of Brotherly Crime will include:

The Besieged Majority (1970, Dir: Pamela Hill)
The rise of violent crime was an inevitable topic of conversation throughout the 1960s, and at the decade's end, NBC News made it the topic of one of their irregular "White Paper" documentary specials. The Besieged Majority looked at the phenomenon by focusing on a single urban neighborhood that was rapidly changing from a peaceful residential area to an unstable crime zone where people no longer felt safe. They chose the Germantown/East Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia, interviewing its homeowners, shopkeepers and bartenders about their experiences as victims. Also seen talking for the camera are then-Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo and then-District Attorney Arlen Specter. In addition to the many neighborhood scenes, there are glimpses of Center City at the dawn of a new decade.

The Jungle (1967, Dir: Charlie "Brown" Davis, David "Bat" Williams, Jimmy "Country" Robinson)
If The Jungle looks different from other filmed depictions of gang life, there is a reason: Every aspect of its creation, from the script to its photography, editing and acting was manned by the young members of a real Philadelphia street gang. Project director Harold Haskins was an eager young social worker when he approached the 12th & Oxford Street Gang and convinced them they should try to make a movie. The result is a completely inside view of this usually hidden world, with authentic depictions of their unique social codes, activities, fashion and music (the soundtrack includes an early street-corner rap about the joys of cheap wine). Soon the gang was transformed into the 12th & Oxford Film Makers Corporation, presenting their work around the world and committed to positive change in their community. Yet, their cameraman, specially trained for this project, was later slain by a rival gang jealous of their filmmaking success. Hear the incredible story of this one-of-a-kind film, when Harold Haskins recounts its making nearly four decades ago.

The Philadelphia-Lancaster Counterfeiters (1931)
The William J. Burns Detective Mysteries series of one-reel shorts, filmed in the early 1930s by Educational Pictures, is beginning to acquire a cult reputation among savvy vintage film buffs. This is due more to the stiff yet non-stop narration style of nationally-famous detective Burns, and the campy, stagy recreations of prominent true crimes, than for any inherent quality. This locally themed entry in the series is typical, as Burns breathlessly recounts the fantastic (and perhaps difficult to follow) tale of a counterfeiting ring that operated within Philadelphia's Moyamensing Prison. The trade publication Motion Picture Herald rated this short as "gripping."

The Secret Cinema presents two new guitar bands

from New York, at Tritone

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 545-0475

Friday, June 25
9:00 pm - 2:00 am
Admission: $6.00

The Secret Cinema will produce yet another exciting music night on Friday, June 25. The show will feature two guitar-based bands from New York City, one brand new and one on the verge of big things, as well as a d.j. set from the Secret Cinema curator.

Headlining will be a group that has just been described by the Village Voice (and many others) as one of the best unsigned bands in New York. Blue Sparks will be in Philadelphia fresh from their record release party at NYC's Sin-E on June 15. Their 6-song self-released CD will also be available at the Philly show. You can hear some other songs at www.bluesparksmusic.com, but a way their music has been described is as that of a timeless guitar band in the tradition of The Feelies, Human Switchboard, early Modern Lovers, Television, you get the idea, EXCEPT they are totally original and do NOT sound like these bands. You simply have to see them. Matthew Dublin wrote for Newspaper Taxi that "Blue Sparks are probably NYC's most exciting band right now, currently sending shock waves through the city's music scene and earning the respect of both their peers and music fans alike...Their live performances are exciting and dramatic, and their songwriting is rock n' roll at its best: loud, emotional, and intelligent. Blue Sparks are igniting NYC ablaze with rock, and the fire cannot be contained!"

Yarn Mask is a very new band, with only two performances so far but with an enthusiastic response from the crowd, who do not seem to agree on who this band reminds them of -- Pixies, Cramps, Wire... The band is unsure too. "We like the Rolling Stones and the 13th Floor Elevators, but there is a rumor some people in the band also like Weezer and even the Strokes!" Open-minded Yarn Mask! They bring their influences and large record collections to the stage and one of them says that they would like to be described as a gothic-rock psychedelic power-pop band. You can hear a very early and raw live demo at www.msu.edu/~hersheym (The Secret Cinema thought these tracks were reminiscent of the punk/garage arty crudeness of the legendary Pagans if they had a girl singer...although we have never actually heard the Pagans).

Yarn Mask bassist and singer Luis Mayo is a former Philadelphia resident who lived in the city 1994-96, played in a garage band called Drug Emporium (along with Distortions Records' Dave Brown), and was around at the shows taking pictures and interviewing bands for the Spanish magazines he used to write for. He spent the rest of the time at the Philadelphia Record Exchange and hosting crazy sangria-soaked house parties with his Spanish roommates.

Before and after and in-between bands DJ Jay Schwartz will spin post-punk, garage, and whatever else appears to make sense in this eclectic night of past and present rock music.

Victory Through Celluloid:

Rare WWII Short Films

at Moore College of Art and Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, May 28
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

On Friday, May 28 -- the eve of the dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington -- the Secret Cinema will present its own tribute to the men and women who helped win "The Good War," with Victory Through Celluloid: Rare WWII Short Films. This special program of treasures from the Secret Cinema archives will include contemporary military training films, home front newsreels, and government-made propaganda films, providing unique perspectives on the defining event of the 20th century -- and the last war that united, rather than divided, all Americans.

One of the main uniting forces during World War II was motion pictures, and these films, produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the British Ministry of Information, and various Hollywood studios, shared the single common goal of victory for the free world. Art can have no higher calling, and the filmmakers who were mobilized to the cause, both celebrated and anonymous, rose to their challenge admirably.

There will be just one complete screening, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of Victory Through Celluloid: Rare WWII Short Films are:

The Hidden Army - Produced by the Army Pictorial Service "exclusively for the men and women of American industry," this film dramatically shows the importance of the newly emerged female work force in keeping the military running, proving wrong the (dramatized) German officer who proclaims American women to be "a race of playgirls, pampered and spoiled!"

Army-Air Force Combat Digest #53 - A weekly newsreel made just for soldiers, bringing news and developments in the war right to the barracks via portable 16mm projectors. This episode is from October 4, 1944.

Lift Up Your Heads - Produced by the British Ministry of Information but distributed to American theater screens, this interesting and moving short subject focuses on the "Alien Company" of the British Army -- freed German and Austrian concentration camp prisoners who enlisted to fight their former captors.

Welfare of the Workers - Directed for John Grierson's GPO Film Unit by Humphrey Jennings -- whom Lindsay Anderson called "the one real poet of the British cinema" -- this little-seen short illustrates improved conditions for wartime workers, using Jennings' characteristically humanistic style to reveal his subjects' quiet dignity.

Plus much more.

Sitcom Rock: Rock 'N' Roll Episodes of

Classic TV Comedies at Silk City Lounge

Silk City Lounge
Fifth & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 592-8838

On Tuesday, April 13, the Secret Cinema will reach way back into its vault to pull out one of its best programming concepts from the past, Sitcom Rock: Rock 'N' Roll Episodes of Classic TV Comedies.

Sitcom Rock showcases special episodes of classic situation comedies form the past -- all featuring rock band guest stars and/or rock 'n' roll story lines. As always with Secret Cinema presentations, the shows will be projected in 16mm on a giant screen, from rare, original film prints (not video).

The situation comedy, television's equivalent to the "two-reeler" comedy shorts that played movie bills for decades, reached a certain summit by the mid-'60s, the same time that rock music achieved its long-lasting position as the predominant music of its time. It was only natural that these bizarre worlds would collide.

Sitcom Rock was shown twice before in the now 12-year-plus history of Secret Cinema, first at the Khyber Pass a decade ago, and then five years ago at the Trocadero. The 2004 edition of Sitcom Rock will include some never-before run material.

The program, which is being shown this time at the Silk City Lounge, will begin at 9:30 pm, and run continuously through the night. Admission is $6.00.

Highlights of "Sitcom Rock" will include:

The Munsters: The Munsters agree to rent out their house to touring rock group The Standells. When they return, they find a way-out beatnik party in progress, but Herman soon gets in the spirit and tries out some impromptu beat poetry (The Standells, in a pre-"Dirty Water" phase, perform "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Do The Ringo").

The Mothers-In-Law: In a special episode of this somewhat-forgotten series about the trials of two pairs of middle-agers coping with their married offspring, the older set have a go at managing wild primitive rockers Sky Saxon and The Seeds! This amazing show was directed by Desi Arnaz, and also features Joe Besser of The Three Stooges (what a meeting of the minds!).

The Flintstones: In "Shinrock-a-Go-Go," then-popular rock showcase Shindig and its host Jimmy O'Neill are caricatured, as are San Francisco's genius folk-rock/beat group The Beau Brummels. Fred inadvertently invents a new dance craze, "The Flintstone Flop," as "The Beau Brummelstones" play their hit "Laugh Laugh."

Plus Room 222 (with Aretha Franklin singing in a hippie church with an anonymous Afro'ed funk rock band), The Andy Griffith Show (Opie's garage band play their first gig at a teen party), and My Three Sons (Chip's tock band gets help from visiting Brit Jeremy Clyde of Chad & Jeremy)...and the proverbial much, much more,

at Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, April 23
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

On Friday, April 23, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present Andy Warhol's epic masterpiece The Chelsea Girls. This is thought to be the film's second Philadelphia screening in about 35 years (the last was when the Secret Cinema showed it in 1998).

First released in late 1966 and shown continually across the country for the next two years, The Chelsea Girls was a commercial breakthrough for Warhol, exposing the colorful underground world of his Factory regulars to mainstream movie audiences for the first time. Yet The Chelsea Girls is a daring and uncompromising film, consisting of 12 separate reels, each featuring a different cast of "superstars" in improvisational (and sometimes documentary), sordid slices of life. The reels, both black and white and color, are shown two at a time, side by side, providing a constant shifting and phasing of context and perception. The total running time is three and a half hours.

This special showing will include a brief introduction by Philadelphia director Andrew Repasky McElhinney, who once wrote a college thesis on the film.

There will be just one complete screening, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

More facts about The Chelsea Girls:

· Featured cast members include Eric Emerson, Nico, Mary Woronov, Ondine, Gerard Malanga, Ingrid Superstar, Marie Menken, International Velvet, Brigid Polk and Mario Montez.

· Many scenes include special (and otherwise unreleased) music composed and performed by The Velvet Underground.

· The 12 individual reels of The Chelsea Girls were later released as separate films, with titles such as Room 732-The Pope Ondine Story and Room 116 - Hanoi Hanna.

· Scenes were shot not only at the famous Chelsea Hotel of the title, but at the Velvets' West 3rd Street apartment, the Factory, and other Manhattan locations. The concept of all of the stories taking place in the same hotel was added as a unifying device, but after the Chelsea Hotel threatened a lawsuit, subsequent screenings omitted references to room numbers.

"A fascinating and significant movie event...The Iliad of the underground." - Jack Kroll, Newsweek

"Warhol's people are more real than real...certainly worth a visit if you're interested in life on this planet." - The Village Voice

"A travelogue of hell...a grotesque menagerie of lost souls whimpering in a psychedelic moonscape." - The New York Times

"If anybody wants to know what those summer days of 66 were like in New York with us, all I can say is go see Chelsea Girls. I've never seen it without feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was right back there all over again." - Andy Warhol, in his 1980 book Popism: The Warhol 60s.

The Secret Cinema produces another pop night

at Tritone with the A-Sides, the Swims

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 545-0475

Saturday, March 20
9:00 pm - 2:00 am
Admission: $5.00

The Secret Cinema will produce another music night on Saturday, March 20. That's when the latest installment of Popism! takes place at Tritone, starring two fiery young pop bands, The A-Sides and The Swims, plus a fine selection of rare power pop vinyl and '60s sides from D.J. (and Secret Cinema boss) Jay Schwartz.

The A-Sides' barnstorming live shows over the last year have made them many local tastemakers' pick-to-click in the pop scene, and they're sure to soon make a splash outside Philly as well. Their short/fast/intense songs and tight rave-up harmonies (reminiscent of both Merseybeat and Mission of Burma) shows them holding their own with any "new garage" hype band you care to name. Check their "Going Gone/Seeing Suzy" 45 on the Prison Jazz label, or check their deluxe website (complete with music downloads) at www.a-sides.net.

The Swims will be hurdling down the highway from Scranton, Pa., where Capitol Records once pressed many a fine Beatles platter. This heritage is done proud, as the guys and gal of this upbeat band craft a melodic pop brew that belies their youthful youth. Their colorful website cites the Hollies, the Zombies, the Monkees and the Velvet Underground as just a few influences but don't take my word for it, go to www.theswims.com and check the mp3's. Soon they will be joining the A-Sides on the Prison Jazz label roster, but you can hear them together nearly now, at Tritone.

D.J. Jay Schwartz struggles to find a clever D.J. name that the kids can relate to but still keeps carrying boxes of a long-building record collection to clubs all over Philly, for more than 20 years(!). OK, there's been some big gaps of D.J. inactivity over that time span, but in the last few years he's spun theme nights featuring mod/garage ("Friday on my Mind"), sunshine pop/bubblegum ("It's a Sunshine Day!", 1960s music from Spain ("Megaton Ye Ye"), exotica/lounge (at Exotica Music Films screenings), that trendy post-punk ("Rebellious Jukebox"), dirty blues and jazz (behind the Stag Movie Night screenings), and, of course, power pop ("Popism!", which this night is). Expect to hear many vinyl treasures that were purchased (or just as often, scored for free!) during the original power pop era of the '70s and early '80s. Jay is also the programmer/ projectionist/presenter of the Secret Cinema film series, and is, also, me (the picture is not).

Vintage Hollywood, Live and Uncensored

at Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, March 26
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Three of the most popular Secret Cinema shows of the last few years were Uncensored Animation, programs of classic yet politically obsolete cartoons, which featured unrestrained and often insensitive ethnic portrayals. Audiences flocked to see these sometimes funny, sometimes shocking works from Hollywood's golden age, all of which are currently not shown on television and cable outlets due to the controversy surrounding them.

On Friday, March 26, we present the logical follow-up program. Vintage Hollywood, Live and Uncensored, is a collection of live-action shorts and clips spanning the silent and sound eras, all sharing extremely "incorrect" depictions of race and ethnicity.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights from Vintage Hollywood, Live and Uncensored are:

Fun on the Farm (1905) - This, one of the earliest surviving films produced in Philadelphia by Siegmund Lubin, has a somewhat improvised plot, which climaxes in the tar-and-feathering of a black man who was caught stealing pumpkins.

Minstrel Days (1941) - When this Warner Brothers theatrical short was released, the days of the blackface minstrel show were already passed, providing Bud Jamison (a character actor familiar to all Three Stooges fans) a chance to host this nostalgic look back at a now-notorious period of American entertainment. The short includes clips of legendary performers as Al Jolson and Bert Williams, plus an authentic recreation of a minstrel show.

Flaming Fathers (1927) - Max Davidson, though now forgotten, starred in a successful series of Hal Roach silent comedies as "Papa Gimplewart," a highly-exaggerated Jewish character who is the head of an ever-troubled family. This, one of the best entries in the series, was co-directed by Stan Laurel and Leo McCarey.

Sixties-themed music night

IT'S A SUNSHINE DAY! at Tritone

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 545-0475

Monday, February 16
9:00 pm
Admission: FREE

If, come Monday, February 16, you've still got that Valentine's Day love in your tummy yet are hungry for more, then come to the sunshine as The Secret Cinema presents the third round of It's A Sunshine Day! No bands this time, just a relaxing yet upbeat evening of sprightly tunes as D.J. Jay Schwartz once again presents a celebration of two happy subgenres of 60s rock: sunshine pop and bubblegum.

The night starts at 9:00 pm and admission is free.

Sunshine pop is melodic, harmony-drenched music, a la The Association, The Beach Boys, The Millennium, Sagittarius, The Yellow Balloon, The Free Design, The Fifth Dimension and many others. These groups (as well as such key sunshine pop auteur/producers as Brian Wilson, Curt Boettcher and Gary Zekely) have received a lot of attention lately, reissue labels like Rev-Ola and Sundazed have been uncovering many previously ignored obscurities, and the sunshine sound has been explored by such critically-loved modern acts as Belle & Sebastian and the Polyphonic Spree.

Bubblegum, of course, was the primitive, throbbing, elementary-school-beat brand of rock created by producers such as Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, Jeff Barry and others, resulting in hit records for such artists and studio-created concoctions as Tommy James, The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Archies and many more.

Jay Schwartz, creator and programmer of The Secret Cinema, will serve as d.j. for the night, bringing the best of these two sunny styles of music -- including many vinyl rarities, plus recently reissued sounds from The Gentle Soul, October Country, The Poor, Mark Eric, B.T. Puppy Records, and a thousand Curt Boettcher offshoot projects.

And if you're thinking, "Sure, that sounds great, but I'm too lazy to go out on a Monday night just to hear a d.j. play fantastic music," then why not make the rounds and visit two cool '60s d.j. events? On this very evening, our friend Damon Levine will be spinning his favorite mod and soul sounds, upstairs at the Lickety Split Bar (401 South Street). Make it a whole swinging night in our fine, fun-filled city.

Soundies: Rock Videos of the 1940s

at Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, February 20
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

Before MTV, before rock promo clips, indeed before rock and before video, there were rock videos. Well, not exactly, but beginning in 1941 people could see short visualizations of top performers singing hit pop songs, on small screens across the land.

What they were seeing were Soundies -- the 16mm film software that fed an exhibition network of thousands of film jukeboxes, conveniently placed in bars, restaurants and bus terminals. Patrons of these gathering spots would insert a dime into a large cabinet resembling an overgrown record jukebox, but with a glass rear-projection screen. Shortly after, a 16mm projection mechanism inside would rumble to life, and the lucky clientele would see what was probably their first moving image of performers they had previously only heard on the radio.

Some of these film clips were straightforward recordings of a visual and audio music performance, showing a band in a nightclub like setting. Others were much more complex and imaginative, using multiple scenes, fantasy story lines, comic relief and sophisticated optical effects -- in other words, exactly like what is seen today on MTV, except shot in black and white and featuring swing and pop music of the World War II era.

On Friday, February 20, the Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present Soundies: Rock Videos of the 1940s. While in the past we have presented programs focusing on Scopitones, the Soundies' 1960s film jukebox descendants, this will be our first full program devoted to the original coin-operated music clips.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

All Secret Cinema presentations are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen (not video, even though we used the word "video" in this program's title).

The performers and musical styles featured in our Soundies presentation will include a rich variety, including well-known jazz and swing artists, lesser known dance bands, and forgotten novelty acts. Clips will be shown starring Gene Krupa, The Mills Brothers, Fats Waller, Count Basie, singing actors Yvonne De Carlo, Alan Ladd, and Buddy Rogers, plus The Delta Rhythm Boys, Vincent Lopez & His Orchestra, Tony Pastor & His Band, Borrah Minnevitch & His Harmonica Rascals, Frances Faye, Lani McIntyre & His Aloha Islanders, Tom Emerson's Hillbillies and many more.

Preceding the films, Secret Cinema curator Jay Schwartz will give a brief illustrated talk about the history of Soundies.

Curator's Choice: Unseen Corners of the Secret Cinema

Archive at Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, January 30
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

The Secret Cinema's private archive contains literally thousands of reels of 16mm (and 35mm, and 8mm) features, theatrical shorts, cartoons, newsreels, television shows, educational films, travel films, industrial films, and home movies. Together, they add up to well over one million feet of often rare celluloid, with several prints thought to be the only extant copies in the world.

Since 1992, the Secret Cinema has sought to create programming that exposes every type of these films, by showing these fascinating, historical, and often hilarious short films before features or in themed groupings. Yet, despite exposing hundreds of rare works this way, there are still many choice reels that we've never got around to screening publicly, often unclassifiable films that had inconvenient running times or could fit into no common theme.

On Friday, January 30, some of the best of these amazing films will finally see the light of a projector bulb in Curator's Choice: Unseen Corners of the Secret Cinema Archive. This previously ungroupable group of short films will include films that were made to entertain, to teach, to encourage commerce and to alter opinion. Dating from the 1920s through the 1970s, many show wondrous places, styles and things that have long-since vanished. Some of them now seem campy, others still have valid lessons to teach, but all are fascinating, and extremely unlikely to be seen anywhere else.

There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The playlist of celluloid treasures is still being compiled, but will likely include these, and many more: Information Please (filmization of popular radio quiz program with guest smarty-pants panelist Oscar Levant), Mother Melodies (maudlin Whatever Happened to Baby Jane-esque songs honoring American motherhood), an amateur newsreel production about an exciting bridge fire in Beaver, Pennsylvania, Best Becomes Better (made by International Harvester, the most entertaining of at least three sales films in the SC collection made to convince farmers to upgrade their tractors), at least one film about the 1964 New York World's Fair, at least one 1950s film made to instill respect for the American flag, and a perhaps surprisingly interesting silent film all about...limestone production.

Exotica Music Films 1

at Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Saturday, December 13
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

On Saturday, December 13, for our final program of the year at Moore, the Secret Cinema will reprise Exotica Music Films 1. This collection of ultra-rare footage from a variety of sources -- including very early TV shows and film jukeboxes from both the 1940s and 1960s -- offers a chance to hear, and see, a wondrous assortment of international music from a time before David Byrne rendered "World Music" a politically-correct bore.

This program, the original edition of what would eventually be three completely different Exotica Music Film segments, was first (and last) seen locally in June, 1996, just as interest in exotica and lounge music was really beginning to manifest itself (the catalyst for this trend, the publication of Re/Search's Incredibly Strange Music books, occurred 10 years ago, in 1993). The last edition of our EMF series was shown in May, 2001, and since it began, Secret Cinema has also presented this series in New York, San Francisco, and Baltimore.

We cite all these dates for two reasons: To reflect on some especially memorable high points of the nearly 12 years of Secret Cinema programming, and because whenever we show something like this, we inevitably get emails a few days later saying that someone was unable to attend, and could we please reschedule this interesting event soon. You are forewarned; most of this program has not been shown in over 7 years. Do not expect us to do anything even similar for at least another two and a half years!

There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of Exotica Music Films 1 are:

Korla Pandit - The handsome Hindu master of the Hammond organ captivated women with his beautiful music and hypnotic eyes, even though he never spoke during his 15--minute TV show, alleged to be the first all-music program on television. We will screen a complete episode of this show, plus other rare clips of Pandit and his haunting, mystical sounds. Korla was seen in the film Ed Wood.

Yma Sumac - Exotica personified, the beautiful Peruvian legend burst onto the international scene in 1950, displaying all four of her octaves on the LP Voice of the Xtabay, and creating new musical languages with her abstract, wordless vocals. We'll show a kinescope of Sumac performing on The Frank Sinatra Show, from his CBS television show of the early '50s.

The Three Suns - Another cause célèbre of the Incredibly Strange books, this guitar/organ/accordion instrumental trio from Philadelphia sold lots of albums for RCA in the'50s. Guitarist Al Nevins teamed with Don Kirshner in 1959 to form Aldon Music, which became the most successful music publisher of the Brill Building era. We will present rare early footage of the group from 1944.

French pop music - A collection of colorful rock video-like film clips made in the early '60s for the French film jukebox known as Scopitone. Performers include "Ye Ye" singers Françoise Hardy, Johnny Hallyday, and Sylvie Vartan, plus torch singers, jazz and other French oddities.

Plus...Hawaiian sing-alongs, Latin music from the 1940s, and much more!

Creepy Christmas Films

at the Prince Music Theater

Prince Music Theater
1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 569-9700

On Friday, December 19, the Secret Cinema will return to the Prince Music Theater's intimate Cinema Lounge, to present Creepy Christmas Films -- a special program of vintage Yuletide shorts featuring frightening puppets, demonic animals, and maudlin sentiments.

As an added bonus, interspersed randomly between the films will be glimpses of strangers' Christmas home movies, showcasing a nostalgic array of old toys and synthetic trees.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm.

Admission is $8.50 general, $7.00 Students & Seniors, $6.00 Prince Members, and $5.00 Children

A few highlights of the program include:

Santa In Animal Land - In this bizarre one-reeler, animal puppets (with some of the most painfully cloying voices ever recorded) bemoan the fact that there is no official Christmas celebration in the animal kingdom, and set out to protest to Santa Claus about their situation.

Davey & Goliath: Christmas Lost & Found - A special edition of the early-'60s, long-rerun clay animation series from Gumby creator Art Clokey (and funded by the Lutheran Council of Churches). Sourpuss Davey searches his town in desperation for the true Christmas spirit, finding little consolation even in the antics of his lovable dog Goliath.

A Visitor For Christmas - "But we can't have Aunt Hattie here -- she'll ruin our Christmas!" Mawkish live-action drama produced by religious studio Family Films, in which every member of a typical American family complains about the impending visit of their hated Aunt Hattie. With Lassie star Tommy Rettig.

Howdy Doody's Christmas - Buffalo Bob, Clarabelle, "Ugly Sam," and the grandfather of creepy marionettes, Howdy Doody, all join forces in this excruciating short film that was made especially for home and school projectors in 1951, to capitalize on the popularity of television's The Howdy Doody Show.

The Secret Cinema Cavalcade of Commercials

at Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, November 21
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

The Secret Cinema will present a new and improved version of one of its classic presentations on Friday, November 21, with The Secret Cinema Cavalcade of Commercials.

Cavalcade is a specially assembled evening of rare TV commercials from the '50s, '60s and '70s, both classic and obscure. The vintage views of toothpaste, pain reliever, cereal, cigarettes, automobiles, soft drinks, appliances, hair spray, cleansers and much more should leave the audience with a craving to consume -- or at least a strong urge to run to the bathroom.

Our last all-commercial program was presented over five years ago. This enhanced Cavalcade will include the best from past presentations, plus several never-shown reels.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights from the feature-length program are: A pre-stardom Cybill Shepherd flashing a smile for Ultra Brite, circa 1969; '70s TV icons Mr. Whipple (Charmin toilet paper) and Cora (Maxwell House coffee, played by screen great Margaret Hamilton); examples of the lost television contraband known as cigarette commercials, and a hilarious, early infomercial (1952!) for a spot removing wonder product which proves that today's late-night paid-programming is no less subtle than its ancestors.

Interspersed with the above will be forgotten public service announcements and a few TV spots for feature films. The entire program will be projected in 16mm film (not video) on a screen frighteningly larger than these ads were ever meant to be seen.

Dinner and movies offered at
The Secret Cinema Mischief Night Double Feature
at historic Franklin Inn Club

The Franklin Inn Club
205 S. Camac Street
(between 12th & 13th Streets, below Walnut), Philadelphia
(215) 732-0334

Thursday, October 30
Dinner seatings from 6:00 to 7:00 pm
Film program starts at 8:00 pm

On Thursday, October 30, the Secret Cinema will continue its long tradition of unusual Halloween offerings with something brand new for 2003 -- a chance to see two rare 1940s horror films in the library of Philadelphia's century-old Franklin Inn Club, after enjoying a leisurely meal of fine cuisine in their downstairs dining room, all for one bargain price.

The Secret Cinema Mischief Night Double Feature includes two short, fast-paced and fun feature obscurities, both from 1942: First is horror/mystery mix The Strange Case of Dr. Rx, in which the title physician terrorizes a city by killing criminals freed by the courts. The cast includes veteran mad scientist player Lionel Atwill (whose career was ruined when a trial revealed he was hosting orgies in his Hollywood home), and comic relief veterans Shemp Howard and Mantan Moreland. Then we'll show the legendary, dark cult film Bowery At Midnight, starring Bela Lugosi as a distinguished professor who secretly runs a Lower East Side soup kitchen as a way to recruit vagrants for a series of creepy burglary/murders (for good measure, there is also a cellar full of zombies). Also on hand will be various spooky shorts, including the return of the Secret Cinema favorite Third Dimensional Murder, presented in 3-D (glasses provided).

Founded in 1902, the Franklin Inn Club began as a unique gathering place for those interested in the literary activities of Philadelphia and its immediate environs. However, through the years, the Club has broadened its membership to include those active in the arts, sciences, learned professions, and other areas providing intellectual stimulation. The Inn moved to its present Camac Street location in the heart of Center City in 1907, when several small row houses dating from the earliest years of the nineteenth century were purchased and renovated for the Club's uses. The building, filled with old furnishings and artwork, is both charming and perhaps a little bit spooky, fittingly so for our October offerings.

The menu for the special prix fixe meal will include spring mix salad, choice of entrée (grilled boneless breast of chicken in tarragon beurre blanc sauce with jasmine rice, or vegetarian lasagna), side dish of young green beans, and desert of cheesecake with coffee, decaf or tea.

The dinner will be served between 6:00 and 7:45 pm, with last seating at 7:00 pm.

There will be one complete film program, beginning at 8:00 pm.

The inclusive price for meal, gratuity and movies are $20 per person. Seating is limited and reservations are strongly encouraged. Reservations can be made either by email (to jschwart@voicenet.com) or by leaving a message on the reservation hotline (215-568-4515, ext. 4099).

There will also be limited admissions available for the films only, at $7.00 per person.

Two early features from the punk rock underground

with director Amos Poe

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, September 19

Unmade Beds - 8:00 pm

The Foreigner - 10:00 pm

Admission is $6.00 (for either one or both).

The Secret Cinema fall season at Moore College of Art & Design kicks off on Friday, September 19, with a special night devoted to pioneer punk rock/underground filmmaker Amos Poe, featuring his first two narrative features (Unmade Beds and The Foreigner) plus introductions and Q&A with the director himself.

When the first rumblings of the punk rock/new wave music revolution were being heard at a small New York City club called CBGB, Amos Poe was on the scene, chronicling it in the prescient feature-length documentary/concert film The Blank Generation*. This was in 1976, when Patti Smith was the only one of the movement's rising stars that had even made a record. The other stars of this first wave -- Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, Richard Hell -- were all making deals and plans, but it was still a close-knit world, pretty much fitting into two clubs (CBGB and Max's Kansas City) and two new magazines (Punk and New York Rocker).

Thus, it was only natural that when New York Rocker contributor Poe made his first narrative films -- low-budget, spontaneous, romantic, black and white homages to all his filmic influences -- he would recruit his cast and crew from this downtown scene of musicians, artists and actors. First was Unmade Beds, an unabashed tribute to a previous new wave (that of French filmmakers Godard and Truffaut), with a cast that included Debbie Harry, Robert Gordon, artist/Television fan club president Duncan Hannah, and underground actors Eric Mitchell and Patti Astor. Mitchell was the lead in Poe's next feature, the Kafka-esque The Foreigner, which included Harry again, The Cramps as a gang of thugs, The Erasers as themselves onstage at CBGB, and other sundry scenesters. Patti Smith Group guitarist Ivan Kral provided the original score for both films.

These works were the start of an early-80s film counter-culture that soon included Jim Jarmusch, Beth and Scott B, Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, Tom DiCillo and others. Poe moved on to bigger budgets (Alphabet City), rock videos, Hollywood writing jobs, and ultimately, a return inward to his underground roots.

This one-time event, thought to be the first screenings in Philadelphia of either film, will feature director Amos Poe in person, to introduce each film and answer questions.

Unmade Beds (1976, dir: Amos Poe)
"The story of Rico, a guy who lives in New York in 1976 but whose private world is in Paris during the time of the 'New Wave'...Unmade Beds is a 'French' film made in New York" (from the film's prologue). Making clever use of Washington Square Park's own "Arc de Triomphe" and seemingly every French restaurant in New York, Poe made this homage to Godard's Breathless with a $5000 budget. It's a charming series of vignettes filled with Ray-Bans, absurdist poetry, Minolta SLRs, film name checks galore, and the most striking faces of the late-'70s New York underground, in an innocent flurry of amateur acting. The cast includes artist Duncan Hannah, Eric Mitchell, Patti Astor, Debbie Harry (giving a glimpse of her torch song future), rockabilly singer Robert Gordon, and many more.

The Foreigner (1977, dir: Amos Poe)
Poe's second narrative feature progresses from Unmade Beds by simultaneously utilizing more plot and less plot. It details the unpleasant visit of a foreign agent (Eric Mitchell), who arrives late one night in JFK Airport on an unnamed mission. He travels through a largely unpopulated Manhattan, chased by thugs and continually failing to find an ally. His moods range from dread to boredom, as he lays awake in shabby rooms and watches The Damned on television. The Foreigner is an effective blend of Kafka, Alphaville, and the negativity that would fully blossom in the "No Wave" music scene. Music scene cameos include The Cramps (original Bryan Gregory/Miriam Linna lineup), CBGB regulars The Erasers, Deborah Harry (this time in full-on Marlene Dietrich mode), Anya Phillips, and more. The Eno-esque score was created by Patti Smith guitarist Ivan Kral.

*NOTE: There will be a video-projected screening of The Blank Generation (as there is no longer a complete surviving film print) on Wednesday, September 17 at 9:00 pm, on the open-air patio of the Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 S. 36th Street in Philadelphia. The screening, introduced by Amos Poe, is a part of the activities surrounding the ICA's exhibit Strange Messenger: The Work of Patti Smith. Admission is included with $3.00 admission to the museum (open that night until 9:00 pm). For further information call 215-898-7108.

We Who Are About To Die

at historic Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary
22nd & Fairmount Sts., Philadelphia
(215) 236-3300

The Secret Cinema will return to its most historic and atmospheric venue ever on Friday, September 12, with a screening at Eastern State Penitentiary of We Who Are About To Die, a 1937 drama based on the true story of wrongfully convicted death row inmate John Lamson.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm, which includes the usual unusual short subjects. Doors open at 7:30 pm, allowing the audience to take a quick look at the many new and existing museum exhibits at ESP. Admission is $7.00.

Eastern State Penitentiary, built in the 1820s, is a world famous historic landmark, which influenced the design of hundreds of other prisons. Closed as a working prison since 1971, the decaying structure, which once housed Al Capone and Willie Sutton, has become a popular tourist attraction and museum over the last decade. This will be the fifth Secret Cinema presentation at ESP. The film will be projected right inside the main prison building in a hallway just outside Capone's cell, surrounded by iron bars and ghosts of convicts past.

We Who Are About To Die (1937, Dir: Christy Cabanne)
This little seen drama stars John Beal as an innocent man who is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He learns the grim reality of life on death row, where each condemned man waits his turn on the gallows. Nobody will believe his story, except for his faithful girlfriend (Ann Dvorak) and one hard-working police detective (rugged, Ocean City, NJ-born screen hero Preston Foster). The film was based on the true account of author John Lamson, who spent 13 months awaiting execution in San Quentin before the Supreme Court reversed his conviction.

Christy Cabanne, one of the most prolific directors in screen history, began his long career as an assistant to D.W. Griffith. In 1947, near the end of his career, he directed Bela Lugosi's sole color film, Scared To Death, a Secret Cinema favorite.

Expanded version featuring

The Strange Death of Adolph Hitler

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, May 23
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

On Friday, May 23, The Secret Cinema will present a screening of rare, vintage theatrical films from the World War II years. Hollywood vs. Hitler. Cinematic Spoofs of the Third Reich is a unique program of short, featurette, and feature-length films, offering a representative sampling of the movie industry's response to the hateful would-be ruler of the world.

In the 1940s, the major studios were still controlled by many of the original Jewish immigrants who founded the motion picture business earlier in the century. While they publicly did their best to assimilate into the American culture and appeal to mainstream tastes, one suspects that they relished the chance to malign the man who was exterminating their people back in Europe. At least they did after the U.S. entered the war -- and their weapon was laughter.

This is a special expanded version of a program the Secret Cinema presented five years ago. That event was one of Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz's favorite under-attended programs of the early SC era. This time, it is nearly doubled in length, with the addition of the rare and bizarre feature film, The Strange Death of Adolph Hitler.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Below are descriptions of some of Hollywood vs. Hitler, much of which is difficult-to-impossible to see elsewhere nowadays...

That Nazty Nuisance (1941) - This very rare Hal Roach title was part of their series of "Streamliners" -- 45-minute featurettes. It stars Bobby Watson, who made something of a career portraying Hitler in various films both comic and dramatic. As one might gather from the title, this one is played for laughs, and there are also broad portrayals of Mussolini and "Suki Yaki."

I'll Never Heil Again (1941) - In this unusual Three Stooges short, Moe dons the brush mustache to portray Hailstone, dictator of Moronica, with Curly and Larry as his bungling henchmen. It was a sequel to their 1940 short You Nazty Spy (not part of our program) and seems clearly derived from The Great Dictator -- yet You Nazty Spy beat Chaplin's more famous film to screens by nine months. We will also be showing the 1943 Three Stooges short Back From The Front, with the boys as sailors battling Nazi spy Vernon Dent on the high seas.

Russian Rhapsody (1944) - There are several WWII-era cartoons with Nazi references, but this Bob Clampett-directed Warner Brothers cartoon actually stars an animated Hitler. The "New Odor" leader personally goes on a flying mission to bomb Moscow, only to be befuddled by gremlins.

The Strange Death of Adolph Hitler (1943, Dir: James Hogan) - This curious wartime feature about a minor Viennese official who is forced by the Nazis to be surgically altered to serve as Hitler's double and then plans to do away with the dictator. The screenplay was by Fritz Kortner, from a story by him and Joe May. Both had been giants in the pre-war German film industry -- Kortner as an actor in Pandora's Box and The Hands of Orlac, May as writer/director of lauded films as Asphalt and early scripts of Fritz Lang. Both men fled the Nazis and found work on Hollywood series programmers. This unusual speculative-fiction film was probably one of the few they felt a personal connection with. Ludwig Donath, who played the lead double role, was a prominent stage actor in Berlin until he also fled Hitler in 1933. He played Al Jolson's father in The Jolson Story before being blacklisted for alleged left-wing views. In 1963 he appeared in a Twilight Zone episode called "He Lives," about the emergence of fascism in America.

The Secret Cinema co-presents free screening of Blow-up

sixties supermodel Veruschka to appear

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, March 28
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE!

On Friday, March 28, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will collaborate with the Arcadia University Art Gallery and the Galleries at Moore to present a free screening of Michelangelo Antonioni's classic sixties cult film Blow-Up. Adding extra interest will be a personal appearance by sixties supermodel Veruschka, who will be present to introduce the film and do Q&A afterwards.

Veruschka (aka Vera Lehndorff), who appears in the film (as a model, naturally), has been active as an artist since the early 1970s. Her works Oxydationen and Buddha Bum/Burning City are currently showing at the galleries of Arcadia and Moore, respectively.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is free.

Also, there will be a closing reception for Buddha Bum/Burning City in the Moore Galleries at 7:00-8:00 pm, which is also free.

Blow-Up (Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966)
Blow-Up is perhaps the classic cult film of a whole decade. Italian director Antonioni set his first English language film in the epicenter of cool, Swinging London, and made a metaphoric study of imagery and perception disguised as a mystery, using the '60s iconography of photographers, models, parties and rock bands. David Hemmings stars as a supercool but retiring fashion photographer who thinks he sees something disturbing when he develops his film, while Vanessa Redgrave is his unwilling subject. This was the first "art film" that many Americans saw.

Of special interest to pop culture fans is an electrifying scene of The Yardbirds playing "Stroll On" in a London club (the lineup includes Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page), and Hemmings' studio romp with two frisky teenagers, both played by British actresses who made French pop records (Jane Birkin and Gillian Hills). In 1981 Blow-Up was remade (more or less) by Brian DePalma, as the shot-in-Philadelphia feature Blow Out.

lost Philadelphia films at Moore

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Saturday, March 22
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

On Saturday, March 22, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will conclude a year-long look back at the most memorable programs from ten years of Secret Cinema history, when it brings back From Philadelphia With Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. This collection of rare Philly film includes highlights from two previous F.P.W.L. editions and a few previously unshown rarities (and, is a perfect compliment to the March 21 Save The Sameric benefit screening of the 1926 locally made silent feature The Show-Off at International House, the two shows comprising a weekend of ultra-rare hometown cinema).

While most area residents are familiar with Philadelphia films such as Rocky, Trading Places, and The Sixth Sense, there is a whole world of locally-made films that has been forgotten -- the "ephemeral" short fillms that were primarily made by small independent companies for the then-booming non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesman have long discarded their 16mm film projectors, we at Secret Cinema have not, and proudly present a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia With Love are:

Philadelphia With Love (1972) - Our "title film" is a colorful, tourism boosting paean to "Philadelphia, a fabulous city that puts it all together!" The most recently-made part of our program, this perky reel still manages to show a lot of things that are gone, including Playhouse In The Park, the Perelman Toy Museum, Pub Tiki and George X. Schwartz -- not to mention a lot of long-vanished hairstyles. With special guest Sergio Franchi, singing the theme song on the Ben Franklin Parkway!

Brooklyn Goes To Philadelphia (1954) - This obscure theatrical short from Universal was part of a series of humorous travelogues narrated by wisecracking, thickly-accented Brooklynite Phil Foster. "Philadelphia is the third largest city in America ... big deal!" Aside from dwindling population, the jokes about demolition of historic property and confusing parking regulations show that some things don't change.

The Story of Bubblegum (1952) - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Along the way we get a complete tour of the recently shuttered Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney, from its giant vats of pink rubber to its plant cafeteria and gardens and their amazing R&D department. Fleer is believed to have invented bubblegum in 1928, and its Dubble Bubble brand was a household name for most of this century. The best film ever made, anywhere?

The Troc (1966) - A confusing yet amusing Penn student film, with dancers creative interpretive art along colorful views of the banks of the Schuykill River, and a climactic visit to the titular burlesque house.

And much much more...

Anniversary edition of

The Sugar-Charged Saturday Morning Supershow:

A Celebration of Lost Kids' Shows from the Dawn of the Seventies

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

Friday, October 18
8:00 pm
Admission: $6.00

All this year, the Secret Cinema has been revisiting its past, to celebrate 10 years of hopefully unique repertory film programming. Such a celebration could not be complete without a nod to our first special theme night, and our first real box office smash. In 1993, as the '70s revival was just getting started (and before anyone could even imagine the horrors of an '80s revival), we first presented The Sugar-Charged Saturday Morning Supershow: A Celebration of Lost Kids' Shows from the Dawn of the Seventies. This festival of animated and live-action TV shows from the early '70s/late '60s struck a resonant chord like nothing else that we'd attempted. People came dressed in pajamas, people ate pre-sweetened cereal and Pop Tarts, and we quickly scrambled to do a repeat show (with all-different films).

Those initial Sugar-Charged shows were the most perfectly timed things we ever did, but there was always new interest when, from time to time, we dusted off the reels and showed them again. It might provide some context, allow a rare tracking of a retro trend, and even allow us to be nostalgic about nostalgia, if we quote from some of our previous press releases:

FOR THE ORIGINAL, MARCH 1993 SUGAR-CHARGED SHOW:
"While the Secret Cinema has been planning The Sugar-Charged Saturday Morning Supershow for over a year, interest in this baroque, bubblegum era is suddenly exploding: Movie versions of The Brady Bunch and Speed Racer are in the works, the fashion trends of both the rave crowd and the "love rock" indie scene signal a return to childhood innocence, and just this month we've seen two separate magazine articles on the world of Sid & Marty Krofft (who, by the way, created the costumes for The Banana Splits). The Secret Cinema and the Khyber Pass are excited to present a first-hand, big screen look at this mysterious, colorful moment in pop culture."

FOR A DECEMBER 1995 SUGAR-CHARGED REVIVAL AT THE TROCADERO:
"This latest, greatest round-up of animated and live-action insanity follows hot on the heels of MCA's Saturday Morning CD, a tribute album containing 19 kid show theme songs by a bevy of alt-rock superstars such as Liz Phair, Matthew Sweet and the Ramones. In fact, the event is being co-sponsored by MCA, who are also spreading the pre-sweetened mania with a 'Toonapalooza' cable special (hosted by Drew Barrymore!) and a special Marvel comic book...
"Kid show nostalgia has come a long way since the Secret Cinema (first) presented T.S.C.S.M.S....we knew we were on to something, but didn't guess that many of these previously hard-to-see programs would become staples of The Cartoon Network and Nick-at-Nite, that every episode of Schoolhouse Rock and its spin-offs would see release on home video, that Hollywood would want to create feature films based on not just The Brady Bunch but even Fat Albert, and that Josie & the Pussycats t-shirts would be hawked on the Wildwood boardwalk. And we sure didn't foresee the Butthole Surfers recording their own version of the Underdog theme."

Anyway, back to the present...once again we will be showing rare, archival 16mm film prints (not videos) of lost kids shows. On Friday, October 18, the 2002 edition of Sugar-Charged will take place at Moore College of Art & Design, on a screen about 11 times larger than these shows were meant to be seen! The new programming lineup will include many reels not shown by us since 1993, some audience-favorite perennials, and some rare items that we've never shown (including some items we guarantee that nobody has even heard of!). Very little footage will be repeated from our July 2001 Sugar-Charged show at The Print Center.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

To allow the greatest variety, this time some shows will be excerpted, while others will be shown in their entirety. Among the titles to be screened are: The Banana Splits, Groovie Goolies, H.R. Pufnstuf, The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine, Multiplication Rock, Here Come the Double Deckers, Wacky Races, and other surprises.

The Secret Cinema Halloween Scream-O-Thon

at the Print Center, with Emergo and free beer

The Print Center
1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia
(215) 735-6090

Halloween scares start a week early this year, on Friday, October 25, when The Secret Cinema Halloween Scream-O-Thon comes to The Print Center art gallery. The program is a mixed grab-bag of scary and fun films. There will be a unique screening of William Castle's 1958 horror feature House on Haunted Hill (presented in the obscure Emergo process), Halloween-themed surprise shorts, and, in this Secret Cinema anniversary year, a special re-showing of the two scariest reels of film in the Secret Cinema archives.

The screening will also feature high-quality, free beer, courtesy of the friendly folks at Victory Brewing Company.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Full details of The Secret Cinema Halloween Scream-O-Thon program appear below:

House on Haunted Hill (1958, Dir: William Castle)
A group of people must spend the night in a haunted house to gain a fortune. Sound familiar? Of course, but director/producer William Castle threw in some clever surprises for House on Haunted Hill. The house used is not a creaking Victorian mansion, but an Egyptian-influenced, low-profiled structure that could have been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The plot centers not on a will, but a perverse party thrown by Vincent Price and his wife (Carol Ohmart), in which the guests will win $10,000 for staying the night. The guests are given guns in miniature coffins, and the house includes a cellar dungeon complete with acid vat. Price is deliciously hammy as the suave but twisted host, while legendary character actor Elisha Cook, Jr. gives his most unrestrained take ever on his haunted soul persona. The film was originally presented in the Emergo process ("More startling than 3-D!"), which will be used again for this special screening.

William Castle holds a unique niche in Hollywood history as the king of ballyhoo. He worked on some 65 films as an actor, dialogue director, producer, and director, after landing a Broadway part at age 15 by claiming to be a nephew of Samuel Goldwyn. Castle's reputation rests with the horror films he made in the 1950s and '60s. Castle, who once remarked "I've modeled my career on P.T. Barnum," drew attention to his movies with a unique series of gimmicks and ad campaigns. Macabre (1958) was promoted with a special insurance policy from Lloyd's of London, which provided $1000 to any viewer who died of fright. Patrons of 13 Ghosts (1960) were given a special viewer that was needed to see the ghosts. Castle's most notorious special process was The Tingler's "Percepto" (1959) -- random theater seats were wired to provide jolting shocks at key dramatic moments. Castle was lovingly paid homage in the 1993 film Matinee, and his autobiography, Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants Off America has been reprinted.

Surprise Shorts
Assorted spooky cartoons, TV bits, and more, to Not be announced...it's a surprise!

and the two scariest reels of film?

Options To Live (1978)
Earl J. Deems, a former accountant, started the Mansfield, Ohio based Highway Safety Films, Inc. in 1959 to release Signal 30. This notorious Drivers' Ed short, shocking even today, gave viewers a front-row seat to gore-filled, still-smoking car wreck scenes, in an effort to instill respect for careful driving practices. His company became the most successful purveyor of this nightmarish film genre, and sold many copies of titles like Mechanized Death, Wheels of Tragedy, and Highways of Agony. In 1978 Deems completed Options To Live, his swan song and a "greatest hits" (in every way) compilation of the bloodiest scenes from his footage library. "This is what pain looks like!"

Non-Syphilitic Venereal Disease (195?)
This short film made for the medical community -- in still-stunning Kodachrome color -- details a variety of exotic venereal diseases, in close-up after horrifying close-up. This repulsive reel of film (like Options To Live) is guaranteed to have audiences screaming in terror.

The Secret Cinema presents sixties-themed music night

FRIDAY ON MY MIND with The Minks, cool records

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia (across from Bob and Barbara's)
(215) 545-0475

The Secret Cinema will produce another music event, featuring d.j.'s, a live band, and mod girls gone wild on Friday, August 16, when Friday On My Mind returns to Tritone.

The party starts at 10:00 pm and runs until 2:00. Admission is $5.00.

Headlining the live portion of the night are The Minks, Philly's own all-female garage trio. Liz Lixx (bass/vocals), Hope Diamond (guitar/vocals) and Honey Moon (drums) have been on the scene for one year now, sharing stages with the likes of Scott Morgan's Powertrane, Brother JT, Mondo Topless and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's. This Minks show will be different, as boy drummer Chris infiltrates their ranks, filling in for an injured Honey Moon. You can learn more about The Minks at their new web site.

Playing a mix of great mod, beat and garage sounds will be D.J.'s Jay Schwartz and Silvia. Jay is of course the long-time (ten years and counting) programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series. D.J. Silvia is from Gijón, Spain, but has been visiting Philly for the summer, where she turned heads at the Ye Ye Ye! French Pop party and Sugartown. Friday On My Mind will be Silvia's last d.j. appearance in Philly for the year (though she'll bring some rare Euro wax to New York's Rififi club later this month).

The whole event will also serve as the official after-party for the screening of the crazy, mod pop-art masterpiece Modesty Blaise earlier in the evening (8:00 pm) at the Prince Music Theater, and the start of their Comic Films series. Moviegoers who bring their ticket stubs to Tritone will receive a free drink!

Friday On My Mind will be the last Secret Cinema event of the summer.

Son of Trailer Trash at Prince Music Theater

Prince Music Theater
1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 569-9700

Friday, August 2

8:00 pm - Son of Trailer Trash
10:00 pm - Trailer Trash

Saturday, August 3

10:00 pm - Son of Trailer Trash

Admission is $8.50 general, $7 for students and seniors. People attending both screenings on August 2 will pay half price for the second show.

The Secret Cinema will follow up on its biggest presentation ever on August 2 and 3, when it presents Son of Trailer Trash on the big screen at the Prince Music Theater. Like the original Trailer Trash program (presented at the Prince last summer), this all-new program is a non-stop orgy of rare, original preview "trailers" advertising some of the Secret Cinema's favorite films of the 1960s and '70s -- exploitation, sexploitation, science-fiction, bikers, horror, rock musicals, beach movies, and unclassifiable movies. All will be shown from archival 35mm prints (with several in true, IB Technicolor) on the Prince's gigantic screen, along with vintage drive-in messages, theater commercials and date strips, from the 1950s and beyond.

A sampling of the many trailers to be shown includes Invasion Of The Bee Girls, Riot On Sunset Strip, The Third Sex, Bedazzled, The Big TNT Show, Psycho, Hallucination Generation, The Devil's Wedding Night, and many, many more. There will be some guaranteed surprises, not to mention several movies that nobody has ever heard of! The combined giant cast this time includes Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, Maurice Chevalier, The Byrds, Simone Signoret, George Jones, Frankie & Annette, Bob Denver, George Raft, Peter Cushing, Linda Blair, and Francoise Hardy. Son of Trailer Trash was directed by a huge team of greats and less-than-greats which includes John Frankenheimer, Russ Meyer, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Donen, and Chuck Barris (we feel all those cited here qualify as greats).

The weekend screenings will also include a one-time re-showing of the all-different, first Trailer Trash program, which includes trailers for Bikini Beach, Bury Me an Angel, Wild In the Streets, You Only Live Twice, Mondo Teeno, Paradise Hawaiian Style, Foxes, Murderers' Row, Chastity, The Trial of Billy Jack, Blow Up and much more.

The Secret Cinema and International House co-present

French Pop Mini-Fest of music and film

On two consecutive Fridays in July, the Secret Cinema and International House will collaborate on a mini-festival of French Pop, with two screenings of films depicting the "Ye Ye" music movement of the 1960s, plus a special after-party featuring rare French records spun at a new French bar in Center City.

In early-'60s France, a new style of pop music was developing alongside the New Wave cinema movement. "Ye Ye" music (or "Yeh Yeh," or "Ya Ya") was perky and youthful, and often emphasized singers' style and sassy attitude rather than smooth technique. Major stars included Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, France Gall, and Serge Gainsbourg. An international rediscovery of this music has been building for years -- a recent article in the British magazine Mojo was titled "50 Reasons Why We Love French Pop," and the soundtrack of the current film CQ (set in 1969 Paris) is spiced up considerably by the music of Jacques Dutronc.

Our French Pop film program consists of Masculine-Feminine, a rarely screened feature by Jean-Luc Godard with Ye Ye star Chantal Goya playing an aspiring pop singer (and with cameos by Francoise Hardy and Brigitte Bardot), plus a rare early Godard short. This will be followed the next week by Scopitone Party, which explores the phenomenon of France's unique film jukebox Scopitone, complete with numerous song clips and even a slide talk on the history of the film jukebox (this is a repeat of a much-requested Secret Cinema program from 1999). Immediately after Scopitone Party will be Ye Ye Ye!, a musical after-party at the newly opened French bar L'Hexagone, with visiting D.J. Silvia (direct from Gijón, Spain!) playing rare '60s French vinyl into the late night.

The full schedule of French Pop is:

at International House (3701 Chestnut Street - 215-895-6575):

Friday, July 12 - 8:00 pm
Masculine-Feminine/All the Boys are Called Patrick screening
Admission: $5.00

Friday, July 19 - 7:30 pm
Scopitone Party screening and slide talk
Admission: $5.00

at L'Hexagone (1718 Sansom Street - 215-569-4869):

Friday, July 19 - 10:00 pm - 2:00 am
Ye Ye Ye! after-party with D.J. Silvia
Admission: Free

Complete descriptions of everything follow:

Masculine-Feminine
(dir. Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1966, in French w/ English subtitles)
A film about "the children of Marx and Coca Cola" directed by the child of Brecht, Levi-Strauss and Hollywood, Masculine-Feminine is a touchstone in the career of Jean-Luc Godard and a window into the kinetic world of Paris in the 1960s. Inspired by two Guy de Maupassant stories, Masculine-Feminine seems the most casual of Jean-Luc Godard's 60s films: it consists of a series of short, discontinuous scenes -- labeled "precise facts" -- loosely centered on a romance between Paul (played by Jean-Pierre Leaud of Truffaut's Antoine Doinel cycle) and pop singer Madeleine (Chantal Goya), but with room for digressions on the Vietnam war and a quick recap of LeRoi Jones's play The Dutchman and Edward Albee's Zoo Story. While Madeleine pursues her career, Paul, a confused romantic in search of perfect love, tries to coexist with her and her two roommates. Leaud's character -- practically an extension of the Antoine Doinel character he played for Truffaut (he even adopts the name Doinel at one point in the film) -- wants to live for love, but the ideal becomes problematic in a detached and increasingly consumer-oriented society.

With Masculine-Feminine, Godard began a string of increasingly political pictures, leading eventually to his self-imposed exile from commercial cinema a year later. His interest in the synthesis of fiction and documentary is already in full evidence here, with static interview shots (including Leaud interviewing a young woman just voted France's Miss Nineteen for 1966) included as a means of showing an everyday chronicle of Parisian youth in the winter of 1965 (contrary to the director's intentions, the picture was banned in France for those under 18). Charming, innovative, provocative, and prophetic, Masculine-Feminine is one of Godard's mid-sixties masterpieces.

Masculine-Feminine is also special because it captures some rare glimpses of the thriving mid-'60s French pop music phenomenon called "Ye Ye." The film's beautiful and natural co-star, singer Chantal Goya, was chosen by Godard specifically for her lack of actinag experience -- it was fortuitous that her record label's A&R man was a magazine publisher responsible for France's respective monthly bibles of Ye Ye (Salut les Copains) and film (Cahiers du Cinema). Singer Goya plays a singer, and the scene of Goya recording a Ye Ye hit is a highlight. Appearing in cameos, for good measure, are French pop queens Francoise Hardy and Brigitte Bardot!

This program will also include Godard's 1957 short film All the Boys are Called Patrick, a simple and humorous love triangle written by Eric Rohmer, that reveals some of the hallmark traits of Godard's style which he would later exploit in his groundbreaking features (particularly the use of music and text).

Scopitone Party (1963-8, France and U.S. Dir: Anonymous)
Scopitone Party is a unique collection of music films from the early and mid 1960s. They were originally made for a French film jukebox called Scopitone, which entertained patrons in bars, cafes and bus stations in both Europe and America. The film clips, which feature performers both famous and obscure -- and are considered to be among the more important of the many predecessors to the modern rock video -- are today quite scarce, and usually difficult to see. Shown will be a large assortment of the precious prints (most of which were discovered by a film collector, in pristine, never-used condition, in the long-warehoused inventory of a retired Virginia jukebox dealer). Adding extra interest to the Scopitone Party program will be a special talk by Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz about the history of film jukeboxes (which date back to the 1940s), illustrated with color slides of rare photos and original advertising materials.

Scopitone Party will include performances by such well-known names as Dion, Nancy Sinatra, Paul Anka and Procul Harum, plus a Robert Altman-directed clip for a Tijuana Brass song. Also on view will be many French pop performers, including currently in retro-vogue names like Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, rockabilly-belting Johnny Hallyday, and doomed chanteuse Dalida. And then there are mystifying, bizarre clips by the British Elvis imitator Vince Taylor, a quartet of singing Jerry Lewis-types named Les Brutos, and even a few songs by performers whose names were lost to history (including one young miss who sings the song "Scopitone Party," as her bikini-clad friends dance up a frenzy next to a poolside Scopitone machine).

Ye Ye Ye! - the French Pop Party
After the Scopitone screening at I-House, swing over to L'Hexagone, Center City's newest night spot, for a night of non-stop pop and dancing frenzy, featuring music by Sylvie Vartan, Francoise Hardy, Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Polnareff, Jacques Dutronc, and assorted Ultra Chicks and Swingin' Mademoiselles. The music will be spun by D.J. Silvia, "la chica Ye Ye," visiting us direct from Gijón, Spain, and she's packed her bags full of rare original French vinyl! L'Hexagone is a brand new French bar that features stylish decor, an intimate dance floor, two stories of lounging space, and a menu of authentic light bistro fare. The party starts at 10 pm and lasts until 2 am. Admission is free to all.

Round two of sixties-themed music night

IT'S A SUNSHINE DAY!

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia (across from Bob and Barbara's)
(215) 545-0475

The Secret Cinema will reprise one if its favorite themed music events on Saturday, June 15, when It's A Sunshine Day! comes back to Tritone. The night, which will include a live band, a d.j. and multi-media projections, is a celebration of two subgenres of 60s rock: sunshine pop and bubblegum.

The night starts at 10:00 pm and admission is $5.00.

Sunshine pop is melodic, harmony-drenched music, both "soft" and other, a la The Association, The Beach Boys, The Millennium, Sagittarius, The Yellow Balloon, The Free Design and many others. These groups (as well as such key sunshine pop auteur/producers as Brian Wilson, Curt Boettcher and Gary Zekely) have received a lot of attention lately, particularly from Japanese "soft rock" connoisseurs.

Bubblegum, of course, was the primitive, throbbing, elementary-school-beat brand of rock created by producers such as Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, Jeff Barry and others, resulting in hit records for such artists and studio-created concoctions as Tommy James, The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Archies and many more.

Jay Schwartz, creator and programmer of The Secret Cinema, will serve as d.j. for the night, bringing the best of these two sunny styles of music -- including many vinyl rarities.

The live portion this round of It's A Sunshine Day! will be provided by The Last Wave. Philly's newest indie pop combo has been making a name for itself in local clubs with their take on soft pop tinged with Bossa Nova flavorings. The group, made up of former or current members of D.C. and Philadelphia bands The Saturday People, The Snow Fairies, The Ropers and Touch Me Zoo, will be releasing an E.P. soon.

To fully justify the Secret Cinema designation, the S.C. 16mm film projectors will be in the house to provide pop-art projections, both as silent "action paintings" to accompany recorded music, and to show some surprise film clips (with the sound turned on).

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films

Yet Again at Moore College of Art & Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, May 24, The Secret Cinema will close the spring season at Moore College of Art & Design in this, our anniversary-celebrating year, with The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films Yet Again. Since we began over 10 years ago, all Secret Cinema screenings of feature films have included bonus short subjects, and some of our best presentations have been comprised entirely of short films. While we have shown several rare old theatrical shorts (including classic cartoons and musicals), often the most popular shorts have been such oddities as campy educational reels, industrial films, TV commercials, and home movies. Most of these films -- literally hundreds of them -- have only been shown once, despite frequent requests to repeat them. Only twice before, we presented an all--encompassing "Best of" shorts program. Well, it's time to do it again!

Like Johnny Carson bringing out the "Ed Ames/Hatchet" footage over and over, there are some traditional audience favorites that we cannot escape re-showing. However, many others from the vast Secret Cinema archives of "unusual short films" will be presented for the, um, second time ever, making this another unique and unforgettable program.

There will be one big, complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films Yet Again will be a one-time only showing of the funniest, strangest, and rarest of all of the shorts shown in the ten and a half years. Nearly all of these films can't be seen anywhere else, including video. Just a few highlights are:

The Stranger At Our Door - This 1940 dramatic two-reeler, made by a religious group to promote ethnic tolerance, shouldn't be funny -- but the outrageous overacting by Bowery Boys rejects and their non-specific European-born target make it surreally so.

How Quiet Helps at School - The answer should be obvious, but the level of quiet expected by the uptight narrator of this classic '50s social guidance film probably had kids holding their breath in class.

Dial "O" For Emergency - Feeling nervous about public safety? Relax...your phone company has newly-enhanced techniques for tracing phone calls!

The Story of Bubblegum - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Made at the old Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney in 1952, showing its giant vats of pink rubber, plant cafeteria and garden, and their amazing R&D department. Quite possibly the greatest film ever made, short or long.

And for the first time in ten years, we will promise not to show a film -- a few may be disappointed, but most will be greatly relieved to know that we will not be re-showing the horrific '50s medical film Non-Syphilitic Venereal Disease in this program!

Sleazy '70s Porn Night

at Silk City Lounge

The Silk City Lounge
5th & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia
215-592-8838

On Tuesday, April 9, The Secret Cinema will continue celebrating its decade-long existence, with another "Greatest Hits" presentation: Sleazy '70s Porn Night, at the Silk City Lounge. The show offers a look back at the sordid, not so distant past when for a brief few years, hardcore adult features played at neighborhood family movie theaters as well as newly opened porno specialty houses. The first (and only) time this, er, package was presented was at the Khyber Pass (downstairs), way back in May of 1996.

The event begins at 9:30 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Sleazy '70s Porn Night was the logical follow-up to the ever-popular Secret Cinema program Stag Movie Night: Vintage Porno From The '20s, '30s And '40s, and if the celluloid isn't quite as brittle, the movies look nearly as distant and foreign as their black-and -white one-reel predecessors. Made before the innovation of shot-on-video "features," these films document a different vanished world, a starkly-lit one filled with psychedelic bedspreads, Ford LTD's, and sometimes-pimply bodies writhing to the beat of jazz and funk music that could have been taped right off of that week's Starsky And Hutch episode (Was it the burgeoning porno industry that kept wah-wah pedal manufacturers in business throughout the '70s?). Add hetero men with Village People mustaches and starlets in Ms. magazine panties, and you've got '70s porn.

Films shown will include Blow Below The Belt (which has nothing to do with boxing) and Teenage Stepmother, one of a plethora of "Teenage" titles from the early-70s which, like this one, have no cast members looking even close to teenage (although today's porno industry would be afraid to even use the name). This film features a very early appearance by now-veteran leading man Jamey (Jamie) Gillis. Both of these rare features look to be from around 1971, or just a short time from the debut of the very first hardcore. feature film to play in theaters, Bill Osco's Mona: The Virgin Nymph (1970).

Also shown will be a rare reel from a porno comedy film made with Muppet--like puppets (!) called Let My Puppets Come, directed by Deep Throat auteur Gerard Damiano.

Between films, D.J. Jay Schwartz will play appropriately sleazy music, with an emphasis on soundtrack music, dirty blues, and especially old Blowfly albums.

THE SECRET CINEMA AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL:

School Life and Moral Guidance in the '70s & '80s

(and free beer)

The Print Center
1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia
(215) 735-6090

Break out the Crayolas and circle Friday, April 26 in your inner child's appointment book-that's when the Secret Cinema goes warm and fuzzy and presents THE SECRET CINEMA AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL: School Life and Moral Guidance in the '70s & '80s at The Print Center.

The program consists of several rare short films made for school projectors and television. While none of them are believed to be from The ABC Afterschool Special (which featured longer programs), some perhaps share that series' comforting and now nostalgic perspective. Sprinkled in will also be some earlier looks at school life.

T.S.C.A.S. is yet another in the continuing series of "Greatest Hits" presentations that we are dusting off this year, to mark ten years of The Secret Cinema. It was first presented in our first season at Moore College of Art & Design, in November of 1997.

The screening will also feature high-quality, free beer, courtesy of the friendly folks at Victory Brewing Company.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Some highlights of the program are:

The Party (1971-2?) - Picture this...three high school couples make a weekend trip to the seaside home of someone's absent hipster uncle, with the primary objective of getting laid. A young Meredith Baxter-Birney (actually just Baxter then) counsels her nervous, virgin friend ("Hey, don't get uptight... all you have to do is relax. You've got it all together -- you've got a guy you dig with experience, a fantastic pad, the ocean -- the whole thing!"), all as a very long-haired Billy Mumy (Lost In Space, Bless The Beasts And Children) sings and strums a James Taylor-ish love ballad in the background.

Junior High School (1977) - A 40-minute featurette offering embarrassing musical slices of life in school, most notable for the appearance of a 14 or 15-year-old Paula Abdul (who gives a perky performance singing "We're Gonna Have a Party!"). The plot focuses on a Ricky Segall-lookalike who wears puka shells and frets over asking a girl to the dance, between countless painfully cloying songs, like a modern, shorter (but perhaps not better) Grease.

Mr. Gimme (1979) - An actually warm and enjoyable story, of a kid who wants to buy a set of drums to play in his Beatles/Stallone/Andy Gibb-postered bedroom. To earn the money, he goes into business selling greeting cards, learning valuable lessons and wearing Kiss and Led Zeppelin t-shirts along the way.

...and much more!

RESCHEDULED!

The Secret Cinema produces multi-media

Power Pop music event Popism!

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia (across from Bob and Barbara's)
(215) 545-0475

The Secret Cinema will present its first music event of the new year at Tritone on Saturday, February 23, with Popism!, an action-packed night devoted to the enjoyment of the much-abused rock subcategory of Power Pop. Popism! will include the Philadelphia debut of one of the genre's top new bands, great records from the past and present, and colorful Pop Art projections.

This date replaces the snowed-out Popism! with Splitsville, which was originally to happen on January 19 until Jack Frost intervened.

Popism!* starts at 9:30 pm and admission is $5.00.

Appearing live will be Splitsville. This Baltimore-based trio includes two former members of The Greenberry Woods, who released two critically-acclaimed albums on Sire in the early 90s. Since 1994, Splitsville have released four albums of sparkling, masterful pop. Their most recent release is The Complete Pet Soul, an expanded version of an earlier EP done in the style of their favorite albums by The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Splitsville are appearing here fresh from their second tour of Spain. The band have an extensive web site complete with downloadable music at http://www.splitsville.com

Jay Schwartz, creator and programmer of The Secret Cinema, will serve as d.j. for the night, with an assortment of the best Power Pop music from the 60s through today, with an emphasis on classic 70s P-P. Jay will bring many original vinyl rarities from his long-collected collection.

For visual enhancement, there will be a special Pop Art slide show, presented by art historian Mary Wasserman.

*NOTE: Technically this night could be called "Popism II," as event organizer Jay Schwartz mounted a similar pop night before, back in (ulp!) 1983! But since virtually nobody remembers that, we'll stick with just "Popism!".

Rare Scorsese films, including

American Boy at Moore

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, February 15, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present Three By Scorsese, a special package of short films by director Martin Scorsese, including the difficult-to-see American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince. This unique documentary takes a look at the unusual actor/adventurer who played the manic black market gun dealer in Scorsese's Taxi Driver two years earlier.

There will be two complete screenings of Three by Scorsese, at 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A complete description follows:

Three By Scorsese (1967-78, Dir: Martin Scorsese)
This collection of early and short films shows another side to the work of Scorsese -- arguably the most important contemporary American director -- yet their themes and obsessions fit comfortably with his better-known features. Italianamerican (1974) is a loving documentary look inside the home of Scorsese's own parents, Catherine and Charles. They open up and discuss their immigrant heritage, their camera presence (they had cameo roles in Goodfellas, Mean Streets and Raging Bull), and even their family's secret spaghetti sauce recipe. The Big Shave (1968) is a very short (six minute) surreal black comedy in which a morning ritual becomes a violent bloodletting.

American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) is probably the least seen major work in Scorsese's filmography, yet one of the most fascinating. Two years after the release of Taxi Driver, Scorsese made this 55 minute documentary about the actor who played one of the smallest (but most unforgettable) roles in that breakthrough film, as the manic black market gun dealer. Prince's own life seems just as manic and crazy, and his tales cover his Jewish middle-class upbringing, working as Neil Diamond's road manager, his heroin addiction and a run-in with a gorilla. At one point Scorsese even enters a hot tub to talk to his subject. Both Quentin Tarrantino and Richard Linklater would later work passages of American Boy directly into their narrative films (Pulp Fiction and Waking Life, respectively).

Halloween Horror Double Feature

at the Prince Music Theater

Prince Music Theater
1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 569-9700

The Secret Cinema will present a special Halloween Horror Double Feature at the Prince Music Theater on Saturday, October 27, with a rare showing of the creepy "Poverty Row" epic The Monster Maker, Herschell Gordon Lewis' pioneering "splatter movie" Two Thousand Maniacs, and bonus spooky short films.

The screenings will take place in the Prince's upstairs Cinema Lounge, providing an intimate viewing environment and ready access to coffee, beer, wine, snacks and more.

The times for the films are as follows:

Halloween Horror Double Feature
Saturday, October 27

8:00 pm - The Monster Maker
9:30 pm - Two Thousand Maniacs

There is one price for one or both films. General admission is $7.00, and student and senior admission is $6.00.

A complete description of the two films follows.

The Monster Maker (1944, Dir: Sam Newfield)
This fun "Poverty Row" b-epic from PRC Studios was the first entry in the horror subgenre of films dealing with acromegaly, a rare but real disease that grossly distorts the sufferer's features to monster-like extremes. Twice Oscar-nominated actor J. Carrol Naish stars as Dr. Markoff, a mad doctor who becomes obsessed with a woman who resembles his dead wife. When her father (Ralph Morgan) attempts to keep him away, he enacts his revenge by injecting the man with a super-strong strain of acromegaly that he has been developing. Normally this would be enough drama for any film, but The Monster Maker throws in a murderous gorilla for good measure. (Other acromegaly movies include Tarantula and any of a series of films Universal made exploiting the actual deformities of actor Rondo "Monster Without Makeup" Hatton).

Two Thousand Maniacs (1964, Dir: Herschell Gordon Lewis)
This is considered the masterpiece by director Lewis (Blood Feast, She Devils On Wheels), who created a sensation in the drive-in circuit by filling his low-budget shock films with realistic effects of unprecedented cinematic gore. A small Southern town gets revenge for past Civil War indignities by luring unsuspecting Northern visitors to a variety of creative ends -- utilizing dismemberments, cannibalism, and rolling a man in a spike-filled barrel. Lewis said it was "the one picture we really took pains on." Two Thousand Maniacs was produced by prolific exploitation king David Friedman, subject of the recent documentary Mau Mau Sex Sex.

Megaton Yé Yé: Spanish 60s music

with D.J. Jay Schwartz

Tritone
1508 South Street, Philadelphia (across from Bob and Barbara's)
(215) 545-0475

On Thursday, September 13, Tritone will host a special music party called Megaton Yé Yé, featuring a variety of beat, mod and soul music from the 60s -- all of it recorded in Spain. The event will be hosted by D.J. (and Secret Cinema programmer) Jay Schwartz, who will show off his extensive collection of vintage Spanish vinyl and CDs.

Some of the artists featured will be Los Brincos (the period's most inventive group; the Beatles of Spain), Los Bravos (Spain's most successful export act, of "Black is Black" fame), Los Salvajes, Los Sirex, Los Cheyenes and many more. Records played will include both original songs and several Spanish language versions of familiar American and British pop hits. There will also be a sampling of recent Spanish rock music.

It all starts at 9:00 pm and runs until the end of the night. Admission is free.

Schwartz collected all of this music during several trips to Spain, while guest programming a Secret Cinema section at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Gijón. This November will see the "Ciclo Cine Secreto" returning to the prestigious festival for the seventh time.

Megaton Yé Yé was the name of a Hard Day's Night-type rock film, starring the popular band Micky y Los Tonys. The phrase "Ye Ye" music, originally the name for France's sugary pop music of the early 60s, became a more generic label in Spain, indicating all beat/rock music of the mid-'60s.

Secret Cinema produces sixties-themed music night

IT'S A SUNSHINE DAY!

Tritone
1508 South Street (across from Bob & Barbara's)
(215) 545-0475

The Secret Cinema will present another themed multi-media/music event on Saturday, August 11, when It's A Sunshine Day! happens at Tritone (formerly Bennie's). The night, which will include a live band, a d.j. and multi-media projections, is a celebration of two subgenres of 60s rock: sunshine pop and bubblegum.

The night starts at 10:00 pm and admission is $5.00.

Sunshine pop is melodic, harmony-drenched music, both "soft" and other, a la The Association, The Beach Boys, The Millennium, Sagittarius, The Yellow Balloon, The Free Design and many others. These groups (as well as such key sunshine pop auteur/producers as Brian Wilson, Curt Boettcher and Gary Zekely) have received a lot of attention lately, particularly from Japanese "soft rock" connoisseurs.

Bubblegum, of course, was the primitive, throbbing, elementary-school-beat brand of rock created by producers such as Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz, Bo Gentry, Ritchie Cordell, Jeff Barry and others, resulting in hit records for such artists and studio-created concoctions as Tommy James, The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, The Archies and many more.

Jay Schwartz, creator and programmer of The Secret Cinema, will serve as d.j. for the night, bringing the best of these two sunny styles of music -- including many vinyl rarities.

The live portion of It's A Sunshine Day! will be provided by Philadelphia's own The Snow Fairies, making their club debut. Rising from the ashes of The Skywriters, The group's upbeat pop can be heard on a CD coming out this month on California's Black Beans and Placenta label. This show will launch The Snow Fairies' first tour, which will take them throughout the Midwest.

To fully justify the Secret Cinema designation, the S.C. 16mm film projectors will be in the house to provide pop-art projections, both as silent "action paintings" to accompany recorded music, and to show some surprise film clips (with the sound turned on).

Tritone, the city's newest musical nightspot, was recently known as Bennie's (where the Secret Cinema presented the Friday On My Mind party and the film Record City). In addition to serving up music and drinks, the club's new kitchen is serving dinner and snacks daily from 5 pm until 1 am.

Coming soon....

Trailer Trash at Prince Music Theater

Prince Music Theater
1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 569-9700

On Saturday, July 21, the Prince Music Theater will host the biggest Secret Cinema presentation yet...It stars Elvis Presley, Sean Connery, Nancy Sinatra, Roy Orbison, Sonny & Cher, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Linda Blair, Dean Martin, Cherie Currie, Tony Curtis, The Village People, The Yardbirds, and a cast of unknowns. It was directed by a team that includes Stanley Kubrick, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Laughlin, William Friedkin, John Boorman, John Cassavetes and several forgotten hacks. Its budget (adjusted for inflation) was in the hundreds of millions of dollars, it's in black and white and color, and it has laughs, screams, spies, monsters, sex, drugs, rock n' roll and bikinis. What is it?

Why, it's Trailer Trash, a non-stop orgy of rare, original preview "trailers" advertising some of the Secret Cinema's favorite films of the 1960s and 70s -- exploitation, sexploitation, science-fiction, bikers, horror, rock musicals, beach movies, bloated big budget bombs and possibly some films that no longer survive in feature form. All will be shown from archival 35mm prints (with several in true, IB Technicolor) on the Prince's gigantic screen.

As if this weren't enough, additional graphic eye candy will be provided in the form of vintage drive-in messages, theater commercials and date strips, from the 1950s and beyond.

There will be two screenings of Trailer Trash, as follows:

Saturday, July 21
8:00 pm & 10:00 pm

Admission is $7.00 general, $6.00 students/seniors.

All Secret Cinema presentations are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen, except a few, like this one, that are projected in 35mm film on an even bigger screen! We never use video.

A sampling of the many trailers to be shown includes Bikini Beach, Bury Me an Angel, Wild In the Streets, You Only Live Twice, Mondo Teeno, Devil's Angels, Paradise Hawaiian Style, Foxes, Murderers' Row, Chastity, The Trial of Billy Jack, Blow Up and many, many more, with some guaranteed surprises.

Stag Movie Night: Vintage Porno

From The 1920s, 30s and 40s

at the Silk City Lounge

Silk City Lounge
Fifth & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 592-8838

On Tuesday, July 31, The Secret Cinema will once again present Stag Movie Night at the Silk City Lounge. Last presented over five years ago, this new edition will include both new, never shown material as well as the return of some favorite reels from the last show.

The screening begins at 9:30 pm. Admission is $5.00.

This collection of rare erotica films will surprise and shock those who believe the "sexual revolution" of the sixties and seventies gave birth to the celluloid depiction of sex. True, the seedy adult theaters of the seventies and the home video industry that followed it did not exist when these films were made behind closed doors. The classic stag movies were distributed through a covert network of all-male screenings at lodges, bachelor parties, and fraternities. Seeing these forbidden films was nonetheless a fairly common rite of passage for the American male back then, as the surviving reels of film testify.

The earliest extant pornographic film dates from 1915, and they were probably made well before then. The introduction of 16mm film in 1923 really opened the floodgates of stag production, and a standard format was established. Virtually all stag films are black and white, one reel in length (10 to 15 minutes), and silent -- assuring compatibility with the relatively low-cost home movie projectors that were rented along with a night's worth of programming.

What shocks today's audiences about these films is that most (though not all) of them are completely explicit in their depiction of sexual acts. The variety of acts and couplings filmed long ago is another eye-opener, and it is somehow comforting to note that the camera angles for such action, worked out over half a century ago, survive in today's adult videos.

Among the new titles to be screened are: Hollywood Honeys, Mortimer the Salesman, The Gay Count (not what you think), and some rare softcore fetish films. Among the returning highlights are Buried Treasure, a hilarious pornographic cartoon from the 1930s thought to be the work of the Max Fleischer studios (creators of Popeye and Betty Boop).

Exotica Films 3: Music and More!

at Silk City

The Silk City Lounge
5th & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 592-8838

On Wednesday, May 30, the Secret Cinema will present Exotica Films 3: Music and More! at the Silk City Lounge. This collection of rare celluloid will showcase a unique collection of filmed musical performances from a variety of offbeat jazz, pop, experimental and rock artists from around the globe, combined with wondrous and colorful short films relating to jet travel, cocktails, and primitive cultures. The films come from a variety of sources, including TV shows, film jukeboxes from the 1940s ("Soundies") and 1960s ("Scopitones"), and select feature film clips.

Coming five years after the first Secret Cinema Exotica Films program, and two and a half years since its first sequel, Exotica Films 3 will once again feature 100% new programming -- little of which is likely to have been seen before by anybody attending!

Doors open at 9:00 pm. The screening begins at 10:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

Just some of the performers shown on the big screen will be: Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Sylvie Vartan, Dean Martin, Johnny Hallyday, Dalida, and a singing (and very young) Henny Youngman(!).

Also seen will be amusingly-dated travel films about the South Seas and Africa, Technicolor promotional shorts about the latest developments in air travel (in the 1950s), and a drinking and driving warning that makes the cocktail scene look pretty enticing.

Between reels there will be sets of vintage "now sounds," exotica music and TV themes, spun by Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz.

The Secret Cinema produces sixties-themed

music night FRIDAY ON MY MIND

Bennie's
1508 South Street (across from Bob & Barbara's)
Philadelphia · (215) 545-4511

Friday, May 10 - 10:00 pm
Admission: $5.00

The Secret Cinema will present its second-ever multi-media/music event on Friday, May 11, when Friday On My Mind happens at Bennie's. The night will include live music, d.j.'s and multi-media projections.

The night starts at 10:00 pm and admission is $5.00.

Performing live will be Philadelphia's premiere mod cover band The Modists, secret alter-egos of indie-rock darlings Clock Strikes Thirteen. The Modists will perform double duty when they become the backing band of local soul/funk legend Herb Johnson, who will make a special guest appearance. Johnson recorded singles (both solo and with The Impacts) for such labels as Swan, Brunswick and Toxsan, beginning in 1964, and is the star of the recent Philly Archives CD The Best of Wally-O Productions. (Note: Herb Johnson is not to be confused with fellow Philly soul singer Herb Ward, who was slated to appear at a previous Secret Cinema event but never showed!)

Working the turntables will be Secret Cinema head guy Jay Schwartz, and for the first time ever in America, Silvia, "La Chica Yé Yé," direct from Gíjon, Spain(!). Silvia is a rising talent in the thriving '60s music scene of Northern Spain, and has a special fondness for French and Spanish "Yé Yé" music ('60s pop, with an emphasis on female singers). Jay and Silvia will spin a mixture of mod, beat, and pop music from around the world.

To fully justify the Secret Cinema designation, the S.C. 16mm film projectors will be in the house to provide pop-art projections, both as silent "action paintings" to accompany recorded music, and to show some surprise short films and Scopitones (with the sound turned on).

Friday On My Mind follows the mod multi-media night A Whole Scene Going On, which was presented by Secret Cinema two years ago at The Trocadero, and combined d.j.'s with visuals from 10 simultaneous projectors. While that night was a success, it was too large a production to ever repeat! This more-manageable event, at the intimate new nightspot Bennie's, will be the inaugural event for a whole series of Secret Cinema music nights.

EARLY EDUCATIONAL: Classroom Films of

the Silent Era & live music at

The Secret Cinema at Moore

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

The Secret Cinema has delved into many obscure corners of film history in the past, but will delve even deeper on Saturday, May 19, with the unique presentation EARLY EDUCATIONAL: Classroom Films of the Silent Era. These ultra-rare reels, most of which haven't been seen in seven or eight decades, are still potent in their powers to entertain, amuse, and yes, educate modern-day viewers about a variety of subjects. The various short films, most of which were made in the 1920s, include now ancient travels to distant lands, science experiments, historical dramatizations, looks at industry and nature studies.

The prints to be projected, many of which are exclusive to the Secret Cinema archive, are mostly original prints (rather than restored or duplicated prints) dating to the time of the production, from pioneering companies such as Kodascope Libraries, Pathe, Bray, and Urban-Kineto. They are mostly in excellent condition, and many were made on tinted stock. The films will be projected at the correct speeds, with a live musical accompaniment from Don Kinnier.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Don Kinnier has played music for several previous Secret Cinema presentations of silent movies. Don is Pennsylvania's most prominent (and only?) silent film accompanist, and has been plying his craft for over thirty-five years. The Philadelphia native (now based in Lititz) has studied the techniques and repertoires of the original theater musicians of the silent era.

A few highlights of the program include:

Food and Growth - School children conduct a somewhat cruel experiment in which different white lab rats are fed a diet of coffee, candy, and milk. Which will be the healthiest?

Panama, the Peculiar Prodigy - A look at the Canal Zone, including scenes of plush tourist amenities as well as shipping activities and the mechanisms of the locks. This film was distributed by the Cunard-White Star (as in Titanic) lines as part of their "Sunshine Cruises" series.

The Mysteries of Science - This group of brief films represents the final activities of one of the great pioneers of early cinema. American-born Charles Urban developed one of the first projectors, then moved to England to avoid patent problems from his rival Edison. He experimented with an early color process, and when this failed to catch on, produced a series of science films making full use of such techniques as time-lapse and macro-photography, exploring the science to be found in soap bubbles and sound waves.

Longbell Lumber Company - This privately made film, sponsored by the title company, takes an amazing look inside the handling and finishing facilities of a giant, (then) state-of-the-art lumber plant.

more lost Philadelphia films

at Moore College of Art and Design

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, April 20, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will offer From Philadelphia With Love 2: MORE Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films, a sequel to one of its most ambitious and best-loved programs. This follow-up to the original FPWL show presented in 1999 will feature 100% new programming -- and will also include an introduction by one of the films' original creators.

While most area residents are familiar with Philadelphia films such as Rocky, Trading Places, and The Sixth Sense, there is a whole world of locally-made films that has been forgotten -- the "ephemeral" short films that were primarily made by small independent companies for the then-booming non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesman have long discarded their 16mm film projectors, we at Secret Cinema have not, and are proud to present a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia With Love 2 are:

Our Changing City (1955) - Made by the city during the administration of Mayor Joseph Clark, this vivid color film makes the case for urban renewal (i.e., demolition and new construction) while showing a wide range of cityscapes, from new homes in the Northeast to the poverty of people living in houses without plumbing or electricity.

Important People (1950) - This brief and wonderful color film was made by the old PTC (that's the predecessor to SEPTA for you younguns who didn't know!) to encourage their bus and streetcar drivers to be polite to customers, and includes priceless views of a bustling Market Street and now vanished rolling stock. "There's nothing to be gained by arguing!"

Date With a Stranger - A rare episode of a 50s TV anthology drama program, in which a romance is launched by a chance meeting of two lonely tourists -- in Independence Hall.

A Bridge Is Born - A fascinating look at the construction of the Walt Whitman Bridge from Louis W. Kellman Productions, for many years Philadelphia's largest studio of industrial and sponsored films (and the producer of the locally-made feature The Burglar, which we screened recently to great interest). LWK Filmmaker Gino Aureli will be in person to introduce this film.

And much, much more...

Lost TV Drama at Borders Book Shop

Borders Book Shop
1727 Walnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 568-7400

On Wednesday, March 14, The Secret Cinema will return to Borders Book Shop in Center City Philadelphia to present Lost TV Drama, a special collection of little-remembered, high-quality programs from the 1950s.

The screening starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, and seating is first-come, first-served.

Most of these reels are from the lost genre of the anthology drama program. Popular during the golden early years of television, anthology dramas would use a rotating cast of guest actors, often introduced by a regular host, in little half-hour stories of mystery, intrigue or romance. The stories were shot on film with tight budgets as mini B-movie productions, and like the theatrical B-movies that were their predecessors, the shows often yielded surprisingly rewarding results.

Lost TV Drama will include episodes of completely forgotten series with titles like The Pendulum (1955), The Way of Life (1955) , and Man From Interpol (1960) -- all of which have not been shown anywhere in decades.

Included in the program will be some original, vintage commercials.

Forgotten Philly film noir rarity

The Burglar at Moore

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, February 16, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will present a screening of the little-known noir thriller The Burglar, which was shot entirely on location in Philadelphia and Atlantic City in the 1950s. Made by an industrial film studio, the stylish production boosted the careers of first-time director Paul Wendkos, and a new actress named Jayne Mansfield.

The very-special presentation will also include a discussion of The Burglar and Louis Kellman studios by former Kellman soundman Jack Sky, and rare Philadelphia short films made by Louis Kellman Productions (including an episode of their popular syndicated children's TV show, Diver Dan).

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A complete description of the feature follows:

The Burglar (1957, Dir: Paul Wendkos)
This unusual thriller, one of the last films in the noir cycle, was shot entirely in Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Legendary local crime writer David Goodis adapted this, his only screenplay, from one of his gloomy Lion Paperbacks. The film stars Bryn Mawr native Jayne Mansfield in one of her earliest roles, and veteran tough guy Dan Duryea, as the doomed leader of a burglary gone wrong. For his first feature, director Wendkos packed in (early-)Kubrickesque pacing, inventive photography, and tons of local flavor, including generous location scenes and a pivotal plot point hinging on the voice of John Facenda(!). The Burglar was remade in France in 1972.

The Burglar was the first entry into theatrical fare from veteran industrial film producer Louis W. Kellman. Kellman entered movies at age 12 as a projectionist in a Kensington theater, then started making films in the 1920s. He was a pioneer in filming football games, and later clients included Philadelphia Electric, Abbott's Dairies and the CIO. Kellman later produced two other features as well as the popular syndicated children's TV show Diver Dan, which featured live actors interacting with fish puppets, all shot through a filter of water and live fish!

Director Paul Wendkos had served as Kellman's Principal Director for many years. He used The Burglar as his ticket out of industrial films and into Hollywood, where he enjoyed a prolific career in television, and directing feature films as diverse as Gidget Goes To Rome and The Mephisto Waltz.

Davey and Goliath Marathon

and free beer at The Print Center

The Print Center
1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia
(215) 735-6090

On Friday, February 23, The Secret Cinema will return to The Print Center art gallery for a retrospective of original episodes from Davey and Goliath. The now-beloved, once perhaps dreaded religious children's' TV program featured puppets in animated morality plays.

That's right, an entire program devoted to the stop-motion animated exploits -- which ran throughout the 1960s (1961-69) -- of the perpetually ethically-challenged Davey Hanson and his floppy-eared canine companion Goliath! D&G was created by the peculiar convergence of weirdo Gumby creator (and Zen-devotee) Art Clokey and the Lutheran Council of Churches, who sponsored this vaguely-religious series. The Marathon includes selected 15-minute episodes, plus a bonus Gumby reel.

Adding to the festivity will be high quality, free beer for all, courtesy of the Victory Brewery Company.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The Print Center , an 86-year-old art gallery, is housed in a charming, converted 19th-century carriage house on Latimer Street. Founded in 1915 (and formerly known as The Print Club), The Print Center's mission is to support printmaking and photography as vital contemporary arts and to encourage the appreciation of the printed image in all its forms. The Print Center has featured the work of well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, Ansel Adams and Art Spiegelman. Today, The Print Center holds approximately 11 exhibitions annually, and offers residencies, mentoring opportunities for artists, and original artwork for sale in the Print Center Gallery Store. Membership numbers over 2,000.

Nuggets: Celluloid Artyfacts of Sixties Rock

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, January 26, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will present Nuggets: Celluloid Artyfacts of Sixties Rock. This unique hodgepodge of ultra-rare reels consists of various short films and television shows -- almost all never shown before by the Secret Cinema (or anyone else, since they were made) -- showcasing mod, garage and pop music from the mid-to-late 1960s. To make it even more of a once-in-a-lifetime event, we'll have Stewkey (lead singer and keyboardist of Philadelphia's greatest '60s band The Nazz) on hand to present and discuss a rare print of the promo film for "Open My Eyes."

As always, this Secret Cinema presentation will be projected in 16mm film on a giant screen (that's right, not using video).

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A few highlights of Nuggets include:

Girls In Short Short Dresses (1966) - Paramount made this topical film in the final days of the theatrical short subject era, to capitalize on the worldwide interest in then very-Swinging London. Incredibly, it stars actual mod band The Thoughts, who are best known to collectors for their recording of Ray Davies' otherwise unreleased song "All Night Stand," on Shel Talmy's Planet Records label. In this previously unknown Technicolor film, they perform two songs in the famous Blaise's nightclub, and in a reverse on the usual rock band scenario, they chase girls around tube stations and Carnaby Street boutiques. The film also makes a visit to the studio of fashion designer Mary Quant, inventor of the mini skirt.

The Ecstasy Is Sometimes Fantastic (1966) - Made by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, this is a rare cinema verite look at a working, not-quite-made-it rock group. Toronto garage band Jon and Lee and the Checkmates reveal all sides of their world, from belting out James Brown numbers in packed clubs, to going over itineraries and accounting, to the crucial business of getting the right haircut.

The Nazz: Open My Eyes (1968) - Rock videos weren't invented in the '80s; they've been around since sound film was perfected. In the '60s they were called "promo films," and this was one of the better ones. Stewkey, the lead singer and keyboardist of Philly's greatest mod band, will introduce this first ever public screening of his personal print (which is actually a rare alternate edit of the clip MTV has shown!), and talk about what it was like to make a rock promo film.

Plus more!

The Secret Cinema at Moore presents The Love Machine,

funny, provocative look at internet sex

The Secret Cinema will once again present a new but overlooked film with a special limited engagement of The Love Machine, a funny and revealing look into the inner lives of seven diverse users of an internet sex website.

There will be four showings of The Love Machine in the Moore auditorium, as follows:

Friday, November 17- 8:00 & 10:00 pm
Saturday, November 18 - 8:00 & 10:00 pm

The screenings will also include unusual short subjects. Admission is $6.00.

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

A complete description of the feature appears below:

The Love Machine (1999, Dir: Gordon Eriksen)

www.The-Love-Machine.com is the address of an "adult" web site set up on a New York City university web server as a prank by a student, "Marcus B." Becca Campbell is the self styled investigative reporter who is attempting to make an expose of "sexual fantasy on the internet" by delving into the private lives of some of the local users of the site without their knowledge. A subject perfect for a sleazy talk show turns into something much more substantial as the richly characterized participants become aware of the filmmaker's purpose and manage to subvert the experience with a surprising dignity and humor.

The Love Machine may be a satire of the stop-at-nothing American media, but also is a wonderful snapshot of a variety of New York subcultures. Structured as a sly homage to the classic French New Wave film Chronicle of a Summer (in which filmmaker Jean Rouch stopped people on the streets of Paris and convinced hem to talk about their private lives) The Love Machine is an intimate portrait of New Yorkers and of their constant search for companionship.

"Highly original...pure and poignant fun" - The Independent Film and Video Monthly

"A brilliant satire...technically accomplished and convincing." - IndieWIRE.

Secret Cinema teams with Film at the Prince for premiere

of Craig Baldwin's Spectres Of The Spectrum

Prince Music Theater
1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 569-9700

On Monday, October 30, the Secret Cinema will team up for the first time with the Prince Music Theater, to co-present the Philadelphia Premiere of the sci-fi/ political-thriller/collage film Spectres Of The Spectrum. Spectres is the latest feature by San Francisco found footage auteur Craig Baldwin (Tribulation 99, Sonic Outlaws).

There will be two showings of Spectres Of The Spectrum in the Prince's upstairs venue, the Independence Foundation Black Box, as follows:

Monday, October 30 - 7:00 & 9:15 pm

Director Craig Baldwin will be present to discuss his film at both screenings.

Admission is $7.00 general, $6.00 students/seniors.

A complete description of the feature follows:

Spectres Of The Spectrum (1999, Dir: Craig Baldwin)
The year is 2007. Yogi and Boo Boo, a telepathic father and daughter team, lead a group of media outlaws in resistance against a corporate/governmental "New Electronic Order" that threatens to use the earth's magnetosphere to "bulk erase" the brains of every human on the planet. The only way to save humanity is to travel out into space, tracing the history of television broadcasts back in time to uncover a secret lodged in an old episode of the 1950s series Science in Action. A wildly energetic blend of science fiction and science fact, Craig Baldwin's epic collage film rifles through the trash bins of our image-obsessed culture and pieces together a dossier on our love affair with technology, projecting it into a dystopian future. The film skims across genres as blithely as it appropriates images from the detritus of high school instructional films, low-budget sci-fi and old television broadcasts. A combination mad scientist and media archeologist, Baldwin rarely takes his finger off the fast-forward button, creating an obsessive, densely layered and intellectually challenging vision of technology gone awry.

Craig Baldwin is a San Francisco-based filmmaker, best known for his films Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America -- voted one of the Best Films of the 1990s by J. Hoberman, Art Forum -- and Sonic Outlaws a manic investigation into the Negativeland/U2 copyright infringement battle.

A Secret Cinema Halloween: real life monster Rondo Hatton in

The Brute Man at the Griffin Cafe

The Griffin Cafe
230 Market Street, Philadelphia
(215) 829-1050

On Thursday, October 26, the Secret Cinema will return to the Griffin Cafe to present our sole Halloween show of the season, featuring the 1946 horror film rarity The Brute Man. This was the final film of "monster without makeup" Rondo Hatton, who gained brief movie stardom thanks to acromegaly, a progressive, and then incurable and fatal disease, which horribly distorted Hatton's head and facial features.

The special seasonal program will also feature surprise "Halloween Horror" short films, and the Griffin will be offering food and refreshments throughout the screening.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

A complete description of the feature follows:

The Brute Man (1946, Dir: Jean Yarbrough)
Rondo Hatton many have had the saddest of all movie careers. In his youth he was a handsome college athlete and popular with women, but while fighting in France in World War I, Hatton was injured by poison gas, and as a side effect contracted acromegaly. This rare disease makes the pituitary gland overly active, causing severe disfigurement of the hand, hands and feet. While working as a journalist on a Florida movie set, Rondo's unusual looks were noticed by director Henry King, who cast him as rugged saloon owner in the 1930 film, Hell Harbor. Hatton eventually moved to Hollywood and was signed to Universal, usually playing heavies in small, non-speaking parts.

Despite no real acting ability, Hatton's unique looks resulted in a lot of work, and beginning with the Sherlock Holmes series entry The Pearl of Death, he was featured in a succession of films as "The Creeper," a super-strong giant, usually used by others to dispose of their enemies. Other "Creeper" films include The Spider Woman Strikes Back, House of Horrors, and Hatton's final film, The Brute Man. Eerily paralleling Rondo's own life, it is the story of a bright college student who is physically and mentally disfigured in a lab accident, and then enacts violent revenge on those he judges responsible. In real life, Rondo Hatton died shortly after the film was completed, for in those days acromegaly was both incurable and fatally damaging to the heart. Feeling that the film's release might now appear in bad taste, Universal sold off The Brute Man to Poverty Row studio PRC. Appearing as the pre-disfigured student was doomed tough guy/actor Tom Neal, who would star in PRC's film noir classic Detour, and later went to jail for killing his wife.

Rondo Hatton's cult legend has continued to grow, especially in the last decade. Disney's $40 million retro sci-fi adventure The Rocketeer (1991) included a bad guy who was carefully made up to look exactly like Hatton, and a photo of the original "monster without makeup" has regularly graced the masthead of Cult Movies magazine.

1919 silent film rarity The Tong Man,

live music at Moore

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, October 20, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present The Tong Man, a 1919 silent drama set in the shrouded world of San Francisco's Chinese underworld. Handsome silent-era superstar Sessue Hayakawa stars as the dreaded Luk Chan, top "hatchet man" (assassin) of the Tongs (gangs).

Providing authentic live keyboard accompaniment will be Don Kinnier, who played for several previous Secret Cinema presentations of silent movies. Don is Pennsylvania's most prominent (and only?) silent film musician, and has been plying his craft for over thirty-five years. The Philadelphia native (now based in Lititz) has studied the techniques and repertoires of the original theater musicians of the silent era. Don has added piano and organ soundtracks to silent screenings at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, International House and the Jewish Y in Philadelphia, and for several years now at the annual Betzwood Silent Film Festival at Montgomery County Community College.

The screening will also include unusual silent short subjects. There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A complete description of the feature appears below:

The Tong Man (1919, Dir: William Worthington)
The Tong Man is set in the dark, seemingly impenetrable underworld of San Francisco's Chinatown, a place whose "placid exterior sleepily cloaks its wiles and intrigues": Tongs (gangs), opium dens, and its own peculiar system of power and justice. Sessue Hayakawa stars as Luk Chan, the most feared "hatchet man" (assassin) of the Tongs. Chan falls in love with the daughter (Helen Jerome Eddy) of a wealthy merchant whom he has been ordered to kill, and when he refuses, he becomes a hunted man with nowhere to turn. The Tong Man includes some stereotypically "inscrutable" Chinese characters (many played by white actors), but the easily-fooled white policemen probably come off worse.

As an Asian, handsome, and intense "crossover" star in white Hollywood, Sessue Hayakawa could be called the Chow Yun Fat of his era, but that wouldn't begin to convey his impact. The Japanese-born Hayakawa was discovered while touring America with his own theater troupe, by film pioneer Thomas Ince, who starred him in a series of dramatic films. He achieved super-stardom with Cecil B. DeMille's sensational The Cheat, in which he marks his adulterous partner with a branding iron. Hayakawa then starred in a succession of exotic parts -- Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Hawaiian, African and Chinese. In 1918 he launched his own production studio, Haworth (named for himself and director William Worthington), and lived in a castle where he and his wife entertained lavishly. In 1922 the Hayakawas suddenly left America and moved to France. No explanation was given, but continued racism in the film industry likely played a part in their decision. In 1948 Hayakawa returned to act in the Humphrey Bogart film Tokyo Joe, and established himself as an in-demand character actor, most famously in Bridge on the River Kwai -- but in an America that had forgotten his stature as one of the most celebrated stars (and to many, the greatest actor) of the silent era.

Wild Guitar and free beer

at The Print Center

The Print Center
1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia
(215) 735-6090

On Friday, October 13 (Friday the 13th!), The Secret Cinema will return to The Print Center art gallery for a screening of the all-time rockabilly schlock classic Wild Guitar.

The evening will also include unusual short films. Adding to the festivity will be high quality, free beer for all, courtesy of the Nodding Head Brewery & Restaurant.

Doors open at 7:30 pm. There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A complete description of the feature follows:

Wild Guitar (1961, Dir: Ray Dennis Steckler)
The irrepressible Arch Hall, Jr. stars as Bud Eagle, an earnest young rockabilly singer who rides his motorcycle from Spearfish, South Dakota to the bright lights of Hollywood in search of fame -- only to find corruption disappointment at the hands of a crooked manager. The film is filled with fabulous period flavor, from vintage guitars to location shots of the Capitol Tower and Dino's Lodge, not to mention music, strippers, a kidnapping, Olympic ice skater Nancy Czar (as Bud's girlfriend, who gets in some gratuitous skating), and a rockin' beach party finale.

Songs include "Vicki" (nominated for having the Worst Rock N' Roll Lyrics in Movie History in the book Son Of Golden Turkey Awards), and "Twist Fever." Director Steckler (the demented auteur behind The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies and Rat Pfink A Boo Boo) puts in a memorable acting performance as the manager's slimy bodyguard, "Steak." Arch Hall, Sr. plays the manager, and also wrote and produced the film as "Nicholas Merriweather." The senior Hall, who starred his likable but quirky-looking (some would even say ugly!) son in six films, and achieved fame for him with none of them, was himself the inspiration for the Robert Mitchum G.I. buddy film The Last Time I Saw Archie. Marshall Crenshaw remarked in his 15-star review of Wild Guitar in Hollywood Rock, "I love this movie. I think it's better than Gone With The Wind."

The Print Center, an 85-year-old art gallery, is housed in a charming, converted 19th-century carriage house on Latimer Street. Founded in 1915 (and formerly known as The Print Club), The Print Center's mission is to support printmaking and photography as vital contemporary arts and to encourage the appreciation of the printed image in all its forms. The Print Center has featured the work of well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, Ansel Adams and Art Spiegelman. Today, The Print Center holds approximately 11 exhibitions annually, and offers residencies, mentoring opportunities for artists, and original artwork for sale in the Print Center Gallery Store. Membership numbers over 2,000.

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films Again

opens Moore season

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, September 22, The Secret Cinema will kick off its fourth season at Moore College of Art & Design with a look back, when it presents the unique program The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films Again. Since we began in early 1992, all Secret Cinema screenings of feature films have included bonus short subjects, and some of our best presentations have been comprised entirely of short films. While we have shown several rare old theatrical shorts (including classic cartoons and musicals), often the most popular shorts have been such oddities as campy educational reels, industrial films, TV commercials, and home movies. Most of these films -- literally hundreds of them -- have only been shown once, despite frequent requests to repeat them. Only once before (four years ago) did we present an all-encompassing "Best of" shorts program. Well, it's time to do it again!

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films Again will be a one-time only showing of the funniest, strangest, and rarest of all of the shorts shown in the last eight and a half years. Nearly all of these films can't be seen anywhere else, not even on video.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights from this marathon program are:

Maids In Music - 1937 musical short starring hot riot girl big band The Ingenues, shaking their stuff and displaying equal proficiency on banjos, accordions and harmonicas.

Highway Mania - Government produced driving safety film from the 30s featuring a laughing corpse that would fit in any Dwain Esper drug exploitation classic.

Skateboarding To Safety - One of the most beloved films ever shown by Secret Cinema is this 1976 look at thrills and spills of young daredevils as they maneuver skinny wheeled boards through the streets of Southern California -- enhanced in this print by a dubbed Swedish soundtrack.

Pro Kleen commercial - A mind-numbingly crass eight minute TV commercial from the early 1950s in which an unappealing pitchman with a thick Baltimore accent extols the wonders of a new spot cleaner.

The Stranger At Our Door - This 1940 dramatic two-reeler, made by a religious group to promote ethnic tolerance, shouldn't be funny -- but the outrageous overacting by Bowery Boys rejects and their non-specific European-born target make it surreally so.

Duck And Cover - The classic cold war training film that gave nuclear nightmares to grade schoolers everywhere.

The Story of Bubblegum - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Made at the old Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney in 1952, showing its giant vats of pink rubber and their amazing R&D department. Quite possibly the greatest film ever made, short or long.

Legendary, explicit Warhol film Couch

Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Saturday, May 6, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present the latest in our ongoing exploration of the long-lost, original 1960s films of Andy Warhol, when we present Couch -- the one Warhol film that is considered to cross the line into the realms of pornography.

The program will also include unusual short films.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Couch (1964) Dir: Andy Warhol. 52 mins.
The 1960s films of Andy Warhol documented a world of fringe characters that must have appeared shocking to mainstream audiences that might have happened upon them in a period when underground films (and Warhol's fame as both a painter and filmmaker) enjoyed unprecedented popularity. His films revealed an attention-hungry world of misfits and avant-gardists -- junkies, flamboyant homosexuals, transvestites, wayward debutantes and just plain weirdos -- all being themselves and living their everyday lives in front of Warhol's unblinking camera.

Yet of the dozens of films Warhol made in this period, none today are more shocking or surprising than one of his very earliest films, Couch, which until its recent restoration had gone unseen for years. For while better-known epics like The Chelsea Girls and Lonesome Cowboys depict the seamy worlds of New York scenesters who "walk on the wild side," Couch stands alone in the Warhol oeuvre for its depiction of graphic sexual activity. An episodic film, it depicts a series of visitors engaging in various activities on Factory sofa, from the mundane to the explicit. The large cast of notables includes Naomi Levine, Gerard Malanga, Piero Helzicer, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Ondine, Amy Taubin, Peter Orlovski, Jack Kerouac, Taylor Mead, Billy Linich, Baby Jane Holzer, and many others.

1921 silent film rarity The Blasphemer, live music at Moore

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, March 17, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present the very rare silent film The Blasphemer, an independent production made in 1921 by a religious organization, which is actually a tawdry melodrama, complete with adultery, greedy tycoons, and white slavery.

Providing authentic live keyboard accompaniment will be Don Kinnier, who played for several previous Secret Cinema presentations of silent movies. Don is Pennsylvania's most prominent (and only?) silent film musician, and has been plying his craft for over thirty-five years. The Philadelphia native (now based in Lititz) has studied the techniques and repertoires of the original theater musicians of the silent era. Don has added piano and organ soundtracks to silent screenings at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, International House and the Jewish Y in Philadelphia, and for several years now at the annual Betzwood Silent Film Festival at Montgomery County Community College (where he'll appear again May 5 and 12...see link below).

The screening will also include unusual silent short subjects. There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A complete description of the feature appears below:

The Blasphemer (1921 Dir: O.E. Goebel)
An obscure oddity from the midway point of the silent feature era, The Blasphemer was produced by the mysterious Religious Films Organization, and was clearly intended as propaganda promoting spiritual purity and regular church attendance. This message is vividly illustrated in the form of seamy melodrama, depicting the downfall of John Harden, a wealthy business magnate who leaves his loving family to pursue his mistress and his greed. Proclaiming at a dinner party that man answers to no one but himself, he goes so far as to challenge God to strike him dead in the middle of a thunderstorm. Instead, Harden is felled by more earthly forces -- and ultimately finds his salvation and righteousness after hitting rock-bottom as a homeless bum.

Modern audiences scared off at the prospects of seeing a "religious film" should find much to enjoy in The Blasphemer, both good and bad. For an early independent production, the film is technically quite competent, with some strong acting and photography. Historically, the whole film itself is a fascinating document, and provides some rare slices of life in its (money-saving) use of newsreel footage (and the gratuitously-included, story-stopping scenes of one religious society are reminiscent of Ed Wood's memorably-incongruous insertion of A-bomb explosions in Bride Of The Monster to appease his anti-nuclear financial backer).

To drive home its basic message, The Blasphemer pulled no punches, logic be, uh, damned. As William K. Everson drolly noted, "Its climax packs in more unlikely coincidence than even Griffith would have tried to get away with. And while the church may have been concerned with redemption, it seems to have been remarkably intolerant of the heathen element equally in need of uplifting. A casual visit to a Chinese laundry in the last reel reveals it to be a nest of lecherous White Slavers!"

Married Too Young at Bar Noir

Bar Noir
118 S. 18th Street, Philadelphia
(215) 569-9333

On Tuesday, February 22, The Secret Cinema will return to intimate Center City nightspot Bar Noir and show Married Too Young, a 1962 teen exploitation flick starring the lookalike, sexually-confused son of silent film great Harold Lloyd.

The screening will also include surprise unusual short films.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

A description of the feature appears below:

Married Too Young (1962 Dir: George Moskov)
From its very title, this teen exploiter has the look and feel of a much older picture, say one from the Reefer Madness era, but in fact was made in the (very early) 1960s. Harold Lloyd, Jr, son (and spitting image) of the great silent comedian, appeared in several low-budget drive-in films like Girl's Town and Platinum High School, but this was his only starring role. He plays a high school student who elopes with sweetheart Jana Lund, but then must forego his dreams of becoming a doctor, dropping out of school and getting mixed up with a car theft ring.

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of this overall guilty pleasure is watching Lloyd, Jr. -- who was a closeted homosexual in real life -- half-heartedly romancing his young bride. It's always clear that something is wrong with this picture.

Premiere of documentary on underground film legend Stan Brakhage

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

The Secret Cinema will once again present the Philadelphia premiere of a new pop-culture documentary when it presents Brakhage, Jim Shedden's look at the life and work of legendary avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage.

The feature film includes generous samples of the prolific artist's work, as well as numerous interviews that establish Brakhage's position in the pantheon of great filmmakers.

There will be four showings of Brakhage in the Moore auditorium, as follows:

Friday, February 18- 8:00 & 10:00 pm
Saturday, February 19 - 8:00 & 10:00 pm

The screenings will also include unusual short subjects. Admission is $6.00.

Brakhage (1999 Dir: Jim Shedden)
Stan Brakhage is a living legend, possibly the most important filmmaker of the avant-garde. Since 1952, when he was 19, Brakhage has created over 300 films, ranging from lengths of several seconds to several hours, and has constantly and consistently redefined the shape of film art. Using excerpts from Brakhage's films like Dog Star Man and Window Water Baby Moving, films of other avant-garde filmmakers, interviews with Brakhage, his friends, family colleagues and critics, and archival footage of Brakhage spanning the past 35 years, Jim Shedden's portrait Brakhage explores the depth and breadth of the filmmaker's genius, the exquisite splendor of his films, his personal charm, his aesthetic fellow travelers, and the influence his work has had on generations of other creators.

In the 1960s, the underground film movement enjoyed an exposure and impact that is hard to imagine today, and the work of Brakhage, Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger and others were as celebrated then as the much more conventional films of "indie" auteurs are now. As this eye-opening documentary reveals, Stan Brakhage, perhaps more than anybody, helped spark that cultural revolution. More information on this film is available at:

http://www.zeitgeistfilm.com/current/brakhage/brakhage.html

Repeat performance of Other People's Movies in Concert, at Moore

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, January 28, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present a repeat performance of one if its most succesful presentations ever -- the Other People's Movies In Concert program that thrilled a capacity audience at The Print Center art gallery last October. Many people mentioned that they weren't able to see that show -- almost certainly the world's first screening of found home movies with an original, live musical score -- so the same exact program (same films, same music, same performers) will again unfurl, this time in the much larger Moore auditorium.

What could be better than peering into the private lives and obsessions of strangers, as revealed through their abandoned home movies from the 1920s through the 60s? Perhaps nothing, except enjoying the same with a specially prepared score, played live by a "supergroup" of Philadelphia's most creative indie-rock musicians. And that's exactly what's in store on Friday, January 28, when the Secret Cinema again presents Other People's Movies In Concert: Home Movies of Total Strangers with Live Musical Accompaniment by "The Secret Cinema Symposium."

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The Secret Cinema's first Other People's Movies presentation of found home movies was done in 1995 (using a soundtrack of old records). Since then, the popular program was repeated once locally (with different films), and also presented successfully in New York. In the same period, interest in home movies has been rapidly accelerating in film archives and the academic world, with these one-of-a-kind treasures finally achieving recognition as important windows to the past.

Other People's Movies In Concert is still one of the few-ever public screenings of old home movies, and likely the only one in the world with a specially prepared musical score. Well up to this task are "The Secret Cinema Symposium": Andrew Chalfen, Joe Genaro, Dave Schneck, Joseph Siwinski, and Ed Urmston. Individually, these talented musicians have helped shape Philadelphia's original rock scene of the last 15 years -- in such past and present bands as The Wishniaks, The Trolleyvox, Gimme, The Dead Milkmen, Butterfly Joe, The Big Mess Orchestra, Aquaport and Kahn Park. Together, they have painstakingly crafted new pieces of instrumental music to compliment the moods of these long lost images.

The home movies to be shown -- all projected in 16mm film on a giant screen -- will contain both black and white and color views, of world travels, private men's club parties, collections of flora and fauna, and even a mysterious exhumation at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Hot Wheels! Short Films About Hot Rods, Slot Cars,

Skateboards and More at Silk City

The Silk City Lounge
5th & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 592-8838

On Thursday, January 6, the Secret Cinema will return to the Silk City Lounge with another themed program of short films, this one focusing on all things that go! go! go! In Hot Wheels! Short Films About Hot Rods, Slot Cars, Skateboards and More, the title pretty much says it all -- except for the fact that most of the films come from those wonderful mid-1960s.

In between reels, there will be classic and obscure hot rod music, spun by Secret Cinema director Jay Schwartz.

There will be one complete show, starting at 10:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

Just a few program highlights are:

The Wonderful World of Wheels (1965?) - This super-colorful industrial film, produced by the Petersen group of automotive magazines, is hosted by the late Lloyd Bridges. Covering all forms of car racing, from the NHRA Winternationals of drag racing, to slot cars, to the Indy 500, to the custom space-age creations of George Barris and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, this 30 minute film was the inspiration for this entire Secret Cinema presentation! With great "now sound" music, photography by Vilmos Zsigmond (around the same time he was shooting Mondo Mod) and Laszlo Kovacs, plus an appearance by "Fabian, the popular singer-actor," you just can't go wrong.

Skaterdater (1966) - This amusing, touching, and wordless drama tells the story of an adolescent boy who is shunned by the fellow members of his skateboard gang when he falls for a young girl. The much-praised soundtrack consists of instrumental surf rock played by Davie Allan and the Arrows (and included his first use of fuzz guitar). The film was directed by Noel Black (Pretty Poison).

Hot Wheels (1969) - An episode from this rarely seen Saturday morning cartoon show, loosely based (or at least named after) the popular, then-new Mattel toy. The plot concerns crime fighting auto racers, and the theme song is by "Mike Curb and the Curbstones" (also with Davie Allan involvement?)

Plus much much more!

Old Films About Old Films About... at Moore

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, December 17, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will present a unique program of old short films, all of them concerned with filmmaking and film history. Old Films About Old Films About... provides several self-reflexive glimpses of the film industry, made when its story was only partially written. The films range from a comprehensive history of the movies made in 1933 by silent film pioneer J. Stuart Blackton, to a utopic look into a future of filmmaking without boundaries, as envisioned in 1968.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

A few highlights of Old Films About Old Films About... include:

A.M.P.A.S. shorts (1950) - In 1950, a series of one-reel theatrical shorts was made about various aspects of the film industry, under the guidance of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Each short was produced by a different studio. We'll show three: The Soundman (made by Columbia), The Art Director (20th Century-Fox), and The Screenwriter (studio not credited).

The Film That Was Lost (1942) - This vintage, MGM one-reeler, from their "John Nesbitt's Passing Parade" series, takes a look at the work of the Museum of Modern Art Film Library -- America's first film archive.

The Film Parade (1933) - This rare documentary was one of the very first to look backwards at a still young film industry. It was the last project of J. Stuart Blackton, who co-founded the Vitagraph studio in 1897 and later created the first animated cartoon, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces. This loving look back at the industry he helped invent is a fascinating piece of film history in itself, and employs Blackton-recreated clips of films that were unavailable to him.

The Shape of Films to Come (1968) - This segment of CBS' series The 21st Century took a look at emerging trends in "expanded cinema," with underground filmmakers using multi-media, multiple and split screen effects, and an interactive story. It's always interesting to look at past predictions of a glorious future that didn't quite achieve its potential, as the films of the 21st century look like they'll be quite conventional after all.

and more!

Other People's Movies in Concert at The Print Center

The Print Center
1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia
215-735-6090

What could be better than peering into the private lives and obsessions of strangers, as revealed through their abandoned home movies from the 1920s through the 60s? Perhaps nothing, except enjoying the same with a specially prepared score, played live by a "supergroup" of Philadelphia's most creative indie-rock musicians. And that's exactly what's in store on Friday, October 22, when the Secret Cinema presents Other People's Movies In Concert: Home Movies of Total Strangers with Live Musical Accompaniment by "The Secret Cinema Symposium."

Doors open at 7:30 pm. There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The Secret Cinema's first Other People's Movies presentation of found home movies was done in 1995. Since then, the popular program was repeated once locally (with different films), and also presented successfully in New York. In the same period, interest in home movies has been rapidly accelerating in film archives and the academic world, with these one-of-a-kind treasures finally achieving recognition as important windows to the past.

Other People's Movies In Concert is still one of the few-ever public screenings of old home movies, and likely the first in the world with a specially prepared musical score. Well up to this task are "The Secret Cinema Symposium": Andrew Chalfen, Joe Genaro, Dave Schneck, Joseph Siwinski, and Ed Urmston. Individually, these talented musicians have helped shape Philadelphia's original rock scene of the last 15 years -- in such past and present bands as The Wishniaks, The Trolleyvox, Gimme, The Dead Milkmen, Butterfly Joe, The Big Mess Orchestra, Aquaport and Kahn Park. Together, they have painstakingly crafted new pieces of instrumental music to compliment the moods of these long lost images.

The home movies to be shown -- all projected in 16mm film on a giant screen -- will contain some highlights from past Others People's Movies presentations, as well as reels never before seen in public. Included are both black and white and color views, of world travels, private men's club parties, collections of flora and fauna, and even a mysterious exhumation at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

The Print Center, an 85-year-old art gallery, is housed in a charming, converted 19th-century carriage house on Latimer Street. Founded in 1915 (and formerly known as The Print Club), The Print Center's mission is to support printmaking and photography as vital contemporary arts and to encourage the appreciation of the printed image in all its forms. The Print Center has featured the work of well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, Ansel Adams and Art Spiegelman. Today, The Print Center holds approximately 11 exhibitions annually, and offers residencies, mentoring opportunities for artists, and original artwork for sale in the Print Center Gallery Store. Membership numbers over 2,000.

The Secret Cinema at Moore:

lost Philadelphia films, renovated auditorium

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 4099

On Friday, September 3, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design will open its fall season with one of its most ambitious presentations yet, From Philadelphia With Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. While most area residents are familiar with Philadelphia films such as Rocky, Trading Places, and The Sixth Sense, there is a whole world of locally-made films that has been forgotten -- the "ephemeral" short films* that were primarily made by small independent companies for the then-booming non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesman have long discarded their 16mm film projectors, we at Secret Cinema have not, and proudly present a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

This show will also debut the newly-renovated auditorium at Moore. The facility has been completely done over with newly-upholstered seats, paint, carpeting and lighting -- and the same theater-sized screen we've been using for the last two years.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia With Love are:

The Story of Bubblegum (1952) - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Along the way we get a complete tour of the recently shuttered Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney, from its giant vats of pink rubber to its plant cafeteria and gardens and their amazing R&D department. Fleer is believed to have invented bubblegum in 1928, and its Dubble Bubble brand was a household name for most of this century.

Philadelphia With Love (1972) - Our "title film" is a colorful, tourism boosting paean to "Philadelphia -- a fabulous city that puts it all together!" The most recently-made part of our program, this perky reel still manages to show a lot of things that are gone, including Playhouse In The Park, the Perelman Toy Museum, Pub Tiki and George X. Schwartz -- not to mention a lot of long-vanished hairstyles. With special guest Sergio Franchi, singing the theme song on the Ben Franklin Parkway!

Brooklyn Goes To Philadelphia (1954) - This obscure theatrical short from Universal was part of a series of humorous travelogues narrated by wisecracking, thickly-accented Brooklynite Phil Foster. "Philadelphia is the third largest city in America...big deal!" Aside from dwindling population, the jokes about demolition of historic property and confusing parking regulations show that some things don't change.

And much much more...

*There are also many little-known feature films that have been made in Philadelphia, which tend to be ignored in round-ups of local films (particularly anything done pre-Rocky). We hope to present some of these in the not-too-distant future as well.

Free screening of TV Relics at Borders

Borders Book Shop
1727 Walnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 568-7400

The Secret Cinema will present a film screening at Borders Book Shop in Center City Philadelphia on Friday, June 18, of TV Relics. This hodgepodge harvest from the past vast wasteland collects rare kinescopes* made from television shows rarely rebroadcast, some with their original commercials intact.

The screening starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, and seating is first-come, first-served.

Some highlights from TV Relics are:

The Perry Como Show (1951) - A complete edition of Como's 15-minute music show, sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes. With songs by Perry and guest Helen O'Connell.

The Dating Game (1966) - One of the first big successes for Philadelphia-born game show producer Chuck Barris, this episode comes from the long running show's debut season. With original host (and former Top-40 disc jockey) Jim Lange, and original 1966 commercials.

The Hollywood Palace (1960s) - A "best-of" reel from the Cadillac of the now-extinct TV variety show, with brief snippets of a stunning array of big-name performers, including Dean Martin's infamous introduction of a then-unknown Rolling Stones.

1966 NBC Season Preview - Another long gone staple of the Big Three networks was their annual (or even twice-yearly) season preview specials, in which they presented what amounted to commercials for all of their new and returning programs. Fall 66 for NBC included the auspicious debuts of The Monkees, Star Trek and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., not to mention the more obscure T.H.E. Cat and Hey Landlord. Hosted by the never-to-be-forgotten comedy team of Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber.

Plus The Amazing World of Kreskin and other surprises.

*Kinescopes: This term refers to the 16mm film prints which were the only method of recording television broadcasts before the introduction of video tape in 1956. The system used a special camera which photographed a high-quality video monitor. Some kinescopes were still being made well into the 1970s, as a means of distribution to stations in smaller markets that weren't equipped to show video tape or network feeds. Thanks to the superior stability of traditional film over video tape, this period of broadcasting history may well survive longer than material which was only recorded magnetically, though as with theatrical films, much has been lost or simply misplaced. It can be assumed that at least some of TV Relics does not exist in studio vaults.

The Secret Cinema produces sixties-themed dance night

and multimedia happening A WHOLE SCENE GOING ON

The Trocadero
10th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 922-LIVE

The Secret Cinema is very excited to announce that it will be entering a whole new realm of entertainment when it presents A Whole Scene Going On -- a sixties-themed dance night with ace d.j.'s spinning only the best and rarest of mod, psych, soul and pop records. This will provide the aural component of a full-blown sensory overload, with multiple movie pop-art projections and special lighting effects, all sure to make A Whole Scene Going On the most crazed, full-on theme party ever.

A Whole Scene Going On happens in the main room of the Trocadero, on Saturday, June 5. Doors open at 9:00 pm and it lasts until 2:00 am. Tickets cost $6.00. All ages are welcome (bar is open to those 21 & over).

The visuals will make use of the full battery of Secret Cinema 16mm film projectors, with approximately ten machines (the set-up is still being designed) aimed on screens all around the room. Films projected will be a colorful assortment of mod moodpieces from the Secret Cinema archive.

The evening's d.j.'s will be:

Dave Brown - It is no exaggeration to say that Dave is one of the world's leading authorities on, and collectors of sixties music. He started his Distortions and Moulty Records labels about 15 years ago to reissue the best of lost garage and psych music, and they're still going strong. Like all of our d.j.'s, he is also a musician, and played drums in the legendary Lyres. Dave is sure to include some super-rare Philly soul sides, as a preview of his new Philly Archives imprint.

Andrew Chalfen - Andrew was one of the best radio d.j.'s in town, back when WXPN still had its great "Yesterday's Now Music Today" program. Reliable friend to jangly guitars, lush harmonies and feedback-drenched mod anthems, Andrew helps keep catchy pop songs alive in his own band Trolleyvox (as he did with the fondly-recalled Wishniaks).

William Walton - Eclectic D.J. William has been exposing all kinds of great music around Philadelphia in the last few years -- on WKDU, as part of the "Uptight" dance parties, and in his own headlining club spots. Experimental musician, home recordist, and respected secret agent in the national indie pop mafia, Bill is forever bridging the gap between The Monkees and Sun Ra.

A Whole Scene Going On is a production of the Secret Cinema, whose "curator" Jay Schwartz always wondered how many projectors he could set up without causing a power blackout. Local historians will recall that A Whole Scene... is vaguely reminiscent of Psych-Out!, a theme concert Schwartz presented to showcase the "Paisley Pop" movement of the early-mid 80s (mathematicians will calculate that Schwartz has been around longer than it is wise to admit).

"SITCOM ROCK: Rock N' Roll Episodes of Classic TV Comedies"

1999 Enhanced Version at the Trocadero

The Trocadero
10th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 922-LIVE

Sixties garage-band The Third Bardo complained on their most famous record that they were "Five Years Ahead Of My Time," and we here at Secret Cinema headquarters sympathize. A little over five years ago we presented what is still one of our best programming efforts, "Sitcom Rock," to a somewhat underwhelming response. "Sitcom Rock" showcases special episodes of classic situation comedies from the past -- all featuring rock band guest stars and/or rock n' roll storylines.

Now, in the light of a Third Bardo reunion (no lie!), an Austin Powers sequel, us getting calls to show "Sitcom Rock" and "Exotica Music Films" in cities across the country, and a 60s/mod/pop/etc. revival just getting up to speed that could dwarf all previous sixties revivals, the time seems ripe to present the 1999 Enhanced Version of "Sitcom Rock." Enhanced, because this time the rare film prints will be projected on the bigger screen of the Trocadero, because we will be showing more stuff than before (including material we've never screened anywhere), and because we will be sharing the big Troc stage with two period-friendly pop bands -- the also recently reformed Nixon's Head, and young surf-rock bucks The Vipers.

The show is on Saturday, May 29. There will be one complete program beginning at 9:30 pm. Doors open at 9:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Unlike the last two Secret Cinema screenings/concerts at the Troc, the films, bands and audience will all be in the big room (and not in the Balcony). And unlike other "movie nights" at the Troc/Balcony -- this program will be shown in 16mm film (not video).

Highlights of "Sitcom Rock" will include:

The Munsters: The Munsters agree to rent out their house to touring rock group The Standells. When they return, they find a way-out beatnik party in progress, but Herman soon gets in the spirit and tries out some impromptu beat poetry (The Standells, in a pre-"Dirty Water" phase, perform "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "Do The Ringo").

The Mothers-In-Law: In a special episode of this somewhat-forgotten series about the trials of two pairs of middle-agers coping with their married offspring, the older set have a go at managing wild primitive rockers Sky Saxon and The Seeds! This amazing show was directed by Desi Arnaz, and also features Joe Besser of The Three Stooges (what a meeting of the minds!).

The Flintstones: In "Shinrock-a-Go-Go," then-popular rock showcase Shindig and its host Jimmy O'Neill are caricatured, as are San Francisco's genius folk-rock/beat group The Beau Brummels. Fred inadvertently invents a new dance craze, "The Flintstone Flop," as "The Beau Brummelstones" play their hit "Laugh Laugh."

Plus much more, including The Andy Griffith Show (Opie's garage band play their first gig at a teen party), and Love American Style (with segments featuring both Davy Jones and Sonny & Cher).

The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design presents

local independent feature Magdalen

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 1235

In the latest of our continuing series of new and recent offbeat films, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present our first ever screening of a locally-made feature -- Magdalen, a provocative and unusual drama made by Andrew Repasky McElhinney. Magdalen goes against all current "indie" trends by stressing content over form, and acting and dialogue over flashy action or camera trickery. With remarkably assured direction and technical proficiency, McElhinney's debut feature becomes astonishing with the knowledge that the director was just seventeen years old when shooting began.

There will be four showings of Magdalen in the Moore auditorium, as follows:

Friday, May 21 - 8:00 & 10:00 pm
Saturday, May 22 - 8:00 & 10:00 pm

The screenings will also include unusual short subjects, and an introduction by the director. Admission is $6.00.

Magdalen (1998) Written and Directed by Andrew Repasky McElhinney
Photographed by Abe Holtz. Produced by Andrew Repasky McElhinney and Erica Downie
Starring Alix D. Smith, Moira Rankin, David Semonin, Jace Gaffney, Terry Jones
Described by its young director as "a gossipy meditation on art, drinking, smoking and screwing," Magdalen stars Alix D. Smith as the title character, an attractive, intelligent, but cynical and jaded woman, who has the unusual occupation of sitting in a bar and telling stories to lonely people for money. For the right fee, Magdalen customizes her yarn-spinning to the patrons' varying wants, be they erotic, romantic or simply needing comfort. Yet, her own impatience and troubled persona causes the guarded woman to sometimes say less -- or more -- than her customers bargained for. Magdalen's stories becomes confessional, and she receives confession in turn.

"Remarkably accomplished...unravels languidly, with stylish, moody black and white photography. Smith's presence on-screen is fascinating, unromantic and tough." - Carrie Tobey, Philadelphia Weekly.

Andrew Repasky McElhinney knew he wanted to become a filmmaker after seeing Dr. Strangelove at age 13. The precocious future auteur began watching all the movies he could from past masters, and was soon borrowing cameras to shoot his own short films. McElhinney's first 16mm production, the silent featurette A Maggot Tango (1995), was notable both for the director's beautiful photography and his skill in persuading most of the teenaged cast to remove their clothing for the camera. McElhinney has been developing a core company of actors and crew which he plans to use on future productions, much in the style of the young Orson Welles (who is -- along with Kubrick and Warhol -- Andrew's admitted role model). His second feature, A Chronicle Of Corpses, begins shooting this summer.

Philadelphia silent film pioneer Siegmund Lubin

to be paid tribute at Secret Cinema screening, talk

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 1235

The Secret Cinema presents A Tribute to the Siegmund Lubin Film Studios of Philadelphia. Saturday, April 10 at 8:00 pm. Admission: $6.00.

On Saturday, April 10, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present a special program devoted to Philadelphia's first and most prominent filmmaker, Siegmund Lubin, using films, slides, live music and a lecture by the world's leading authority on Lubin.

German-Jewish immigrant Lubin, an optician by trade, entered motion pictures in 1897, making primitive films in the backyard of his North Philadelphia home. By 1913 he'd become one of the giants of the industry, heading a global enterprise with four studios and hundreds of employees -- all headquartered in Philadelphia. Equal parts visionary, huckster, con-man and beloved paternal employer, "Pop" Lubin was one of the most colorful characters of the early cinema. He could be considered the father of exploitation movies -- one of his first efforts was a pseudo-newsreel of the famed Corbett-Fitzsimmons boxing match, staged with actors -- and was also an infamous bootlegger of other studios' film prints. But Lubin was a trailblazing pioneer in many positive areas, including the use of film for medical education and home movies.

Joseph P. Eckhardt has been researching the life and work of Lubin for 20 years, and is the author of The King of the Movies: Film Pioneer Siegmund Lubin (1997, Fairleigh Dickenson University Press). In the first part of our program, Mr. Eckhardt will give a lively talk covering the full story of the Lubin studios, illustrated by many fascinating slides (including several he took of local Lubin sites that have since been razed by the City of Philadelphia and uncaring businesses).

Then there will be a sampling of Lubin's cinematic output, including such short subjects as The Almighty Dollar (1910), Thrilling Detective Story (1906) and She Wanted a Car (a 1914 film with Oliver "Babe" Hardy). And along the way, Secret Cinema curator Jay Schwartz will explain how he stumbled upon a print of the previously lost 1907 Lubin film The Silver King, featuring a cameo by Siegmund Lubin himself (the film was restored by the Library of Congress, and will also be shown in our program).

Providing authentic live musical accompaniment to all of this early cinema will be Don Kinnier, Pennsylvania's most prominent (and only?) silent film musician. Don brought his keyboard expertise to both of our previous silent film screenings.

VISIT THE LUBIN WEBSITE

Warhol expert Victor Bockris in person at

Moore screening of 1965 film Kitchen

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 1235

On Friday, March 19, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present the latest in our ongoing exploration of the long-lost, original 1960s films of Andy Warhol, when we present Kitchen -- our first presentation to feature legendary debutante beauty turned Factory superstar Edie Sedgwick.

To make it even more of a special event (Kitchen has not been seen locally since the 1960s), before the film there will be a talk by Andy Warhol expert/rock journalist Victor Bockris. The British-born author has an extensive list of major biographies to his credit, including several books documenting the Warhol Factory scene: the definitive Andy Warhol: The Biography, Up-Tight: The Velvet Underground Story, Transformer: The Lou Reed Story, and the newly published What's Welsh For Zen?, co-written with Velvet Underground founder John Cale. Bockris has also written acclaimed books about Keith Richards, William Burroughs, Patti Smith, and Blondie.

Victor Bockris will give an informative talk before the screening about Andy Warhol and his filmmaking years. Afterwards, he will take questions from the audience about Kitchen, Warhol, or any of his other many areas of expertise.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

Kitchen (1965) Dir: Andy Warhol. 70 mins.
starring Edie Sedgwick, Rene Ricard, Roger Trudeau, Donald Lyons, Elecktrah, David McCabe
One of many Andy Warhol films made in 1965 that starred alluring debutante-turned-Factory Superstar Edie Sedgwick, Kitchen (unlike other Edie vehicles like Poor Little Rich Girl and Beauty #2) was not a slice-of-life interview but a scripted comedy about life at a couple's breakfast table. Still, any Warhol film from that period, despite "scripts" and "acting," contains a large chunk of time-capsule reality, chronicling to an extent the real-life locations and unique personalities that orbited around the Factory scene. Norman Mailer commented about it's gritty fidelity that "100 years from now people will look at Kitchen and say, "Yes, that is the way it was in the late 50s, early 60s in America. That's why they had the war in Vietnam...That's why the horror came down. Kitchen shows that better than any other work of that time."

The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design

presents premiere of Nick Broomfield's Fetishes

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 1235

In the latest of its continuing series of new and recent offbeat films, The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design will present the Philadelphia premiere of Fetishes--a feature-length documentary on the secret world of S&M parlors and dominatrixes, directed by Nick Broomfield (Kurt And Courtney).

There will be four showings of Fetishes in the Moore auditorium, as follows:

Friday, February 5 - 8:00 & 10:00 pm
Saturday, February 6 - 8:00 & 10:00 pm

The screenings will also include unusual short subjects. Admission is $6.00.

Fetishes (1997) Dir: Nick Broomfield
Whether probing the mind of a female serial killer, or exploring the life of Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss, award winning documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield has established himself as a master of sticking his nose into places that fascinate viewers. In Fetishes, Broomfield turns his cameras on the still largely underground world of sexual fetishism and sadomasochism. Spending over two months at Pandora's Box, the most infamous S&M parlor in New York, Broomfield encountered and studied all manners of fetishistic behavior during his tireless quest for understanding of this age old phenomenon.

Fetishes not only explores the minds of the clients, but also the women that create the fantasies for their customers. What kind of people visit these parlors? What makes grown men want to wear diapers? What could possibly be the attraction of asphyxiation? These questions and others are answered in this shocking but fascinating film.

Broomfield, one of the most influential and prolific documentarians working today, has amassed a body of work spanning subject matters that universally intrigue audiences. Nominated for an Academy Award for his documentary of serial killer Aileen Wournos and winning a British Academy Award for his study of women in army life (Soldier Girls), he has also covered such subjects as Lily Tomlin, Margaret Thatcher, the British aristocracy, and a legalized brothel in Nevada. Last year, his hit film Kurt And Courtney generated international headlines when its subject Courtney Love attempted to halt its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Some critics' quotes on Fetishes:

"Fascinating, horrifying, funny and sad." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"I like the film so much it hurts." - Michael Musto, The Village Voice

"Fleiss was fascinating; the even better Fetishes is revelatory." - Stephan Talty, Time Out NY

The Secret Cinema presents

Exotica Films 2: Music and More! at Silk City

The Silk City Lounge
5th & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 592-8838

On Thursday, January 28, the Secret Cinema will present Exotica Films 2: Music and More! at the Silk City Lounge. This collection of ultra-rare footage will showcase a unique collection of filmed musical performances from a variety of offbeat jazz, pop, and rock artists from around the globe. The films come from a variety of sources, including very early TV shows, film jukeboxes from the 1940s ("Soundies"), and select feature film clips. This long awaited follow-up to the Secret Cinema's Exotica Music Films program of two and a half years ago features 100% new programming--little of which is likely to have been seen before by anybody attending!

Doors open at 9:00 pm. The screening begins at 10:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

Just some of the performers shown on the big screen will include: Astrud Gilberto, Desi Arnaz, Trini Lopez, and Carmen Miranda.

Adding extra spice to this celluloid smorgasboard is a selection of equally arcane short subjects, without musicians but plenty of exoticism: Technicolor travelogues of Caribbean isles, coming attraction "trailers" for Maria Montez adventure movies, a 1920s silent film on "Ceylon Devil Dancers and Buddas," and a look at tiki carving and other customs of the South Seas.

Plus, scenes from a never-shown-in-the-U.S. French TV special, World Music et Setect, featuring organ jazz/pop-rock instro combo André Brasseur et son Orchestre, Peter Max-like animation and pop-art special effects.

Plus, a sampling of Disk Jockey TV Toons. These lost artifacts from early 50s broadcasting were marketed to local television stations for use as filler programming during Hit Parade-type shows. The low-budget, bizarre visualizations are essentially rock videos with no soundtracks, and were made to be shown with suggested popular records.

Exotica Films 2: Music and More! will also be screened at Fez, 380 Lafayette Street in New York City, on Friday, January 29. For information, call (212) 533-2680.

The Secret Cinema presents Creepy Christmas Films

at the Griffin Cafe

The Griffin Cafe
230 Market Street, Philadelphia
(215) 829-1050

On Thursday, December 17, the Secret Cinema will return to the Griffin Cafe to present Creepy Christmas Films--a special program of vintage Yuletide shorts featuring frightening puppets, demonic animals, and maudlin sentiments.

As an added bonus, interspersed randomly between the films will be glimpses of strangers' Christmas home movies, showcasing a nostalgic array of old toys and synthetic trees.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

A few highlights of the program include:

Santa In Animal Land - In this bizarre one-reeler, animal puppets (with some of the most painfully cloying voices ever recorded) bemoan the fact that there is no official Christmas celebration in the animal kingdom, and set out to complain to Santa Claus about their situation..

Davey & Goliath: Christmas Lost & Found - A special edition of the early-'60s, long-rerun clay animation series from Gumby creator Art Clokey (and funded by the Lutheran Council of Churches). Sourpuss Davey searches his town in desperation for the true Christmas spirit, finding little consolation even in the antics of his lovable talking dog Goliath.

A Visitor For Christmas - "But we can't have Aunt Hattie here--she'll ruin our Christmas!" Mawkish live-action drama produced by the Family Films religious studio, in which every member of a typical American family complains about the impending visit of their hated aunt. With Lassie star Tommy Rettig.

Howdy Doody's Christmas - Buffalo Bob, Clarabelle, "Ugly Sam," and the grandfather of creepy marionettes, Howdy Doody, all join forces in this painful short film made specially for home and school projectors in 1951 to capitalize on the popularity of television's The Howdy Doody Show.

Note: Creepy Christmas Films will be the last Secret Cinema presentation of 1998!

The 2nd Annual SECRET CINEMA HALLOWEEN SCREAM-O-THON

at the Griffin Cafe

The Griffin Cafe
230 Market Street, Philadelphia
(215) 829-1050

On Thursday, October 29, the Secret Cinema will present another Halloween grab bag of film combining a weird, sick humor 60s horror feature, scenes from classic Universal monster movies, rare trailers from select horror films, The Flintstones Meet The Gruesomes, and the gut-wrenching gore of real life, as depicted in two brutal eye surgery films. It all takes place at the Griffin Cafe, site of last year's Scream-O-Thon.

We hear reports that the capacity audience at the last show still have trouble sleeping (and holding down food), after screaming their heads off at the grisly carnage of drivers' ed and venereal disease films. This year's Scream-O-Thon contains all-new, even more horrifying programming.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

The 2nd Secret Cinema Halloween Scream-o-thon contains the following:

The Undertaker And His Pals (1967 - Dir: David C. Graham) - A genuinely disturbing blend of gore and sick humor, this tells the story of a leather-jacketed group of bikers who randomly slay innocent females, then serve up the body parts in their greasy spoon restaurant. In the process, they create business for their silent partner, a prissy, Franklin Pangborn-esque undertaker who sells cut-rate funerals complete with trading stamps. "A classic of its kind," says The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film -- but surely one of the only of its kind as well.

Famous Movie Monsters (1931-54) - A compendium of the key scenes from Universal's most famous monster movies, including Dracula, Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy and more.

The Flintstones Meet The Gruesomes (1964) - The early-'60s "Chiller Theatre" years were a bonanza period for horror in all realms of pop culture. Television introduced The Addams Family and The Munsters, and soon even the modern stone-age family got into the act by introducing The Gruesomes, a Charles Addams inspired clan that moved next door to Fred and Wilma and became recurring characters. This was their first appearance.

Rare Trailers (1940s-1980s) - Coming attractions clips for Phantom Of The Opera, Motel Hell, and more.

Eye Surgery Films (1950s) - Yes...two separate medical films illustrating (in full color) various surgical procedures on tender, vulnerable eyeballs! It closes the show because nothing could possibly follow it.

The Secret Cinema continues Halloween horror month

with free screening of surreal classic Vampyr at Borders

Borders Book Shop
1727 Walnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 568-7400

The Secret Cinema will present a free screening at Borders Book Shop in Center City Philadelphia on Friday, October 23, with a screening of Carl Theodor Dreyer's surreal classic of psychological horror Vampyr. This event is the second in the Secret Cinema's October series of creature features, which is taking place at five different venues around town.

While the scheduling of our first foreign film might suggest that we've gone "art house," in fact Vampyr is "Secret Cinema-y" on several counts: relatively obscure, a commercial failure, weird, difficult to see in projected form, and genuinely creepy.

The screening starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, and seating is first-come, first-served.

A complete description of the film follows:

Vampyr (1931, Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer)
After universal acclaim for his silent masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc, Dreyer, considered Denmark's greatest director, wished "to create a daydream on the screen and show that the horrific is not to be found around us but is in our own unconscious mind." That aim was achieved in Vampyr, ostensibly the story of a nervous-looking young man who arrives at a country inn and becomes increasingly fearful of the people and events awaiting within. Through the use of disorienting editing, atmospheric camerawork (including backwards motion and a heavy use of shadows), bizarre characters and incidents, and an eerie score by Wolfgang Zeller, Dreyer created a dreamlike panorama where menace lurks everywhere, even though little appears to actually "happen" in terms of traditional horror film action.

The project was privately financed by the Baron Nicolas de Gunzberg, who also stars (under the alias "Julian West") in the lead role of the dread-filled David Gray. Part of his qualifications was his multi-lingual fluency. Vampyr was made with its minimal dialogue scenes shot separately -- and silently -- for German, French, and English editions, with the soundtrack post-dubbed at Germany's famed UFA studios. Most of the cast were similarly non-professional, and it was to be de Gunzberg's only film involvement (33 years later, he was found by Film Culture magazine to be serving as Senior Fashion editor at Vogue).

Carl Theodor Dreyer was born in Copenhagen to a strict Lutheran family, and spent time as a cafe pianist, bookkeeper, and journalist (specializing in the new field of air sports), before entering the movie business in 1912 as a title writer. He directed his first film, The President, in 1918, and made seven more features before the critically lauded (but financially unprofitable) The Passion of Joan of Arc. After Vampyr won over neither contemporary critics nor ticket buyers, Dreyer returned to journalism until his comeback 12 years later with Day Of Wrath.

The Secret Cinema begins Halloween horror month

with rare color Bela Lugosi film Scared To Death

George's 5th St. Cafe
517 S. 5th Street, Philadelphia
(215) 925-3500

On Thursday, October 8, the Secret Cinema will launch a month-long festival of Halloween horrors, with a screening at George's 5th Street Cafe of the Bela Lugosi film Scared To Death. The rare Cinecolor print contains Lugosi's only color production, which was also the only horror film made in 1947. The series of creature features will continue though October, with five different horror presentations at various Secret Cinema venues.

George's 5th St. Cafe, the intimate, comfortable spot just off of South Street, will serve food, snacks and beverages throughout the screening (which will also include unusual short films from the Secret Cinema archives).

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

Below is a complete description of the feature.

Scared To Death (Dir: Christy Cabanne. 1947)
This obscure wonder was the only horror film made in 1947, and Bela Lugosi's sole color feature. Told in a series of flashbacks narrated by a female corpse lying on a mortuary slab, the strained story brings together George Zucco as the victim's sinister physician father-in-law, Lugosi as a mysterious stranger with a murky past as a vaudeville hypnotist, prolific movie dwarf Angelo Rossitto (Freaks) as Bela's wordless and completely-unexplained sidekick, star-in-decline Joyce Compton, and comic character players Nat Pendleton and Douglas Fowley (father of weirdo record producer Kim Fowley). Scared To Death is a bewilderingly surreal, comic opera of overwrought dialogue and ripe performances, with a script that recalls the "best" of Ed Wood (though perhaps not quite as floridly written as the master's works). "Watch it closely and decide: Had the actors ever seen the script? Were some of them under the influence of a very disorienting drug? Fascinating." - The Psychotronic Encylopedia of Film.

Scared To Death was made in the now-obscure Cinecolor process, a would-be rival to Technicolor that used a similar imbibition dye-transfer process, but with less chromatic range. The result is a gaudy, dreamlike look that perfectly suits this bizarre little film. We will be projecting a very rare, 51-year-old original Cinecolor print from the year of the film's production.

Director Christy Cabanne (pronounced CA-ba-nay) entered motion pictures in 1910 as an actor in D.W. Griffith's Biograph films. He soon became Griffith's assistant, and started directing in 1913, working with many of the greatest stars of the silent era. Cabanne worked as second unit director on the 1926 classic Ben-Hur, before settling into a later career of making low-budget programmers. Cabanne directed well over 100 feature films, of which Scared To Death was one of his last.

The Secret Cinema returns to Moore College of Art and Design

with Andy Warhol's The Chelsea Girls

Moore College of Art and Design
20th & the Parkway, Philadelphia
(215) 568-4515, ext. 1135

On Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19, The Secret Cinema will launch its second year at Moore College of Art & Design with the first Philadelphia screening in three decades of Andy Warhol's epic masterpiece The Chelsea Girls.

First released in late 1966 and shown continually across the country for the next two years, The Chelsea Girls was a commercial breakthrough for Warhol, exposing the colorful underground world of his Factory regulars to mainstream movie audiences for the first time. Yet The Chelsea Girls is a daring and uncompromising film, consisting of 12 separate reels each featuring a different cast of "superstars" in improvisational (and sometimes documentary), sordid slices of life. The reels, both black and white and color, are shown two at a time, side by side, providing a constant shifting and phasing of context and perception. The total running time is three and a half hours.

The Chelsea Girls is the perfect film to begin a second year of The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design. While The Secret Cinema continues to present films at many other fine venues around Philadelphia (and elsewhere!), Moore -- with its comfortable auditorium, generous seating capacity, and giant screen -- has become the SC flagship location for extra special programming and larger events (such as last spring's screening of the Warhol film The Velvet Underground and Nico, which drew a huge crowd that was lined up around the block outside). The 1998-99 season promises to include more special film events and Philadelphia premieres.

There will be one screening each night, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

More facts about The Chelsea Girls:

· Featured cast members include Eric Emerson, Nico, Mary Woronov, Ondine, Gerard Malanga, Ingrid Superstar, Marie Menken, International Velvet, Brigid Polk and Mario Montez.

· Many scenes include special (and otherwise unreleased) music composed and performed by The Velvet Underground.

· The 12 individual reels of The Chelsea Girls were later released as separate films, with titles such as Room 732-The Pope Ondine Story and Room 116 - Hanoi Hanna.

· Scenes were shot not only at the famous Chelsea Hotel of the title, but at the Velvets' West 3rd Street apartment, the Factory, and other Manhattan locations. The concept of all of the stories taking place in the same hotel was added as a unifying device, but after the Chelsea Hotel threatened a lawsuit, subsequent screenings omitted references to room numbers.

"A fascinating and significant movie event...The Illiad of the underground." - Jack Kroll, Newsweek

"Warhol's people are more real than real...certainly worth a visit if you're interested in life on this planet." - The Village Voice

"A travelogue of hell...a grotesque menagerie of lost souls whimpering in a psychedelic moonscape." - The New York Times

"If anybody wants to know what those summer days of 66 were like in New York with us, all I can say is go see Chelsea Girls. I've never seen it without feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was right back there all over again." - Andy Warhol, in his 1980 book Popism: The Warhol 60s.

The Secret Cinema joins '60s-esque bands at The Balcony

with Rare Surf Films from the '60s and Beyond

The Balcony, 10th & Arch Streets, Philadelphia · (215) 922-LIVE

The Secret Cinema comes to The Balcony nightclub on Saturday, June 6th, joining an evening of '60s inspired live rock bands to present a program of Rare Surf Films from the '60s and Beyond. The films--shown in 16mm honest-to-goodness celluloid film -- will be projected on the jumbo movie screen of the Trocadero, in between sets by a bitchin' line up of live rock talent gracing the Balcony stage (the newly worn carpeting between the two rooms will be replaced by an overnight crew after the show).

Doors open at 9:00 pm. There will be one complete show, starting at 10:00 pm. The Secret Cinema portion runs about an hour and will take place between the first and second bands. Admission is $6.00.

Needless to say, Rare Surf Films from the '60s and Beyond includes stuff unlikely to be seen elsewhere. The short films, largely from the 1960s peak years of the surfing craze, include:

The Moods Of Surfing - Dynamically photographed views of incredible wave action are edited to a wordless soundtrack of groovy orchestration, reminiscent of Lee Hazlewood.

How Do They Make Surfboards? - Segment from a rare NBC children's TV series demonstrating just that, with brief interruptions from Woody Allen and Jonathan Winters.

Hawaii - A vintage travelogue (circa 1937?) that includes, in addition to views of glowing volcanoes and swaying hula girls, Duke Kamanahoku and other surf pioneers piloting gigantic, boatlike surfboards over the white caps of Waikiki Beach.

Plus much more surfing film!

The retro rocket-fueled band roster includes modly-attired Lancaster swanksters The Omega Men, playing a poly-genre blend of '60s sounds (with a preview of material from their soon-to-come second full-lengther), Philly's own kings of the wild surf The Vipers (a spin-off of the popular After Dinner Mints), and surfy new locals Them Trucks.

Like all Secret Cinema events--and unlike other "movie nights" at the Balcony--this program will be shown in 16mm film (not video, never ever). The last time the Secret Cinema projectors lit up the Troc screen was for the 1995 presentation of The Sugar-Charged Saturday Morning Explosion.

The Secret Cinema presents Philadelphia premiere of

Screwed: Al Goldstein's Kingdom Of Porn

The Secret Cinema will be presenting another in its occasional series of premiere presentations of new films, with the showing of the independent documentary Screwed: Al Goldstein's Kingdom Of Porn. This feature-length film casts an unblinking eye on the seamy, nasty world of the legendary Goldstein, for thirty years the maverick publisher of Screw magazine.

Screwed has played selected festivals and art houses across the country, but the onus of its Philadelphia premiere falls on the unblinking projectors of the Secret Cinema. It will debut at Moore College of Art & Design on Friday, April 17 (where our recently upgraded projection equipment now provides a fully movie-theater sized image!), and will show again at the intimate, comfortable and alcohol-friendly upstairs of Fergie's Pub on Sunday, April 19, for a total of four screenings in all (see below).

When Al Goldstein began publishing his smut rag Screw in 1968, he became notorious overnight. Screw's blend of iconoclastic ranting, total disregard for authority and graphic sex landed Goldstein in jail within days of its premiere. It was the first of many incarcerations for Al, who became the first man to beat a federal obscenity rap (years before Larry Flynt even started Hustler). Goldstein soon established a reputation as a pugnacious little guy who could battle corporate giants and win.

Yet Screwed, an 85-minute documentary by Alexander Crawford, is no Hollywood bio-pic where behavior is justified and there is validation at the end. Screwed is an unflinching look at the remorselessly fat, obnoxious, cigar-smoking pornographer, and is as raw as Goldstein himself. It travels from his humble birthplace in Brooklyn to his opulent homes in Manhattan and Beverly Hills, to the set of his latest porno film Tales From The Clit. We even get a close-up look at the lonely customers who keep the porn world operating, loners who are unable to imagine their lives without lap dances, peep shows and cheap hookers.

Screwed features an underground-rock soundtrack with songs by Mudhoney, Boss Hog, and Philadelphia's own Strapping Fieldhands (the soundtrack album is available on Amphetamine Reptile Records).

Screwed was produced by Todd Phillips (who directed the notorious Hated: GG Allin & The Murder Junkies) and Andrew Gurland (co-founder of the NY Underground Film Festival). Director Andrew Crawford attended NYU, where he met Phillips and served as editor of Hated.

Screwed will be shown at two venues on two dates:

Friday, April 17, 8:00 & 10:00 pm, at The Moore College of Art and Design, 20th Street & the Parkway, Philadelphia, (215) 568-4515, ext. 1135.

and also

Sunday, April 19, 8:00 & 10:00 pm, at Fergie's Pub (upstairs), 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, (215) 928-8118.

Admission to all Screwed screenings is $6.00.

Reservations for all Screwed screenings can be made via email, just click below...

The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design

to screen original Velvet Underground films

Moore College of Art and Design, 20th & the Parkway, Philadelphia (215) 568-4515, ext. 1135

On Friday, March 20, The Secret Cinema will present a special evening of film devoted to The Velvet Underground, to include what is possibly the first Philadelphia screening ever (and certainly the first local screening since the 1960s) of Andy Warhol's The Velvet Underground And Nico: A Symphony Of Sound. This 70 minute feature includes the only synchronous sound footage of the band playing on film, captured at Warhol's legendary Factory at the peak of their powers.

Also to be shown is Jonas Mekas' Scenes From The Life of Andy Warhol, which includes rare footage of the Velvet Underground's debut public performance, at a psychiatrists' convention (!) in New York. This is historical film indeed, and some of the only extant film of what would become the second most influential rock band of the 1960s.

There will be one screening only, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $6.00.

The Velvet Underground And Nico: A Symphony Of Sound (1966, 70 mins. Dir: Andy Warhol) - While Andy Warhol introduced the Velvets to the world though his multi-media extravaganza "The Exploding Plastic Inevitable," he was also immersed in making a groundbreaking series of experimental films. He would use VU music in a number of his films as well as occasional band member cameos in works such as The Chelsea Girls. This, however, is the only title from Warhol's prolific '60s output to star the group. It features a live performance at the Factory, captured in the only sync-sound footage of the VU known to exist. Symphony Of Sound is shot in Warhol's minimal, laissez-faire style which generally let events unfold before the camera without intrusion. In this case, the events included an otherwise-unreleased, freewheeling "Sister Ray"-esque jam, Nico's (and Alain Delon's) young son Ari wandering around in the mayhem, and New York Police officers coming in to stop the racket.

Scenes From The Life Of Andy Warhol (1990, 40 mins. Dir: Jonas Mekas) - A recent assemblage of various footage Mekas shoot during his long friendship with Warhol, which includes documentation of the very first "Exploding Plastic Inevitable" performance by the Velvet Underground, at a New York convention of psychiatrists on January 14, 1966 (this footage was also used in Mekas' earlier Diaries, Notes And Sketches). The soundtrack was taped at a very early concert, slightly later. Mekas was not only a filmmaker but, as publisher of Film Culture magazine and underground film critic for The Village Voice, the mentor of the whole '60s avant garde cinema scene. His criticism contained some of the most passionate writing ever done about film. Mekas has directed the Anthology Film Archives for four decades.

"The churning, clunking, clanking, and cranking of this earliest incarnation of the VU, recorded at the legendary psychiatrists convention gig, thrills with musical extremes and a sense of adventure...to any VU collector, this music, along with the Symphony of Sound jam, are probably the most important work of the Velvets in that it reveals the roots for all the phases to follow." - WHAT GOES ON, The Official Magazine of the Velvet Underground Appreciation Society

Borders Book Shop, 1727 Walnut Street, Philadelphia · (215) 568-7400

The Secret Cinema will present a free screening at Borders Book Shop in Center City Philadelphia on Tuesday, February 17, with a showing of The Secret Cinema Cavalcade of Commercials.

Cavalcade is a specially assembled evening of rare TV commercials from the '50s, '60s and '70s, both classic and obscure.The vintage views of toothpaste, pain reliever, cereal, cigarettes, automobiles, soft drinks, appliances, hairspray, cleansers and much more should leave the audience with a craving to consume -- or at least a strong urge to run to the bathroom.

Just a few highlights from the approximately 90-minute program are: A pre-stardom Cybill Shepherd flashing a smile for Ultra Brite, circa 1969; 70s TV icons Mr. Whipple (Charmin toilet paper) and Cora (Maxwell House coffee, played by screen great Margaret Hamilton); examples of the lost television contraband known as cigarette commercials, and a hilarious, early infomercial (1952!) for a spot removing wonder product which proves that today's late-night paid-programming is no less subtle than its ancestors.

Interspersed with the above will be forgotten public service announcements and a few TV spots for feature films. The entire program will be projected in 16mm film (not video) on a screen frighteningly larger than these ads were ever meant to be seen.

The screening starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, and seating is first-come, first-served. If time allows, there will be a group sing-along of "Oh, Those Golden Grahams." Just kidding!

Moore College of Art and Design, 20th & the Parkway, Philadelphia (215) 568-4515, ext. 1135

On Friday, January 23, The Secret Cinema will present Scopitone Party, a unique collection of music films from the early and mid 1960s. They were originally made for a French film jukebox called Scopitone, which entertained patrons in bars, cafes and bus stations in both Europe and America. The film clips, which feature performers both famous and obscure -- and are considered to be among the more important of the many predecessors to the modern rock video -- are today quite scarce, and usually difficult to see.

Shown will be a large assortment of the precious prints (most of which were discovered by a film collector, in pristine, never-used condition, in the long-warehoused inventory of a retired Virginia jukebox dealer). But adding interest to the Scopitone Party program will be a special talk about the history of film jukeboxes (which date back to the 1940s), illustrated with color slides of rare photos and original advertising materials.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

The "lecture" (well, gosh, I guess it is!) will be given by Secret Cinema curator Jay Schwartz, who made the same presentation recently in Spain at the 35th Internacional Festival de Cine de Gijon, where he was invited to collaborate on programming. At the prestigious festival's close, the international jury voted to give a special award to the Secret Cinema for "collecting, preserving and showing the treasures of obscure cinema, films otherwise ignored or forgotten."

Scopitone Party will include performances by such well-known names as Dion, Nancy Sinatra, Paul Anka and Procul Harum. Also on view will be many French pop performers, including currently in retro-vogue names like Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, rockabilly-belting Johnny Hallyday, and doomed chanteuse Dalida. And then there are mystifying, bizarre clips by the British Elvis imitator Vince Taylor, a quartet of singing Jerry Lewis-types named Les Brutos, and even a few songs by performers whose names were lost to history (including one young miss who sings the song "Scopitone Party," as her bikini-clad friends dance up a frenzy next to a poolside Scopitone machine).

While some Scopitone films were included at the 1996 Secret Cinema program Exotica Music Films, this is our first all-Scopitone presentation, and most of this celluloid has not been unspooled in Philadelphia since the machines were still running in the '60s (there must have been one here somewhere!).

The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art and Design presents

THE SECRET CINEMA AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL:

School Life and Moral Guidance in the '70s & '80s

Moore College of Art and Design, 20th & the Parkway, Philadelphia · (215) 568-4515, ext. 1135

Break out the Crayolas and circle December 12 in your inner child's appointment book -- that's when the Secret Cinema goes warm and fuzzy and presents THE SECRET CINEMA AFTERSCHOOL SPECIAL: School Life and Moral Guidance in the '70s & '80s at Moore College of Art and Design's auditorium.

The program consists of several rare short films made for school projectors and television. While none of them are believed to be from The ABC Afterschool Special (which featured longer programs), some perhaps share that series' comforting and now nostalgic perspective. Sprinkled in will also be some earlier looks at school life.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $5.00.

Some highlights of the program are:

The Party (1971-2?) - Picture this...three high school couples make a weekend trip to the seaside home of someone's absent hipster uncle, with the primary objective of getting laid. A young Meredith Baxter-Birney (actually just Baxter then) counsels her nervous, virgin friend ("Hey, don't get uptight...all you have to do is relax. You've got it all together -- you've got a guy you dig with experience, a fantastic pad, the ocean -- the whole thing!"), all as a very long-haired Billy Mumy (Lost In Space, Bless The Beasts And Children) sings and strums a James Taylor-ish love ballad in the background.

Junior High School (1977) - A 40-minute featurette offering embarrassing musical slices of life in school, most notable for the appearance of a 14 or 15-year-old Paula Abdul (who gives a perky performance singing "We're Gonna Have a Party!"). The plot focuses on a Ricky Segall-lookalike who wears puka shells and frets over asking a girl to the dance, between countless painfully cloying songs, like a modern, shorter (but perhaps not better) Grease.

Mr. Gimme (1979) - An actually warm and enjoyable story of a kid who wants to buy a set of drums, to play in his Beatles/Stallone/Andy Gibb-postered bedroom. To earn the money, he goes into business selling greeting cards, learning valuable lessons and wearing Kiss and Led Zeppelin t-shirts along the way.

And, yes, we realize that's a lantern slide projector and not a motion picture projector in the illustration above. Rest assured that as usual, this program will be projected in high quality 16mm film. We never use video, but we're not ruling out lantern slides at some future point.

The Secret Cinema presents Philadelphia premiere of

8-track epic So Wrong They're Right

The Secret Cinema will be presenting its second ever "first-run" feature film, the independent documentary So Wrong They're Right. This feature-length film covers the little-known but growing cult of people who collect 8-track tapes! Both funny and informative, it's not a film about '70s nostalgia as some might suggest, but serves as a statement of outrage from a population of consumers who are tired of being told what to consume.

So Wrong They're Right has been seen in theaters and festivals across the country and in Europe (and a print is currently being distributed in the Pacific Northwest by bicycle!), but the Philadelphia premiere will be at our new venue, the Moore College of Art and Design, on Friday, September 12. The Secret Cinema will also show the film the following two nights in the intimate, comfortable upstairs of Fergie's Pub, for a total of six screenings in all.

So Wrong They're Right is a 92-minute documentary encapsulating a 10,000 mile journey around the U.S. in search of 8-track tape and player fanatics. The result is over 20 separate segments which delve into reminiscences, rants, political diatribes, fantasies, fix-it tips, sales pitches, and everything else defining the skeptical yet inquisitive mind of the '90s 8-track enthusiast. Director Russ Forster has been, for the last seven years, the publisher of the fanzine 8-Track Mind. The quirky publication has attracted notice from The Washington Post, Time, Rolling Stone, Stereophile Magazine, and many others. The growth of the 'zine and the community of "trackers" who read it was the primary inspiration for Forster to direct this, his first feature film (after a series of 16mm shorts). He continues to publish 8-Track Mind, which recently has been anthologized in three different books available in mainstream stores (RE/Search's Zines! Vol. 2, The Factsheet Five Zine Reader, and The Book of Zines: Readings From The Fringe).

So Wrong They're Right will be shown at two venues on three consecutive dates:

Friday, September 12, 8:00 & 10:00 pm, at The Moore College of Art And Design, 20th Street & the Parkway, Philadelphia, (215) 568-1515.

and also

Saturday, September 13 and Sunday, September 14, 8:00 & 10:00 pm (both days),

at Fergie's Pub (upstairs), 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, (215) 928-8118.

Admission to all So Wrong They're Right screenings is $6.00.

Reservations for all So Wrong They're Right screenings can be made by email...click HERE

SOME INTERESTING 8-TRACK LINKS:

Frequently Asked Questions about 8-track tapes

The invention of the 8-track format

A story about the largest 8-track discovery ever...the legendary "Gumball" collection

The last Secret Cinema premiere presentation, of Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King, was an unqualified success. There were good crowds at all five screenings, a lively discussion with director Jeff Feuerzeig on opening night, and unanimous positive reviews of the film in the Philadelphia press. We'll continue to search for overlooked new and recent films that fit into the ever-expanding Secret Cinema oeuvre; however, we will also continue to focus on celluloid treasures from the past.

On Friday, August 22, The Secret Cinema will set up its portable screening room in its newest location -- Deluxe, the mixed entertainment nightclub/ restaurant in Center City. The premiere screening there will be a program of Campy Shorts, presenting a variety of rare and humorous celluloid treasures, including ancient educational films from home-economics classes, musical clips, strange topical newsreels, and long-forgotten TV footage.

Interspersed with the films will be a special live performance by statuesque singer "Brittany Lynn," who will prepare a Hollywood-themed set of songs for the occasion.

There will be two different programs presented, at 10:00 pm and 12:00 midnight. Admission is $5.00

Deluxe, 305 S. 11th Street, Philadelphia · (215) 829-9105

Just a few of the program highlights are:

Let's Give a Tea - A rare 1940s educational film in still-glorious Kodachrome color, on a subject perhaps too long absent from school curriculums: etiquette. A group of bobby-soxers throws a formal tea party as their class project, as an off-screen narrator provides instruction, and frank disapproval of their frequent faux pas.

Soundies - Musical clips originally presented on a film jukebox, including songs like "Chaquita Banana," "I Ain't Got Nobody" (sung by the unforgettable Francis Faye), and "I'm Going To Be A Bad Girl."

Mrs. How-t' Do-It - An informative program from the early days of television, in this episode giving helpful hints on how to spruce up a drab home with decorative decals. By the end of the show, Mrs. Do-It goes a little insane, applying them to non-porous surfaces in every corner of the house.

Before and after the shows, D.J. Verb will be spinning acid jazz, soul, and funk records in the downstairs lounge.

SECRET CINEMA NEWS

The screenings of Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King, our first "first-run" feature (have to use the word "feature" because we premiered a short film, Karen Carpenter's Slumber Party, a few years back at the Troc), went very well. There were good crowds at each of five screenings, unanimously positive reviews in the press, and two nice Q&A sessions with director Jeff Feuerzeig on opening night, for which almost everybody stayed. Jeff was thrilled with the turnout, saying it was as good as any other major city's response when the film first opened elsewhere a few years ago. We'd like to thank Jeff, The Painted Bride, Fergie's, everyone who reviewed the film (putting a Secret Cinema event, at last, on a par with any other theater in town), all of the friends who helped out, and Jad Fair for being himself and making the whole thing possible. We definitely are planning to show more new films...but fear not, we will never stop showing the forgotten celluloid of the past.

On Saturday, August 16, the Secret Cinema will present its first screening in New York. We'll be showing the "Exotica Music Films" program that was seen last summer at Silk City Lounge, featuring rare footage of Korla Pandit, The Three Suns, and many more (including the addition of a lost clip of Yma Sumac on The Frank Sinatra Show, circa 1952). Email if you need more info on this date.

Soon we'll be announcing a major new venue for regular Secret Cinema screenings, one that will offer a new level of comfort, sight lines, and, er, regularity. Watch this spot. Meanwhile, thanks to those who responded to our pleas for venue help. And, we plan to continue showing films at everywhere else we've shown them at recently, and more places too!

OTHER SECRET CINEMA EVENTS

Sat., Aug. 16 - "Exotica Music Films" @ Fez, NYC (see above)

The Secret Cinema presents PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE of

Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King

The Secret Cinema is excited to announce that it will be presenting its first ever "first-run" feature film, the indie-rock documentary Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King. The acclaimed film, which has been shown at festivals and theaters all over the world, will have its Philadelphia premiere at two special First Friday screenings at the Painted Bride Arts Center on Friday, August 1. The Secret Cinema will also show the film the following two nights in the intimate, comfortable upstairs of Fergie's Pub, for a total of five screenings in all.

Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King is the story of Jad and David Fair, two brothers who start a band in their basement and without any musical training go on to be called "the world's greatest underground band," one which continues today 20 years later. The film presents a seldom seen and often funny view of the real underground music world, along the way bashing MTV, Rolling Stone, commercial radio and major record labels. Included are interviews with Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker, Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller (who explains why he founded a record label to release the band's music), indie rock pundits Gerard Cosloy and Byron Coley, and many other underground luminaries.

When director Jeff Feuerzeig saw that Rolling Stone Magazine's "Best Albums of the 80s" did not include any by Half Japanese, he set out to chronicle their place in music history with a movie. A celebration of the independent spirit of all great art, the resulting film was called "maybe the funniest rock n' roll movie since This Is Spinal Tap," by the Chicago Tribune.

Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King will be shown at two venues on three consecutive dates:

A special First Friday presentation on

Friday, August 1, 7:30 & 10:00 pm, at The Painted Bride Arts Center,

230 Vine Street, Philadelphia, (215) 925-9914.

and also

Saturday, August 2, 8:00 & 10:00 pm, and Sunday, August 3, 7:30 pm, at Fergie's Pub (upstairs),

1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, (215) 928-8118.

Some screenings will feature a discussion with director Jeff Feuerzeig; stay tuned for details.

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