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Friday Night Films Showcase

for July 30, 2010

You do NOT need to tie us up with Wonder Woman's golden lariat, oh, no... our veracity has never been questioned in regard to advising all and sundry about each week's Friday Night Films showcase here In The Balcony.

This week, we've got an all-time FNF favorite, unseen in almost a decade and presented restored and remastered in HIGH DEFINITION, plus the usual assortment of motley un-restored, non-remastered short subjects. Enjoy, Balconeers!

Nothing wrong with cartoons promoting drinking and smoking. If the kids can't take it, they shouldn't be watching.Cartoon Carnival

In our list of Greatest Cartoons of all time (courtesy of Jerry Beck’s book), we’re up to #41, a little something called Rooty Toot Toot.

Artistically, in the 1950s the UPA animation studio was the leader of the pack, and accumulated a number of Oscar nominations and wins. They’re best remembered for theatrical and TV cartoon series starring Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing.

Tonight’s UPA offering is based on the folk tale of Frankie and Johnny; it was directed by John Hubley and released on March 27, 1952 (by that time, Mr. Hubley had left the studio, blacklisted as a result of the Congressional anti-Communist hysteria).

Is it just me, or does this picture make YOU just HAVE to reach down and stroke your carpeting, too?Inside Our Shorts 

Say, didja ever want to get out of whatever crappy line of work you’re in – computer programming, Volvo repair, software sales, whatever – and sell wall-to-wall carpeting? Well, are YOU in luck this week, as a very special surprise guest star demonstrates how to go From Rugs to Riches. It’s a comedy short subject AND an educational sales tool from 1956, and it stars... well, heck, as we told you, it's gonna be a surprise.

The Serial BoxCough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!

"This is the BLACK TIGER speaking! I seem to have LOST my GAVEL, so I'm using THIS form of COMMUNICATION to CONTACT you! Heh-heh-heh! This week, I've got a NEW peril planned for that MASKED NINCOMPOOP, The Shadow! If he thinks he's safe on the streets of THIS city, just let him TRY to venture out to "Chinatown at Night," in THIS, the ELEVENTH EPISODE, which was RELEASED on MARCH 11th, 1940! The BLACK TIGER has SPOKEN!"

Look for this symbol, your guarantee that the film is based on a true story.Creature Feature

Five years after the success of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen returned to the world of myths and monsters for the jolly tale of Jason and the Argonauts, which he says is his favorite of all his own films. That's good enough for us.

Jason (Todd Armstrong) leads the men of the good ship Argo in search of the fabled Golden Fleece; along for the ride (or encountered on the way) are Hercules (Nigel Green), Medea (Nancy Kovack), and those two wacky funsters, Zeus (Niall MacGinness) and Hera (Honor Blackman). Amongst the nifty Harryhausen creations this time out are the seven-headed Hydra; Talos, the bronze colossus; a flock of harpies; and an army of bad tempered, sword-wielding skeleton warriors.Yikes! I just gave myself a big iron wedgie!

Jason and the Argonauts was directed by Don Chaffey, features a score by Bernard Herrmann, and was released on June 19, 1963. Running time is 1 hr., 44 min. Our showing tonight comes in HD courtesy of the Blu-ray release.

Coming Distractions

In the weeks ahead, we've got Tarzan, the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and his very odd cousin, Casper the friendly ghost, another In The Balcony Guaranteed Quality Cartoon Classic™, and lots more good stuff, too, probably. Don't touch that dial!

Say, what th' heck IS FNF, anywayses?

A little history. The very first official Balcony Friday Night Frights (FNF) was held in September, 1986 on Staten Island, New York. Your Balcony Webmaster had just moved from Ohio with his then-wife and two sons, Weasel Gravy (age 7) and Bone Gravy (age 5) and not knowing anybody in town and not having much in the way of entertainment dollars, television and reading were the diversion of choice on most nights. Well, to make a long story short, one Friday night we found ourselves with a trio of cheap video tapes, Creature from the Black Lagoon (from a yard sale, $10), a Looney Tunes compilation (from a Manhattan street fair, $7), and a cheap two-tape set of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (K-Mart, $13). We put together a little show with a cartoon (Robin Hood Daffy), serial chapter, and monster movie, looking to amuse the kids. Little did we know that 23 years later, we’d still be enjoying the show. Over the years, friends and family joined us, and in 1993 we introduced the first FNF Newsletter, a little weekly B&W Xeroxed publication made with a word processor and a glue stick. In 1996, we celebrated our 10th anniversary with congratulatory messages from such FNF celebrities as Kevin “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” McCarthy, Linda "The Tiger Woman" Stirling, Mara “Tarantula” Corday, and Jonathan “Little Shop of Horrors” Haze.

In 1999, we moved across this great country of ours, leaving New York City and settling in Sacramento, where the weather is better and you can turn right on a red light, and we brought FNF with us to entertain a new generation of Trophy Wife, kids, neighbors, friends, and parents. The FNF Newsletter continued, now in full color (computer science improved). Our parties generally include 4-8 kids and 6 grownups (relatively speaking) every week, and we usually serve pizza, popcorn, candy, and a variety of other treats. Traditionally, we open with a cartoon, then a serial episode, a comedy or educational short, a music video and some trailers, and then a feature attraction. The house is decorated with lobby cards and one-sheet posters from the films, too, and there are theme nights throughout the year.

Having established the In The Balcony website in September 2005, we felt it was time to merge these two fine enterprises and begin offering an online version of the FNF Newsletter. And here we are! Remember, all Balconeers are invited to our show; bring a pizza.

HEY -- Didja ever wonder what the In The Balcony DVD Collection looks like?!? Well, wonder no longer, beloved Balconeers. Instead, click right HERE and go to our Balconeer DVD Photo Gallery! (It's our OLD house, but what th' heck.)

31 Days of KARLOFF is finished, but we're gonna incur the wrath of the GHOST of BELA LUGOSI by allowing you to still click the link on the right to read all 31 Reviews!

In The Balcony: Fulfilling all your needs since Sept. 1, 2005. Practically all, anyway. All material (c)2010 inthebalcony.com. All rights reserved. This means you, bub. And what are you doing reading this tiny print way down here, anyway? Get outta here.