Lou Costello Mini-Film Festival at Fort Lee
June 21st, 2006 by Andre Soares
The Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills will present a “retrospective of the early films of the first ‘film town,’ Fort Lee, New Jersey.”
Additionally, a series of films will pay tribute to New Jersey-born comedian Lou Costello’s centennial.
From Studio Screenings:
“Greetings From New Jersey” at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills presented by the Fort Lee Film Commission
“GREETINGS FROM NEW JERSEY”, JUNE 23-26
A Film Retrospective from the Garden State
Friday, June 23rd @ 7:30pm
Robin Hood (1912 - Eclair)
Restoration Premiere, 27-min
Introduction by Film Historian Richard Koszarski
The earliest existing Robin Hood film, starring Robert Frazer and Barbara Tennant. First screening of the Fort Lee Film Commission’s 35mm color restoration.
The Vampire
Kalem Studio, 1913, 43-min
Bert French and Alice Eis perform their notorious “Vampire Dance” in the prototypical “vamp” film.
He Did and He Didn’t
Triangle-Keystone, 1916, 21-min
A nightmarish romantic slapstick with the great Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Mabel Normand.
*Musical Accompaniment by Fort Lee’s own Jeff Baker.
Saturday, June 24th @ 2pm, 4:30pm, 7:30pm
Ft. Lee Film Festival
No passes, no Guild cards accepted
Auteurs from Ft. Lee featuring:
For His Son
Biograph, 1912, 15-min
In the most bizarre of D.W. Griffith’s hundred Fort Lee productions, Dopokoke sweeps the nation.
White Fawn’s Devotion
Pathe, 1910, 15-min
One of Pathe’s first American productions, a Palisades western directed by James Young Deer.
A Girl’s Folly
Paragon-World, 1917, 65-min
While suffering from nitrate damage, this complete print of Maurice Tourneur’s vision of Ft. Lee filmmaking is a revelation.
Forgotten Classics featuring:
His Wife’s Mistake
Triangle-Keystone, 1916, 21-min
Speed, slapstick and satire in one of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle’s most politically incorrect comedies.
Phil-for-Short
World Studio, 1919, 76-min
A startling screwball comedy featuring a cross-dressing farmerette and a woman-hating classics professor who share a love for Sappho in the original.
-Musical accompaniment by Ft. Lee’s own Jeff Baker
Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello - Program I featuring:
-Appearances by Lou Costello’s daughters Chris and Paddy, celebrity guests and the teens of the Lou Costello Jr. Recreation Center
Lou Costello - Happy 100th Birthday Tribute Short
Sirk Productions, NYC, 7-min
This tribute reel shows highlights from the professional and personal life of comic legend Lou Costello.
10,000 Kids and a Cop
1948, 20-min
Premiere of restored 35mm print of this Lou Costello produced short film. This was shot on location at the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center in East Los Angeles. Bud Abbott & Lou Costello appear along with actors William Bendix and Jimmy Stewart as well as the kids of the center.
The Lou Costello Project
Mary Pickford Institute, Fort Lee Film Commission, 20-min
This centennial tribute film was shot by the teen group of the present day Lou Costello Jr. Recreation Center in East Los Angeles.
-All proceeds go towards the Lou Costello Jr. Recreation Center in East Los Angeles
Sunday, June 25th @ 2pm, 6:15pm
The Fort Lee Film Festival
No passes, no Guild cards accepted
A Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello - Program II featuring:
In the Navy
Universal Studios, 1941, 85-min
Originally titled “Abbott & Costello and Dick Powell in the Navy” this follow-up to the Abbott & Costello blockbuster Buck Privates teams Bud and Lou with film crooner Dick Powell, Dick Foran and their singing sidekicks from Buck Privates the Andrews Sisters. Lou wreaks havoc on the seven seas in one of Bud & Lou’s early Universal releases.
Hold that Ghost
Universal Studios, 1941, 85-min
Hold that Ghost was actually filmed prior to In the Navy but based on the blockbuster status of Buck Privates Universal decided to send Bud and Lou into Uncle Sam’s service as sailors. Hold that Ghost (originally titled “Oh Charlie!”) was released in August of 1941 following the My release of In the Navy. This was Bud and Lou’s first haunted house comedy and teamed them with comidienne Joan Davis. The Andrews Sisters are featured in two numbers.
A Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello - Program III featuring:
Ride ‘em Cowboy
Universal Studios, 1942, 86-min
At the time of the release of Ride ‘em Cowboy in February, 1942, Abbott & Costello were voted the number three box-office attractions of 1941 by exhibitors. Universal sends the boys out west to a dude ranch where they perform the classic “crazy house” routine. The boys also assist Ella Fitzgerald (in her screen debut) with her hit tune “A Tisket A Tasket.”
Hit the Ice
Universal Studios, 1943, 82-min
Bud & Lou portray newspaper photographers Flash Fulton and Tubby McCoy. The fun starts when gangster Sheldon Leonard mistakes them for two hit men from Detroit. Shot at Sode Springs, California, in January 1943, the film features big band singer Ginny Simms as Lou’s love interest. “Hit the Ice” contains two classic Abbott & Costello routines. “Pack and Unpack” and “All Right — the Piano scene.”
Monday, June 26th @ 7:30pm
The Fort Lee Film Festival
No passes, no Guild cards accepted
A Centennial Tribute to New Jersey Born Film Comic Lou Costello — Program IV featuring:
In Society
Universal Studios, 1944, 75-min
Plumbers Bud & Lou are plumbers who masquerade as society types. Singer Marion Hutton portrays Lou’s love interest Elsie Hammerdingle who warbles the tune “My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time.” Arthur Treacher and Thomas Gomez add to the antics. This film features the classic burlesque routine “Floogle Street” where Bud & Lou search in vain for the Susquehanna Hat Company.
Here Comes the Coeds
Universal Studios, 1945, 88-min
Bud & Lou join basketball player “Miramar Molly” at Bixby College where their boss is Lon Chaney Jr. This film allows Lou to show how he bacame the basketball foul shoot champ of the state of New Jersey. Another sidelight is that Bixby College is on the same Universal Studio “Courthouse Square” back lot set as was the 1962 film To Kill A Mockingbird, the 1985 film Back to the Future, and Jim Carrey’s 2003 hit Bruce Almighty.
Great to Be Nominated: Funny Girl
(Supposedly) First British Film Found
Brief Obit: Actor Arthur Franz
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