W.C. Fields Short Films at the Rotunda

Thursday, November 14, 2024
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

Philadelphia native son W.C. Fields is often acclaimed as one of the greatest comedians of the movies, and Fields feature films such as It's a Gift and The Bank Dick are rightfully hailed as masterpieces.

Lesser known are the short films that launched Fields' career in talkies -- which began after he appeared in ten silent features, those following a long run as a top-billed star of international stages, in vaudeville, and acting in Broadway shows. By the time sound motion pictures were developed, Fields had already finely tuned his unique characterization and delivery of comic dialogue (most of it self-penned).

On Thursday, November 14, the Secret Cinema will return to the Rotunda in University City for a gathering of some of Fields' funniest films. W.C. Fields Short Films will include nearly all of the short films starring this unique funnyman.

These will include the following:

Mack Sennett Comedies (1932-33) - The four sound two-reelers made for Sennett comprise some of Fields' best work, and show some experimentation with gags and story ideas that would wind up in his better known features. The Dentist includes scenes and double entendres that are outrageously "pre-code" in their sexuality (most famously, the orgasmic moans and writhing of one unusually responsive female patient, which were edited out of some prints). The Barber Shop places Fields in another profession with plenty of opportunities for gags and dark humor, and helps set the pattern for his character being troubled by a shrewish wife, pesky children, and unfriendly customers. The Pharmacist, with Fields as a small-town shopkeeper, contains trial runs for many of the bits featured in the feature that many consider his greatest, It's a Gift (some gags in both films were already used in the 1926 feature It's the Old Army Game). The Fatal Glass of Beer, was perhaps the most ahead of its time. Completely deadpan satire -- likely the first such instance of that on the screen -- mercilessly lampoons corny stage melodramas, sentimentality and cost-cutting stock footage use, not to mention the Temperance movement (when the film was released, prohibition was still in force in some states). The Fatal Glass of Beer was universally disliked by audiences and exhibitors on its initial release, but can now be seen as a black comedy classic.

Pool Sharks (1915) - The British Gaumont studio contracted W.C. Fields, already a star of vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies, to appear in his first film (shot in New York). Miraculously (and unlike several other silents that Fields starred in), the film survives, rediscovered via a single nitrate print in the mid-1960s. Pool Sharks begins with some awkward slapstick, but soon turns into a showcase for one of Fields' signature stage routines, showing his skill making trick shots on a pool table (it was as a juggler that he first came to prominence). Film historian William K. Everson wrote: "Pool Sharks must surely rank as one of the most auspicious debuts made by any of the major screen comedians…a minor masterpiece when viewed in the context of its period, and certainly a major milestone in the early evolution of screen comedy."

Plus a surprise, bonus film!

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

This screening is part of the Rotunda's ongoing "Bright Bulb Screening Series," which offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.

Screening and breakfast at outsider art gallery?

It's Breakfast in Hollywood

Friday, November 8, 2024
7:30 pm (doors open 6:45 pm)
Admission: $10.00

The Keen Collection at Bethany Mission
1527 Brandywine Street, Philadelphia
215-264-2135

On Friday, November 8, the Secret Cinema will again bring its 16mm projectors to the Keen Collection at Bethany Mission. This unique, collector-curated gallery provides a home for outsider art, including drawings & paintings by James Castle, Sam Doyle, Howard Finster, William Hawkins, Martin Ramirez, Bill Traylor and George Widener, to name a few.

The renovated 1869 Quaker meeting house was opened by Victor Keen to display his self-taught artist acquisitions as well as other art and object collections including folk art, Catalin radios, antique metal toys & banks, milk glass, ceramic pot lids, posters, banners & photographs and antique toasters.

Join us for "breakfast" (coffee and pastries included with admission!) as we watch the 1946 film Breakfast in Hollywood. With a nod to the beautiful 1920s, '30s and '40s radios on display, we'll once more present an old-time radio themed film program. The feature is a fun comedy/musical, built around a popular real-life radio show of the same name. The program featured famous musical performers, but devoted just as much time to conversations with its mainly female audience.

The screening will also include rare radio-themed short films.

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Doors open at 6:45, allowing time to take in the collection (and breakfast!).

Admission is $10.00, but space is limited. Purchase tickets here.

A description of the feature follows…

Breakfast in Hollywood (1946, Dir: Harold Schuster)
For eight years Tom Breneman was the star of a real-life radio show, broadcast live from his own Hollywood restaurant. The morning talk show was especially popular with housewives, who filled the studio audience and would engage in banter with the genial host, in between regular visits from celebrity performers. So successful was this show, with ten million listeners at its peak, that this unusual musical/comedy/drama feature was constructed around it. Breakfast in Hollywood serves as a time capsule from a more innocent, pre-television era, when national radio networks dominated home entertainment (and sponsor's advertising budgets) -- and seeing a radio program being created was a rare novelty.

The plot cannily interweaves the stories of various audience members: a young woman (Bonita Granville) trying to find her sailor fiancé; an elderly fan (Beulah Bondi) who attends fresh from being struck by a car; a dowdy, middle-aged woman (Billie Burke) with a philandering husband (Raymond Walburn); and a dotty spinster (the inimitable ZaSu Pitts) hoping the host will notice her funny hat and interview her. Appearing as themselves are musical guests the Nat King Cole Trio, Spike Jones and his City Slickers, and crooner Andy Russell…and, of course, Tom Breneman.

Science After Hours event “Fright @ Night”

at the Franklin Institute

Friday, October 25, 2024
7:30 pm until 11:30 pm
Admission: $$40, $35 Franklin Institute members (online sales only, NO tickets available at door)

The Franklin Institute
222 N. 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-448-1200

On Friday, October 25, the Secret Cinema will again participate in the Franklin Institute’s multi-dimensional event Science After Hours. This popular series features programming for grown-ups that combines live performances, a light show, music, food, drink, and once more, a film screening, all throughout the museum’s historic galleries. The theme this month is (naturally) “Fright @ Night.”

Doors open at 7:30 pm, and the event ends at 11:30 pm.

Admission is $40, and $35 for Franklin Institute members (online sales only, no tickets will be available at the door).

The Secret Cinema portion will consist of an approximately 90-minute program of spooky shorts, to be shown twice. We’ll select short films from our archive featuring Halloween-themed cartoons, horror movie trailers, documentaries on the supernatural, and even some gory surgery footage...and more. All projected from rare 16mm film prints, on the spectacular big screen of the museum’s Franklin Theater.

From Philadelphia with Love 2024:

More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films

at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
610-527-9898

Thursday, April 13, 2023
7:30 pm
Admission: $13.50, $8.00 BMFI members, $11.00 seniors/students, $9.00 children.

On Thursday, May 16, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute to present a unique program of short films called From Philadelphia With Love 2024: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. 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 non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesmen 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.

The Secret Cinema has been collecting, archiving and screening this fascinating area of local film history for over two decades now. This newest edition of our Philly film program was shown last month at Philadelphia's Bok Building to great success. Featuring all-new selections acquired in the last couple of years, we are excited to project them for the first time in Bryn Mawr.

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $13.50, $11.00 seniors/students, $8.00 BMFI members.

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia with Love 2024… will be:

We the People (1977, Dir: Hugh King) - A vivid chronicle of life and problems in Hartville Street, in working class Kensington during the early 1970s. A neighborhood group discusses absentee landlords, block clean-ups and race relations (all with strong Philly accents), and drunks sing in corner taprooms. This amazing film -- possibly the most Philadelphia film ever made -- was included in the very first program of International House's Neighborhood Film and Video Project screening series.

Life is a Lark at Willow Grove Park (1955, Dir: Albert Renick) - A mid-century, Kodachrome look at the beloved historic amusement park which opened in 1896 (and today is the site of the Willow Grove Park Mall). This film was produced shortly after the park was sold off by its longtime owner, the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC, the predecessor to SEPTA). There is a visual survey of restaurants, picnic areas and rides, including the Thunderbolt, the park's main wooden roller coaster -- plus a classic fun house, featuring moving obstacles that a modern-day liability lawyer would not be likely to approve. Much of the then-surviving architecture displays its origins from the time of John Phillip Sousa's famed annual residencies there at the start of the previous century.

Make Way for the Past (1976, Dir: Brian Kellman) - There was a time, not so long ago, when an exciting new housing boom in Philadelphia meant restoration of historic homes, not demolition and replacement with shoddy construction! This wonderful film highlights passionate homeowners improving their storied properties in Elfreth's Alley, Society Hill, Queen Village and Germantown. The careful techniques and research needed for preserving the past are explained. "Produced as a public service by Reliance Insurance Companies," and directed by past Secret Cinema guest Brian Kellman.

Plus much, much more!

Fashion Undressed: Films of Style

and Beauty in AMBLER

Thursday, May 2, 2024
7:30 pm
Admission: $13.00, $7.50 members, $11.00 seniors/under 25

The Ambler Theater
108 E. Butler Avenue, Ambler, PA
215-345-7855

On Thursday, May 2, the Secret Cinema will bring our projectors, for the first time, to the Ambler Theater. We'll present short films on the themes of fashion and beauty, including educational and advertising films, entertainment shorts and newsreels from the 1930s through the 1970s. It's called Fashion Undressed: Films of Style and Beauty (we just brought this program to the Princeton Garden Theatre, and we've previously shown it at Towson University in Maryland and the Rotunda in Philadelphia).

There will be one complete screening at 7:30 pm. Admission is $13.00 general, $7.50 members, $11.00 seniors/under 25

Just a few highlights of Fashion Undressed... are:

The Costume Designer (1950) - In 1950 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences oversaw the production of a series of one-reel shorts covering different aspects of the film industry, each film being produced by a different studio. R.K.O. made this reel on the importance of the wardrobe department, with a special focus on sunglass-wearing designer Edith Head (who, oddly, is not named).

Figure Forum (1954) - Warner Brothers -- not the famous film studio, but the Warner Brothers Foundations and Bras Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut -- made this film about choosing the proper bra and girdle. Trivia note: This reel was among the first 3 or 4 16mm films the Secret Cinema ever owned -- it was thrown in with the first projector we purchased, back in 1975!

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, best known to record collectors for their recording of Ray Davies' (of the Kinks) otherwise unreleased song "All Night Stand." In this rare Technicolor pictorial, 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 miniskirt.

The Look of Shangri-La (1973) - A "production reel," or promotional short showing behind-the-scenes looks at a then-forthcoming major motion picture. This one was made to plug the disastrous 1970s musical remake of Frank Capra's classic 1937 fantasy Lost Horizon, with an emphasis on the new version's now very dated costume design.

How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937) - Curious comedy short made by indie exploitation producer and distributor Dwain Esper (Maniac, Reefer Madness). While not quite as salacious as its title implies, it nonetheless achieved notoriety by virtue (?) of its leading lady, Elaine Barrie, who was then in the middle of a rocky marriage to legendary actor John Barrymore.

Plus Heavenly Body (1975), Winning Styles (1968), How Do They Tie-dye Cloth? (1970) and more!

Fashion Undressed: Films of Style

and Beauty in Princeton

Wednesday, April 24, 2024
7:30 pm
Admission: $13.50, $7.75 members, $11.00 seniors/staff/faculty, $10.00 students

The Princeton Garden Theatre
160 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ
609-279-1999

On Wednesday, April 24, the Secret Cinema will bring our projectors for the first time to the Princeton Garden Theatre. We'll present short films on the themes of fashion and beauty, including educational and advertising films, entertainment shorts and newsreels from the 1930s through the 1970s. It's called Fashion Undressed: Films of Style and Beauty (we've previously shown this program at Towson University in Maryland and at the Rotunda in Philadelphia…and will present it again next month at the Ambler Theatre).

There will be one complete screening at 7:30 pm. Admission is $13.50 general, $7.75 members, $11.00 seniors/staff/faculty, $10.00 students

Just a few highlights of Fashion Undressed... are:

The Costume Designer (1950) - In 1950 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences oversaw the production of a series of one-reel shorts covering different aspects of the film industry, each film being produced by a different studio. R.K.O. made this reel on the importance of the wardrobe department, with a special focus on sunglass-wearing designer Edith Head (who, oddly, is not named).

Figure Forum (1954) - Warner Brothers -- not the famous film studio, but the Warner Brothers Foundations and Bras Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut -- made this film about choosing the proper bra and girdle. Trivia note: This reel was among the first 3 or 4 16mm films the Secret Cinema ever owned -- it was thrown in with the first projector we purchased, back in 1975!

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, best known to record collectors for their recording of Ray Davies' (of the Kinks) otherwise unreleased song "All Night Stand." In this rare Technicolor pictorial, 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 miniskirt.

The Look of Shangri-La (1973) - A "production reel," or promotional short showing behind-the-scenes looks at a then-forthcoming major motion picture. This one was made to plug the disastrous 1970s musical remake of Frank Capra's classic 1937 fantasy Lost Horizon, with an emphasis on the new version's now very dated costume design.

How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937) - Curious comedy short made by indie exploitation producer and distributor Dwain Esper (Maniac, Reefer Madness). While not quite as salacious as its title implies, it nonetheless achieved notoriety by virtue (?) of its leading lady, Elaine Barrie, who was then in the middle of a rocky marriage to legendary actor John Barrymore.

Plus Heavenly Body (1975), Winning Styles (1968), How Do They Tie-dye Cloth? (1970)<'B> and more!

---

From Philadelphia with Love 2024

in South Philly's historic Bok Building

Saturday, April 6, 2024
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00 (cash or Venmo)

Bok Building
800 Mifflin Street entrance
Philadelphia

On Saturday, April 6, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bok Building auditorium to present a unique program of short films called From Philadelphia With Love 2024: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. 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 non-theatrical market. While most school districts, television stations and traveling salesmen 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.

The Secret Cinema has been collecting, archiving and screening this fascinating area of local film history for over two decades now. This newest edition of our Philly film program will feature all-new selections that we have acquired in the last couple of years.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00

Just a few highlights of From Philadelphia with Love 2024… will be:

We the People (1977, Dir: Hugh King) - A vivid chronicle of life and problems in Hartville Street, in working class Kensington during the early 1970s. A neighborhood group discusses absentee landlords, block clean-ups and race relations (all with strong Philly accents), and drunks sing in corner taprooms. This amazing film -- possibly the most Philadelphia film ever made -- was included in the very first program of International House's Neighborhood Film and Video Project screening series.

Life is a Lark at Willow Grove Park (1955, Dir: Albert Renick) - A mid-century, Kodachrome look at the beloved historic amusement park which opened in 1896 (and today is the site of the Willow Grove Park Mall). This film was produced shortly after the park was sold off by its longtime owner, the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC, the predecessor to SEPTA). There is a visual survey of restaurants, picnic areas and rides, including the Thunderbolt, the park's main wooden roller coaster -- plus a classic fun house, featuring moving obstacles that a modern-day liability lawyer would not be likely to approve. Much of the then-surviving architecture displays its origins from the time of John Phillip Sousa's famed annual residencies there at the start of the previous century.

Make Way for the Past (1976, Dir: Brian Kellman) - There was a time, not so long ago, when an exciting new housing boom in Philadelphia meant restoration of historic homes, not demolition and replacement with shoddy construction! This wonderful film highlights passionate homeowners improving their storied properties in Elfreth's Alley, Society Hill, Queen Village and Germantown. The careful techniques and research needed for preserving the past are explained. "Produced as a public service by Reliance Insurance Companies," and directed by past Secret Cinema guest Brian Kellman.

Plus much, much more!

Limited on-street parking is available. If driving, allow extra time.

Staff from the Bok Bar will be selling refreshments in back of the auditorium. 21+ only, please bring I.D.

The Bok Building was built in 1936 as Edward Bok Vocational School, a New Deal project with funding from the WPA. The beautiful art deco structure was closed in 2013, and subsequently sold and redeveloped as a home to over 200 businesses, artists, makers, entrepreneurs, and non-profits. The large auditorium retains its original design elements. P>

Secret Cinema participates in "Bubblegum Workshop"

for Rose Valley Museum

Sunday, March 24, 2024
4:00 pm
Workshop fee: $25 adults, $15 children 12 and under

Grace Rotzel Center at
The School in Rose Valley
20 School Lane, Rose Valley, Pa.
484-444-2961

The Secret Cinema has long championed (and frequently displayed) the charms of the one film in our archive about bubblegum. And, we've always loved bubblegum music, even devoting some of the occasional d.j. events we've produced to that misunderstood genre.

But on Sunday, March 24, the Secret Cinema will participate for the first time in an actual class in which bubblegum is made, when the Rose Valley Museum offers their first Bubblegum Workshop (to be held at the adjacent Rose Valley School…in Rose Valley, Pa, naturally).

This family-friendly event will include a brief presentation by Ryan Berley of Shane Confectionery on the history of bubblegum, followed by a hands-on workshop where participants will get to make their own bubblegum from scratch using base ingredients. Somewhere along the way, we'll project one of our prize possessions, The Story of Bubblegum , a colorful 17-minute tour of Philadelphia's Fleer bubblegum factory.

Cost for the workshop is $25 adults, $15 for children 12 and under. Space is limited and reservations are advised.

Details of the short film we will project:

The Story of Bubblegum (1952) - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Made at the old Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney, 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.

The Rose Valley Museum at Thunderbird Lodge tells the story, through displays of objects and art, of the Arts and Crafts community founded by William Lightfoot Price in 1901. The historic homes of Rose Valley (just outside of Media, Pennsylvania) remain largely intact. The Rose Valley Museum is currently open select weekends, and at other times by appointment.

ROSE VALLEY MUSEUM WEBSITE

Secret Cinema again at Franklin Institute's

Science After Dark program "Spectacular Spectacular"

Friday, March 22, 2024
7:30 pm until 11:30 pm
Admission: $$40, $35 Franklin Institute members (online sales only, NO tickets available at door)

The Franklin Institute
222 N. 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-448-1200

On Friday, March 22, the Secret Cinema will again participate in the Franklin Institute's multi-dimensional event Science After Hours. This popular series features programming for grown-ups that combines live performances, music, food, drink, and once more, a film screening, all throughout the museum's historic galleries. The theme this month is (again) "Spectacular Spectacular."

Doors open at 7:30 pm, and the event ends at 11:30 pm.

Admission is $40, and $35 for Franklin Institute members (online sales only, NO tickets will be available at the door).

The Secret Cinema portion -- with all-new selections this year -- will consist of an approximately 90-minute program of shorts, to be shown twice. We'll draw from our archive films featuring spectacular musical and dance clips, spectacular destinations, a spectacular cartoon, and much more. All projected from rare 16mm film prints, on the spectacular big screen of the museum's Franklin Theater.

Lost Television 2024 Edition

at Rotunda

Thursday, March 14, 2024
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

The Secret Cinema will return to the Rotunda with an all-new edition of an occasional series called Lost Television. The program, to be presented on Thursday, March 14, consists of rare and forgotten shows from the early era of television, which mainly survive thanks to now-aging 16mm film prints.

The 16mm film format was crucial to early television broadcasters in the days before videotape was perfected. Filmed recordings of live television, called kinescopes, were made using special equipment. Other programs were originally shot on film -- this was standard procedure for the popular 1950s TV genre of anthology dramas, short stories made with changing casts. And for many years 16mm prints were shipped to local stations as a convenient distribution medium for both programs and commercials. The Secret Cinema archive includes many original prints with examples of all of these uses, and these will be showcased in Lost Television 2024 Edition.

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

This screening is part of the Rotunda's ongoing "Bright Bulb Screening Series," which offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.

Included in Lost Television 2024 Edition will be:

Sherlock Holmes: "The Case of the Perfect Husband" (1954) - Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved character has had a long screen history. Sherlock Holmes was the very first detective to be depicted on film (in 1903), and countless actors have portrayed the clever crime-solver ever since. This interesting British import appears to be Holmes' first televised portrayal, as played by Ronald Howard (son of movie great Leslie Howard).

The Life of Riley (1949) - Chester A. Riley was a bumbling aircraft factory worker who got himself into amusing situations each week. William Bendix introduced the character on radio in 1941, and successfully resumed the role on NBC television for five years, starting in 1958. But in between those two versions was this earlier TV iteration, on the Dumont network -- and because Bendix was unavailable at the time, the lead role went to a pre-Honeymooners Jackie Gleason, in his first series. Despite frequent use of the tag line, "What a revoltin' development this is!", the show did not catch on, and this edition of Riley lasted but one season (a Bendix-starring Life of Riley movie was released the same year, and two live television test episodes, with different actors playing Riley, aired in 1948).

Telephone Time: "The Stepmother" (1956) - This anthology drama series (sponsored by Bell Telephone) was based on short stories from host John Nesbitt, who had earlier served a similar role in MGM's long-running series of theatrical shorts, John Nesbitt's Passing Parade. This episode, about a young Abraham Lincoln's begrudging acceptance of a new family member, was directed by Hollywood veteran Erle C. Kenton (Island of Lost Souls, House of Frankenstein).

New Horizons (1959) - "We're here to make your scripts get produced better, despite budget limitations." This ultra-rare slice of lost television could also have fit in last month's Rotunda program Top Secret: Films You Weren't Supposed To See. It's "a television recording -- a kinescope, if you like," made by CBS to showcase the newest electronic gadgetry that they offered to outside producers, and probably shown at broadcasting trade shows. Hosts Rex Marshall and Ann Amouri introduce such then state-of-the-art technology as the Photo Matte, Electromatte, "limbo sets," various trick lenses and the kaleidoscopic oscilloscope.

Plus more!

Top Secret 2024:

Films You Weren't Supposed to See

Thursday, February 8, 2024
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

On Thursday, February 8, the Secret Cinema will present another program of short films never intended for viewing by the general public. It will screen at University City's Rotunda, as part of their monthly free "Bright Bulb" film series.

Top Secret 2024: Films You Weren't Supposed to See showcases films produced to convey private information from the government, the military and big business, instructional or motivational in nature, to carefully targeted audiences of battle forces in the field, small business owners, large corporations and wholesale buyers of products. Spanning from the cold war era through the 1970s, these forgotten reels reveal long hidden and often surprising views of mid-century America. At least one of these films was originally marked as containing "Restricted" information (and for all we know it is still officially restricted!).

An irregular series, Top Secret programs have been presented by Secret Cinema a couple of times before, but this episode contains all-new material, never before shown by us (or probably anyone else since their original private screenings).

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

Just a few highlights of Top Secret 2024: Films You Weren't Supposed to See are:

Police Pursuit Driving (1964, Jam Handy Productions for Chevrolet) - For rookie cops learning how to lay rubber around city streets like Starsky and Hutch, this instructional film provided valuable tips on how to do so safely (or at least a tad less dangerously) -- while also showcasing the excellent handling of Chevy's latest Bel Air model, equipped with optional "police package."

Sales cartoon (1952) - "Here's Ted Sanders, salesman of industrial lubricants..." But Ted's clever tactics could help any salesman facing tough obstacles to closing the deal. The minimal, very 1950s animation style helped sell the message to its audience.

Sustained Operations (1947, U.S.A.F.) - A motivational film for members of the newly formed U.S. Air Force, stressing the need for diligence across all of the supporting teams ensuring the constant readiness needed for our air dominance across the Pacific.

Industrial Design Progress Report 1960 (IBM) - Eliot Noyes worked for IBM for 21 years, creating their first corporate-wide design program. In this rare film he discusses those design concerns, showing how they created a practical, unified look for their new computer consoles, paper tape readers and high speed printers. Noyes would soon design the IBM Selectric typewriter and the look of Mobil gas stations, and is considered one of the key industrial designers and architects of the 20th century.

Plus For Those Who Serve (Exide Battery), "Colgate convention reel," and much more!

The Secret Cinema Connoisseur Series:

Richard Talmadge double feature at Rotunda

Thursday, November 9, 2023
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

On Thursday, November 9 at the Rotunda, The Secret Cinema will launch a new, occasional sub-series called The Secret Cinema Connoisseur Series. While we've frequently (always?) explored the lesser-seen realms of film history in our screenings, the Connoisseur Series is meant to provide an outlet for films in our archive, especially features, that are so obscure that we've never figured out how to showcase them before. On first glance they may not have obvious appeal, but we feel these curios will reward the true film buffs in our audience.

Our initial Connoisseur Series offering is a double feature (each of them less than an hour long) showcasing the multi-talents of Hollywood veteran Richard Talmadge. Who?

Richard Talmadge was born as Ricardo Metzetti in either Germany or Switzerland (accounts vary) in 1892 or 1896 (ditto), and emigrated to the U.S.A. as a boy with his brothers, who worked together as an acrobat troupe in the Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1910 he arrived in Hollywood and soon was working as a stunt man in silent films, even doubling for Douglas Fairbanks. He then became an actor, starring in countless independent silent and early sound features and serials, which usually featured exciting stunt work. He later transitioned to a second unit director, handling action sequences well into the 1960s on such films as Casino Royale and What's New Pussycat. Talmadge may have had one of the longest and most prolific careers in all of Hollywood, with credits as actor, producer, director, and writer in scores of films, in addition to his usually uncredited stunt work in many more.

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

The program will include:

Detour to Danger (1946, Dir: Richard Talmadge and Harvey Parry)
Stumbling upon a good print of this unusual film was the real inspiration for this program. In the 1940s, Talmadge and fellow stunt man Harvey Parry formed a production company called Planet Pictures, with a novel strategy for filmmaking success: They would produce b-movies, shorts and cartoons using lower cost 16mm equipment. Then, they would market their product directly to non-theatrical film users that owned 16mm projectors (schools, churches, clubs, military, and even private homes), a market that was expanding rapidly after World War II. All of Planet Pictures' films would be made in Kodachrome color. Ads were placed in hobbyist magazine Home Movies, while Hollywood trade publications fretted in editorials about this new threat to traditional film distribution. Some theaters installed 16mm projectors to accommodate showings, but there is no evidence that Detour to Danger was ever blown up to 35mm, which would have been needed for wider distribution (decades later that would become a common cost-saving scheme for low budget filmmaking). Thus, Detour to Danger had a limited audience on its initial release, largely in special one-time showings at school auditoriums, playgrounds, and clubs, though it did turn up on black and white television screens in the late 1950s.

Detour to Danger is very much a homemade looking feature. The plot is minimal, about the two male heroes getting mixed up with payroll thieves in a resort hotel in Big Bear Lake, California, and the story is described in some reference books as a "comedy-drama." Unsurprisingly (considering who made it), there are stunt-filled fight scenes galore, but perhaps the most enjoyment comes from the gorgeous Kodachrome photography of mid-century Americana, from the resort cabins to an old roadside gas station where the story begins.

Planet Pictures made two other 16mm features in 1946, Jeep Herders ("drama") and The People's Choice ("comedy"), as well as four non-fiction shorts, two newsreels and one cartoon ("Professor Purrington in Honesty is the Best Policy") -- all of them in color. It is not known whether any of these films are extant today. Planet Pictures soon abandoned their plan to shift the traditional film industry to small gauge film, and Talmadge resumed his steady employment as a second unit director of action scenes. In 1974 Talmadge, Parry, and Yakima Canutt were honored at an awards dinner given by the Stuntmen's Association, which was taped for a television special. He died in 1981.

The Live Wire (1935, Dir: Harry S. Webb)
This bare-bones adventure b-movie is typical of Richard Talmadge's acting work in the sound era, especially the several films he made for Bernard B. Ray and Harry S. Webb's Reliable Pictures Corporation (their other regular stars were cowboy star Tom Tyler, and "Rin Tin Tin, Jr."). The slightest of plots (scripted by Richard's brother, under the name "Leon Metz") sees two professors hire sailor Talmadge to lead them to some valuable pottery on a remote island. Inevitably there are bad guys in their ship's crew, allowing for fisticuffs and action. Reviewing The Speed Reporter (another Reliable Pictures quickie) in his book Second Feature, the late film historian John Cocchi wrote, "To say that any of Richard Talmadge's talkies were among his best is a mistake, since they were crudely made and designed solely to show off his acrobatic skills…his vague accent, and shy-grinning style of acting were endearing, if nothing else." The Live Wire is a good example of a lost world of b-movie filmmaking, when canny producers could make saleable entertainment out of almost nothing, keeping things moving onscreen for under one hour.

Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection

(35mm edition!) at Lightbox Film Center

Saturday, November 4, 2023
7:00 pm
Admission: $10, $8 students, $5 Lightbox members

Lightbox Film Center
401 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia
215-717-6477

On Saturday, November 4, The Secret Cinema will return to the Lightbox Film Center with another chapter of our occasional series, Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection. Once again we'll feature a mélange of fascinating short films from the past. As we go through our collection, reel by reel, we continually find films that don't necessarily lend themselves to fitting into a themed group, yet are too interesting, or fun, or funny to not share. None have been shown in previous Secret Cinema programs (to the best of our memory!). Indeed, few of these films are likely to have been seen anywhere in recent years. And this time, all films will be shown in the lavishly high resolution of original 35mm prints.

There will be one complete show at 7:00 pm. Admission is $10 general, $8 students & seniors, and $5 for Ligfhtbox members.

A few highlights from this new edition of Archive Discoveries… include:

Sentinels in the Air (1956) - Hollywood actor Robert Preston (The Music Man) narrates this chilling short, ostensibly designed to instill confidence that cold war-era America was well-defended against enemy attack, thanks to the Air Reserve. Regular citizens are shown mobilizing to stop every threat -- including a practice air raid on the Main Street of a typical small town.

Bill Cosby in Las Vegas (1972) - An odd promotional short for one of the disgraced star's least-remembered works, the Western feature Man and Boy. Bill banters in a hotel room with his ex-I Spy co-star Robert Culp about the film (which was advertised as "a stunning switch from his TV and comedy portrayals in a starkly dramatic role!").

Dutch Wonderland (1973) - Advertising film made for the tenth anniversary of the Lancaster, Pa. Amusement park, showing assorted rides and attractions, plus a bit of the surrounding Amish countryside.

Hurricane Hunters (1952, Dir: Justin Herman) - An early (and exciting!) look at the phenomenon of those who chase rather than flee from severe weather, shot in South Florida during hurricane season. Filmed by Philadelphia-born, Bucks County-based filmmaker Justin Herman, who helmed many short subjects for Paramount Pictures on a freelance basis.

Plus Rowan and Martin at the Movies, Pat in Paris, old newsreels, trailers, and much more!

Stag Movie Night: Vintage Porno

from the 1920s, 30s & 40s

with guest author Dan Erdman

Wednesday, October 18, 2023
7:30 pm
Admission: $10.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia
267-239-2851

On Wednesday, October 18, The Secret Cinema will return to the Maas Building for a revival of one of our most popular thematic programs of archival film -- Stag Movie Night: Vintage Porno from the 1920s, 30s & 40s.

This screening will have a bonus not included in past Stag Movie Nights: a talk by Dan Erdman about the murky history of early erotica films. Erdman is the author of the acclaimed book Let's Go Stag! A History of Pornographic Film from the Invention of Cinema to 1970, published by Bloomsbury in 2021 (and newly released in paperback this year). Dan Erdman is the video preservation specialist at Media Burn Archive, and lives in Chicago.

The collection of rare 16mm films that we'll project 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 original 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 American men 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 10 to 15 minute reel in length, and silent -- assuring compatibility with the relatively low-cost home movie projectors that were typically 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 a century ago, survive in today's adult videos.

The silent films will be accompanied by recordings of period music, including early jazz, crooners, and dirty blues songs.

This edition of Stag Movie Night will include some favorite reels from past screenings. The final selection is still being planned, but titles likely to be chosen include Hollywood Honeys, A Jazz Jag, Through the Keyhole, Mortimer the Salesman, and more, plus Buried Treasure, a hilarious pornographic cartoon from the 1920s attributed to the Max Fleischer studios and others.

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $10.00.

Secret Cinema's first Stag Movie Night was presented at the old Silk City Lounge way back in 1996, and there were several sequel volumes, including a sold-out screening in the 2007 Philadelphia Film Festival.

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space.

NOTE: The date of the following screening at the Rotunda was moved (it will NOT happen on Thursday, September 14). We apologize for any inconvenience this change may have caused.

Four More Films at Rotunda

Friday, September 22, 2023
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

The Secret Cinema will present a brand new program at the Rotunda on Friday, September 22, called Four More Films. As with a similarly titled past program, it consists of four short films, which together make up a feature-length program.

However, the four films of Four More Films have nothing to do with each other. All they share is that we have never shown them before, they are unlikely to have been seen by most people, and they are all very interesting. Each one is quite good.

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

This screening is part of the Rotunda’s ongoing “Bright Bulb Screening Series,” which offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.

The four films of Four More Films are:

The High Wall (1952, Dir: Michael Road) - A dramatic depiction of a boy who is taught prejudice as he grows to adulthood. This film, which won several awards, was sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the Illinois Department of Mental Health and other groups. The cast includes Hollywood actor and director Irving Pichel, whose many credits included The Most Dangerous Game, Dracula's Daughter and Jezebel, prior to his being blacklisted for not cooperating with the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Building for the Nations (1950) - A colorful and technically detailed look at the construction of the United Nations building in New York. One of many sponsored films made by the United States Steel Corporation (of Delaware, in this case).

Travelin' Man (mid-late 1960s) - This rare reel evidently contains an unsold TV pilot for a travel series sponsored by Dodge cars and trucks (or "the Dodge Boys," in keeping with their then-current advertising theme). Host Lou Crosby (father of Cathy Lee Crosby, who also appears), shows the sights of Palm Springs, California and its surrounding area, including golf clubs, sand dunes, hotels, and other sports and leisure centers. Former Hollywood star (and former mayor of Palm Springs) Charles Farrell is seen at the Racquet Club he opened in 1934 with fellow actor Ralph Bellamy. Also seen is the "star of Ride the Wild Surf, Peter Brown!" A nearly lost window into a lost world, preserved, like so much, on 16mm film.

Trans-Pacific (1939, Dir: Palmer Miller & Curtis F. Nagel) - Pan American Airways' luxurious "Clipper" service is remembered fondly as symbolizing a golden age in aviation. The roomy "flying ships," with spacious seating, on-board lounge areas and gourmet dining are far removed from current airline experiences, while the amphibious Clipper planes could take passengers quickly to any destination with a sheltered harbor. This Pan Am-produced travelogue, made in glorious Kodachrome, details an opulent trip across the Pacific Ocean, with stops at several way stations -- a journey made possible by Pan Am erecting pre-fabricated hotels and support buildings on the islands of Guam, Wake and Midway. In just a few years, these places would become better known as the sites of brutal World War II battles than for luxury travel.

Hey you! Got nothing to do tomorrow (Sunday, July 2), in the middle of this holiday weekend when you’re probably already somewhere nicer? We didn’t think so, but just in case…we (Secret Cinema’s Jay Schwartz and D.J. Silvia) will be spinning some records at the International bar, between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. There will be food and drink available for a price, and hopefully good music (for free). No special theme this time, just random picks from our admittedly large record collections.

Sorry for the last minute notice -- but we just got this last minute booking, undoubtedly because the smarter, already-scheduled d.j. cancelled and took off for the shore.

At least it’s indoors, and the air conditioner should be filtering out all of the smoke particles.

Come by and say hi…please?

The International Bar, 1624 N. Front St, Philadelphia
Sunday, July 2
4:00 pm until 7:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Secret Cinema presents French Pop Scopitones

at The Magnetic Fields concert

Friday, July 14, 2023
8:00 pm

World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia
215-222-1400

On Friday, July 14 -- Bastille Day! -- the Secret Cinema will present a special selection of 1960s French pop music films that were originally created for the coin-operated film jukebox called Scopitone.

This presentation will serve as the support act for a concert by The Magnetic Fields. The program will serve as a reunion of sorts, as the Secret Cinema showed musical films before a 2015 solo concert by Magnetic Fields leader Stephin Merritt, at Union Transfer.

As always with Secret Cinema events, the films will be shown using real film (not video, not digital) projected on a giant screen.

Scopitone films were originally made for a French film jukebox that entertained patrons in bars, cafes and bus stations in Europe and America. The film prints, featuring performers both famous and obscure -- and which are considered to be among the more important of the many predecessors to the modern rock video -- are today quite scarce, and rare to see projected in their original form. Recently, we presented a longer program of Scopitones, along with an illustrated talk on the history of the film jukebox, at the Maas Building (and Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz has been giving different versions of this talk for 25 years).

In honor of the July 14th holiday, this necessarily shorter selection of films will focus on exclusively French performers, including many legends from the golden age of 1960s "Ye Ye" pop music: Françoise Hardy, Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Vartan, Dalida, and many more.

Doors will open at 7:00 pm and the show begins at 8:00 pm.

This will be the last Secret Cinema presentation until the fall.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS WEBSITE

Revival of Sitcom Rock: Rock 'N' Roll

Episodes of Classic TV Comedies at Maas Building

Friday, June 2, 2023
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00

The Maas Building (Garden Entrance)
1320 N. Fifth Street, Philadelphia
267-239-2851

On Friday, June 2, the Secret Cinema will reach way back into the vault to pull out one of the favorite programming concepts from our past, Sitcom Rock: Rock 'N' Roll Episodes of Classic TV Comedies.

Sitcom Rock… showcases special episodes of classic situation comedies from 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… has not been seen in 19 years, but was presented several times in the now 31-year-plus history of Secret Cinema -- first at the Khyber Pass in 1994, and later at the Trocadero, at Silk City Lounge, and in San Francisco and New York.

The program is being shown this time at the Maas Building, which on this evening will open their lovely back garden for wood-fired pizza, pop-up bar and a d.j., starting at 6:00 pm and running throughout the screening (as a result, entrance for both garden party and Secret Cinema screening will be through the 1320 N. Fifth Street door. The audience is welcome to bring food and drink up to the screening room).

The screening starts at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00

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 Sergeant Bilko (when "Elvin Pelvin" is inducted into his barracks, Bilko attempts to record a bootleg album!), The Brady Bunch perform "It's a Sunshine Day," and more!

1960s Student Films at Rotunda

Thursday, May 11, 2023
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

The 1960s were a period when things really changed, not least in pop culture and the arts. Besides revolutions in pop music, painting and theater, underground filmmaking found a large audience, and it's also the time when film production on college campuses really took off. Major universities added or expanded their filmmaking departments, and the star students of N.Y.U., U.C.L.A. and U.S.C. -- like Scorsese, Lucas and Coppola -- would take their places as the leading film directors of the following decades.

By the end of the 1960s there were countless student film contests and festivals. Larger schools, notably U.S.C. (The University of Southern California) -- with one of the best-equipped departments and names like King Vidor and Jerry Lewis on their faculty -- actively distributed their students' work to other campuses and screens.

On Thursday, May 11, the Secret Cinema will explore this era at the Rotunda with the program 1960s Student Films, featuring several intriguing short films, including many made by students who went on to have long careers in Hollywood.

There will be one complete program at 8:00 pm. Admission is free (as are all programs in the Rotunda's monthly "Bright Bulb Screening Series").

A few highlights of 1960s Student Films are:

Marcello, I'm Bored (1967, Dir: John Milius & John Strawbridge) - Ostensibly a parody of Italian cinema of the day, this combines pop art animation with live action negative footage and comically mannered dialogue of mod pleasure seekers. Sound editing by George Lucas. A prize-winner in the National Student Film Festival.

Cocoon (1968, Dir: Khosrow Haritash) - This unusual short was made while the director was at U.S.C., prior to returning to his native Iran, where he made a few feature films before his untimely death at the age of 48. Cocoon follows a frustrated young black dishwasher who visits adult bookstores and lives a lonely, meager existence. Filmed against a particularly sleazy (and hippie-filled) late-1960s Hollywood. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called Cocoon "one of the finest serious short films ever made, right up there with Roman Polanski's Two Men and a Wardrobe."

Nightshift (1967, Dir: Matthew Robins) - Menace and paranoia in the world of a an all-night gas station attendant. Great cinematography by Philadelphia native Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural). Sound by Walter Murch (American Graffiti, The Conversation).

Darrin (1968, Dir: Basil Poledouris) - The director scored a $450 grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to make "a film about a child and his interaction with the environment." The result won a $1000 Edward Dymytrk prize, and then a Samuel Goldwyn scholarship from the American Film Institute to work with producer Lawrence Turman (The Graduate). He ultimately enjoyed a long Hollywood career -- as a composer of film music, often for U.S.C. classmates like John Milius and Randal Kleiser. His scores include those for Big Wednesday, TV's Lonesome Dove, Conan the Barbarian, The Hunt for Red October and many more.

Garden (1968, Dir: Wayne Wadhams, Gene Mackles) - An animated rumination on Hieronymus Bosch's famous painting The Garden of Earthly Delights, employing (like many student films) liberal use of presumably unlicensed rock music recordings. Wayne Wadhams, a musical prodigy himself, joined Dartmouth College's student film society after his own successful recording career with the band the Fifth Estate. He later composed jingles and sang the theme for TV's Candid Camera, worked in recording studios, was a longtime faculty member of the Berklee School of Music, and wrote several popular books about music production and composition.

Plus La Divina (1967), Viking Women Don't Care (1968), and more!

From Philadelphia with Love III:

More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films

at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
610-527-9898

Thursday, April 13, 2023
7:30 pm
Admission: $13.50, $8.00 BMFI members, $11.00 seniors/students, $9.00 children.

On Thursday, April 13, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute to present a unique program of short films called From Philadelphia With Love III: More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. 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.

The Secret Cinema has been collecting, archiving and screening this fascinating area of local film history for over two decades now. Our third BMFI presentation of Philly film will be another "best of" selection from past volumes (but with no repeats from previous Bryn Mawr editions, and including some titles that have not been screened anywhere in over a decade).

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $13.50, $8.00 BMFI members, $11 seniors & students, and $9.00 children (with adult).

Highlights of From Philadelphia with Love III… will include:

The Truck and the Driver (1930s) - This short film promoting safe driving of trucks, produced by Aetna Insurance before many films of this type were made, would be interesting enough by virtue of its age and the vintage vehicles and streetscapes on display. That it appears to have been made entirely in the Philadelphia region should make it doubly so for local audiences. We have not been able to identify all of the locations (please come and help!), but are pretty confident that it includes scenes of Center City, Delaware Avenue, East Passyunk, and possibly Olney and the Philadelphia countryside...plus some still-valid lessons on road safety.

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

"Mister Rivets" footage (1954) - In the early days of television, Let Skinner Do It on WPTZ-TV (today's KYW) was one of the success stories of local daytime programming. When veteran radio personality Alan Scott took over for host George Skinner, the renamed Let Scott Do It was touted in the trades as the "top rated kitchen show" in the nation, offering light conversation, music...and a beloved mechanical man named "Mister Rivets." In reality this was actor Joe Earley, in a comical robot suit, playing gentle pranks on the genial host. The show was usually broadcast live and thus not recorded for posterity, but occasionally outdoor segments were shot on 16mm film, for use when one of the personalities was on vacation. This ultra-rare surviving reel (we know of only one other) shows some of Mister Rivets' typical antics: hanging laundry behind a house, feeding zoo animals, and hunting groundhogs (!), as well as scenes of the gigantic crowds that turned out to meet the friendly robot at a personal appearance.

The Troc (1966) - A confusing yet amusing University of Pennsylvania student film, with dancers creating interpretive art along colorful views of the Schuylkill River banks, and a climactic visit to the titular burlesque house, all set to 60's pop music. Directed by a young Randy Swartz, today prominent in Philly's dance community.

Is a Career in the Performing Arts for You? (1973) - An entry from the Library of Career Counseling Films, a multi-film project made for the U.S. Department of Labor by Philadelphia's Ralph Lopatin Productions, often taking advantage of local sites and resources. This time future high school graduates are invited to consider the career paths of musicians, actors and assorted support staff. Along the way they see the Shubert and Forrest theaters, Latin Casino and Just Jazz nightclubs, and local educational facilities for performing arts.

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, rather 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."

Plus much, much more!

Batter Up: Rare Baseball Films

at Old Pine Community Center

Friday, April 7, 2023
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00

Old Pine Community Center
401 Lombard Street, Philadelphia
215-627-2493

On Friday, April 7 -- in between the first two home games of the Phillies' 2023 season -- the Secret Cinema will present Batter Up: Rare Baseball Films. This, our first ever sports-themed program, will include an assortment of little-seen reels about America's pastime, dating from the 1920s through the 1950s. We'll show newsreels, documentaries and cartoons. Local focus includes looks at the Phillies "Whiz Kids" 1950s World Series games, and grand old man of baseball Connie Mack…plus films about Babe Ruth and an umpire training school.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00

The screening will be our second visit to the Old Pine Community Center, at the Northwest corner of 4th & Lombard Streets in Center City, steps away from South Street restaurants and shopping.

A few highlights of the program include:

World Series of 1950 (1950, Dir: Lew Fonseca) - Historic footage featuring game-by-game highlights of the Major League Baseball championship that pitted the Philadelphia Phillies against the New York Yankees, in Shibe Park (later renamed Connie Mack Stadium) and Yankee Stadium. The 1950 Phillies earned the nickname "the Whiz Kids," with such star players as Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts, Jim Konstanty, Del Ennis and Andy Seminick (the Yankees roster included Hall of Famers Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto and manager Casey Stengel). The film was sponsored by sports equipment manufacturer A.G. Spalding.

RKO Sportscope No. 4: Connie Mack (1950) - A theatrical short subject made to mark the retirement of the man born as Cornelius McGillicuddy, but known to all as Connie Mack, the grand old man of baseball. Mack is shown in his Shibe Park office, surrounded by souvenirs of his 66 year career as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. Newsreel clips highlight his life and his many honors. Narrated by Red Barber.

The Umpire in Baseball (1940s, Dir: Lew Fonseca) - More than you ever knew about umpires! Big league umpires Bill McGowan. Babe Pinelli, Art Passarella, and George Barr show a school for umpires, and some of their work in the Major Leagues. Director Lew Fonseca was a former baseball player (including on the 1925 Phillies), manager and radio announcer. He produced a popular series of films for the American and National Leagues between 1943 and 1969, which were offered free of charge to groups for non-theatrical screenings. He also narrates this one.

Plus Fence Buster: The Story of Babe Ruth (1948), The Magnetic Bat (1928) and more!

About Old Pine Community Center: Since 1977, Old Pine Community Center's mission has been to enrich the lives of its neighbors through dynamic programs and services focused on children and families, food insecurity, and community engagement. Their goal is to create welcoming and safe spaces for children, adults, seniors, and neighbors for their benefit and the benefit of future generations.

Secret Cinema to screen films for Franklin Institute's

The Franklin Institute
222 N. 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA
215-448-1200

On Friday, March 31, the Secret Cinema will participate in the latest chapter of the Franklin Institute's multi-dimensional event Science After Hours. This popular, quarterly series features programming for grown-ups that combines live performances, music, food, drink, and in this case, a film screening, all throughout the museum's historic galleries. The theme this month is "Spectacular Spectacular."

Doors open at 7:30 pm, and the event ends at 11:30 pm.

Admission is $40 in advance, $45 day of show, and $35 for Franklin Institute members.

The Secret Cinema portion will consist of an approximately 90-minute program of shorts, which will be shown twice. We'll draw from our archive films featuring spectacular musical and dance clips, coming attraction trailers for spectacular movies, spectacular displays of nature, and even a spectacular cartoon! All projected from rare 16mm film prints, on the spectacular big screen of the museum's Franklin Theater.

Read more about the full event here.

Atmospheric, noirish thriller Dark Waters

in rare 35mm print in Phoenixville

Sunday, March 19, 2023
4:00 pm
Admission: $12.00, $10.00 students/seniors/military, $8.00 Colonial members

Colonial Theatre
227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA
610-917-1228 The Secret Cinema presents atmospheric, noirish thriller Dark Waters in rare 35mm print in Phoenixville

On Sunday, March 19, the Secret Cinema will return to the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville for a screening of Dark Waters. This largely forgotten 1944 psychological thriller stars Merle Oberon as a woman who escaped a sinking ship on which her parents drowned, only to remain haunted by the memory -- and by the weird behavior of the family members who welcome the orphaned woman into their Southern plantation. Dark Waters has acquired a cult repitation for director André de Toth's skillful use of film noir stylings to create a tense and eccentric atmosphere.

Dark Waters will be preceded by surprise short films from the Secret Cinema's archive of 35mm prints.

There will be one complete program starting at 4:00 pm.

Admission is $12.00, $10.00 for students/seniors/military, $8.00 for Colonial members

A complete description of the program follows...

Dark Waters (1944, Dir: André de Toth) 35mm
"Why did they pull me out of the water? That's where I belong, under the water with my mother and father!" Exotic beauty Merle Oberon stars as a woman who saw her parents drown in a ship sunk by Nazi torpedoes, and dazed, goes to live with relatives she's never met in a murky New Orleans plantation. Haunted by survivor's guilt and recurring visions of the tragedy, she finds her off-kilter relatives sympathetic at first, yet mysteriously they seem to encourage her nightmares and growing madness. Striking cinematography and a gallery of weird types (especially character actor greats John Qualen, Elisha Cook, Jr., and Thomas Mitchell) make this an especially atmospheric psychological thriller. Genre aficionados have debated whether or not Dark Waters is true film noir, but in the most literal sense, this must be one of the darkest films ever released: the grains of silver needed to create the ratio of black-to-white in its 35mm print could probably supply the photographic needs of five regular Hollywood releases.

After making films in his native Hungary, André de Toth worked for Alexander Korda as a second-unit director on Thief of Bagdad. In Hollywood he became a specialist in violent crime and Western movies. Despite having only one eye, he helmed the 3-D epic House of Wax. Independently produced by Benedict Bogeaus (Diary of a Chambermaid, Slightly Scarlet), Dark Waters includes some subtly progressive story points about race (via Rex Ingram's character) that would be unlikely in more typical studio fare of the era.

"Mood dictates narrative in André de Toth's Dark Waters, a hallucinatory jigsaw puzzle set in the deep swamps of 1940s Louisiana that becomes a perfect breeding ground for noirish shadows and deceptive wordplay." - Glenn Heath Jr., Slant.

"Dark Waters succeeds in large measure because of de Toth's attention to texture and atmosphere -- a studio rendition of Southern Gothic so expert that it managed to fool real bayou dwellers." - Kyle Westphal

Plus unusual short films.

Megaton Movies: Films about the Atomic Bomb

at Rotunda

Thursday, March 9, 2023
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

On Thursday, March 9, the Secret Cinema will present Megaton Movies: Films about the Atomic Bomb, a special program featuring fascinating -- and still frightening -- looks at our nuclear past…and present. With the current warming up of the Cold War with Russia, these vivid documents from the 1940s, 50s and 60s are sadly as relevant as ever. The screening will include rare newsreels, government films and an Oscar-winning pseudo-documentary.

There will be one complete program at 8:00 pm. Admission is free (as are all programs in the Rotunda's monthly "Bright Bulb Screening Series").

Just a few highlights of Megaton Movies… are:

Survival Under Atomic Attack (1951) - "Let us face, without panic, the reality of our time -- the fact that atom bombs may someday be dropped on our cities." Castle Films, which normally supplied cartoons and travel subjects to school and church 16mm projectors, distributed this sobering instructional film (and several similar titles) in cooperation with the Federal Civil Defense Administration. It served as a sort of primer on how to beat the bomb, through careful avoidance of flying glass, collapsing buildings and radioactive fallout. Narrated by no less than esteemed journalist Edward R. Murrow, it used data collected by studying the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Operation Crossroads (1946) - Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946. The purpose of the operation was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on naval warships. They were the first tests to be publicly announced beforehand and observed by an invited audience, which included a large press corps. The Navy convinced 167 island dwellers to relocate, "for the good of mankind." This color film shows the careful photographic documentation that was recorded of two different blasts, but not of radiation effects which may have impacted the thousands of Navy personnel participating in the test and cleanup.

The War Game (1965, Dir: Peter Watkins) - This mockumentary featurette -- an early example of that genre -- depicts, using hand-held camera and a non-professional cast, what could happen if nuclear war was directed against England. The resulting chaos and carnage reveal that adequate preparation against such calamity is impossible. The War Game was commissioned by the BBC for television broadcast, but when completed, the network decided that Watkins' film was "judged to be…too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting." It later was distributed theatrically and shown in film festivals, to great acclaim, and was awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature of 1966 (despite being neither documentary nor feature). Truly one of the scariest films ever shown by Secret Cinema; perhaps we should have saved it for Halloween.

Plus much more!

Scopitone Party screening and talk

at Maas Building

Friday, February 24, 2023
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

On Friday, February 24, The Secret Cinema will return to the Maas Building and revive our popular Scopitone Party presentation, 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 Europe and America. The film clips, featuring performers both famous and obscure -- and which 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 rare photos and original advertising materials.

This program will be the last "Secret Cinema classic" offering of our 30th anniversary celebration (which began March 2022). Scopitone Party was last presented 11 years ago -- and was first shown 25 years ago, at Moore College of Art & Design. 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 Gijón (Spain), the Benicassim music festival (also Spain), and a rock film festival in Athens, Greece. And for the first time, the illustrated talk will be updated to include new information about (and images of) Scopitone, which has emerged since we first pieced together the history of this pioneering music technology.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00.

Scopitone Party will include performances by such well-known oldies icons 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 I Brutos, and even a few songs by performers whose names were lost to history.

Early Brigitte Bardot feature in 35mm

at Lightbox Film Center

Saturday, January 28, 2023
7:00 pm
Admission: $10, $8 students, free for Lightbox members/Uarts students & staff

Lightbox Film Center
401 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia
215-717-6477

On Saturday, January 28, the Secret Cinema will present a rare 35mm print of a very early feature starring Brigitte Bardot, The Girl in the Bikini. The screening -- our first collaboration with the Lightbox Film Center -- will also be the first offering in an irregular series called Art House Oddities.

There will be one complete program, starting at 7:00 pm. Admission is $10, $8 students, and free for Lightbox members or Uarts students and staff.

The program will also include surprise short subjects (also in 35mm!).

The Girl in the Bikini (1952, France. Dir: Willy Rozier)
This, the second film appearance of Brigitte Bardot, did not arrive on our shores until six years after its production. By then, "B.B." was the world's biggest sex symbol, making international headlines after the success of Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman. In 1952, Bardot was just 18 years old, and taking all of her career direction from discoverer Vadim, then her fiancé. In this early role, she projects what the New York Times called, "a fetching winsomeness and innocence." The simple plot concerns a young law student (Jean-François Calvé) who partners with a cigarette smuggler to search for ancient treasure spotted off the coast of Corsica on a previous visit -- but the boy's real motive might be to again find the pretty lighthouse keeper's daughter (Bardot) who swims daily off of the rocks. A not-unexpected double-cross leads to a dramatic conclusion, but the real rewards of this film, truly the product of a different time, are the visual delights of the Mediterranean scenery, and of the young, athletic cast (especially Bardot). Films like this (originally titled Manina, la Fille Sans Voiles) would convince many Americans to take European vacations on then newly affordable overseas jet travel.

Art House Oddities will be an ongoing, irregular Secret Cinema series examining the early fare of "art house" cinemas. These specialty theaters catered to post-war audiences' increased curiosity about foreign and independent films -- the box office scores of which often benefited from their adult themes and lax censorship. This era of distribution, in which with many works were re-edited for America, and most foreign language films dubbed into English, has been largely forgotten with many of its films lost. Yet, adventurous viewers saw a lot of films this way in the 1950s and '60s, before "repertory cinemas" replaced art house distribution…and many theaters with "Art" in their title turned to hardcore pornography in their final acts.

"B" Picture Double Feature at

Chestnut Hill Film Group anniversary screening

Tuesday, November 29, 2022
7:30 pm
Admission: FREE ($5.00 museum donation suggested)

Woodmere Art Museum
9201 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 247-0476

The Secret Cinema will return to the Woodmere Museum on Tuesday, November 29, to present a unique program called "B" Picture Double Feature, consisting of two brisk-paced genre features from the 1940s, plus surprise short subjects.

This presentation is part of the Chestnut Hill Film Group's 50th Anniversary "Best Of" season -- this same program was presented in 2012.

The phrase "B-Movies" has come to have many connotations over the years, mostly negative, but originally the designation simply meant a film was the "second feature" on a standard double bill. As this usually meant it was a lower-budgeted, shorter-length affair, the format lent itself to fast-paced genre films that didn't require big-name stars, such as Westerns, mysteries, and horror films (though there were also many comedies, romantic dramas and even musicals made as "b" pictures).

Our double feature includes two films with close to one-hour running times, and combines comic strip crime with creepy horror.

There will be one complete screening, at 7:30 pm. Admission is free (a $5.00 museum donation is suggested).

Complete descriptions of the two features appears below:

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947, Dir: John Rawlins)
Chester Gould's comic strip police detective debuted in 1932, and has remained one of the most popular media characters ever since. Besides the still-syndicated newspaper strip, he has appeared in radio dramatizations, television cartoons, comic books, children's record albums, and of course, motion pictures. Dick Tracy's big screen debut was in a Republic serial starring Ralph Byrd, considered by many the actor who portrayed Gould's square-jawed creation most accurately. After four different complete serials, a series of Dick Tracy b-features was produced by RKO. First they put Morgan Conway in the lead role, but before long they recruited Byrd to return and complete the series.

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is fast and lively, and probably the best of the Tracy b-features, thanks largely to the strong cast. Besides Ralph Byrd, the film is enlivened considerably by the appearance of no less than Boris Karloff as the titular villain. Gruesome is an evil ex-con who enlists Dr. A. Tomic's invention for temporarily freezing human motion as an aid to bank robbing. Also on hand are Anne Gwynne (as Tess Trueheart), Lex Barker, and the unforgettable Skelton Knaggs as X-Ray.

The Brute Man (1946, Dir: Jean Yarbrough)
Rondo Hatton may 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, progressive 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 possessing no real acting ability, Hatton's unique looks resulted in a lot of work. Beginning with the Sherlock Holmes series entry The Pearl of Death, Hatton 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 go to jail for killing his wife).

The Standard Tap
901 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia
215-238-0630
FREE!

Newest National Film Registry Short Films at Rotunda

Thursday, November 10, 2022
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

On Thursday, November 10, the Secret Cinema will present at the Rotunda, for the second time, a special program of short films paying tribute to the National Film Registry (the last was in 2018).

In our current, divided political climate, the legislative branch of government often seems frozen, but in 1988 it managed to pass, of all things, laws mandating the establishment of "a National Film Registry to register films that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." This unusual legislation was a side effect of public controversy over the colorizing of classic black and white Hollywood films, and the fear that future generations would not be able to see such works as they were originally created. In 1989 the first group of 25 titles was named to the Registry (including The Wizard of Oz, Nanook of the North and Star Wars). The National Film Registry today lists 825 films, including many obscure and "orphan works" -- not just features, but short films that encompass early cinema, documentaries, cartoons, newsreels, educational films and even home movies.

A quick look through the Secret Cinema archive shows that we hold prints of over 50 films from this list -- including one title (the locally made The Jungle) whose inclusion was the result of our lobbying. Quite a few are feature-length, but since any of those would constitute a whole show, we'll instead focus on shorts for our National Film Registry Short Films program, to show the variety of our film heritage that is honored in this important pantheon.

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

Highlights of the National Film Registry Short Films program are:

Peege (1972, Dir: Randall Kleiser) - Main Line-raised Randall Kleiser is best known for directing crowd-pleasing features like Grease, The Blue Lagoon and Honey, I Shrunk the Kid. But the one-time housemate of fellow U.S.C. student George Lucas never made a film more artful, or touching, than Peege, a one-off project funded by the Directors Guild Foundation. It starred Bruce Davison (Willard), who had earlier run with Kleiser on the Radnor High School track team. Peege recreates an incident in the director's life, when he visited an ailing grandmother in a Pennsylvania nursing home. The film ultimately received wide distribution in the non-theatrical realm, and has been used for instruction in medical schools, hospitals and nursing homes. The cast also included such recognizable faces as William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show) and Barry Livingston (My Three Sons). The title role of the grandmother was played by Jeanette Nolan, whose screen debut was as Lady Macbeth in Orson Welles' Macbeth (1948).

The River (1938, Dir: Pare Lorentz) - The River is an art film disguised as social advocacy disguised as a documentary. As with The Plow That Broke the Plains and Valley Town (entries seen earlier in our "Famous Films" series), The River documents not only its subject, but a fascinating, long-gone time when the federal government funded politically progressive and artistically avant-garde art. Lorentz made this project after the success of The Plow... to tell what he described to his bosses as "the biggest story in the world -- the Mississippi River." The subject encompassed several issues of importance to the FDR administration: flood control, soil and timber conservation, and rural electrification, and turned them into a powerful narrative via rhythmic and lyrical narration (read by baritone Thomas Chalmers), discordant music (by modernist composer Virgil Thomson), and striking photography (by, among others, Floyd Crosby). The River was, like The Plow..., a popular and box office success, but it had ruffled many feathers. Lorentz was slated to head a new agency established by presidential order, the U.S. Film Service, but before this project could get underway its budget was written out of existence by a hostile congress. Named to the National Film Registry in its second year.

Kid Auto Races at Venice, California (1914, Dir: Henry Lehrman) - A remarkable, historic film that qualifies as both documentary and constructed slapstick comedy. The film was completely improvised around a simple recurring gag: A newsreel crew covering a real-life contest of children's gravity-powered "soap box" cars is continually frustrated by a camera-hogging interloper. The troublemaker was Charlie Chaplin, in his second-released film appearance -- but the first to feature his "little tramp" characterization, in brush moustache, derby hat and baggy trousers. The costume was created for a film he'd shot earlier (Mabel's Strange Predicament) that was ultimately released two days later. Thus the world was introduced to the screen persona that Chaplin was to inhabit (and enhance) for the next 26 years.

Plus Duck and Cover and The House I Live In.

Weird Cartoons at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

Wednesday, November 2, 2022
7:30 pm
Admission: $13.50, $8.00 BMFI members, $11.00 seniors/students, $9.00 children.

The Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute on Wednesday, November 2. It will be a revisiting of one of our favorite themes, called Weird Cartoons, and highlighting unusual and bizarre animation.

We've shown several unique "volumes" of this weird program, beginning nineteen years ago. This show will gather highlights from these, and also add a few that we've never shown before (however, there will be no repetition from the Weird Cartoons screening that we presented in 2021). Most, but not all of what we'll include in Weird Cartoons was made for general audiences by major studios; some were made by independent animators, some were sponsored films with subtle advertising messages, and a couple of cartoons date back to the era of silent films. A few might be perceived as offensive by today's standards. What these films, which were made from the 1920s through the 1950s, all share is a fearless aesthetic that is unafraid of the absurd; an often shocking sense of humor that is the polar opposite of today's sanitized, cross-marketed Pixar sensations.

As always, all films will be presented using real 16mm film projected on a giant screen.

There will be one complete program, starting at 7:30 pm. Admission is $13.50, $8.00 BMFI members, $11.00 seniors/students, and $9.00 children.

A few highlights will include:

Buddy's Lost World (1935) - The Buddy character first appeared in 1933, as a replacement for the popular Bosko, the first character to "star" in Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes series. Animation historians generally consider the Buddy films to be a disappointment, but this entry certainly had a wild premise. It's essentially a short cartoon version of The Lost World, the 1925 silent feature adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's fantastic novel, about the discovery of a hidden jungle where dinosaurs still walk the earth. If that weren't enough to fill a seven-minute cartoon, Buddy also encounters a swishy caveman and a cameo by the Three Stooges!

Korochan the Little Bear (1959) - The unique drawing style marks this as an early sample of Japanese animation. It tells the story of a family of bears who toil in the forest, except for little Korachan, who only wants to play, and manages to be both cute and campy. It was distributed to American schools by educational film giant Encyclopedia Brittanica Films.

To Your Health (1956, Dir: Phillip Stapp) - Made for the U.N.'s World Health Organization at the British Halas/Batchelor studio, this film attempts to answer the question, "What is alcohol, anyway?" Striking, beautiful Technicolor animation is used to depict the effects and problems of drunkenness. Director Stapp had a long career making cartoons for progressive political and social causes, including contributions to the work of Julien Bryan and to the 1953 animated feature version of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

Willoughby's Magic Hat (1943, Dir: Bob Wickersham) - The unusual story of a meek man who gains super powers when he dons a cap made from the hair of Samson. The stylized design is credited to Zack Schwartz, one of several Disney animators who left that studio after a 1941 labor strike. Schwartz would later join fellow strikers like John Hubley in their newly formed UPA studios, where they would further explore a more modern, minimal way of drawing cartoons. The real star of Willoughby's Magic Hat, however, may be the uncredited narrator, whose fussy, nervous voiceover underlines this peculiar film with extra weirdness.

The Wacky World of Numbers (1968, Dir: Steven Clark) - "Adapted by the book by Sheldon Wasserman." Bizarrely minimal short that is essentially a series of animated, silly puns and jokes based on the shapes of numerals, intercut with psychedelic, kaleidoscopic transitions and horn-based go-go music. The look was clearly inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (though maybe without the laughs). We will openly label this one as "interestingly bad" -- but cannot comment on whether the book was better.

Plus To Bali and Under the Sea, Flying Fists (with Flip the Frog), sing-along cartoons, and much more!

Lenny Kaye and Nazz singer Stewkey appearing

at Nuggets: Celluloid Artyfacts of Sixties Rock

Friday, October 21, 2022
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00
Buy advance tickets HERE
Tickets also sold at door.

2223.fish Theater at Summerfield Church
2223 E Dauphin Street (Konrad Square), Philadelphia
215-634-4695

We at Secret Cinema possess no false modesty -- we're proud of the 30 years of screenings we've presented, all using real film and generally consisting of rather original programming (if we do say so ourselves!). But we've never been more pleased with anything we've done than one sold-out show presented 15 years ago. So let's do it again…and, as before, with two very special guests in attendance.

On Friday, October 21, the Secret Cinema will again present Nuggets: Celluloid Artyfacts of Sixties Rock, 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. This time, it will be at the spacious 2223.fish theater, located within the Summerfield Church, in the heart of Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood.

When we first named that program, 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 again have with us the creator of the original "Nuggets," Lenny Kaye, and Nuggets album star Stewkey, of legendary local rock band The Nazz.

Prior to his 48 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 (released exactly 50 years ago this October!). 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 ensured 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, d.j. on Little Steven's "Underground Garage" Sirius XM channel, and author. His latest book is Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll (one chapter is devoted to Philadelphia in 1959!).

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 again have Stewkey (lead singer and keyboardist of Philadelphia's great sixties band The Nazz) in person, to present a rare 16mm print of the promo film for "Open My Eyes."

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00.

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 largely 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 band meetings to discuss 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!

The 2223.fish theater at Summerfield Church is located in a beautiful, 110-year old stone building on Konrad Square Park, in the heart of the ever-growing Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. In addition to providing worship services, they serve as a lively community center, with the auditorium hosting theater, concerts, flea markets and neighborhood meetings. The building is located near Septa's York-Dauphin el stop, and route 5 bus line.

Hear NPR interview with Lenny Kaye about Nuggets!

Read the Guardian's interview with Lenny Kaye about Nuggets!

Lenny Kaye's latest book

Jay Schwartz spins The Other 80s at the Standard Tap

Saturday, October 15, 2022
1 pm until 4 pm
Admission: FREE

The Standard Tap
901 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia
215-238-0630

On Saturday, October 15, The Standard Tap bar will host Jay Schwartz (of the Secret Cinema) to spin three hours' worth of records going back several decades to the underground sounds of the 1980s.

It all starts at 1:00 pm and runs until 4:00 pm.

Admission is free.

While most prior revivals of music from that decade focused on the frothier offspring of an earlier new wave (and wacky hairstyles and fashions), The Other 80s aims to remind people about the many rich branches of underground rock that grew in the aftermath of punk rock. A whole new network grew through "left of the dial" college radio stations, D.I.Y. fanzines and independent concert venues, and this was its sound.

The all-vinyl spun music at The Other 80s will necessarily only scratch the surface of ten years of great records, but will include artists that broke through to respectable levels of acclaim like R.E.M., Husker Du and the Replacements. Yet, equal time will be devoted to deeper tracks, covering everyone from Agitpop to Zeitgeist, with detours through sub-genres like jangle pop, the Paisley Underground and post-punk. Expect lots of American records (but not only), and plenty of guitars (but not just that).

Jay Schwartz has, in the past, spun mainly highly-themed sets of music, such as 1970s punk/new wave, power pop, sunshine pop, bubblegum, Scratchy Old Jazz Records, and with musical partner D.J. Silvia, Salut les Copains (1960s French pop), Made in Spain (1960s rock from Spain) and Worldwide Sixties Discotheque (1960s rock/pop from all over).

Newest Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection at Rotunda

Thursday, October 13, 2022
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

On Thursday, October 13, The Secret Cinema will return to the Rotunda with another chapter of our occasional series, Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection. Once again we'll feature a mélange of fascinating short films from the past. As we go through our collection, reel by reel, we continually find films that don't necessarily lend themselves to fitting into a themed group, yet are too interesting, or fun, or funny to not share. None have been shown in previous Secret Cinema programs. Indeed, few of these films are likely to have been seen anywhere in recent years.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is free (as are all programs in the Rotunda's monthly "Bright Bulb Screening Series").

A few highlights from this new edition of Archive Discoveries… include:

Monsieur Jean-Claude Vaucherin (1968, Dir: Pascal Aubier) - In this peculiar, absurd film, a man sits alone in his office, desperate to occupy himself, yet appears to have no work to do (he has many pens, however!). Writer/director Aubier directed several short films, a few features, and acted in many more, including Godard's Pierrot le Fou and the unique drug addiction epic Chappaqua (its cast also included William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Ravi Shankar, Ornette Coleman and Hervé Villechaize!). With Dominique Spinetta and Bernadette Lafont, who would become "the face of French New Wave" soon after her debut in Truffaut's short film, Les Mistons.

Eddie (1969, Dir: Laurence Salzmann and Peter Barton) - "There are over 40,000 people living in single-room 'welfare' hotels in New York City alone. This is a film about one of them." So begins a remarkable (and grim) documentary, co-made by Philadelphia photographer Salzmann, with a grant from the brand-new American Film Institute. To study his subject, Salzmann lived for a period in the same single-room occupancy hotel (it also led to a companion film, Alfred, and a photo portfolio, Neighbors on the Block).

The Swinging Scene of Ray Anthony (1968, Dir: Milton Lehr) - Bandleader Ray Anthony began his musical career in 1940, playing trumpet with Glenn Miller. In the 1950s he led his own big band, scored hits with "The Bunny Hop" and "Hokey Pokey," starred in some TV series, and acted in movies, including a couple with his then-wife, Mamie Van Doren. Today at 100, Anthony is the last surviving member of Glenn Miller's big band. Which brings us to this 1968 syndicated television special (which we'll present a fragment from). Already well past his peak years, Anthony tries hard to appear relevant with the "swinging scene" of the Vietnam era: He packs the show with bikini-clad girls, rockin' numbers like "What'd I Say" and "Do the Swim," corny jokes (with laugh track), and even performs a medley of hits by the Tijuana Brass. My initial viewing notes say, "Amazing! Awful! Great!"…but judge for yourself.

Plus Lyman H. Howe's Hodge-Podge (1933), G.I. Movie Weekly (1945), Thundering Rails (1948) and much more!

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The International bar
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

Son of Trailer Trash

at Phoenixville's Colonial Theater

Saturday, September 17, 2022
7:00 pm
Admission: $11.00 general, $9.00 seniors, $8.00 students, $6.00 Colonial members

Colonial Theatre
227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA
610-917-1228

As part of the Secret Cinema's 30th anniversary year, we will revisit one of our biggest presentations ever on Saturday, September 17, when we present Son of Trailer Trash on the big screen at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville. Like our original Trailer Trash program, this all-different 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 Colonial's gigantic screen (in its historic "1903 Theatre"), 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 of those cited here qualify as greats).

There will be one complete show at 7:00 pm. Admission is $11.00 general, $9.00 seniors, $8.00 students, and $6.00 Colonial members

Son of Trailer Trash was first presented at the Prince Music Theater in 2002.

The International bar is located at Front Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue (nee Columbia Avenue), on the lively edge of Fishtown (or whatever that corner is technically considered). They serve food and drink and admission is free.

All-new From Philadelphia with Love

at new Fishtown venue

Friday, April 29, 2022
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00

2223.fish Theater at Summerfield Church
2223 E Dauphin Street (Konrad Square), Philadelphia
215-634-4695

On Friday, April 29, the Secret Cinema will present the latest chapter in its ongoing series From Philadelphia with Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films (2022 Edition). Once again, it will contain 100% new programming, and will also be our first screening at a brand new (to us) venue...the spacious 2223.fish Theater at Summerfield Church, in the heart of the Fishtown neighborhood.

From Philadelphia with Love... showcases rare 16mm prints from the Secret Cinema archive about different aspects of life in the Philadelphia region. Some were made as sponsored films promoting goods or institutions, and others are educational, documentary or dramatic in nature. Most are virtually impossible to see elsewhere.

The Secret Cinema began showcasing these ephemeral scenes of lost local history back in 1999. We've now projected over 65 of these films -- but none of those will be repeated in this month's program. In fact, few have been seen by anyone since they were originally made.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00.

COVID policy: Proof of full vaccination and photo ID required for entrance. Masks must be worn inside the building.

Just a few highlights of this 2022 edition of From Philadelphia with Love... are:

Commonwealth vs. Lopinson (1970s) - For several weeks in 1965, local newspapers gave front-page coverage to one of the most sensational trials in Philadelphia history. In the end, Jack Lopinson was found guilty of hiring a hitman to murder his wife and his business partner -- both were shot to death in the basement of his recently acquired Center City restaurant/tavern Dante's. Lopinson himself was shot in the leg, as part of a plan to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. This amazing film was part of a series of educational films made for law students, which recreated the courtroom testimony of notable trials. What is remarkable is that the roles of the two key attorneys were played, just a few years after the events, by the actual participants from the case: prosecutor Richard Sprague, and defense attorney Charles Peruto, two of the most celebrated Philadelphia lawyers ever. Adding to the realism, the jury (and thus we, the film audience) are shown the real-life, gory crime scene photographs from 1964.

Pennsylvania's Highway Story (1949) - When this colorful Kodachrome short was made, cars and trucks looked very different, but the steady increase in road use was already a problem for planners. The film details current and future improvements on the drawing board for roads throughout the state -- including, of course, those in Pennsylvania's largest city.

The Story of the U.S.O. Labor Plaza (1943) - This slice of lost World War II history was made on behalf of local labor unions, to showcase their role in creating an open-air nightclub providing recreation for soldiers passing through town. It was built quickly in Reyburn Plaza, north of City Hall (today the location of the Municipal Services Building and its adjoining plaza). The film includes coverage of its groundbreaking, and just two weeks later, the gala grand opening. On offer were snacks (five cents each), and dancing to a live swing band with volunteer hostesses.

Plus Ben and Me (1953), The Everyday Gamble (1973), and much more.

Summerfield Church is located in a beautiful, 110-year old stone building on Konrad Square Park, in the heart of the ever-growing Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia. In addition to providing worship services, they serve as a lively community center, with the auditorium hosting theater, concerts, flea markets and neighborhood meetings. The building is located near Septa's York-Dauphin el stop, and route 5 bus line.

"Best of" From Philadelphia With Love

at Swarthmore

Lang Performing Arts Center Cinema
500 College Avenue (use North entrance)
Swarthmore, PA
610-328-8000

Sunday, April 3, 2022,
7:00 pm
Admission: FREE

On Sunday, April 3, 2022, the Secret Cinema will present a "best of" condensation of 30 years of Philly-centric film programs, when it brings From Philadelphia with Love: Lost Local Films to Swarthmore College. (OK, actually we've only presented this particular theme since 1999 -- but this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Secret Cinema.)

From Philadelphia with Love... showcases rare 16mm prints from the Secret Cinema archive about different aspects of life in the Philadelphia region. Some were made as sponsored films, and others are educational, documentary or dramatic in nature.

There will also be an illustrated talk on the history of the Secret Cinema, presented by its founder, Jay Schwartz

There will be one complete show at 7:00 pm. The screening is free, and open to the public.

Swarthmore College COVID policy: All visitors must be up to date on their vaccinations or have a negative rapid antigen test result within 24 hours of coming to campus. The College considers individuals up to date on their COVID-19 vaccine if they have received both an initial, primary series of vaccinations AND a COVID-19 booster shot as soon as they are eligible. The College continues to require individuals to remain masked while inside campus facilities. Full details at: https://www.swarthmore.edu/covid-19-information/visitors-and-vendors

Just a few highlights of this edition of From Philadelphia with Love... are:

Assembly Line (1961, Dir: Morton Heilig) - This dramatic short film focuses on a lonely worker who toils at the Hunting Park plant of the Budd auto body factory. Ignoring the warnings of his alcoholic roommate, he heads out for what he imagines will be a big night on the town, but instead finds only betrayal and disappointment. The incredibly grim, noir mood could have come from a David Goodis pulp novel. It was a co-production of two departments at Penn: the Annenberg School of Communications, and the somewhat-mysterious Institute for Cooperative Research. Director Heilig, a winner of a fellowship in the first year of the School, would go on to make many documentaries, and also invented some early virtual reality devices. Besides its compelling narrative, Assembly Line captures amazing footage of mid-century Philadelphia, including Horn & Hardart's, movie theater marquees, long-gone bars, and streetscapes both neon-lit and gloomy.

Brooklyn Goes To Philadelphia (1954) - This obscure theatrical release 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.

Westside Store (1982) - This amusing school film presents an unusual view of supposed gang activity. Though it shows some incredibly squalid North Philly streetscapes, the multi-racial, mixed-gender members of the fictitious "Seveners gang" (of 7th & Indiana Streets) seem to have been cast right out of a Benetton fashion ad. They pool their efforts and meager assets to start a thrift store (and learn about responsibility). Adding to the fun are early appearances of two now-famous Philadelphians: Ahmir Thompson (aka Questlove from the Roots) and actor/comedian Paul F. Tompkins.

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.

For further information, send email to: filmandmedia@swarthmore.edu

All-new And the Envelope, Please:

Oscar-Winning Short Films (at a new venue!)

Old Pine Community Center
401 Lombard Street, Philadelphia
215-627-2493

Friday, March 25, 2022
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00

On Friday, March 25 -- two nights before the Academy Awards telecast -- the Secret Cinema will present an all-new edition of And the Envelope, Please: Oscar-Winning Short Films. This program showcases films that rose to the highest of honors, yet unlike the longer prize-winning films of their time, are now largely forgotten. We feel they all deserve to be seen again! They include live-action short dramas, comedies, documentaries and cartoons.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00

The screening will be shown in a brand new Secret Cinema venue -- the Old Pine Community Center, at the Northwest corner of 4th & Lombard Streets in Center City, steps away from South Street restaurants and shopping.

Because of the (yes, still) ongoing pandemic, capacity will be limited to 100 (half of normal legal capacity). Wearing of masks is mandatory, as are proof of full vaccine and photo ID.

The films in this program span from 1937 through 1984. Most took the Academy Award for best film in their category; a few were nominated but did not win.

A few highlights of the program include:

A Time Out of War (1954, Dir: Denis Sanders) - A provocative Civil War drama, in which two opposing soldiers agree to hold a tense one-hour truce. Director Sanders made this project his UCLA student thesis film, and its success led to a career in movies and television, starting as the second unit director of Charles Laughton's Night of the Hunter. Sanders' final narrative feature was the cult classic Invasion of the Bee Girls.

Should Wives Work? (1937, Dir: Leslie Goodwins) - This two-reel comedy from prolific comedy actor Leon Errol was his only Oscar-nominated work. It was not until Errol was in his fifties that he perfected the trademark characterization seen in nearly a hundred two-reelers, and numerous features -- and at his peak, the actor was in his sixties. Errol usually played a balding, somewhat-irascible man with a fondness for drinking and a knack for mix-ups with pretty girls -- leading to inevitable conflicts with his always-suspicious wife.

The Box (1967, Dir: Fred Wolf) - A minimally-drawn, wordless cartoon (the only soundtrack is drummer Shelly Manne's jazzy instrumental music), about a man who walks into a bar with a mysterious object.

Up (1984, Dir: Mike Hoover, Tim Huntley) - There's a cryptic, impressionistically told story of a man who sets a hawk free, but the centerpiece of this unusual short is a gorgeous, amazingly photographed and unforgettable ride on a hang glider.

Plus The Story of Time (1951), A Boy and His Dog (1947) and much more.

About Old Pine Community Center: Since 1977, Old Pine Community Center's mission has been to enrich the lives of its neighbors through dynamic programs and services focused on children and families, food insecurity, and community engagement. Their goal is to create welcoming and safe spaces for children, adults, seniors, and neighbors for their benefit and the benefit of future generations.

The Secret Cinema celebrates 30th anniversary

at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

Tuesday, March 15, 2022
7:30 pm
Admission: $12.50, $10 seniors/students, $8.00 children/members

March 2022 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Secret Cinema, Philadelphia's floating repertory showcase for rare and forgotten corners of cinema. And on Tuesday, March 15, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, with a special program to celebrate that anniversary.

Celebrating Thirty Years of the Secret Cinema with Jay Schwartz* will be a feature-length program of assorted short films from the early days of our now-extensive 16mm film archive. Each film to be shown -- including nostalgic school films, cartoons, television commercials and industrial shorts -- was included in our first season of programming, back in 1992. That means the film prints to be projected, old then, are now mostly between 50 to 85 years old…yet they all still work, and have a lot of entertainment value and history within them. We have not screened most of them for a long time.

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $8.00 (children/BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

This is one of several 30th Anniversary events that Secret Cinema is planning for 2022.

Since 1992, Secret Cinema has been the Philadelphia area's premiere floating repertory cinema series, bringing countless unique screenings to over 120 nightclubs, bars, coffee houses, museums, open fields, colleges, art galleries, bookstores, and sometimes even theaters and film festivals. Drawing on its own large private film archive, containing thousands of reels of rare 16mm and 35mm film, the Secret Cinema attempts to explore the uncharted territory and genres that fall between the cracks, with programs devoted to educational and industrial films, cult and exploitation features, cartoons, forgotten television, local history, home movies, erotic films, politically incorrect material, and the odd Hollywood classic. As long as they exist on real celluloid, that is -- Secret Cinema screenings never use video/digital projection. While based in Philadelphia, the Secret Cinema has also brought its unique programming to other cities and countries.

Just a few highlights of Celebrating Thirty Years… are:

The Morning After (1927, Dir: Paul Terry) - Silent, early effort from the famed Terrytoons animation studio, this reel is unusually topical in that it addresses still-current prohibition of alcohol -- and resulting police corruption -- all portrayed by animal characters.

Play, Girls! (1937, Dir: Walter Graham) - A 1930s musical comedy in two reels, using its miniscule plot as an excuse to showcase a variety of singers, dancers and pretty girls. From the Educational Pictures studio, which advertised its product as "The spice of the program."

Pro Kleen commercial (1950s) - A mind-numbingly crass eight minute TV commercial in which an unappealing pitchman with a thick Baltimore accent extols the wonders of a new spot cleaner.

The Stranger At Our Door (1940) - This 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.

…plus much more.

*NOTE: While occasional press coverage could make one think otherwise, we feel we must mention that we are normally too shy to promote "Jay Schwartz" as a brand. In fact, our original title for this special program was Secret Cinema's Sentimental Favorites: Ephemeral Shorts from our First Year. However, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute liked their title better -- and we reluctantly agreed to make that the title.

Jay Schwartz spins The Magic Record at the International bar

Friday, February 18, 2021
4:00 pm until 7:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The International bar
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Friday, February 18, The International bar will host Jay Schwartz (of the Secret Cinema) to spin yet another new D.J. set theme (of sorts): The Magic Record.

It all starts at 4:00 pm and runs until 7:00 pm, coinciding with Happy Hour specials.

Admission is free.

Jay Schwartz has, in the past, spun mainly highly-themed sets of music, such as 1970s punk/new wave, sunshine pop, bubblegum, power pop, Scratchy Old Jazz Records, and with musical partner D.J. Silvia, Salut les Copains (1960s French pop), Made in Spain (1960s rock from Spain) and Worldwide Sixties Discotheque (1960s rock/pop from all over).

The Magic Record will be a themeless theme: a free-form set of great music from the 1950s through the 1990s, encompassing most of the above and much more. Mostly rock, generally with roll, plus soul, pop, and more. It will be an all-vinyl set, mostly 45s. (Does that really matter? No.)

Come be surprised, by forgotten favorites, and possibly by new obsessions.

The International -- under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington" -- is the latest offering from the team that brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife. They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

Mid-Century Leisure in Close-Up at the Rotunda

Thursday, February 10, 2022
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

The Secret Cinema will return to the Rotunda on Thursday, February 10 with another brand new program. Mid-Century Leisure in Close-Up features three amazing films highlighting the power and ingenuity of two American industries at the height of postwar prosperity: The mighty Wurlitzer jukebox factory and Philadelphia's Curtis Publishing Company (home to the Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal and other iconic magazines).

The films, in black & white and gorgeous Kodachrome color, provide detailed looks at the complex inner workings of huge, industry-dominating companies that seemed essential and eternal in their time, yet neither would survive the 20th century.

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

Masking and contact tracing enforced. Seating is limited.

This screening is part of the Rotunda's ongoing "Bright Bulb Screening Series," which once again offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.

Included in Mid-Century Leisure in Close-Up will be:

A Visit to Wurlitzer (1940s?) - This detailed trip through the sprawling headquarters of the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company in North Tonawanda, New York examines every painstaking step in the making of the legendary Wurlitzer jukeboxes. Seemingly no part of their manufacture used outside suppliers, as the many steps in constructing the cabinetry and machining precision parts were all done in house by expert hands. Meanwhile, the executives meet to discuss changes and check on progress. The well-maintained exterior of the plant, complete with flower gardens, is reminiscent of favorite (and perhaps overshown) Secret Cinema film The Story of Bubblegum (which provides a similar tour of Philadelphia's Fleer Bubblegum plant).

Wurlitzer Jukebox Advertising (1947) - This rare film appears to have been made for internal use, to teach Wurlitzer's field representatives how best to convince bar and restaurant owners to take full advantage of the many wonderful promotional materials the company provided to establishments hosting their jukeboxes (they must have employed an army of salesmen to justify the making of this color film). And what materials -- Wurlitzer decals, Wurlitzer three-dimensional posters, even Wurlitzer cocktail stirrers! Where are these collectable treasures today? Includes priceless views of a typical late-'40s taproom…and a lesson in hard-sell technique.

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 various facilities of, Philadelphia's Curtis Publishing Company, perhaps the most important producer of periodicals in the 20th century. 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.

All of the rare 16mm film prints in this program will be making their Secret Cinema debuts. One title, Modern Magazine Magic, was shown 14 years ago using a damaged print. We have since acquired another copy in perfect condition.

Lost Television at Rotunda

Thursday, December 9, 2021
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

The Secret Cinema will return to the Rotunda for the first time since the pandemic, with a brand new program called Lost Television. The program, to be presented on Thursday, December 9, consists of rare and forgotten shows from the early era of television, which only survive thanks to now-aging 16mm film prints.

The 16mm film format was crucial to early television broadcasters, in the days before videotape was perfected. Filmed recordings of live television, called kinescopes, were made using special equipment. Other programs were originally shot on film -- this was standard procedure for the popular 1950s TV genre of anthology dramas, short stories made with changing casts. And for many years 16mm prints were shipped to local stations as a convenient distribution medium for both programs and commercials. The Secret Cinema archive includes many original prints with examples of all of these uses, and these will be showcased in Lost Television.

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

Masking and contract tracing enforced. Seating is limited.

This screening is part of the Rotunda's ongoing "Bright Bulb Screening Series," which once again offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.

Included in Lost Television will be:

Rocky King, Detective (circa 1954) - This show, a cross between film noir and soap operas, originally aired on the nine stations of the DuMont network. It starred prolific Hollywood character actor Roscoe Karns as the title police detective on the homicide squad. In an odd (and budget-saving) touch, Karns would banter with his wife, who always stayed off-screen. This episode, complete with commercials, is not known to exist elsewhere.

Screen Director's Playhouse: The Silent Partner (1955) - This series differed from many other anthology drama showcases in that it was created by the Directors Guild, and used top feature film directors to helm its stories, including John Ford, Rouben Mamoulian, Alfred Hitchcock, Leo McCarey and many more. This example was one of its most memorable and touching episodes -- it stars the great Buster Keaton as a washed-up silent film comedian watching the Academy Awards telecast in a bar. The cast also includes Zasu Pitts, Joe E. Brown, Bob Hope and more. Directed by George Marshall.

Excursion: Atomic Energy (1953) - Burgess Meredith introduces the star of this educational program, Princeton University professor Hubert Alyea. The funny and fast-talking academic, nicknamed " Dr. Boom," gives a rapid-fire lecture complete with demonstrations and explosions. Alyea was reportedly the real-life inspiration for the Walt Disney movie The Absent-Minded Professor. This show was a production of the TV-Radio Workshop of the Ford Foundation.

Zelda (1962) - Zelda was a pilot show for a series that went unsold and unproduced. It was meant to be a spin-off from the popular The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. It starred Sheila James, reprising her role as Zelda Gilroy, a brainy, upbeat, and headstrong tomboy who opens the show by sharing her thoughts and worries to the camera (like Dobie Gillis): " My ambition is to find a fella…I'm really not much of a girl." It set an odd mood for an ostensible comedy series, and it's not hard to see why the show never sold, but James has a fascinating screen presence. After appearing in several TV series, she left acting. Under her birth name of Sheila Kuehl she went to law school to fight for women's workplace rights, and in 1994 became the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature. Today Kuehl serves on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

RESCHEDULED EVENT

Scratchy Old Jazz Records at the International bar…

Sunday, November 28, 2021
3:00 pm until 6:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The International bar
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Sunday, November 29, The International bar will host Jay Schwartz (Secret Cinema) to spin a new D.J. set theme: Scratchy Old Jazz Records.

It all starts at 3:00 pm and runs until 6:00 pm.

Admission is free. The event will take place in the International's outdoor seating area (weather permitting). If weather forces the event indoors, note that vaccine I.D. is required for entrance.

Scratchy Old Jazz Records is probably self-explanatory enough of a description for what will be played -- but let me (Jay) switch to the first-person voice to explain what inspired this idea and name. While I can I talk for hours about early punk/new wave, sunshine pop, bubblegum music and other primarily rock-based genres, I don't pretend to be any expert on jazz. However, many of the records I will be playing are special to me. That's because these discs -- the copies I am bringing, some of which are pictured online, are literally the first records I knew. As a young child, one of my favorite toys was my parents' record player, an RCA 45 changer with a fat spindle that could not play anything but big-holed singles. I wish I still had it. The records they had to play on it all fit into one grey carrying case, and most of them were jazz music from the 1950s and early 1960s.

Now, my parents were hardly hipster jazzbos. The assortment of discs in that box were randomly gathered from the selection of used jukebox singles that my father offered for sale outside the door of his short-lived gift store in Southwest Philadelphia. He got them from the storied Philly record distributor Chips, whose owner Harry Chipetz was later a partner in Sigma Sound Studios (Harry's son Bob was later one of the original booking agents for the Hot Club, and when that venue opened I called him to get on the press list for shows by the Dead Boys and Richard Hell…later I worked at the club, but I digress). Anyway, I don't know what these records cost my dad, but he sold them for five cents each, so they must have been really cheap.

This was during the golden age of independent record labels in America, and many great ones were represented in the small collection. I would stack them up on the record changer for hours while staring at the varied designs of the labels, which I found as intriguing as the music that came out of the vacuum tube-powered speaker. The names of the artists, both legendary and obscure, were all new to me: Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald shared space with Brother Jack McDuff, Lynn Hope and Doc Bagby (the latter two both having local connections, I now know). I sometimes dream of going back in time to look through what records in the store were not brought home -- the box also contained some genuine rock 'n' roll rarities ("Shig-A-Shag" by Jimmy Crain, "She Can Rock" by Little Ike), as well as more typical pop sides by Bobby Rydell and Harry Belafonte, and a couple of children's records that did not excite me.

That little record player was one of my favorite toys (a little later, I enjoyed running my parents' 8mm home movie projector). So are my warm, nostalgic memories a reason to attend this? Of course not! But even a jazz dilettante like me can't go wrong with this great little box of music. Most of these discs are from a really interesting period in jazz (mostly early-mid 1950s through mid-1960s), when it was transitioning through the Cool Jazz style from the West Coast, into what has been termed "Hard Bop." Anyway, I think these old jazz sides will still sound great in a bar setting (they're not all so scratchy), and I will supplement them with others (even albums!) that I acquired as a grown-up. Hope you can come out and listen with me. - Jay Schwartz

The International -- under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington" -- is the latest offering from the team that brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife. They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

RAIN OR SHINE: D.J.'s Silvia & Jay spin Made in Spain

vinyl rarities at The International bar (outdoors!)

Saturday, October 16
6:00 pm until 9:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The International bar
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Saturday, October 16, The International will host the seventh edition of 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 6:00 pm and runs until 9:00 pm. Admission is free. This will be the first edition of Made in Spain to take place in The International's large outdoor seating area (weather permitting).

*****HOWEVER, if the weather looks bad (rain now seems likely!), the event will be moved indoors.*****

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 original songs, as well as 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 again be led 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 stuffs in her trans-oceanic luggage. 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 the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital!) partner of D.J. Silvia.

The International -- under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington" -- is the latest offering from the team that brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife. They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

Made in Spain is co-sponsored by The Secret Cinema and Los de Patanegra en Philadelphia, a group formed to unify the growing community of Spaniards in Philadelphia and promote friendship, culture and networking.

D.J. Silvia and Jay Schwartz bring

Worldwide Sixties Discotheque

to the International bar

Saturday, March 7, 2020
10:00 pm until 2:00 am
Admission: FREE

The International
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Saturday, March 7, the pair that created the popular Made in Spain and Salut les Copains record parties will get even more global. That's the day D.J. Silvia and Jay Schwartz will bring Worldwide International Discotheque: Beat, Mod, Soul and Garage from All Over back to the International bar.

Worldwide International Discotheque... will feature a variety of retro sounds from nations not usually heard from, including Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, and more.

Just a few of the groups to be heard from are Los Shakers, The Motions, The Golden Earrings, The Spiders, The Easybeats, Os Mutantes, Die Rattles...plus some more obscure artists! If the names are not known, their sounds should (literally) strike familiar chords to any fan of sixties music. It was the decade when the youth movement truly exploded, and teenagers all around the world picked up electric guitars, inspired especially by the unprecedented success of the Beatles. But while many English language hit songs were covered in native tongues, the best groups wrote their own music and brought something of their own heritage to the ever-expanding phenomenon of rock 'n' roll.

The session starts at 10:00 pm and lasts until 2:00 am. Admission is of course free.

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

The International, under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington," is the latest offering from the people who brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife (and daylife!). They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

D.J. Silvia AGAIN spins '60s French pop

for Salut les Copains at The International bar

Sunday, January 5, 2020
2:00 pm until 6:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The International
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Sunday, January 5, the International bar will ring in the new year with a Gallic, retro afternoon session, when it again hosts Salut les Copains, featuring D.J. Silvia spinning an upbeat mix of sixties French pop records.

D.J. Silvia will be assisted by Jay Schwartz. This is the same team that brought the popular Made In Spain party to The International.

The session starts at 2:00 pm and lasts until 6:00 pm. Admission is free.

In early-'60s France, a new style of pop music developed alongside the New Wave cinema movement, in response to the rock 'n' roll revolution that was still reverberating worldwide. "Yé Yé" music (or "Yeh Yeh," or "Ya Ya") was perky and youthful, and often emphasized singers' style and sassy attitude rather than smooth technique. The new music was championed on a radio show and then a fan magazine that became huge influences on the nation's teenagers. Both were called Salut les Copains.

Major Yé Yé stars included Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Polnareff, and Jacques Dutronc. Expect to hear all of these, plus many more assorted Ultra Chicks and Swingin' Mademoiselles at the Salut les Copains session.

D.J. Silvia has been a favorite spinner at many past sixties-music events in Philly, New York and her native country of Spain. She has been a devotee and collector of French pop records for over 20 years.

Jay Schwartz is the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital) partner of D.J. Silvia. He bought his first Francoise Hardy albums after reading a profile of her in the late, lamented Bomp! fanzine.

The International, under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington," is the latest offering from the people who brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife. They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

New season at Rotunda starts with Four Films

Thursday, January 9, 2020
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

The Secret Cinema will begin a new year and a new season at the Rotunda, with a brand new program called Four Films. The program, to be presented on Thursday, January 9, consists of four short films, which together make up a feature length program.

However, the four films of Four Films have nothing to do with each other. What they have in common is that we have never shown them before, are unlikely to have been seen by most people, and they are all very interesting. Each one is quite good.

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

This screening is part of the Rotunda's ongoing "Bright Bulb Screening Series," which offers free movies on the second Thursday of every month, throughout the year.

The four films of Four Films are:

The Enchanted Hill: The Story of San Simeon (1963) - An excellent documentary about William Randolph Hearst's lavish mansion, which was the inspiration for Citizen Kane's Xanadu. It was originally produced for San Francisco's KPIX-TV, by Lee Mendelson -- who would later achieve fame for his animated Peanuts specials (and who died on Christmas Day, 2019). The Enchanted Hill makes good use of Hearst home movies showing the construction of the estate, which today operates as a popular museum.

A Ballad of Love (1965, Dir: Mikhail Bogin) - A touching, sweet depiction of the tentative romance between a young musician and a deaf woman who works in a pantomime theater troupe. Filmed at Riga Studios in Latvia.

Directors at Work: The Director and the Image (1982, Dir: Carl Workman) - Produced by David Shepard for the Directors Guild of America, this project took great advantage of access to the great film directors of the day and of the past. Discussing their careers are Rouben Mamoulian, Alfred Hitchcock, Alan Jay Pakula, Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor and more, and generous clips from their work are shown.

Geisha Girl (1934?) - This film is a bit of a mystery, and we can find almost no information about it, online or elsewhere. Was it a sound re-release of a film shot silent? A condensed version of a longer film (its producer, Elmer Clifton, was reported in a 1932 trade publication to have contracted with a Japanese filmmaker to shoot scenes for a feature called The Life of a Geisha Girl)? We may never learn, but this reel nonetheless presents a fascinating depiction of the geisha tradition.

The Worst of Secret Cinema at Maas Building

Friday, November 29, 2019
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

We are excited to announce a brand-new short film program. After a thorough search through the shelves of the Secret Cinema archive, we've compiled a list of the very worst films in our collection -- and we will share them in one orgy of badness on Friday, November 29, at the Maas Building. It's called The Worst of Secret Cinema.

Quality is, of course, highly subjective, and standards of aesthetics are debated and modified over time, yielding to the political shifts, fashions and whims of each generation. That said, we feel confident that the audience of today and one from a century ago would agree that these films are really terrible.

The Secret Cinema once presented a memorably singular program called Boring Films, the ingredients of which were selected for their sheer tedium and actual sleep-inducing quality. This is not that program. These films are not boring (not to us, anyway).

The Worst of Secret Cinema will include a variety of film categories: educational, advertising, cartoons, comedy, drama, films about films, home movies and more, each offering a different approach to their ultimate failure. Some have appeared in past Secret Cinema programs and some have never been shown before.

The program is still being assembled, but a few titles likely to be included are: A Day with Don Knotts, Arranging a Buffet Supper, The Singing Plumber, Where Do the Children Go?, and You're an Actor, Jack Weston.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

No refunds will be given.

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space.

D.J. Silvia spins '60s French pop for Salut les Copains

at The International bar

Sunday, October 27, 2019
2:00 pm until 6:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The International
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Sunday, October 27, the International bar will provide a Gallic, retro afternoon session when it again hosts Salut les Copains, featuring D.J. Silvia spinning an upbeat mix of sixties French pop records.

D.J. Silvia will be assisted by Jay Schwartz. This is the same team that brought the popular Made In Spain party to The International.

The session starts at 2:00 pm and lasts until 6:00 pm. Admission is free.

In early-'60s France, a new style of pop music developed alongside the New Wave cinema movement, in response to the rock 'n' roll revolution that was still reverberating worldwide. "Yé Yé" music (or "Yeh Yeh," or "Ya Ya") was perky and youthful, and often emphasized singers' style and sassy attitude rather than smooth technique. The new music was championed on a radio show and then a fan magazine that became huge influences on the nation's teenagers. Both were called Salut les Copains.

Major Yé Yé stars included Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Polnareff, and Jacques Dutronc. Expect to hear all of these, plus many more assorted Ultra Chicks and Swingin' Mademoiselles at the Salut les Copains session.

D.J. Silvia has been a favorite spinner at many past sixties-music events in Philly, New York and her native country of Spain. She has been a devotee and collector of French pop records for over 20 years.

Jay Schwartz is the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital) partner of D.J. Silvia. He bought his first Francoise Hardy albums after reading a profile of her in the late, lamented Bomp! fanzine.

The International, under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington," is the latest offering from the people who brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife. They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

It's a Wonderful Lifestyle: A Valentine to the 1970s

revived at Rotunda screening

Thursday, October 10, 2019
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

Travel back to the Seventies once more on Thursday, October 10, when the Secret Cinema dusts off It's a Wonderful Lifestyle: A Valentine to the 1970s* for a fresh showing at the Rotunda. 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. This is a repeat of a popular Secret Cinema program that was presented in 2005.

We'd dipped into the Seventies in many previous Secret Cinema presentations, but this program was our first devoted entirely 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 Seventies nostalgia again, and be all caught-up for the current 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 free.

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) - This 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.

New chapter of Archive Discoveries:

Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection

at Rotunda

Thursday, September 12, 2019
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

On Thursday, September 12, The Secret Cinema will return to the Rotunda with another chapter of our ongoing series, Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection. Once again we'll feature a mélange of fascinating short films from the past. As we go through our collection, reel by reel, we continually find films that don't necessarily lend themselves to fitting into a themed group, yet are too interesting, or fun, or funny to not share. None have been shown in previous Secret Cinema programs. Indeed, few of these films are likely to have been seen anywhere in recent years.

While the program as a whole has no dedicated theme, there will be a special look at the fascinating "Technocracy" movement of the twentieth century, it being the subject of two longer (and very rare) shorts that we'll show.

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

As always -- still -- Secret Cinema programs are shown using 16mm (not video, not digital) film projected on a giant screen.

A few highlights from this new edition of Archive Discoveries… include:

Brooklyn Goes to Hong Kong (1958) - Those who have viewed another favorite Secret Cinema film, Brooklyn Goes to Philadelphia, will have an idea of the tone of this series, in which a Brooklyn-accented wise guy makes fun of various travel destinations. Meanwhile, we get a nice look at the then-independent city of Hong Kong, and its neon-lit nightlife…and a cameo appearance of Burgess Meredith?

Mystery of the River Boat, Chapter 4 (1944) - A typical episode of a 1940s cliffhanger serial, this one involving stolen maps, murder, dynamite and hidden oil deposits in a Louisiana swamp.

The Story of English Inns (1932) - This vintage topical short from Paramount takes an entertaining look at traditional lodging around the British countryside, ranging from modern (as of 1932) to inns hundreds of years old.

Operation Columbia (1947) - Technocracy was a word on everyone's lips in the 1930s. It described a philosophy that the world should be controlled by technical experts rather than elected bureaucrats. That's the short version, and its espousers spun off a lot of complicated theories about world economies, productivity versus consumption, and "an energy theory of value," which many found confusing. Nonetheless, their ideas gained considerable traction during the great depression -- especially after Howard Scott founded a publicity-savvy organization called Technocracy Incorporated. Their officials wore grey uniforms with "monad" logos on the lapels, and members reportedly saluted Scott in public. While membership declined after New Deal policies restored some faith in more traditional methods of governance, interest in the movement continued, as documented in this remarkable film. It offers no explanation of the group's beliefs, but instead chronicles a huge motorcade from Los Angeles to Vancouver, a show of strength that also promoted a series of lectures Scott delivered in cities along the way. The convoy included hundreds of members' automobiles -- each one dutifully repainted in official Technocracy grey with large, red Technocracy Inc. logo decals applied to the sides. Surprisingly, Technocracy Inc. exists to the present day, though in greatly diminished form.

Techno-Crazy (1933) - While technocracy got a lot of press coverage in its early-1930s heyday, it also suffered a fair amount of lampooning in the media, as seen in this delightful two-reel comedy starring slapstick veterans Monty Collins and Billy Bevan. As was typical in criticism of technocracy, much of the humor centered on followers not being able to effectively explain what technocracy was. 1933 was the year of peak parody for the movement; at least one other comedy short about the movement was released then, Your Technocracy and Mine, starring famous humorist Robert Benchley. Animator Ub Iwerks made the 1933 cartoon Techno-Cracked, but limited any satire to its title.

Plus much, much more!

D.J. Silvia and Jay Schwartz bring Worldwide Sixties Discotheque

to the International bar

Saturday, September 7, 2019
10:00 pm until 2:00 am
Admission: FREE

The International
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Saturday, September 7, the pair that created the popular Made in Spain and Salut les Copains record parties will get even more global. That's the day D.J. Silvia and Jay Schwartz will launch Worldwide International Discotheque: Beat, Mod, Soul and Garage from All Over to the International bar.

Worldwide International Discotheque... will feature a variety of retro sounds from nations not usually heard from, including Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, and more.

Just a few of the groups to be heard from are Los Shakers, The Motions, The Golden Earrings, The Spiders, The Easybeats, Os Mutantes, Die Rattles...plus some more obscure artists! If the names are not known, their sounds should (literally) strike familiar chords to any fan of sixties music. It was the decade when the youth movement truly exploded, and teenagers all around the world picked up electric guitars, inspired especially by the unprecedented success of the Beatles. But while many English language hit songs were covered in native tongues, the best groups wrote their own music and brought something of their own heritage to the ever-expanding phenomenon of rock 'n' roll.

The session starts at 10:00 pm and lasts until 2:00 am. Admission is of course free.

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

The International, under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington," is the latest offering from the people who brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife (and daylife!). They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz spins '60s Sunshine Pop

at Johnny Brenda's

Sunday, August 25, 2019
8:00 pm until Midnight
Admission: FREE

Johnny Brenda's
1201 N. Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia
215-739-9684

On Sunday, August 25, Johnny Brenda's will provide an upbeat, tuneful nighttime session when it hosts It's a Sunshine Day, featuring Jay Schwartz spinning a mix of "Sunshine Pop" music from the 1960s. As Spanky and Our Gang once nearly sang, Sunday night will never be the same!

Sunshine pop (or "soft rock," as Japanese record collectors call it) 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 Zekley) have received a lot of attention in recent decades. Reissue labels like Now Sounds and Sundazed have uncovered many previously ignored obscurities, and the sunshine sound has been explored by such critically-loved latter-day acts as Belle & Sebastian and the Polyphonic Spree.

Jay Schwartz, known as the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, has, in the last year, been carting large swaths of his record collection to nightspots like the International and Johnny Brenda's. Often working in partnership with D.J. Silvia, he has presented d.j. sessions devoted to 1970s punk and new wave, and 1960s pop music from Spain and France.

It's a Sunshine Day! runs from 8:00 pm until Midnight. Admission is free.

Jay Schwartz spins '60s French pop for Salut les Copains

at The International bar...on Bastille Day!

Sunday, July 14, 2019
8:00 pm until Midnight
Admission: FREE

The International
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Bastille Day -- Sunday, July 14 -- the International bar will provide a Gallic, retro evening session when it again hosts Salut les Copains, featuring Jay Schwartz spinning an upbeat mix of sixties French pop records.

The session starts at 8:00 pm and lasts until Midnight. Admission is free.

In early-'60s France, a new style of pop music developed alongside the New Wave cinema movement, in response to the rock 'n' roll revolution that was still reverberating worldwide. "Yé Yé" music (or "Yeh Yeh," or "Ya Ya") was perky and youthful, and often emphasized singers' style and sassy attitude rather than smooth technique. The new music was championed on a radio show and then a fan magazine that became huge influences on the nation's teenagers. Both were called Salut les Copains.

Major Yé Yé stars included Francoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Michel Polnareff, and Jacques Dutronc. Expect to hear all of these, plus many more assorted Ultra Chicks and Swingin' Mademoiselles at Salut les Copains.

Jay Schwartz is the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital!) partner of D.J. Silvia (who regrets she was unavailable for this session of Salut les Copains). He bought his first Francoise Hardy albums after reading a profile of her in the late, lamented Bomp! fanzine.

The International, under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington," is the latest offering from the people who brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife (and daylife!). They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

Tuesday, July 2, 2019
8:00 pm until Midnight
Admission: FREE

Johnny Brenda's
1201 N. Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia
215-739-9684

Jay Schwartz spins Roxy Music vs. Sparks

at Johnny Brenda's

This town ain't big enough for both of them! On Tuesday, July 2, d.j. Jay Schwartz (of the Secret Cinema) will bring a brand new, '70s-centric music mix to Johnny Brenda's, when he spins Roxy Music vs. Sparks. Who will emerge the victor?

We don't know if those two bands really had a serious rivalry back then, though they did battle each other for chart positions in the U.K., where both groups were huge. Stateside, both of these "art rock" practitioners were relegated to cult hero status -- and for several years were probably Schwartz's favorite artists (along with David Bowie).

The night will feature well-known favorites, deeper album tracks, and lots of rarities: non-LP b-sides of import singles, solo albums and side projects, and maybe even some bootleg live recordings.

Roxy Music vs. Sparks runs from 8:00 pm until Midnight. Of course, admission is free.

Roxy Music vs. Sparks will probably never be repeated (unless a whole lot of people show up), so don't miss it!

Jay Schwartz, known as the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, has, in the last year, been carting large swaths of his record collection to nightspots like the International and Johnny Brenda's. Often working in partnership with D.J. Silvia, he has presented d.j. sessions devoted to 1970s punk and new wave, sunshine pop, and 1960s pop music from Spain and France.

From Philadelphia With Love II: More

Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films

at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

Wednesday, May 29, 2019
7:30 pm
Admission: $12.50, $10 seniors/students, $8.00 children/members

On Wednesday, May 29, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute to present a unique program of short films called From Philadelphia With Love II: More Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. 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.

The Secret Cinema has been collecting, archiving and screening this fascinating area of local film history for over two decades now. Our second BMFI presentation of Philly film will be another "best of" selection from past volumes (with no repeats from the previous Bryn Mawr edition, and some titles that have not been screened anywhere in over a decade).

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $8.00 (children/BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

Highlights of From Philadelphia With Love II… will include:

Assembly Line (1961, Dir: Morton Heilig) - This dramatic short film focuses on a lonely worker who toils at the Hunting Park plant of the Budd auto body factory. Ignoring the warnings of his alcoholic roommate, he heads out for what he imagines will be a big night on the town, but instead finds only betrayal and disappointment. The incredibly grim, noir mood could have come from a David Goodis pulp novel. It was a co-production of two departments at Penn: the Annenberg School of Communications, and the somewhat-mysterious Institute for Cooperative Research. Director Heilig, a winner of a fellowship in the first year of the School, would go on to make many documentaries, and also invented some early virtual reality devices. Besides its compelling narrative, Assembly Line captures amazing footage of mid-century Philadelphia, including Horn & Hardart’s, movie theater marquees, long-gone bars, and streetscapes both neon-lit and gloomy.

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 local Acme Markets.

Westside Store (1982) - This amusing school film presents an unusual view of supposed gang activity. Though it shows some incredibly squalid North Philly streetscapes, the multi-racial, mixed-gender members of the fictitious “Seveners gang” (of 7th & Indiana Streets) seem to have been cast right out of a Benetton fashion ad. They pool their efforts and meager assets to start a thrift store (and learn about responsibility). Adding to the fun are early appearances of two now-famous Philadelphians: Ahmir Thompson (aka Questlove from the Roots) and actor/comedian Paul F. Tompkins.

Dupont Theater: "Date With a Stranger" (1956) - 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.

Plus much more!

Link to BMFI's interview with Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz.

Technorama program at Rotunda

Thursday, May 9, 2019
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Last year the Secret Cinema was invited by Towson University in Maryland to create a special film program about fashion and beauty, to complement a related gallery exhibition. We thought the resulting set of short films worked so well that we presented the same program back here at home, at the Rotunda.

This year Towson asked us to tie in to another gallery exhibition, focusing on technology, computers and machines. And guess what? Yep, we were so pleased with our work that we'd feel guilty not sharing it with our regular Philly audience!

On Thursday, May 9, we'll present Technorama at the Rotunda in University City. The program showcases films spanning eight decades, and made for different purposes, but all related to technology. There are vintage theatrical shorts, educational films, school guidance films, promotional films and even cartoons, all tracking the progress man has made since that ape first killed another ape with a bone (or whenever the first use of a tool/machine really was). All of the films to be included we've either not shown in a long time, or never showed here at all (to meet this goal, we've replaced a few recently-shown films from the Towson screening).

There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. As with all screenings in the Rotunda's monthly film series, admission is free.

Just a few highlights of Technorama are:

Melody for Machines (1963, Dir: Kenneth Baldwin) - Originally made as an advertising film for Volkswagen, this colorful, fast-moving short was deemed good enough for theatrical release by Paramount -- re-edited, with narration replaced by an upbeat jazz score. It shows machines (computers) controlling machines (robots) to make more machines (automobiles). It's almost disappointing when a few human workers appear.

The Story of Television (1956) - Fascinating sponsored film (made by leading equipment manufacturer R.C.A.) detailing the already complicated history of a once amazing invention that would soon be labeled "the idiot box." It chronicles early experiments, live coverage of the 1940 presidential convention, and the then-new broadcasting of color programs.

The Law and the Lab (1956) - This topical theatrical film demonstrated the increasing importance of science and technology in modern (1950s) police work. While essentially non-fiction and one short reel in length, it displays the film noir style so prevalent in fiction features of its era.

What on Earth! (1966, Dir: Les Drew & Kaj Pindal) - An amusing animated view of man's seemingly most precious machine, the automobile -- as viewed by Martians.

Plus General Electric Radio Controlled Guidance System, House of Tomorrow, It's an Electric Life and much more!

Philadelphia: The Changing City

at Parkway Central Library

Monday, March 25, 2019
6:00 pm
Admission: FREE*

Parkway Central Library
1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia
(between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway)
215-686-5322

On Monday, March 25, the Secret Cinema will present a special film screening at the Parkway Central Library, in celebration of their current exhibition "Philadelphia: The Changing City." (This date replaces the original date of Wednesday, February 20, which was cancelled because of snow).

The program will include films about city planning, urban renewal, discriminatory lending practices and other issues that shaped the Philadelphia of today.

Some films were shown in past Philly-centric Secret Cinema programs, many years ago, while others will be shown for the first time.

There will be one complete program starting at 6:00 pm in the Montgomery Auditorium.

*Admission is FREE, but advance registration is requested.

Highlights of Philadelphia: The Changing City (the film program) include:

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.

Not in My Block (1964, Dir: Robert Disraeli) - An exploration of housing segregation in Philadelphia, with views of residents, real estate brokers and appraisers, bankers and builders. Narrated by famed ABC-TV reporter (and later anchorman) Howard K. Smith, the film was co-produced by the City of Philadelphia's Commission on Human Relations and the American Jewish Committee Institute of Human Relations.

Lewis Mumford on the City: The City and the Future (1963, Ian MacNeill) - This film, (which does not focus on Philadelphia), was the final chapter of a series hosted by the eminent American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic Lewis Mumford. In this episode, Mumford considers the "loss of vitality" that he perceives in contemporary cities that have become crowded and resulted in suburban flight. The National Film Board of Canada spent five years producing this ambitious series, filming in eleven countries.

…and more.

PHILADELPHIA: THE CHANGING CITY website

All-new Jazz & Swing Rarities II

at Fleisher Art Memorial

Friday, March 8, 2019
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

Fleisher Art Memorial
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
215-922-3456 ext. 300

On Friday, March 8, The Secret Cinema will present Jazz & Swing Rarities II, a program of short films from Hollywood's golden age showcasing musicians such as Artie Shaw, Buddy Rich, Nat "King" Cole, Gene Krupa, Anita O'Day, Noble Sissle, Jimmy Dorsey, Helen O'Connell, and many others. This program will include 100% different material than our last Jazz & Swing Rarities screening…and that happened ten years ago. So if swing is your thing, you'd better not miss this!

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 II will include a variety of vintage short subject genres: straight performance films, musical shorts with dramatic and comedic plots, a cartoon, 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 II will be making their Secret Cinema debut.

The screening will be shown in the beautiful Sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood (just South of Center City). Free parking is available in the Fleisher's parking lot, just across the street.

There will be one complete screening at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

Sunday, February 3, 2019
Noon until 4:00 pm
Admission: FREE

Johnny Brenda's
1201 N. Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia
215-739-9684

Jay Schwartz spins '60s Sunshine Pop

at Johnny Brenda's

On Sunday, February 3, Johnny Brenda's will provide an upbeat, tuneful retro brunch session when it hosts It's a Sunshine Day, featuring Jay Schwartz spinning a mix of "Sunshine Pop" music from the 1960s.

Sunshine pop (or "soft rock," as Japanese record collectors call it) 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 Zekley) have received a lot of attention in recent decades. Reissue labels like Now Sounds and Sundazed have uncovered many previously ignored obscurities, and the sunshine sound has been explored by such critically-loved latter-day acts as Belle & Sebastian and the Polyphonic Spree.

Jay Schwartz, known as the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, has, in the last year, been carting large swaths of his record collection to nightspots like the International and Johnny Brenda's. Often working in partnership with D.J. Silvia, he has presented d.j. sessions devoted to 1970s punk and new wave, and 1960s pop music from Spain and France.

It's a Sunshine Day! runs from noon until 4:00 pm. Admission is free.

Andy Warhol and Friends:

'60/'70s Art Documentaries at Maas Building

Friday, January 25, 2019
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

On Friday, January 25, The Secret Cinema will return to the historic Maas Building with a new program showcasing documentaries from the 1960s and 1970s about the contemporary modern art world, with a heavy emphasis on Andy Warhol and his Factory scene. While we've previously presented several screenings devoted to films made by Warhol, we've never shown any of the films that comprise Andy Warhol and Friends: '60/'70s Art Documentaries (the "Friends" in our title refers to coverage of or comments by other major artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, and several others).

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

Andy Warhol and Friends: '60/'70s Art Documentaries will include:

Andy Warhol (1973) - This excellent, nearly hour-long look at Warhol at the start of the Seventies includes interviews with many friends and contemporaries of the artist and filmmaker, who is himself seen at the Factory, the Cannes Film Festival and the Brooklyn Museum. Many art works and film clips are presented, as are Henry Geldzahler, Barbara Rose, Emile de Antonio, Phillip Johnson, Taylor Mead, Brigid Polk, Viva, Paul Morrissey, Jasper Johns and many more. Andy is fascinating and funny as always, declaring that "Department stores are the new museums," and that he'd be a better president than Richard Nixon because, "I'd put carpets in the streets."

Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein (1966) - This incredible film, from the golden age of cinéma vérité, was made by PBS-predecessor National Educational Television. It starts with a fairly relaxed interview with Pop Art pioneer Lichtenstein, who shows his studio. Warhol is then interviewed about various topics (including his legendary appearance at his ICA show in Philadelphia). He's then shown using silkscreens with Gerard Malanga, threading up The 13 Most Beautiful Women on his own 16mm projector in the Factory…and then discussing his new discovery, rock band the Velvet Underground. In the absolute best footage of the group that exists, the full original lineup perform live takes of "Venus in Furs" and "Heroin" while Andy and Gerard fill silver balloons with helium. If only we'd had access to this reel when we presented our Velvet Underground Film Festivals!

Art of the Sixties (1967) - This wide-ranging film was produced by Leonard Harris, culture critic for New York's WCBS-TV (and the actor playing Senator Pallantine in Taxi Driver!). Seen talking and working are artists Claes Oldenburg, Donald Judd, Robert Rauschenberg, George Segal, Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, light show artist Rudy Stern, installation artist Les Levine, filmmaker Len Lye, and more.

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free street parking is available.

National Film Registry 30th Anniversary program

Thursday, January 10, 2019
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

On Thursday, January 10, as the Secret Cinema enters its 27th year, we'll present a special program of short films paying tribute to the National Film Registry, on it 30th anniversary. It happens at the Rotunda, in University City.

In our current, divided political climate, the legislative branch of government often seems frozen, but in 1988 it managed to pass, of all things, laws mandating the establishment of "a National Film Registry to register films that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." This unusual legislation was a side effect of public controversy over the colorizing of classic black and white Hollywood films, and the fear that future generations would not be able to see such works as they were originally created. In 1989 the first group of 25 titles was named to the Registry (including The Wizard of Oz, Nanook of the North and Star Wars). The National Film Registry today lists 725 films, including many obscure and "orphan works" -- not just features, but short films that encompass early cinema, documentaries, cartoons, newsreels, educational films and even home movies.11

A quick look through the Secret Cinema archive shows that we hold prints of over 50 films from this list -- including one title (the locally made The Jungle*) whose inclusion was the result of our lobbying. Quite a few are feature-length, but since any of those would constitute a whole show, we'll instead focus on shorts for our National Film Registry 30th Anniversary program, to show the variety of our film heritage that is honored in this important pantheon.

Additionally, Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz will speak briefly about his experience working behind the scenes to get a forgotten but important film named to the Registry.

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

Highlights of the National Film Registry 30th Anniversary program are:

A Corner in Wheat (1909, Dir: D.W. Griffith) - D.W. Griffith began his directing career making hundreds of mostly one-reel dramas for the Biograph company, between 1908 and 1913. During this period Griffith's experimentation with pictorial grammar were hugely influential, and these ideas would culminate in his controversial feature masterpiece The Birth of a Nation. A Corner in Wheat, made with Griffith's stock company of players (including his wife Linda Arvidson, H. B. Walthall and Blanche Sweet) combined Billy Bitzer's lush cinematography with social criticism derived from Frank Norris' short stories. The plot contrasted the poor who cannot afford bread with a greedy speculator who gains at their expense, but ultimately gets his just reward.

Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage (1937) - This Registry entry is unusual in that it includes, under one listing, the work of many newreel cameramen and companies who shot similar footage of the tragic explosion that quickly consumed the Hindenburg airship in Lakewood, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. We'll show a Pathé newsreel that includes graceful scenes flying over Manhattan, as well as the dirigible's fiery end.

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. Shown using the director's personal print.

The Inner World of Aphasia (1968, Dir: Edward and Naomi Feil) - This, a medical training film made by a small regional production company and starring the director's wife, is surely one of the most unlikely entries in the National Film Registry -- and one of its most powerful viewing experiences. It details the frustration of a nurse whose traumatic injury causes her to lose the ability to speak. For sheer emotional impact, this rather startling film handily matches any Hollywood product.

Plus The Great Train Robbery and Steamboat Willie.

*We will not be including The Jungle in this program, only because we showed it (along with an illustrated talk on its history) at the Fleisher Art Memorial just 14 months ago...and it was subsequently shown again, at the Lightbox Film Center (as part of the touring UCLA Festival of Preservation), in 2018.

Thursday, December 27, 2018
8:00 pm until Midnight
Admission: FREE

Johnny Brenda's
1201 N. Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia
215-739-9684

On Thursday, December 27, the Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz will again guest D.J. at Johnny Brenda's bar/restaurant (downstairs). Jay will present the fourth installment of a music mix called I Belonged to the Blank Generation: Hard Hits and Deep Cuts from the Original Punk/New Wave Era, 1976-1979.

The event runs from 8:00 pm through Midnight, and admission is free.

While Schwartz is best known (for the last 26+ years) for helming the Secret Cinema film series, his involvement in local nightlife goes back a bit earlier. When Philadelphia's first new wave nightclub, the Hot Club, started in 1977, Schwartz covered its opening night as local correspondent for the important music paper New York Rocker. He also contributed writing and photography to other local and national publications for the next several years, and in 1979 was hired as the Hot Club's publicist. Schwartz continued this work later at such fabled nightspots as the original (Kensington) Starlite Ballroom, the East Side Club and Filly's Saloon.

In addition to rock journalism, photography and publicity work, Schwartz also managed to capture the first video footage of Philly's new wave music scene -- still embryonic in 1978 -- for a Temple University student project. The resulting short documentary, Philadelphia Seen, includes very early footage of the band X, legendary d.j. Lee Paris, local punks the Jags, and nightclub impresario David Carroll. The original tapes were recently preserved by the University of Southern California's film archive (expect a screening soon!).

The Starlite Ballroom was also where Jay first worked as a club disk jockey, and parts of his growing record collection were shared at several other places in the ensuing years. However, the initial installment of I Belonged... last January was Jay's first d.j. job since the 2007 closing of Rick D's Tritone nightclub, where he had spun at many different thematic events.

Schwartz had a front row seat to a musical revolution, and that will set the theme of I Belonged to the Blank Generation... All of the music (most of it played using first pressing vinyl issues) will come from the crucial first years of punk and new wave. Iconic artists like Television, Richard Hell, Blondie and the Ramones will be heard, but the night will also find room for more obscure records and forgotten local bands.

Secret Cinema part of multi-presenter Assembly screening

at South Philly's historic Bok Building

Thursday, November 29, 2018
7:30 pm
Admission: $25.00 (See below for details on limited-time discount code)

Bok Building
800 Mifflin St., Philadelphia

The Secret Cinema will participate in a multi-presenter program called Assembly on Thursday, November 29, at the historic Bok Building in South Philadelphia. The event is produced by the website Atlas Obscura.

Our participation will be limited to showing a rare short film made by University of Pennsylvania students in 1967, along with a brief illustrated talk by Jay Schwartz on the history of the Secret Cinema.

The ticket price is admittedly on the high side for a Secret Cinema event -- $25.00 -- but will include several other interesting presentations, an opportunity to see the Bok Building's beautiful Art Deco auditorium, and, we're told, "complimentary deluxe movie treats."

However, this being Black Friday weekend, Atlas Obscura is offering a $10 discount for any tickets bought by Monday evening using the discount code "blackfriday."

Tickets are available here.

Atlas Obscura's full announcement for Assembly (with details on the whole program) can be seen here.

Top Secret: Films You Weren't Supposed to See at Rotunda

Thursday, November 8, 2018
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

On Thursday, November 8, the Secret Cinema will present a program of short films never intended for viewing by the general public. It will screen at University City's Rotunda, as part of their monthly free film series.

Top Secret: Films You Weren't Supposed to See showcases films produced to convey private information from the government, the military and big business, instructional or motivational in nature, to carefully targeted audiences of battle forces in the field, farmers, middle management and wholesale buyers of products. Spanning from World War II through the 1970s, these forgotten reels reveal long hidden and often surprising views of mid-century America. At least one of these films was originally marked as containing "Restricted" information (and for all we know it is still officially restricted!).

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

Just a few highlights of Top Secret: Films You Weren't Supposed to See are:

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

Coca Cola: Operation Tiger (1975?) - 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!

Cull For Profit (1951) - Made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this color educational film argues in favor of eugenics in egg farming, advising farmers to carefully remove from their coops hens that are lower egg producers. It might have just as easily been called Kill for Profit.

Recognition of AFV's (1943) - Adapted by the U.S. Signal Corps from a British training film, this short aims to teach soldiers a valuable lesson: how to distinguish Allied tanks (or Armored Fighting Vehicles) from those of the enemy.

1104 Sutton Road (1958) - Motivational dramatization shows the story of a dissatisfied factory worker who imagines what it would be like to become foreman or the company president. He learns that every employee must be productive to succeed. Sponsored by the Champion Paper and Fibre Company, with blazing Technicolor views of home and workplace life.

Plus much more!

This Secret Cinema program is a slightly modified version of one previously presented in 2011, at Moore College of Art and at Stephen Parr's Oddball Film & Video in San Francisco.

All-new From Philadelphia With Love

at Fleisher Art Memorial

Friday, October 19, 2018,
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

Fleisher Art Memorial
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
215-922-3456 ext. 300

On Friday, October 19, the Secret Cinema will present the latest chapter in its ongoing series From Philadelphia with Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films (2018 Edition). Once again, it will contain 100% new programming, and this time it will be shown at the Fleisher Art Memorial.

From Philadelphia with Love... showcases rare 16mm prints from the Secret Cinema archive and beyond about different aspects of life in the Philadelphia region . Some were made as sponsored films promoting goods or institutions, and others are educational, documentary or dramatic in nature. Most are virtually impossible to see elsewhere.

The Secret Cinema began showcasing these ephemeral scenes of lost local history back in 1999, and our last such presentation was a year ago. We've now projected over 65 of these films -- and none of them will be repeated in our October program. In fact, few have been seen by anyone since they were originally made.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

The screening will be shown in the beautiful Sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood (just South of Center City). Free parking is available in the Fleisher's parking lot, just across the street.

Just a few highlights of this 2018 edition of From Philadelphia with Love... are:

The Wyeth Phenomenon (1967) - There's a lot of interest in renowned area painter Andrew Wyeth lately, particularly in the wake of Philadelphia filmmaker Glenn Holsten's Wyeth documentary for PBS' American Masters series. Here is an earlier look at the great artist, originally made for CBS News. It includes scenes of a museum opening and a PAFA award reception, and interviews with contemporary critics, Wyeth's sister Henriette and son Andrew.

The Truck and the Driver (1930s) - This short film promoting safe driving of trucks, produced by Aetna Insurance before many films of this type were made, would be interesting enough by virtue of its age and the vintage vehicles and streetscapes on display. That it appears to have been made entirely in the Philadelphia region should make it doubly so for local audiences. We have not been able to identify all of the locations (please come and help!), but are pretty confident that it includes scenes of Center City, Delaware Avenue, East Passyunk, and possibly Olney and the Philadelphia countryside...plus some still-valid lessons on road safety.

Harlem Renaissance: The Black Poets (1970) - An educational film, featuring folk singing, and the words of great black poets. But Harlem? Langston Hughes? What's that got to do with Philly? Look closely and you'll notice sets graffitied with the tags of actual North Philly street gangs (Camac & Diamond, Moroccos)...and a poem called, "On Lombard Street in Philadelphia." Harlem Renaissance... began life as an episode of a WCAU public affairs television program called Tell it Like it Was, starring singer/actress Dallie (aka Dallie Mohammed). Besides studio readings and songs, there are photos and footage of gritty urban settings (no, not that Gritty!). Produced in cooperation with the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Historic Philadelphia (1940s) - Breyer's Ice Cream sponsored this filmed tour of famous local sites, from Independence Hall and the Betsy Ross House to City Hall and Valley Forge. While we've shown several similar films in the past, none were of this vintage -- or filmed in vivid Anscochrome! With narration by Lowell Thomas.

Plus much more!

All-new Trailer Trash III in 35mm

at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

Thursday, September 20, 2018
7:30 pm
Admission:$12.50, $6.50 (members), $10 (seniors/students)

The Secret Cinema will again follow up our biggest presentations ever on Thursday, September 20, when it presents Trailer Trash III on the big screen at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Like the original Trailer Trash programs this all-new program is a non-stop orgy of rare, original preview "trailers" advertising some of the Secret Cinema's favorite (and least 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 BMFI's gigantic screen, along with vintage drive-in messages, theater commercials and date strips, from the 1950s and beyond.

This will be the first all-new Trailer Trash program since 2002! That's when we premiered Son of Trailer Trash at the Prince Music Theater (later repeated at International House and Bryn Mawr Film Institute. In the 16 years since then the Secret Cinema archive has acquired a lot of trailers, and we are frantically going through them to assemble next week's program. An exact list of titles is not yet possible, but we would not be surprised if some of the choices are Countdown, Luv, Day of the Jackal, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Mack, The Molesters, Carmen Baby, The Grissom Gang, The People that Time Forgot, Bless the Beasts and Children, Work is a Four Letter Word, The Damned, Get Yourself a College Girl, Cry Uncle, Pufnstuf, Point Blank, Scream Blacula Scream, The Love Machine, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Quadrophenia, Catch My Soul…and more!

This program is suggested for mature audiences.

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $6.50 (BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

Since 1992, the Secret Cinema has been the Philadelphia area's premiere floating repertory cinema series, bringing hundreds of unique programs to nightclubs, bars, coffee houses, museums, open fields, colleges, art galleries, bookstores, and sometimes even theaters and film festivals. Drawing on its own large private film archive (as well as other collections), the Secret Cinema attempts to explore the uncharted territory and the genres that fall between the cracks, with programs devoted to educational and industrial films, cult and exploitation features, cartoons, rare television, local history, home movies, erotic films, politically incorrect material, and the odd Hollywood classic. As long as it exists on real celluloid, that is -- Secret Cinema screenings never use video/digital projection. While mainly based in Philadelphia, the Secret Cinema has also brought programming to other cities and countries.

Link to BMFI's interview with Secret Cinema programmer Jay Schwartz.

Totally Wired: The Films of Bell Telephone at Rotunda

Thursday, September 13, 2018
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

On Thursday, September 13, the Secret Cinema will present an evening of short films from one of the major motion picture producers of the 20th century -- the phone company! It will screen at University City's Rotunda, as part of their monthly free film series.

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 were never meant to be shown to the general public.

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

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) - Director Nell Cox, with help from documentary pioneer Richard Leacock (working here for Maysles Films) uses the cinema verite techniques Leacock 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.

This Secret Cinema program was previously presented in 2007 at Moore College of Art, and in 2012 at New York's Anthology Film Archives.

D.J.'s Silvia & Jay spin international vinyl rarities (again!)

for Made in Spain night, at new bar The International

Saturday, September 8, 2018
10:00 pm until 2:00 am
Admission: FREE

The International
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Saturday, September 8, the new bar The International will host the second edition of 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 10:00 pm and runs until 2:00 am. 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 again be led 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 stuffs in her trans-oceanic luggage. 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 the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital!) partner of D.J. Silvia.

The International -- under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington" -- is the latest offering from the team that brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife. They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

Made in Spain is co-sponsored by The Secret Cinema and Los de Patanegra en Philadelphia, a group formed to unify the growing community of Spaniards in Philadelphia and promote friendship, culture and networking.

The initial Made in Spain party in June saw the International filled with Spanish expatriates singing along to hits from their homeland. The many native Philadelphians present seemed to enjoy the music too (if not always understanding the words). LOS DE PATANEGRA EN PHILADELPHIA WEBSITE

Thursday, August 23, 2018
8:00 pm until Midnight
Admission: FREE

Johnny Brenda's
1201 N. Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia
215-739-9684

On Thursday, August 23, the Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz will again guest D.J. at Johnny Brenda's bar/restaurant (downstairs). Jay will present the third round of a music mix called I Belonged to the Blank Generation: Hard Hits and Deep Cuts from the Original Punk/New Wave Era, 1976-1979.

The event runs from 8:00 pm through Midnight, and admission is free.

While Schwartz is best known (for the last 26 years) for helming the Secret Cinema film series, his involvement in local nightlife goes back a bit earlier. When Philadelphia's first new wave nightclub, the Hot Club, started in 1977, Schwartz covered its opening night as local correspondent for the important music paper New York Rocker. He also contributed writing and photography to other local and national publications for the next several years, and in 1979 was hired as the Hot Club's publicist. Schwartz continued this work later at such fabled nightspots as the original (Kensington) Starlite Ballroom, the East Side Club and Filly's Saloon.

In addition to rock journalism, photography and publicity work, Schwartz also managed to capture the first video footage of Philly's new wave music scene -- still embryonic in 1978 -- for a Temple University student project. The resulting short documentary, Philadelphia Seen, includes very early footage of the band X, legendary d.j. Lee Paris, local punks the Jags, and nightclub impresario David Carroll. The original tapes were recently preserved by the University of Southern California's film archive (expect a screening soon!).

The Starlite Ballroom was also where Jay first worked as a club disk jockey, and parts of his growing record collection were shared at several other places in the ensuing years. However, the initial installment of I Belonged... last January was Jay's first d.j. job since the 2007 closing of Rick D's Tritone nightclub, where he had spun at many different thematic events.

Schwartz had a front row seat to a musical revolution, and that will set the theme of I Belonged to the Blank Generation... All of the music (most of it played using first pressing vinyl issues) will come from the crucial first years of punk and new wave. Iconic artists like Television, Richard Hell, Blondie and the Ramones will be heard, but the night will also find room for more obscure records and forgotten local bands.

New chapter of Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from

the Secret Cinema Collection at Maas Building

Friday, June 29, 2018
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

On Friday, June 29, The Secret Cinema will return to the historic Maas Building with another chapter of our ongoing series, Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection. Once again we'll feature a mélange of fascinating short films from the past. As we go through our collection, reel by reel, we continually find films that don't necessarily lend themselves to fitting into a themed group, yet are too interesting, or fun, or funny to not share. None have been shown in previous Secret Cinema programs. Indeed, few of these films are likely to have been seen anywhere in recent years.

This month's program accidentally has a recurring theme, however: several of the films are about music, in one way or another.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

A few highlights from this new edition of Archive Discoveries… include:

American Music: From Folk to Jazz to Pop (1966) – A segment from a sprawling, behind-the-scenes documentary about the mid-sixties music industry. Not much rock 'n' roll is on display, but we get to visit Nashville's Music Row and Grand Ole Opry, catch Peter, Paul & Mary at the Newport Folk Festival, hear interviews with Richard Rodgers and Duke Ellington, and watch Tony Bennett in the recording studio.

Musical Justice (1931) – An entertaining, and frankly weird theatrical short from Paramount starring Rudy Vallée, the famed crooner and bandleader who was arguably the first pop music star of the 20th century. Vallée plays the judge in a court of musical misdemeanors, while his band the Connecticut Yankees is the jury that deliberates, in closed-door jam sessions, over the fates of assorted oddballs charged with melodic offenses. Also appearing is the real-life voice of Betty Boop, Mae Questal -- who pleads with the court to not take her boop-oop-a-doop away(!)

Hungarian Rhapsody (1930) – William Cameron Menzies was the most important and influential art director of Hollywood's golden age: Menzies created the look of everything from Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad to Gone With the Wind to the visionary sci-fi masterpiece Things to Come (which he also directed). In the early years of talkies Menzies, in partnership with pioneering film composer Hugo Riesenfeld, produced a series of short films that visualized operettas and other classical works. These films displayed much higher production values than typical one-reelers (or even many features). Hungarian Rhapsody, based on Franz Liszt's folk music adaptations, is no exception, with gorgeous photography, special effects, sumptuous sets and a wordless story.

Elvis Work Tape kinescope (1968) – Rare footage of rehearsal sessions for Elvis Presley's 1968 "Comeback Special" for NBC (which was actually titled Singer Presents...ELVIS). Revealed is some rather lascivious grinding among the dancers, throat clearing, guitar straps failing, and some mild cussing from the King.

Plus much, much more!

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free street parking is available.

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

Made in Spain night, at new bar The International

Thursday, June 21, 2018
8:00 pm until MIdnight
Admission: FREE

The International
1624 N. Front St (at Cecil B. Moore Avenue)
Philadelphia

On Thursday, June 21, the brand new bar The International 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 8:00 pm and runs until midnight. 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 stuffs in her trans-oceanic luggage. 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 the long-time programmer/creator of the Secret Cinema film series, and is the musical (and marital!) partner of D.J. Silvia.

The International -- under the El on the border between Fishtown and "Olde Kensington" -- is the latest offering from the team that brought the Standard Tap and Johnny Brenda's to Philly nightlife. They offer a global variety of spirits and light bites, as well as a variety of music from local d.j.'s.

This will be the first Made in Spain party since Silvia and Jay did one at the late, lamented Tritone...circa 2007!

Made in Spain is co-sponsored by The Secret Cinema and Los de Patanegra en Philadelphia, a group formed to unify the growing community of Spaniards in Philadelphia and promote friendship, culture and networking. LOS DE PATANEGRA EN PHILADELPHIA WEBSITE

New York City's Cartoon Roots

with special guest Tommy José Stathes

at Fleisher Art Memorial

Saturday, June 9, 2018
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

Fleisher Art Memorial
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
215-922-3456 ext. 300

On Saturday, June 9, the Secret Cinema's screening at the Fleisher Art Memorial will include a very special guest: early animation historian and film archivist Tommy José Stathes, who will provide a look into New York's budding animation industry of the 1910s and 1920s.

The program is called New York City's Cartoon Roots. With a selection of rare archival 16mm prints from Stathes' personal archive, a fairly comprehensive cross-section of this silent-era subgenre will showcase the work of pioneers such as Winsor McCay, Raoul Barré, Earl Hurd, Otto Messmer, Max Fleischer and Paul Terry. Fledgling cartoon superstars like Bobby Bumps, Koko the Clown, Felix the Cat, Farmer Alfalfa, Krazy Kay, and Mutt & Jeff will all be included.

Stathes will give an informative introduction about this fascinating, yet little-studied period of animation, and answer questions about the films.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

The screening will be shown in the beautiful Sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood (just South of Center City). Free parking is available in the Fleisher's parking lot, just across the street.

Just a few of the films to be included are:

Cartoons On Tour (Barré, 1915)
Bobby Bumps Puts a Beanery On the Bum (Hurd, 1918)
The Flying House (McCay, 1921)
The Tantalizing Fly (Fleischer, 1919)
The Great Cheese Robbery (Bray Studios, 1920)
Felix Revolts (Messmer, 1923)
Barnyard Artists (Terry, 1928)

...and much more.

Tommy José Stathes is an archivist, historian, distributor, and educator in the realm of early animated films. Stathes is best known in film history circles for creating the Bray Animation Project research initiative; the Cartoons On Film early animation re-release label and Cartoon Roots Blu-rays; supplying early animated films to and co-hosting them on Turner Classic Movies; as well as for his 16mm "Cartoon Carnival" film screening series in New York City. Stathes is also a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts and the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and is Consulting Producer on Cartoon Carnival: The Documentary, which is soon to be released.

The Secret Cinema's Greatest Hits

at Ardmore's Living Room at 35 East

Saturday, May 26, 2018
8:00 pm
Admission: $10.00

The Living Room at 35 East
35 East Lancaster Avenue
Ardmore, Pa.

The Secret Cinema will bring its 16mm film projectors and reels to a brand new location on Saturday, May 26: The Living Room at 35 East, in the heart of downtown Ardmore. Singer-songwriter Laura Mann recently opened this intimate space to provide a comfortable setting for the enjoyment of live music, poetry, comedy and now, films.

Our initial program at the Living Room will serve as a primer for new audience members and a refresher course for old fans: The Secret Cinema's Greatest Hits will include audience favorites from 26 years of screening obscure short films from the miscellaneous, most forgotten corners of film history. Campy educational reels, industrial films, TV commercials, cartoons, musical shorts and more will all be included. Housed in the Secret Cinema's large, private film archive, most are unavailable for viewing anywhere else.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $10.00.

The Living Room at 35 East serves coffee, soft drinks and snacks, but is BYOB for alcohol.

Advance tickets can be purchased here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/venue/261699

Just a few highlights of The Secret Cinema's Greatest Hits are:

The Stranger At Our Door (1940) - This 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 (1953) - 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.

Pro Kleen commercial (1950s) - A mind-numbingly crass eight minute TV commercial in which an unappealing pitchman with a thick Baltimore accent extols the wonders of a new spot cleaner.

The Story of Bubblegum (1952) - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Made at the old Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney, 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.

Inside Test City, U.S.A. (1959) - Reader's Digest produced this promotional film publicizing the magazine's test-marketing service for consumer product manufacturers. "For the last two decades," the narrator explains, "American business has tested more of its products in Columbus [Ohio] than in any other major American community. Through the years, industry has discovered that what happens in Columbus today will be happening all over America tomorrow."

Plus much more!

Fashion Undressed: Films of Style and Beauty at Rotunda

Thursday, May 10, 2018
8:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Earlier this year, the Secret Cinema was asked by Towson University in Maryland to create a special film program...to complement a gallery exhibition on the history of women's undergarments! We were encouraged to include any films touching on the themes of fashion and beauty, so we searched through the archive and came up with an assemblage of shorts (short films, that is!) from the 1930s through the 1970s. Included were educational and advertising films, entertainment shorts and newsreels. Some were old Secret Cinema favorites, and others had never been projected before.

We were so pleased with the results that we decided that we had to share this program with our regular audience -- and where better than in our new free screening series at University City's Rotunda? So, on Thursday, May 10 we'll present Fashion Undressed: Films of Style and Beauty.

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

Just a few highlights of Fashion Undressed... are:

The Costume Designer (1950) - In 1950 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences oversaw the production of a series of one-reel shorts covering different aspects of the film industry, each film being produced by a different studio. R.K.O. made this reel on the importance of the wardrobe department, with a special focus on sunglass-wearing designer Edith Head (who, oddly, is not named).

Figure Forum (1954) - Warner Brothers -- not the famous film studio, but the Warner Brothers Foundations and Bras Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut -- made this film about choosing the proper bra and girdle. Trivia note: This reel was among the first 3 or 4 16mm films the Secret Cinema ever owned -- it was thrown in with the first projector we purchased, back in 1975!

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, best known to record collectors for their recording of Ray Davies' (of the Kinks) otherwise unreleased song "All Night Stand." In this rare Technicolor pictorial, 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 miniskirt.

The Look of Shangri-La (1973) - A "production reel," or promotional short showing behind-the-scenes looks at a then-forthcoming major motion picture. This one was made to plug the disastrous 1970s musical remake of Frank Capra's classic 1937 fantasy Lost Horizon, with an emphasis on the new version's now very dated costume design.

How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937) - Curious comedy short made by indie exploitation producer and distributor Dwain Esper (Maniac, Reefer Madness). While not quite as salacious as its title implies, it nonetheless achieved notoriety by virtue (?) of its leading lady, Elaine Barrie, who was then in the middle of a rocky marriage to legendary actor John Barrymore.

Plus Heavenly Body (1975), Winning Styles (1968), How Do They Tie-dye Cloth? (1970) and more!

Crazy 1960s Eurospy epic Lightning Bolt

in 35mm at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

Thursday, May 3, 2018
7:30 pm
Admission:$12.50, $6.50 (members), $10 (seniors/students)

On Thursday, May 3, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute for a screening of the 1966 "Eurospy" classic Lightning Bolt. This Italian-made, low-budget cash-in on the James Bond phenomenon is campy fun, yet still manages to dazzle with impressive sets, snappy music (from celebrated composer Riz Ortolani) and explosive special effects. Lightning Bolt will be shown using a rare IB Technicolor, Cinemascope 35mm print, projected onto the BMFI big screen -- the way all movies should be seen!

In addition to the feature, the program will also include surprise short subjects.

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $6.50 (BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

While we normally are proud to announce that "All Secret Cinema presentations are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen," once again we are even prouder to announce that this show will be projected in even higher-quality 35mm film, on an even gianter screen than usual. As always, we will be having nothing to do with video/digital presentation.

A complete description of the feature follows...

Lightning Bolt (1966. Dir: Antonio Margheriti)
James Bond movies became a full-fledged global phenomenon in the mid-1960s, and the entertainment industry responded with a flood of imitations. Hollywood gave us Matt Helm, Derek Flint and Napoleon Solo, while Italy, Spain and France gave us a seemingly non-stop barrage of what are now called "Eurospy" movies: low-budget secret agent flicks, often starring lesser-known American actors in the lead roles. Some Eurospies made it to our shores with dubbed soundtracks and varying success, and one of the most enjoyable of these was Lightning Bolt (or Operazione Goldman in its native Italy).

The story concerns an evil beer brewer (!) who is sabotaging NASA launches (shown via grainy stock footage), in an attempt to place a laser gun on the moon and thus control Earth. Sent to stop this is handsome American actor Anthony Eisley (Philadelphia-born former star of TV's Hawaiian Eye). Eisley narrates the film in a Bogart-derived detective-ese, and oddly, he often gets his way by buying rather than spying, wielding a fat checkbook to thwart his enemies! Lightning Bolt borders on parody, with often impossible to follow plot elements, but remains fun with plenty of action, beautiful female superagents and an impressive, Our Man Flint-type hi-tech hideout for the villain. The bad dubbing, crazy story-line and weird sight of Italian actors dressed as American soldiers only add to the feverish, surreal experience of the movie. Dismissed by most (if noticed at all) on its original American release, in recent times Lightning Bolt has been rediscovered by modern viewers as one of the most enjoyable entries among dozens of more routine Eurospy movies.

The film's perky music was created by Italian composer Riz Ortolani, a Grammy winner for the international hit song "More" (from his soundtrack to notorious "shockumentary" Mondo Cane. Ortolani's work began to be rediscovered (and his soundtrack albums became more collectible) during the exotica/lounge music revival of the 1990s.

NOTE: Our print looks much nicer than the low-res trailer seen here!

Program of 35mm rarities at

Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

Thursday, February 1, 2018
7:30 pm
Admission:$12.50, $6.50 (members), $10 (seniors/students)

On Thursday, February 1, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute with hidden treasures from the rarely-seen 35mm section of the Secret Cinema archives -- many of which can not be seen anywhere else.

The program, named The Secret Secret Cinema, is a multi-genre pop culture mash-up of forgotten advertising films, theatrical short subjects, clips and trailers.

Some highlights are: 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!

This program is suggested for mature audiences (though immature adults are welcome also).

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $6.50 (BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

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.

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, on an even gianter screen than usual. As always, we will be having nothing to do with video/digital presentation.

I Belonged to the Blank Generation

with D.J. Jay Schwartz at Johnny Brenda's

Monday, January 29, 2018
8:00 pm until Midnight
Admission: FREE

Johnny Brenda's
1201 N. Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia
215-739-9684

On Monday, January 29, the Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz will be guest D.J. at Johnny Brenda's bar/restaurant (downstairs). Jay will present a music mix called I Belonged to the Blank Generation: Hard Hits and Deep Cuts from the Original Punk/New Wave Era, 1976-1979.

The event runs from 8:00 pm through Midnight, and admission is free.

While Schwartz is best known (for the last 26 years) for helming the Secret Cinema film series, his involvement in local nightlife goes back a bit earlier. When Philadelphia's first new wave nightclub, the Hot Club, started in 1977, Schwartz covered its opening night as local correspondent for the important music paper New York Rocker. He also contributed writing and photography to other local and national publications for the next several years, and in 1979 was hired as the Hot Club's publicist. Schwartz continued this work later at such fabled nightspots as the original (Kensington) Starlite Ballroom, the East Side Club and Filly's Saloon.

In addition to rock journalism, photography and publicity work, Schwartz also managed to capture the first video footage of Philly's new wave music scene -- still embryonic in 1978 -- for a Temple University student project. The resulting short documentary, Philadelphia Seen, includes very early footage of the band X, legendary d.j. Lee Paris, local punks the Jags, and nightclub impresario David Carroll. The original tapes were recently preserved by the University of Southern California's film archive (expect a screening soon!).

The Starlite Ballroom was also where Jay first worked as a club disk jockey, and parts of his growing record collection were shared at several other places in the ensuing years. However, January's night at Johnny Brenda's will be Jay's first d.j. job since the 2007 closing of Rick D's Tritone nightclub, where he had spun at many different thematic events.

Schwartz had a front row seat to a musical revolution, and that will set the theme of I Belonged to the Blank Generation... All of the music (most of it played using first pressing vinyl issues) will come from the crucial first years of punk and new wave. Iconic artists like Television, Richard Hell, Blondie and the Ramones will be heard, but the night will also find room for more obscure records and forgotten local bands.

Classic program Creepy Christmas Films

at Fleisher Art Memorial

Thursday, December 14, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

Fleisher Art Memorial
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
215-922-3456 ext. 300

On Thursday, December 14, the Secret Cinema will return to the Fleisher Art Memorial, to present another audience favorite from our 25-year history. Creepy Christmas Films is 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.

This popular program was shown last at the Sedgwick Cultural Center in 2004 (and before that, at the Prince Music Theater and the long-gone Griffin Cafe). It will be our final presentation of 2017.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00

The screening will be shown in the beautiful sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood (just South of Center City). Free parking is available in the Fleisher's parking lot, just across the street.

A few highlights of the program include:

Santa In Animal Land (1948) - 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 (1965) - 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 (1967) - "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 (1951) - 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, to capitalize on the popularity of television's The Howdy Doody Show.

Plus more!

Secret Cinema participates in Franklin Institute's

"Science After Dark" program

On Tuesday, November 28, the Secret Cinema will present just one of the many attractions offered at the Franklin Institute's "Science After Dark" program, all of which feature a special Hollywood theme.

Read more about it here.

All-new From Philadelphia With Love

at Fairmount Park Horticulture Center

Friday, November 24, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

Horticulture Center
West Fairmount Park
North Horticultural Drive & Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 685-0096

On Friday, November 24, 2017, the Secret Cinema will present the latest chapter in its ongoing series From Philadelphia with Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films (2017 Edition). Once again, it will contain 100% new programming, and this time it will be shown at Fairmount Park's beautiful and verdant Horticulture Center. This exhibition hall and glass-walled greenhouse is filled inside and out with rare plants and historic statuary. It sits on the site of the former Horticultural Hall, an 1876 Centennial Exposition building (and is kept comfortably warm inside, regardless of outdoor conditions).

From Philadelphia with Love... showcases rare 16mm prints from the Secret Cinema archive about different aspects of life in the Philadelphia region. Some were made as sponsored films promoting goods or institutions, and others are educational, documentary or dramatic in nature. Most are virtually impossible to see elsewhere.

The Secret Cinema began showcasing these ephemeral scenes of lost local history back in 1999, and our last such presentation was two years ago. We've now projected over 60 of these films -- and none of them will be repeated for our November program. In fact, few have been seen by anyone since they were originally made.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

The Fairmount Park Horticulture Center, minutes off of the Schuylkill Expressway, features a large, free parking lot. It is near Memorial Hall (Please Touch Museum) and is a short walk from Septa Routes 38, 40, 43, and 64 (Route 38 comes closest, with a stop at Belmont Avenue and Montgomery Drive).

Just a few highlights of this 2017 edition of From Philadelphia with Love... are:

20 to the 3rd Power (1967, Dir: Edward J. Bergman, Alan Soffin) - This somewhat experimental student work was produced by the Documentary Film Laboratory of Penn's Annenberg School, under the supervision of Sol Worth. The film, mostly without dialogue, depicts a fashionable, attractive group of young people (perhaps all age 20?) in cocktail parties, nightspots and office buildings -- assumedly adding up to a statement on the lives and lifestyles of modern, well-off undergrads. It's set in a lively Philadelphia of new architecture and expressways, though foreboding radio reports of the Vietnam War are never too far off.

"Mister Rivets" footage (1954) - In the early days of television, Let Skinner Do It on WPTZ-TV (today's KYW) was one of the success stories of local daytime programming. When veteran radio personality Alan Scott took over for host George Skinner, the renamed Let Scott Do It was touted in the trades as the "top rated kitchen show" in the nation, offering light conversation, music...and a beloved mechanical man named "Mister Rivets." In reality this was actor Joe Earley, in a comical robot suit, playing gentle pranks on the genial host. The show was usually broadcast live and thus not recorded for posterity, but occasionally outdoor segments were shot on 16mm film, for use when one of the personalities was on vacation. This ultra-rare surviving reel (we know of only one other) shows some of Mister Rivets' typical antics: hanging laundry behind a house, feeding zoo animals, and hunting groundhogs(!), as well as scenes of the gigantic crowds that turned out to meet the friendly robot at a personal appearance.

Mystery Atlantic City film (197?, Dir: Unknown) - It's unclear why this short was made, and though seemingly uncut, it bears no title and no credits. It begins as a spoof of television's Mission Impossible, with a special agent flying to an early-70s Atlantic City, well after its heyday as America's Playground and some years before casino gambling. There are views of the skyline and boardwalk, and even a car chase through narrow streets. We welcome any information on this film!

Werner - Hunger Project (1976, Dir: Unknown) - Though not likely shot in this area, we included this film because it stars one of Philadelphia's most controversial native sons, Werner Erhard. The former car salesman born as John Rosenberg changed his name after leaving the city (and abandoning his wife and four children), eventually founding the notorious self-help enterprise Erhard Seminar Training (or EST). Widely criticized as a kind of brainwashing cult, EST nonetheless attracted hundreds of thousands to its seminars, in the "Me Decade" of the 1970s. This in-house promotional film features Erhard speaking directly to his followers about a then-new scheme labeled the Hunger Project, which aimed to end world hunger -- not by sending food to hungry people, but by spreading the idea that ending hunger was possible (via a large fundraising program). This rare glimpse of Erhard offers a close-up view of his persuasive powers (with a subtle Philadelphia accent occasionally slipping through), urging followers across the nation to attend a "talk at your center next month."

Plus Rites of Women, Where it All Began: Philadelphia, and much more!

The Secret Cinema reprises/updates

City Of Brotherly Crime program at Fleisher

Friday, November 10, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

Fleisher Art Memorial
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
215-922-3456 ext. 300

On Friday, November 10, the Secret Cinema will dust off another of our most popular programs, as part of the year-long celebration of our 25th anniversary. City Of Brotherly Crime, featuring films produced in Philadelphia covering urban crime from very different perspectives, will be shown at the Fleisher Art Memorial on Friday, November 10. This edition will include some new material (film and other) that was not seen in earlier screenings.

Shown again will be The Jungle, a groundbreaking short film made by a North Philadelphia street gang about their violent world. The Jungle was named to the Library of Congress' prestigious National Film Registry in 2009 -- in no small part due to the lobbying efforts of the Secret Cinema.

We will also present, for the first time locally, an illustrated talk detailing the fascinating, tragic story of The Jungle's creation and aftermath (the talk was originally presented in 2012 at the 8th Orphan Film Symposium, in New York).

There will be one complete screening, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

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. dIn 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.

Plus more!

The Secret Cinema Afterschool Special:

School Life and Moral Guidance in the '70s & '80s

Friday, October 6, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

Break out the Crayolas and circle Friday, October 6 on 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 Maas Building.

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 on the problems of growing up.

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 25 years of the Secret Cinema. It was originally presented in our very first season at Moore College of Art & Design, in 1997 (and revisited in 2002 with a packed screening at the Print Center).

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

Some highlights of the program are:

Insight: The Party (1971) - 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 (later Baxter-Birney of Bridget Loves Bernie and Family Ties) 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. This long-running series (25 years) was created by Catholic priest Ellwood E. "Bud" Kieser, for his Paulist Productions company.

In 2006, Mark Quigley and Dan Einstein of the UCLA Film & Television Archive presented a fascinating illustrated talk at the Orphan Film Symposium on this unusual series, called "A Meeting of Church and State: Television's Paulist Twilight Zone: Insight (1963-1980)" It can be listened to (minus illustrations) here and here.

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. The music was arranged by Julius Wechter, known to A&M Records fans as leader of the Baja Marimba Band.

The participation of Abdul, Wechter, and jazz composer Dave "Schoolhouse Rock" Frishberg (who appears as a rather sadistic shop teacher) marks this otherwise obscure film as having genuine "before and after they were famous" significance. However, we would be remiss if we did not point out an error in IMDB's listing for Junior High School: the cast member named Ira Kaplan did not go on to start the popular indie rock band Yo La Tengo.

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.

...and more!

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free parking is available on the street and in the adjacent lot of the James R. Ludlow Elementary School.

Son of Trailer Trash in 35mm

at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Friday, September 15, 2017
8:00 pm (doors open 7:00 pm)
Admission: $10 online, $12 at the door.

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

Thursday, September 28, 2017
7:30 pm
Admission:$12.50, $6.50 (members), $10 (seniors/students)

The Secret Cinema will follow up on perhaps its biggest presentation ever on Thursday, September 28, when it presents Son of Trailer Trash on the big screen at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Like the original Trailer Trash program (presented at BMFI last May), 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 BMFI'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).

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $6.50 (BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

Throughout 2017, the Secret Cinema will be celebrating its 25th anniversary, presenting favorite programs from its past, as well as several all-new presentations, in venues throughout the Philadelphia area. Son of Trailer Trash was first presented at the Prince Music Theater in 2002.

More Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from

the Secret Cinema Collection at the Maas Building

Saturday, July 22, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

On Saturday, July 22, The Secret Cinema will return to the historic Maas Building with an all-new program called Archive Discoveries: Unseen Curiosities from the Secret Cinema Collection. It features a mélange of fascinating short films from the past, representing a variety of genres and subject matter. None have been shown in previous Secret Cinema programs; indeed, few of these films are likely to have been seen anywhere in recent years.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

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 three million feet of often rare celluloid, with several prints thought to be the only extant copies in the world.

Some of the more interesting of these amazing films will again see the light of a projector bulb in Archive Discoveries… 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, they 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.

A few highlights from this new edition of Archive Discoveries… include:

Wide Open Spaces (1932, Dir: Arthur Rossen) - The Masquers Club of Hollywood was officially an actors fraternity, though it also included directors, theater owners, and studio executives in its all-male membership. Like other acting fraternities in Hollywood, they eventually began to producing their own short films, as an activity for their sometimes out-of-work members, and to raise funds for the clubhouse. The Masquers' films were distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, and were all professionally filmed. Wide Open Spaces is a good example of their house style, being a wild spoof of the Western -- with every line of dialogue being a hilariously well-worn genre cliche, and comically out-of-place sound effects. The cast includes dozens of character actors whose faces would mostly have been familiar to contemporary audiences, (but are largely forgotten now). The most notable of these include Antonio Moreno, William Farnum, Frank McHugh, Mack Swain, and in the lead role of "Sheriff Jack Rancid," deadpan comic genius Ned Sparks.

Andy (1968, Dir: Peter Bryant) - Short, stark drama of a tomboyish farm girl who lives a seemingly idyllic life taking care of herself and her animals. And then there is a startling interruption. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Rochester's Railroad (1957) - This fascinating film clip was found in the middle of a reel containing unrelated footage. It probably originated on a television program showing celebrities in their home life. In this clip we meet Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, beloved sidekick to comedian Jack Benny. Anderson shows off the elaborate model railroad layout he designed and built in his home, complete with custom-built control board. In his lifetime, Anderson also built model airplanes and a working sports car, piloted a boat, and owned racehorses, besides being a star of radio, TV, and over 60 movies.

The Gooney Bird (1950s) - For some reason now lost to history, the Evinrude Motors company sponsored this documentary about the peculiar habits of the albatross, or "gooney bird." The film was shot entirely on the Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, shortly after the Navy decommissioned their Naval Air Station there, leaving the island to the birds. The Goonies are seen in their comical mating dance, and in awkward take-offs and landings. Made in Anscochrome.

The Code: The U.S. Fighting Man's Code of Conduct (1959) - In 1955, President Eisenhower signed an executive order outlining how members of the U.S. armed forces should act if captured in battle (in short, not to surrender, accept any favors form the enemy, nor reveal anything besides minimal personal identification). This film, hosted by stone-faced actor Jack Webb (of Dragnet) was made to explain the importance of the code to new servicemen -- using dramatic recreations of captured Americans standing up to psychological torture during the then-recent Korean conflict.

Shopping Around (1954) - "Successful selling is largely a matter of point of view." This Chevrolet sales training film shows the point of view of a rather choosy automobile customer -- as portrayed by William Frawley (better known as "Fred Mertz" from I Love Lucy). He explains, in his trademark, growly voice, that he now runs from rude salesmen, because, "Today, I can shop around!"

Plus much, much more!

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free parking is available on the street and in the adjacent lot of the James R. Ludlow Elementary School.

Anniversary screening of Bicycle Shorts

at Rotunda

Saturday, June 10, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

On Saturday, June 10, The Secret Cinema will present Bicycle Shorts, a program of vintage short films all about the bicycle. Bicycle Shorts will include rare retro educational films on bike safety, as well as bicycle-focused documentary, drama, and even a musical short. This popular special program was last shown eight years ago (at Moore College of Art) -- and is being revived as part of the ongoing celebration of the Secret Cinema's 25th anniversary.*

There will be one complete screening at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

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 "Ukulele 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 surprisingly 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).

Psychling (1981) - This fascinating documentary chronicles cyclist John Marino's grueling attempt to set a speed record for riding a bicycle from coast to coast.

The Eton Boys: "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 more.

*The Secret Cinema presented a second, completely different program of films about bicycles in 2012, at the Broad Street Ministry (it included a talk by author Steven Rea). Our Rotunda screening will be a repeat of the original Moore program from 2009.

Trailer Trash in 35mm

at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Thursday, May 11, 2017
7:30 pm
Admission:$12.50, $6.50 (members), $10 (seniors/students)

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

On Thursday, May 11, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute with a revival of one of its biggest presentations ever. 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 BMFI big screen.

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.

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 one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $6.50 (BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

Throughout 2017, the Secret Cinema will be celebrating its 25th anniversary, presenting favorite programs from its past, as well as several all-new presentations, in venues throughout the Philadelphia area. Trailer Trash was first presented at the Prince Music Theater in 2001.

Since 1992, the Secret Cinema has been the Philadelphia area's premiere floating repertory cinema series, bringing hundreds of unique programs to nightclubs, bars, coffee houses, museums, open fields, colleges, art galleries, bookstores, and sometimes even theaters and film festivals. Drawing on its own large private film archive (as well as other collections), the Secret Cinema attempts to explore the uncharted territory and the genres that fall between the cracks, with programs devoted to educational and industrial films, cult and exploitation features, cartoons, rare television, local history, home movies, erotic films, politically incorrect material, and the odd Hollywood classic. As long as it exists on real celluloid, that is -- Secret Cinema screenings never use video/digital projection. While mainly based in Philadelphia, the Secret Cinema has also brought programming to other cities and countries.

Secret Cinema presents famous films (again!)

Wednesday, April 19, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

In this, our 25th anniversary year, we'll again present a popular theme from our past...but this time, with all new content...

The Secret Cinema is known for showing rarest-of-the-rare, otherwise impossible to see celluloid treasures. That changes on Wednesday, April 19, as we revive our Famous Films program concept, at University City's Rotunda.

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, notable silent films, animation milestones, and once-mainstream theatrical subjects. Some were landmark achievements for their unusual style, 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 share 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 $8.00.

Just a few highlights of Famous Films 2017 include:

The Adventures Of Dollie (1908, Dir: D.W. Griffith) - A true landmark in film history, this film was the very first directorial effort by D. W. Griffith. He is generally credited with developing, in a series of short dramas made for the Biograph studio, the very grammar of the motion picture. Those advancements took another leap forward a few years later, when he made his first feature, The Birth of A Nation. Griffith's wife Linda Arvidson co-starred in this story of the kidnapping of a young girl by gypsies.

Lot in Sodom (1933, Dir: James Sibley Watson & Melville Webber) - This pioneering avant garde film, based on the Biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, was experimental in both its expressionistic style and its fearless, erotic depiction of sexuality (both homo- and hetero-). Watson, heir to the Western Union fortune, was a true renaissance man, with achievements as a medical doctor, philanthropist, publisher, editor, and photographer, in addition to his highly influential amateur filmmaking. Other Watson and Webber credits include Tomatoes Another Day and National Film Registry entry The Fall of the House of Usher. Watson's close friend, the noted composer Alec Wilder, recruited cast members and served as assistant director on Lot in Sodom.

Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906, Dir: J. Stuart Blackton) - A series of chalk drawings that come to life, this is thought to be the very first animated cartoon. It inspired many others to animate drawings, though it is marred by the inclusion of some unfortunate racial stereotypes. Blackton was a newspaper reporter and illustrator until he purchased an early projector and films from Thomas Edison. This led to his co-founding of Vitagraph, one of the most important of the early film studios.

Vitaphone trailer for The Jazz Singer (1927) - Al Jolson famously ad-libbed "You ain't heard nothing yet!" in The Jazz Singer, the first talking feature film. However, audiences lucky enough to catch this coming attraction preview for the film had already heard something! In what must have been the first talking trailer, prolific character actor John Miljan awkwardly addresses the camera to promote the new Vitaphone sound process, and shows scenes of the film's star-studded New York opening.

Plus Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse, The Incredible Jewel Robbery, What's Opera Doc, I'll Never Heil Again, and much more!

Secret Cinema history/trivia: Our first Famous Films program was presented in 2007. Additional volumes were screened in 2008 and 2011. No films from these earlier editions will be repeated in Famous Films 2017.

Secret Cinema celebrates 25 years with

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films: The Early Years

Friday, March 10, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

On Friday, March 10, we will present what will be for us, at least, a very special screening at the Maas Building, called The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films: The Early Years. That's because twenty-five years and one day earlier marked the very first Secret Cinema screening!

Yes, it is now twenty-five years since we first carried our 16mm projector (we only had one then) up the steep stairs to the second floor of the Khyber Pas Pub. We began our series there with a screening of Don't Knock The Rock (plus "unusual short films"). Since then, there have been as many as 1000 Secret Cinema screenings (we're not exactly sure how many, but that is probably close to accurate), attended by thousands of people, in over 100 venues. We're very happy to still be here!

During 2017, we plan to revive several of our most popular programs, possibly a few unpopular ones, and will also continue presenting brand new programs. The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films: The Early Years will be the year's first anniversary event, and will include miscellaneous audience favorites that were shown in our first five years. These films, which include rare educational, advertising, musical and theatrical short subjects (and maybe a found home movie), are all very unlikely to be seen elsewhere. Some of them were featured in past "best of" programs…while others have not been shown again since 1992! (In the interest of variety, no titles will be repeated from our last "Best of shorts" program, which was shown June 2015, also at the Maas Building.)

Just a few of the titles to be screened are Let's Have a Tea (campy, Kodachrome 1940s etiquette film), Whatta Built (amusing theatrical short about body builders), Sponge Divers of Tarpon (actually fascinating 1932 documentary about Florida sponge industry), Latin Soundies (1940s musical performances photographed for a film jukebox, including "Chaquita Banana"), and Yours, Mine, Ours (1960s Technicolor fun teaches grade school kids respect for others' property)…plus much, much more.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00. Beer and refreshments will be available at the screening.

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free parking is available on the street and in the adjacent lot of the James R. Ludlow Elementary School.

Fasten Your Seat Belts: Films from the Jet Set Era

in Fairmount Park Horticulture Center

Saturday, February 11, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Horticulture Center
West Fairmount Park
North Horticultural Drive & Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 685-0096

On Saturday, February 11, take a break from the winter doldrums and escape to exotic lands and high living, as the Secret Cinema presents Fasten Your Seat Belts: Films from the Jet Set Era -- shown in an actual hothouse! We'll return to Fairmount Park's beautiful and verdant Horticulture Center, an exhibition hall and glass-walled greenhouse filled inside and out with rare plants and historic statuary. It sits on the site of the former Horticultural Hall, an 1876 Centennial Exposition building (and is kept comfortably warm inside, regardless of outdoor conditions).

The program will consist of shorts from the 1950s and '60s highlighting then new and luxurious air travel, and exotic vacation destinations. Many of these rare films were made by long-gone airlines like Pan Am and T.W.A. to promote overseas jet service, once a radical innovation that drastically reduced travel time to glamorous European capitals and Caribbean hot spots (for those who could afford it).

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

The Fairmount Park Horticulture Center, minutes off of the Schuylkill Expressway, features a large, free parking lot. It is near Memorial Hall (Please Touch Museum) and is a short walk from Septa Routes 38, 40, 43, and 64 (Route 38 comes closest, with a stop at Belmont Avenue and Montgomery Drive).

Highlights of Fasten Your Seat Belts… will include:

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

New Horizons: Caribbean (1958) - Pan-American airlines produced a series of short advertising films in the 1950s and '60s promoting then-novel travel destinations. This entry in the Technicolor series was particularly dream-like and meditative, its scenes of snorkeling, Calypso bands and beautiful women matched with poetic, hypnotic narration by Lee Vines smooth voice (among other notable work, he was the announcer for Korla Pandit's early television show). "One of these islands...will be your island."

The Tail that Wags the Dog (1966) - This fascinating film, made for the Boeing Vertol Division in nearby Morton, Pennsylvania, was intended to encourage the use of their twin-rotor transport helicopters for shuttling wealthier travelers from city center rooftops to nearby airports. Produced by Philadelphia's prolific Louis Kellman Productions in the same year they released the pop music theatrical feature Disk-O-Tek Holiday.

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

Plus much, much more!

Be Careful!: Social Guidance and Industrial Jeopardy Films

at Fleisher Art Memorial

Friday, January 27, 2017
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Fleisher Art Memorial
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
215-922-3456 ext. 300

We've shown many themed groupings of short films over the nearly 25 years of Secret Cinema programming -- but surprisingly, only once before (10 years ago!) did we devote an evening to the 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. In recent decades they have been rediscovered, in documentaries like The Atomic Cafe, in books like Mental Hygiene, and on cable television and numerous home video compilations. The Congress-created National Film Registry even named one of the most (in)famous social guidance films, Duck and Cover, to its pantheon of important films.

It's time to revisit this rich genre, and we'll do so on Friday, January 27, when we will compile, for the second 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).

Be Careful!… will be shown in the beautiful Sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood (just South of Center City). Free parking is available in the Fleisher's parking lot, just across the street.

This new program will differ a bit from our previous social guidance outing, in that it will include films aimed at older audiences, as well as at children. "Industrial Jeopardy" is a genre named by film archivist Rick Prelinger (in ReSearch Publications' landmark 1986 book Incredibly Strange Films), to collectively include educational shorts that attempted to prevent life-threatening misbehavior by workers, motorists and homemakers.

There will be one complete show, at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

Be Careful!… 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: You and Your Parents, Meeting Strangers: Red Light Green Light, Dope is for Dopes, Accidents Don't Happen and Options to Live.

From Philadelphia With Love:

Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films

at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Wednesday, January 11, 2017
7:30 pm
Admission:$12.50, $6.50 (members), $10 (seniors/students)

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

On Wednesday, January 11, the Secret Cinema will return to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute to present a unique program of short films called 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 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.

The Secret Cinema has been collecting, archiving and screening this fascinating area of local film history for over two decades now. Our BMFI presentation will be a "best of" selection from past volumes of From Philadelphia With Love…

There will be one complete show at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12.50, $6.50 (BMFI members), $10 (seniors and students).

Highlights of From Philadelphia With Love… will include:

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.

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 Spirit of Success (1984) - A tourism and business promotional film touting the many benefits of life in Montgomery County. It shows 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).

Brooklyn Goes To Philadelphia (1954) - This obscure theatrical release 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.

Portrait of a College (1963) - A colorful campus tour of what was then known as the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, and is today, in greatly expanded form, the University of the Arts. The film begins with a view of Haviland-Strickland Hall (originally the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and the oldest building on Broad Street), and then visits facilities for painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and graphic arts. "Since 1876, the best possible instruction in the arts happened here." Interestingly, this film was produced in the very last year of the school's affiliation with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Philadelphia With Love (1972) - Our "title film" is a colorful, tourism boosting paean to "Philadelphia, a fabulous city that puts it all together!" This perky reel 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!

New Jersey Pine Barrens films in historic library

of Academy of Natural Sciences

Wednesday, November 30, 2016
7:00 pm
Admission: FREE

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Use 19th Street entrance.
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
(215) 299-1000

On Wednesday, November 30, the Secret Cinema will help present a program of nature films focusing on wildlife in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The screening will take place in the historic library of the Academy of Natural Sciences (built 1876), during a working meeting of the equally historic American Entomological Society. This event honors the memory of late filmmaker, writer, and naturalist Howard P. Boyd, the pre-eminent scholar on the Pine Barrens.

The meeting starts promptly at 7:00 pm, and is open to the public. Admission is free. Attendees should use the 19th Street entrance to the Academy.

Featured will be Howard and Doris Boyd's film Life on a Coastal Plain, a beautifully photographed, silent look at the variety of flora and fauna found in the Pine Barrens. Howard and his wife would travel with films they had produced such as this, and present them with a live narration to groups around the country (AES members will provide narration for this showing).

Also on the bill is a rare 1940s short from the Secret Cinema archive, Cranberry Industry of New Jersey, which details the unusual process of growing and harvesting this traditional Thanksgiving treat, in glorious Kodachrome. Plus, we'll show some very early educational films about insects.

About Howard Boyd: The entomologist, author, activist and Pine Barrens guru served as president of the AES from 1977-1981, and was editor of its scientific journal, Entomological News, for almost 30 years. He was a leading expert in scientific circles on the insect group Cicindelinae, the Tiger Beetles. Howard was a conservationist, educator and authority on the ecology of the Pine Barrens. In 1991 he penned his first book, A Field Guide to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey: Its Flora, Fauna, Ecology and Historic Sites, which is recognized as the definitive field guide to the New Jersey Pinelands. In 2004, he was one of two premiere inductees into the Pine Barrens Hall of Fame, established by the Pinelands Preservation Alliance to honor heroes of Pine Barrens protection. By 2006, Howard, with the AES, spearheaded a five-year insect diversity study of the approximately 11,000 acre Franklin Parker Preserve, a reclaimed cranberry operation in Chatsworth, New Jersey. Howard, with his wife Doris as photographer, produced and presented films through the National Audubon Society Wildlife Film Tours from 1966 to 1976.

About the American Entomological Society: AES is the oldest continuously operating organization devoted to the study of insects in the New World. It began in Philadelphia in 1859 as the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, broadened its scope and name in 1867 to the American Entomological Society, and in 1876, moved its rooms, library and collections to the Academy of Natural Sciences, where it still holds its meetings today.

AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY WEBSITE

Creepy Puppet Films

at University City's Rotunda

Saturday, November 26, 2016
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

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 Saturday, November 26, 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 at the Rotunda. 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.

Secret Cinema originally presented Creepy Puppet Films seven years ago, almost to the date (and we showed it one more time, more recently, at New York's Anthology Film Archives).

There will be one complete screening starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

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.

George Pal Puppetoon (1940s, Dir: George Pal) - George Pal's "Puppetoon" shorts showed a brilliant imagination and flawless stop-motion technique. We'll show an example from this oft-overlooked series, from the Hungarian animator who went on to create sci-fi feature film classics like War of the Worlds.

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!

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Archive Discoveries: Unseen and Forgotten Favorites

from the Secret Cinema Collection at the Maas Building

Friday, November 11, 2016
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

On Friday, November 11, The Secret Cinema will return to the historic Maas Building with a new program called Archive Discoveries: Unseen and Forgotten Favorites from the Secret Cinema Collection. It features a mélange of fascinating short films from the past, representing a variety of genres and subject matter.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00. Beer and refreshments will be available at the screening.

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 three million feet of often rare celluloid, with several prints thought to be the only extant copies in the world.

Some of the best of these amazing films will again see the light of a projector bulb in Archive Discoveries… 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, they 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.*

A few highlights from Archive Discoveries… include:

Alexander Calder: From the Circus to the Moon (1963, Dir: Hans Richter) - This film presents a whimsical look at the celebrated, Philadelphia-born artist and his creations, as he constructs miniature mobiles in a very cluttered studio-barn. Filmmaker Richter had collaborated with Calder years before, in his groundbreaking 1947 feature Dreams that Money Can Buy.

Cab Calloway & his Orchestra: "Virginia, Georgia and Caroline" (1942, Dir: unknown) - This film clip of a typically high-spirited Calloway performance was originally seen on the Mills Panoram "Soundies" film jukebox.

Rock 'n' Roll Trailers (1957-59, Dir: Fred Sears et al) - A collection of coming attraction previews for early rock and related movies, with (brief) appearances by Little Richard, Bill Haley and Danny and the Juniors. Several of the films were produced by exploitation genius Sam Katzman (including Calypso Heat Wave).

The Wooden Soldier (1928, Dir: Jacques Rollens) - This bizarre silent short was released in a series called "Laemmle Novelties," billed as "Something new under the sun." What made them novel is that they mostly did not focus on human actors. In this film, a ghoulish toymaker enacts an experiment with "Oxo-Vapor" to bring his toy creations to life -- though some of them wind up dead.

Star Trek bloopers (1966-69) - Shatner, Nimoy and company flub lines, crack jokes, and crack up in several unaired takes from the beloved, original sci-fi series. With bonus Mission Impossible bloopers.

Plus Middletown Goes to War (1942), This World of Ours: Chicago (1951), and more!

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free parking is available on the street and in the adjacent lot of the James R. Ludlow Elementary School.

*If this program description sounds familiar, that's because Archive Discoveries… is the latest round of a series we've presented for some time, but under another title: Curator's Choice. We've retired that name, owing to the egregious, pretentious misuse of the words "curator" and "curated" in recent years. While Secret Cinema boss Jay Schwartz, as caretaker of a collection, really is a curator, those words have ceased to have any actual meaning. So, we'll stick with Archive Discoveries (or we'll do so until gallery owners, band bookers, menu makers, d.j.'s, shopkeepers, film programmers, and similarly high-minded folks decide that they are presenting offerings from their "archives"). P>

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1930 American Indian documentary The Silent Enemy

at American Philosophical Society

Wednesday, October 19, 2016
7:00 pm (Museum open 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE

American Philosophical Society
Franklin Hall
427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 440-3442

On Wednesday, October 19, 2016, the Secret Cinema will return to the American Philosophical Society to present The Silent Enemy. An independently made, mostly silent film (with spoken introduction and musical soundtrack), its producers attempted to document the original lifestyle of the Ojibway tribe of Native Americans, in the Canadian Far North -- and their perpetual fight against the silent enemy of hunger. The result is a fascinating, exciting and beautiful film, which critic Leonard Maltin called a "remarkable blend of documentary footage and a fictional story…(the) climactic caribou run is one of the most astonishing sights you'll ever witness."

The Silent Enemy has been most often seen (when seen at all) in an edited version, made for the educational market. Our screening will be a rare showing of the film's original version, as rescued by film preservationist David Shepard.

The screening celebrates the exhibition, Gathering Voices: Thomas Jefferson and Native America, which will be on display at the APS Museum through December 30.

This Secret Cinema event will feature a chance to explore the exhibition, free refreshments and snacks, and the screening of a rarely shown documentary (as always with Secret Cinema, using real film projected on a giant screen). Best of all, admission is free.

On the screening day, the museum doors will open at 6:00 pm, allowing time to explore the exhibition. The film screening starts at 7:00 pm. Seating is limited.

Please note that there is no longer free meter parking offered in Center City on Wednesday evenings! The Philadelphia Parking Authority announced that this long-standing program would end starting in October, and that all posted regulations will now be enforced as on other days.

A full description of the feature follows.

The Silent Enemy (1930, Dir: H.P. Carver)
The desire to make a film that would authentically record Native American life before the arrival of Columbus is very much the idea at the heart of W. Douglas Burden's production. As Burden told Kevin Brownlow, "it was all too obvious that the Indians were dying off so rapidly from the white man's diseases that if the story of their endless struggle for survival against starvation was ever to be captured on film, we had no time to lose."

It is hard to say whether The Silent Enemy achieves its goal of ethnographic accuracy, but it is easy to see that it achieves its cinematic goal of being a beautiful and exciting film. While the story is fictional, Burden based it on a 73-volume account of missionary work entitled Jesuit Relations, and he claimed that "not one episode was invented by us, with the exception of the bear on a cliff." Indeed, by striving for anthropological precision, Burden and his co-producer William Chanler took on a larger challenge than the already formidable task of making a feature film in the harsh environment of Northern Canada.

Seeking to correct the spurious and demeaning image of Native Americans in mainstream films, Burden and Chanler attempted to film only aboriginal people, their tools and their activities, in their actual habitat. Some of their achievements in this regard are staggering. Filming into the harsh Canadian winter, the cast and crew lived exclusively in teepees. Burden himself shared a teepee with Chief Yellow Robe. All the hunting implements and crafts shown in the film were made on the set by local Ojibway Indians. In a further tragic twist, some of the Ojibway who appeared in The Silent Enemy died soon after of tuberculosis, flu or pneumonia contracted from the white filmmakers.

Ultimately, we should be cautious in responding to the film as an authentic anthropological document. However, we should equally be eager to view it as the immensely impressive and exciting film it is. The filmmakers, cast and crew were unequivocal in their intention and commitment to honor the heritage of a noble and disappearing people, and to overcome the enormous challenges associated with making it. - David Shepard

About Gathering Voices: Thomas Jefferson and Native America:
The last of three exhibitions at the American Philosophical Society on Jefferson, Gathering Voices tells the story of Jefferson's effort to collect Native American languages and its legacy at the Society. Jefferson had an abiding interest in Native American culture and language, while at the same time supporting policies that ultimately threatened the survival of indigenous peoples. As president of the APS from 1797 to 1814, Jefferson charged the Society with collecting vocabularies and artifacts from Native American nations. Over the next two hundred years, the APS would become a major repository for linguistic, ethnographic, and anthropological research on Native American cultures. Gathering Voices traces the Native American language collection at the APS from Jefferson's vocabularies to the current language revitalization projects at the Society's Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR).

About the APS: When Benjamin Franklin and friends decided, in 1743, to establish the American Philosophical Society (APS), they studied nature and called themselves natural philosophers. Now we'd call them scientists. But the word "philosophical" stuck. Over the years, the APS has counted among its members individuals as varied as George Washington, Charles Darwin, and Yo-Yo Ma. The APS has gathered and preserved a rich collection that traces American history and science from the Founding Fathers to the computer age. It includes scientific specimens and instruments, and more than ten million manuscripts. The APS combines sophisticated exhibitions of its collections with provocative works by contemporary artists. Museum visitors will find challenging new perspectives on history, science, and art. The galleries are at Philosophical Hall, 104 S. Fifth Street, Philadelphia, right next to Independence Hall. Admission and all programs are free.

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The Inside View: Short Films about Prison

at Eastern State Penitentiary

Friday, September 9, 2016
8:00 pm (doors open 7:00 pm)
Admission: $10

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site
2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 236-3300

On Friday, September 9, the Secret Cinema will return to Eastern State Penitentiary, to present our 16th film screening at the historic site and museum. This year -- for the first time -- the program will not be based around a prison-themed feature film. The Inside View: Short Films About Prison will instead be a collection of rare documentaries, television drama and even a cartoon, all about life behind bars, with none longer than 30 minutes. Some of these reels were used as "opening acts" for prior Secret Cinema events at ESP, and some will be getting their first-ever showing.

As usual, we'll be entertaining our "captive" audience by projecting prison-themed film fare in a screening room complete with real steel bars, echoing the scenes on screen in a unique twist on "3-D" movies. Since the first Secret Cinema/ESP event, we've presented prison film subgenres ranging from death row drama, women in prison, tough film noir, '70s sexploitation, chilling documentary, and even a prison-set Laurel and Hardy comedy.

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 $10.00.

A few highlights of The Inside View: Short Films about Prison include:

The Expert (1983, Dir: Don Petrie, Jr.)
The Expert follows a state execution doctor as he trains his replacement in how to administer a gas chamber execution. The American Film Institute produced this thoughtful, thought-provoking, and little-seen short drama. Director Petrie would go on to make many successful comedy features (including Mystic Pizza, Grumpy Old Men and Miss Congeniality), but The Expert shows a decidedly darker sensibility.

Types of Inmates (1965, Dir: Ernest Reid)
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada for that nation's Department of Justice, Types Of Inmates was made strictly for the purpose of training prison personnel, as evidenced by a warning title that limits the short film's viewing to working professionals. This fascinating documentary then proceeds to classify various inmates by their psychological profiles, defining such breeds as "Rebel," "Dependent," "Manipulator" and "Mental." The grim filmed interviews with actual inmates provide a close-up view of a difficult life faced by men on both sides of the cell door.

M-Squad: The Hard Case (1957, Dir: Bernard Girard)
The noirish 1950s TV series M-Squad served as a showcase for the screen's ultimate tough guy, Lee Marvin. In this episode, Marvin's detective character poses as a new prison convict, to help clear a night watchman that was framed for a robbery.

Plus The Prison Community, Northwest Hounded Police and more!

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 two decades. The film will be projected right inside the main prison building in a hallway just outside Capone's cell, surrounded by iron bars and the memories of convicts past.

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Cinema Ephemera festival in Baltimore

Friday, June 24 - Sunday, June 26 @ Baltimore, MD (various locations): Cinema Ephemera: The Festival of Useful Film (Click link for full details!)

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Old Films About Old Films About...

at Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Thursday, July 21, 2016
7:00 pm
Admission: $12.00 adults, $6.50 members, $9.00 seniors, $8.00 students

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
824 W. Lancaster Avenue
, Bryn Mawr, PA
(610) 527-9898

On Thursday, July 21, the Secret Cinema will present a unique program of rare short subjects, 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 tour of a silent film studio to a promotional film for home movie cameras.

The selection combines highlights from two earlier Old Films About... programs (shown back in 1999 and 2011) with a few new acquisitions that we've never shown before. This will be the Secret Cinema's first presentation at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, and ties in with their summer series of "Hollywood Classics."

There will be one complete show at 7:00 pm. Admission is $12.00 adults, $6.50 members, $9.00 seniors and $8.00 students.

As always -- still -- Secret Cinema programs are shown using 16mm (not video, not digital) film projected on a giant screen (an extra giant one in this case!).

A few highlights of Old Films About Old Films About... include:

MGM Studio Tour (1925) - A grand tour of the grandest of Hollywood studios, seen at the peak moment of the silent era. We see different creative and technical departments, directors like John Ford, Victor Seastrom and Tod Browning, and countless stars, from a young Joan Crawford to Zasu Pitts.

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.

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), plus…

Screen Actors (1950) - M.G.M, the studio with "more stars than there are in heaven," made this look at the lives of actors, with special attention to their off-screen activities. A Screen Actors Guild meeting is seen, as is Dan Duryea's work as a Cub Scout leader!

The Costume Designer (1950) - This A.M.P.A.S. short, produced by RKO, explains the importance of the wardrobe department -- with a special focus on sunglass-wearing designer Edith Head (who, surprisingly, is not identified).

The Movie...a Window on Life (1964) - "I'd like to introduce you to my Bolex..." The famed Swiss movie camera manufacturer produced this promotional film, most likely for screenings in camera stores. With tips on making better home movies, and some colorful shots of Bolex's line of 8mm moviemaking gear.

Plus much, much more.

Made to Persuade: Propaganda Films

at Fleisher Art Memorial

Saturday, June 4, 2016
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Fleisher Art Memorial,
The Sanctuary
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
(215)922-3456, ext. 300

On Saturday, June 4, the Secret Cinema will present Made to Persuade: Propaganda Films, with a new program of rare short films which were intended to sell ideas.

While a media theorist could probably make a good case that most films (and certainly all of the sponsored films that we frequently showcase) have ideological agendas, for this screening we will mainly focus on films that strongly promote messages about patriotism, the military, and religion. Many of the shorts will be having their Secret Cinema debut in this program.

Made to Persuade: Propaganda Films will be presented in the beautiful Sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial, in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood (just South of Center City). Free parking is available in the Fleisher's parking lot, just across the street.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

The final sequence of Made to Persuade... is still being assembled, but should include the following…

The Bond (1918) - Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in this comical pitch to sell war U.S. Liberty Bonds during World War I. It co-starred his regular players Edna Purviance and Albert Austin, as well as his half-brother Sydney.

The House I Live In (1945) - Frank Sinatra starred in this famous short promoting tolerance and respect of different religions and ethnicity's.

The American Way (1944) - As the ravages and sacrifices of World War II peaked, this film stressed that at home, democracy was still working -- by focusing on Americans both humble and famous (like actors Lewis Stone and Bob Hope) voting in the year's presidential election.

Our Cities Must Fight (1952) - Made at the height of Cold War paranoia, this Civil Defense reel attempts to encourage city dwellers to remain at home in case of enemy attack, and if needed, engage him in combat. "Have you got the guts?"

Wendell Willkie campaign films (1940) - Produced by the Republican National Committee, for Willkie's unsuccessful run against F.D.R. (We'll show different Willkie films than we've shown before!)

It's Everybody's War (1942) - Henry Fonda tells America how to help win World War II on the homefront, by showing it's impact on a typical small town.

My Japan (1945) - This incredible short was made to show that Japan was a much more formidable foe than many had assumed. It is narrated by a white actor in the role of a seemingly invincible Japanese military spokesman.

…plus much more!

About the Fleisher Art Memorial:
Founded in 1898, Fleisher is one of the country's oldest nonprofit community art schools. Fleisher's mission is to make art accessible to everyone, regardless of economic means, background, or artistic experience. In 1916, Fleisher acquired the former building of the Saint Martin's College for Indigent Boys on Christian Street, and in 1922, added the adjacent Romanesque church which had formerly been the Episcopal Church of the Evangelist. The space was converted to house Fleisher's private collections of paintings and sculptures, and he made it available to neighborhood residents day and night as a quiet place for contemplation and reflection. Fleisher serves over 16,000 annually, with 1,702 young people attending tuition-free classes and low-cost workshops, 3,820 adults taking free and low-cost classes and workshops, 358 children and youth being served in public schools and community centers throughout Southeast Philadelphia, and 8,430 visitors to the galleries annually.

The Secret Cinema Cavalcade of Commercials

at Manayunk's Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center

Wednesday, May 25, 2016
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center
7 Lock Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
215-685-3583

On Wednesday, May 25, The Secret Cinema will bring a classic old program -- The Secret Cinema Cavalcade of Commercials -- to an exciting new venue, Manayunk's Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center.

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 nearly 13 years ago! This enhanced Cavalcade will include the best from past presentations, plus some never-shown reels.

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 (including Lee Marvin pitching Pall Mall's); and an informative minute from Carter's Little Liver Pills all about "The Miracle of Your Liver Bile."

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.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

The Venice Island Performing Arts & Recreation Center is the best-kept secret in Manayunk. This 250-seat auditorium, with stadium seating and state-of-the art lighting and sound systems opened as a community theater in late 2014. Located steps off of Main Street, the facility has an on-site pay parking lot ($8 evening flat rate), and is close to street parking, public transportation, and the Schuylkill River Trail for cyclists.

PARKING
Once you arrive you may use Venice Island's parking lot. The lot is managed through the Manayunk Development Corporation and not through the Venice Island Performing Arts Center. Pay at the kiosk, or take advantage of Manayunk's free street parking a short walk away

SEPTA
Google Maps will show different public transit options. Here's a link to getting to the show from City Hall using Septa. Change the starting point as needed...

Movies for Every Occasion: The Best and Worst of

Castle and Official Films at Maas Building

Friday, April 15, 2016
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street
Philadelphia
267-239-2851

On Friday, April 15, The Secret Cinema will return to the beautiful Maas Building with a new program called Movies for Every Occasion: The Best and Worst of Castle and Official Films. Culled from the depths of the Secret Cinema archive, it will highlight the abundant and varied output of two companies that were pioneers in home entertainment.

For four decades starting in 1937, Castle Films and Official Films released hundreds of unique short subjects sold (through mail order, camera and department stores) to owners of 8mm and 16mm home movie projectors. Long before home video, consumers could buy their own film prints of travelogues, cartoons, sports reels, musical shorts, newsreels and much more. While home editions of Hollywood-made cartoons and comedy short subjects were popular, and highlight reels of Universal horror features doubly so, many of their best-selling titles were original productions -- with many earlier releases made by Castle founder Eugene Castle himself (Official Films, founded in 1939 by freelance cameraman Leslie Winik, was pretty much a direct copy of Castle's business model).

Often amusingly dated, but just as often surprisingly captivating, the 9-minute reels from these two companies have enlivened many Secret Cinema programs over the last quarter-century (yes, we are now in our 25th year!). Yet, this will be our very first program exclusively devoted to these two former giants of movies in the home, and will include favorites from previous screenings as well as several titles never before shown. And as an added attraction, deluxe Castle Films t-shirts will be available for sale!

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00. Beer and refreshments will be available at the screening.

A few highlights from Movies for Every Occasion… include:

Fishing Vagabonds (1955) - Castle and Official each released countless sports-themed topical films, aimed at the dads who were presumably the operators of their family's home movie equipment. This is a typical fishing short, but unlike most was shot in blazingly-saturated Ansco Color. The choice helped to show off not only angling technique, but also the fishermen's bikini-clad boatmates, who do their best to stay out of the way. The narrator notes, "Our heroine makes a smart decision…this is man's work!"

The Chimp's Adventure (aka Monkey Shines, 1934) - The "Chimp" series of comedy shorts were a staple of Castle Films catalogs for many years. They all depicted an actual chimpanzee wandering around the civilized world and getting mixed up in various mischief. This was the first entry in the series, shot on location in Manhattan, and was originally released by Paramount for their "Shorty the Chimp" series. Castle's generic "The Chimp…" retitling allowed them to keep the franchise going after the Paramount series ended, later substituting films featuring television star Zippy the Chimp.

Survival Under Atomic Attack (1951) - Castle released a series of eight "Official U.S. Civil Defense Motion Pictures" to instruct the population how to best survive nuclear war. These films were sold at a slight discount form their usual prices, and also included titles such as Disaster on Main Street, What You Should Know About Biological Warfare, and the ever popular Duck and Cover. "Let us face the realities of our times…"

Atlantic City (1951) - Castle made countless travel films, showcasing exotic lands across the globe, but this one was made closer to home. The seaside resort was shown in all of its pre-gambling glory, with views of long-demolished, palatial hotels, the boardwalk and its rolling chairs, restaurants Hackney's, Mammy's, and the Knife & Fork Inn, and a Miss America parade.

Let's Sing a Western Song (1947, Dir: Harold James) - From Universal's theatrically-released Sing and Be Happy series, one of many "bouncing ball" sing-along films, this one featuring Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians. Feel free to join in (and be happy!).

Roaring Wheels (1952) - A look at all kinds of fast-moving vehicles, including gas-powered miniature cars, midget race cars, soap-box derby cars, dirt bikes and experimental vehicles at the Bonneville salt flats.

Four Melodies in Allegretto (1940s?) - "A free interpretation of four musical compositions whose themes are based on animal life." That's a rather high-falutin' introduction to what is actually a super-low budget production made to showcase the cuteness of kittens and baby chicks (and stock footage of…bees?). All of their activity ostensibly occurs in the dreams of a sleeping little girl, who favors the music of Mussorgsky and Saint-Saens. Castle and Official films were rarely pretentious, but is seems there were exceptions.

Castle Quiz Game: Movies Greatest Headlines (1952) - An interactive film game n which the audience is tested on their knowledge of (then) current events, using newsreel clips and a ticking timer.

…and much more!

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free parking is available on the street and in the adjacent lot of the James R. Ludlow Elementary School.

Parks and Rec Rarities

at Fairmount Park Horticulture Center

Friday, March 25, 2016
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Horticulture Center
West Fairmount Park
North Horticultural Drive & Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia
(215) 685-0096

On Friday, March 25 the Secret Cinema and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation will present Parks and Rec Rarities, a screening of little-seen city-made films. The event will take place in Fairmount Park's beautiful and verdant Horticulture Center, an exhibition hall and glass-walled greenhouse filled inside and out with rare plants and historic statuary. It sits on the site of the former Horticultural Hall, an 1876 Centennial Exposition building.

The program will consist of shorts from the 1960s, '70s and '80s, documenting leisurely times gone by in Philadelphia's abundant park and recreation facilities. We showed the park films, from the Fairmount Park archive, just once before, at a 2010 event at Northeast Philly's Ryerss Museum. The Recreation Department films, however, have probably not been seen since they were made -- the reels were recently found in a rec center storage closet. (Upon the discovery of each set of films, PPR's Rob Armstrong called on the Secret Cinema for help in inspecting, repairing and viewing the aging reels).

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

The Fairmount Park Horticulture Center, minutes off of the Schuylkill Expressway, features a large, free parking lot. It is near Memorial Hall (Please Touch Museum) and is a short walk from Septa Routes 38, 40, 43, and 64 (Route 38 comes closest, with a stop at Belmont Avenue and Montgomery Drive).

Highlights of Parks and Rec Rarities include:

WFIL Salutes the Philadelphia Department of Recreation (1965, Produced/edited: Bill Lawrence) - This television documentary (made by the station known today as WPVI), gives a broad overview of our recreation system and its programs as they existed 50 years ago -- from swimming pools in the Northeast's Jardel Rec Center, to a Eugene Ormandy-led Philadelphia Orchestra concert with Van Cliburn, to folk guitar lessons for teenaged girls, and to programs at the Chamounix youth hostel. Robert Crawford, the city's influential Commissioner of Recreation for nearly 30 years, discusses changes that introduced during his tenure.

Journey of a Philadelphia Zoo Sculpture (c. 1962, Ralph Lopatin Productions) - Heinz Warneke's granite sculpture called Cow Elephant and Calf was designed for the Philadelphia Zoo and created in Norway. This archival footage depicts the massive sculpture arriving on a ship, driven on an open truck through Philadelphia's streets, and finally installed by the artist at the Philadelphia Zoo, where it can be seen today.

Better Break (1978) - A young Larry Kane introduces this short by asking. "Can we take a tour of the city in ten minutes?" The film then offers just that, while highlighting various activities funded by the "Better Break" program. This decade-long initiative was started in 1968 to provide jobs for vacationing school youth and "give the hope needed to keep the City 'cool' from social unrest which had been manifested so tragically in other major cities throughout the nation" (as per a 1969 Better Break press release). Shown are a boxing match, ballerinas dancing near City Hall, Mayor Rizzo, a "Gospelrama" concert, and notable musical talents like Lionel Hampton, Arthur Prysock, Maynard Ferguson, Carmen McRae and Ray Charles, all performing at the Robin Hood Dell.

A Day with the Fairmount Park Mounted Patrol (c. 1960, Dir: George Smith and Charles Bender) - Between 1867 and 1972, the Fairmount Park system was patrolled by the Fairmount Park Guard, an elite park police force separate from the Philadelphia Police Department. This charming amateur production, produced by home movie hobbyists within the Fairmount Park Mounted Unit, humorously depicts a typical day in the life of the Park Guard as they patrol Fairmount Park...and keep the park safe from litterbugs and perverts!

The Valley Green (1981, Dir: Jeff Farber) - In his 1844 essay "Morning on the Wissahiccon," Edgar Allan Poe wrote: "Now the Wissahiccon is of so remarkable a loveliness that, were it flowing in England, it would be the theme of every bard, and the common topic of every tongue..." This film, produced nearly 30 years ago (and 137 years later) by the Friends of the Wissahickon, offers a tour of the sights and sounds of the Wissahickon Creek, as it winds through Montgomery County and into Philadelphia. Along the way there are discussions of environmental and conservation issues with urban planners, developers and park officials

Pop art feature The Touchables

at Philadelphia Museum of Art

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
6:00 pm
Admission: Pay What You Wish

Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
(215) 763-8100

After twenty-four years of film screenings, the Secret Cinema is happy to announce our first-ever event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. On Wednesday, February 24, we'll present The Touchables, a "psychedelic screwball comedy" -- filled with mod fashions and pop art décor -- that we've championed since our very first year. This audacious and colorful feature, capturing peak "Swinging London," is being shown to celebrate PMA's new exhibition "International Pop." The screening is part of the museum's weekly "pay what you want" Wednesday nights.

The program will also include a surprise short film, and free popcorn and refreshments will be provided. The feature will be introduced by critic and WPRB disk jockey Dan Buskirk, who will also lead a post-screening discussion. Seating is limited.

There will be one complete show, starting at 6:00 pm. Admission is free after Pay What You Wish museum admission (This admission policy begins at 5:00 pm, and the museum will remain open until 8:45 pm)

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 abduct a young pop star 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 snazzy Ken Thorne score, Freeman has left a film that is both a unique vision and an evocative time capsule.

The long awaited return of Stag Movie Night:

Vintage Porno from the 1920s, 30s & 40s

at Maas Building

Saturday, November 21, 2015
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

The Maas Building,
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia
(267) 239-2851

On Saturday, November 21, The Secret Cinema will return to the beautiful Maas Building for a revival of one of our most popular thematic programs of archival film -- Stag Movie Night: Vintage Porno from the 1920s, 30s & 40s.

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 original 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 American men 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 10 to 15 minute reel in length, and silent -- assuring compatibility with the relatively low-cost home movie projectors that were typically 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.

The silent films will be accompanied by recordings of period music, including early jazz, crooners, and dirty blues songs.

This new edition of Stag Movie Night will include both new, never shown material as well as the return of some favorite reels from the past screenings. The final selection is still being planned, but titles likely to be chosen include Hollywood Honeys, A Jazz Jag, Through the Keyhole, Mortimer the Salesman, and more, plus Buried Treasure, a hilarious pornographic cartoon from the 1920s attributed to the Max Fleischer studios and others.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00. Beer and refreshments will be available at the screening.

Secret Cinema's first Stag Movie Night was presented at the old Silk City Lounge way back in 1996, and that venue also hosted several sequel volumes (with different content). Our last presentation of Stag Movie Night was almost 9 years ago (at a sold-out screening in the 2007 Philadelphia Film Festival) -- so it is definitely overdue for a new showing.

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space. Free parking is available on the street and in the adjacent lot of the James R. Ludlow Elementary School.

From Philadelphia with Love: Industrial, Educational

and other Lost Local Films (2015 Edition)

at Fleisher Art Memorial

NEWS FLASH!
We are very excited to announce that Michael Lopatin, who, back in the 1970s, directed two of the short films in this program, will be present at our screening! Michael will share his memories of sponsored filmmaking in the 16mm era, when just a few pioneering local companies dominated the field.

Saturday, November 14, 2015
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Fleisher Art Memorial,
The Sanctuary
719 Catharine Street, Philadelphia
(215)922-3456, ext. 300

On Saturday, November 14, 2015, the Secret Cinema will present the latest chapter in its ongoing series From Philadelphia with Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. Once again, it will contain 100% new programming, and this time it will be shown in a 100% new venue -- the beautiful Sanctuary of the Fleisher Art Memorial, in Philadelphia's Bella Vista neighborhood (just South of Center City).

Beer and refreshments will be available during the screening.

From Philadelphia with Love... showcases rare 16mm prints from the Secret Cinema archive about different aspects of life in the Philadelphia region. Some were made as sponsored films promoting goods or institutions, and others are educational, documentary or dramatic in nature. Most are virtually impossible to see elsewhere.

The Secret Cinema began showcasing these ephemeral scenes of lost local history back in 1999, and our last such presentation was two years ago. We've now projected over 50 of these films -- and none of them will be repeated for our November program. In fact, few have been seen by anyone since they were originally made.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00. Seating is limited.

Just a few highlights of this new edition of From Philadelphia with Love... are:

Assembly Line (1961, Dir: Morton Heilig) - This dramatic short film focuses on a lonely worker who toils at the Hunting Park plant of the Budd auto body factory. Ignoring the warnings of his alcoholic roommate, he heads out for what he imagines will be a big night on the town, but instead finds only betrayal and disappointment. The incredibly grim, noir mood could have come from a David Goodis pulp novel. It was a co-production of two departments at Penn: the Annenberg School of Communications, and the somewhat-mysterious Institute for Cooperative Research. Director Heilig, a winner of a fellowship in the first year of the School, would go on to make many documentaries, and also invented some early virtual reality devices. Besides its compelling narrative, Assembly Line captures amazing footage of mid-century Philadelphia, including Horn & Hardart's, movie theater marquees, bars and streetscapes both neon-lit and gloomy.

They Do Come Back (1940, Dir: Edgar Ulmer) - Celebrated Hollywood auteur Ulmer (Detour, The Black Cat) directed this and several other sponsored short films for the National Tuberculosis Association, with the aim of educating the public about good hygiene practices. This one was shot around Philadelphia with the help of prolific local industrial film studio the DeFrenes Company. It dramatizes the tale of a young couple whose first kiss leads to the boy coughing up blood, but he soon learns how to treat his problem.

Ready for Tomorrow (1970s, Dir: Michael Lopatin) - Legendary broadcaster John Facenda appeared in this overview of new innovations in the School District of Philadelphia. Scenes were shot throughout the city, including looks at Central and Girl's High, and the Parkway program.

Temple RTF film scraps (1975-6) - Random footage from Rosa, a film shot by Temple University's Radio-Television-Film department, for use in film editing classes. The scenes showcase Center City during its first urban renaissance. Also included are bonus, student-shot camera tests starring then-young film critic Irv Slifkin and future musician/bon vivant Rocco Sacco.

Plus Glass at PCA, A Day Behind the Beagles, and much more!

About the Fleisher Art Memorial:
Founded in 1898, Fleisher is one of the country's oldest nonprofit community art schools. Fleisher's mission is to make art accessible to everyone, regardless of economic means, background, or artistic experience. In 1916, Fleisher acquired the former building of the Saint Martin's College for Indigent Boys on Christian Street, and in 1922, added the adjacent Romanesque church which had formerly been the Episcopal Church of the Evangelist. The space was converted to house Fleisher's private collections of paintings and sculptures, and he made it available to neighborhood residents day and night as a quiet place for contemplation and reflection. Fleisher serves over 16,000 annually, with 1,702 young people attending tuition-free classes and low-cost workshops, 3,820 adults taking free and low-cost classes and workshops, 358 children and youth being served in public schools and community centers throughout Southeast Philadelphia, and 8,430 visitors to the galleries annually.

D.W. Griffith's silent epic America, live music

at American Philosophical Society

Wednesday, October 28, 2015
7:00 pm (Museum doors open at 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE

American Philosophical Society
Franklin Hall
427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
(215) 440-3442

On Wednesday, October 28, 2015, the Secret Cinema will return to the American Philosophical Society to present the rarely-screened 1924 silent film America. This sprawling historical spectacle, dramatizing the battles and events of the American Revolution, was the last big-budget epic from pioneering director D.W. Griffith (The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance).

This silent film presentation will not be silent, as expert keyboardist Don Kinnier (veteran collaborator for several past Secret Cinema programs) will bring the movie alive with his accompaniment.

America will be the second of two Secret Cinema events at the APS this year celebrating their current exhibition, Jefferson, Science, and Exploration.

This Secret Cinema event will feature a chance to explore the exhibition, free refreshments and snacks, and a fascinating screening (as always with Secret Cinema, using real film projected on a giant screen). Best of all, admission is free.

On the screening day, the museum doors will open at 6:00 pm, allowing time to explore the exhibition. The film screening starts at 7:00 pm. Seating is limited.

There is free meter parking available in Center City on Wednesday evenings. For details, see: http://www.philapark.org/2012/03/free-meter-parking-on-wednedays/

A full description of the feature follows.

America (1924, Dir: D.W. Griffith)
D.W. Griffith virtually invented the grammar of film while making short films for the Biograph studio. These ideas culminated in the groundbreaking and controversial Civil War feature The Birth of a Nation, and Griffith's reputation as the master of the new art form was firmly established. He followed this with the even larger-scale Intolerance, and such popular features as Broken Blossoms, Way Down East and Orphans of the Storm, made with exacting attention to period detail at Griffith's own studio in Mamaroneck, New York. It was here that he began work on what would be his last grand historical epic, America.

With America, Griffith attempted to repeat the success of Birth of A Nation, once again placing a personal story in the middle of sweeping public events - here, the American War of Independence. The script was adapted from a story by popular historian-novelist Robert Chambers, and was approved by both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the War Department. There were careful reenactments of the battles of Bunker Hill, Lexington and Concord, Paul Revere's ride, and Indian wars in the Mohawk Valley. There was also a romance between a Minuteman (Neil Hamilton, much later to play Commissioner Gordon on TV's Batman) and the daughter of a Tory-leaning family (Carol Dempster, who had replaced Lillian Gish as Griffith's lead actress). Lionel Barrymore appeared as the villainous Captain Butler, and other actors portrayed George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and King George III.

America's giant budget ultimately forced the sale of Griffith's studio, and the loss of his independence. The critics gave it mixed reviews and it fared poorly at the box office, "possibly," as film historian Eileen Bowser suggested, "because its historical detail and educational spirit were at odds with the Jazz Age in which it was produced." That attention to accuracy enabled the film to enjoy a more successful afterlife, however -- America reportedly turned a profit thanks to numerous school rentals and stock footage sales.

About Don Kinnier:
The silent film era, from its tentative first steps to its final artistic masterpieces, lasted for about 35 years. Musician Don Kinnier has been accompanying silent film screenings for over 50 years! Pennsylvania's foremost exponent of this very specialized art form, he has studied the techniques and repertoires of the original theater musicians of the silent era. A Philadelphia native (now based in Lititz), Don has provided the soundtrack for the local Betzwood Film Festival since its inception, as well as for many Secret Cinema events.

About Jefferson, Science, and Exploration:
Thomas Jefferson had a passion for knowledge that encompassed theoretical and applied sciences. As president of the APS for 17 years -- before, during, and after he was president of the nation -- he fostered American participation in a broad range of fields from paleontology to botany to meteorology, all of which are featured in this exhibition. President Jefferson advocated for westward exploration, providing explorers with detailed instructions on how to prepare for their expeditions. He sent Meriwether Lewis to study with five Philadelphians, all APS members with specific expertise that Lewis would need to be successful. This exhibition demonstrates the inseparable connections between science and national pride in Jefferson's time and takes visitors up to the eve of Lewis and Clark's journey.

Jefferson, Science, and Exploration is the second of three exhibitions on Jefferson to be held at the American Philosophical Society (APS) from 2014 through 2016. Support provided in part by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

About the APS:
When Benjamin Franklin and friends decided, in 1743, to establish the American Philosophical Society (APS), they studied nature and called themselves natural philosophers. Now we'd call them scientists. But the word "philosophical" stuck. Over the years, the APS has counted among its members individuals as varied as George Washington, Charles Darwin, and Yo-Yo Ma.

The APS has gathered and preserved a rich collection that traces American history and science from the Founding Fathers to the computer age. It includes scientific specimens and instruments, and more than ten million manuscripts.

The APS combines sophisticated exhibitions of its collections with provocative works by contemporary artists. Museum visitors will find challenging new perspectives on history, science, and art. The galleries are at Philosophical Hall, 104 S. Fifth Street, Philadelphia, right next to Independence Hall. Admission and all programs are free.

Poe-themed Halloween program

in Community College film festival

Thursday, October 22, 2015
6:00 pm
Admission: FREE

Community College of Philadelphia
Bonnell Building
S. 17th Street below Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia

On Thursday, October 22, 2015, the Secret Cinema will participate in the Community Underground Film Festival (CUFF) at Community College of Philadelphia's Bonnell Auditorium. The college is simultaneously hosting a special celebration called "The Philadelphia Work of Edgar Allan Poe," and this Secret Cinema event will tie-into both festivals -- with a screening of Jean Epstein's 1928 feature The Fall of the House of Usher, a silent, avant-garde adaptation of Poe's dark tale.

The program will be rounded out with surprise, Halloween-themed short films.

As always with Secret Cinema screenings, we will show real film projected onto a giant screen (in a giant auditorium!).

This screening starts at 6:00 pm and lasts about 90 minutes. Admission is free.

The rest of CUFF (which starts that morning and runs through October 23) includes new documentaries, lectures, student films and a short film competition.

A full description of the feature follows.

The Fall Of The House Of Usher (La Chute De La Maison Usher) (1928, France. Dir: Jean Epstein)
Jean Epstein's last film before he broke with the avant-garde movement is based on the tales of Edgar Allan Poe. The mysterious house of Usher is visited by a friend who finds Roderick following the family tradition of painting his wife's portrait with such passion that he draws the life from her to put it into his picture. Refusing to accept her death he declines to have her coffin nailed shut.

Everything in the film is subordinated to the creation of' atmosphere. Misty, fog-shrouded scenes, slow-motion filming, low angles, lighting, and camera tricks lend themselves to eerie supernatural effects. Epstein was a cinema theoretician, and the maker of the important Impressionist film Coeur Fidèle. After this film, he launched a series of lyric documentaries among the fishermen of Brittany, and found a new use for slow-motion in drawing emotional performances from nonactors.

The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films

at Maas Building...outdoors!

Saturday, June 27, 2015
9:00 pm (after dark!)
Admission: $8.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19122
267-239-2851

UPDATE: Due to the forecast of potentially heavy rain, Saturday night's screening at the Maas Building is being moved from the outdoor garden space to indoors, in the upstairs main event room we used in April. Note that the entrance will therefore be at 1325 N. Randolph Street (as before), NOT on 5th Street. The 9:00 pm start time will stay the same.

Note also that free parking is available, in the school lot across Randolph Street!

We hope to show off the Maas Building's lovely garden patio at a future event!

TOMORROW -- Saturday, June 27 -- The Secret Cinema will return to the beautiful Maas Building to present the unique program The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films.

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: 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 or twice, despite frequent requests to repeat them. The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films will compile the most memorable of these celluloid treasures, most of which are impossible to view anywhere else. We try not to repeat ourselves too much, which is why our last "greatest hits" program was presented eight years ago

The Maas Building was previously a brewery and a trolley repair shop. This beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space.

There will be one complete show at 9:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

Just a few highlights of The Best of Secret Cinema Short Films are:

The Stranger At Our Door (1940) - This 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 (1953) - 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.

Skateboarding To Safety (1976) - 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.

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

Pro Kleen commercial (1950s) - A mind-numbingly crass eight minute TV commercial in which an unappealing pitchman with a thick Baltimore accent extols the wonders of a new spot cleaner.

The Story of Bubblegum (1952) - This beautiful Kodachrome film sets out to answer the question, "Can bubblegum be good food?" Made at the old Fleer bubblegum plant in Olney, 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.

Betzwood Film Festival celebrates "Powerful Katrinka"

with screening, author talk

Saturday, May 9th, 2015
8:00 pm
Admission: $15.00

Science Center Theater
Montgomery County Community College
340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
215-641-6518

Silent film star Wilna Hervey was a very big girl. At six foot three and over three hundred pounds, she was perfect for the role of "Powerful Katrinka" in the Toonerville Trolley comedy shorts. These silent comedies, faithful adaptations of Fontaine Fox's popular comic strip, were made in the early 1920s in the Betzwood film studios, built by Siegmund Lubin outside of Philadelphia. After her Betzwood work, she played a similar role in series of films made in San Francisco, and even had a "big" part in a Three Stooges short in the 1930s.

Beyond the movies, Wilna Hervey's life held more unexpected twists and turns than the plots of the three-dozen comedies she made. A skilled portrait painter, award-winning enamel artist, and erstwhile farmer, she also hosted some of the wildest parties ever seen in the Catskills. With her companion Nan Mason, Ms. Hervey became a legend in the Woodstock, New York, art colony where she lived for over fifty years.

On Saturday, May 9th, 2015, The adventurous life of Wilna Hervey is the focus of the 2015 Betzwood Film Festival. Along with a program of her ever-popular Toonerville Trolley films, we will present an illustrated retrospective of Ms. Hervey's career, from her early days as "Katrinka" to her later years as a celebrity artist, when she numbered among her friends some of 20th Century America's top writers, painters and movie directors.

As always, we strive to recreate the experience of going to the movies one hundred years ago. Our films are shown using real film, at their original projection speed, and are accompanied live on the organ by the incomparable Don Kinnier.

And, after the show, stick around for a "Meet the Author" reception and book signing. Wilna Hervey's remarkable story is now the subject of a full-length biography, Living Large, by Betzwood Film Festival founder and author, Joseph Eckhardt. Copies of Living Large will be offered at the event, at a 20% discount.

Once again, Secret Cinema will provide 16mm projection for this very special event.

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

Tickets are $15, and available at the Box Office or by phone, 215-641-6518.

Free Parking (enter the Blue Bell Campus using the 1313 Morris Road entrance).

BETZWOOD ARCHIVE WEBSITE

The Secret Cinema presents Selected Short Subjects at

Union Transfer's Stephin Merritt concert

Friday, April 10, 2015
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Union Transfer
10th & Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia, PA
215-568-1616

On Saturday, May 2, the Secret Cinema will present a special film screening called Selected Short Subjects before a concert performance by the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt, at the large and popular Union Transfer live music venue.

For this special pre-concert movie program -- still being selected from the Secret Cinema archive, in consultation with Stephin Merritt -- expect an emphasis on filmed pop music spanning multiple decades past and…more past, including clips originally viewed on early film jukeboxes, movie trailers, and other surprises.

Doors will open at 8:00 pm, and the screening will start at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $25.00.

This will be only the second time the Secret Cinema has served as a support act for a musical performance (the first was at a 2009 Halloween concert at the Trocadero, starring the Dead Milkmen). However, in our 23+ year history, we've brought our projection equipment to countless local music venues, and we look forward to lighting up a movie screen at Union Transfer - especially at this concert, with an artist whose music we've long admired.

This show will be the very first date of a rare solo tour for Merritt, who will be accompanied by long-time bandmate Sam Davol on cello. For this series of performances, Merritt will present a set of solo, acoustic versions of selected songs from his extensive catalog. Merritt will perform exactly 26 songs with each song title starting with a different letter of the alphabet and running in alphabetical order.

The concert will be seated, and all-ages.

ABOUT STEPHIN MERRITT: He has written and recorded ten Magnetic Fields albums over two decades, starting with Distant Plastic Trees in 1991. In 1999, the three-CD collection, 69 Love Songs, established Merritt as one of his generation's most talented songwriters and garnered widespread acclaim, including year-end "best of" lists in Rolling Stone, SPIN, The New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post and other national publications.

Between Magnetic Fields releases, Merritt has recorded side projects and albums with his other bands, Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies and the 6ths, as well as soundtracks to the films Eban and Charley and Pieces of April. In 2009, Merritt scored the Off-Broadway adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline -- for which he received an Obie Award.

Merritt and the Magnetic Fields have performed as part of Lincoln Center's "American Songwriters" series and at BAM's "Next Wave of Song." In 2012, saw the latest Magnetic Fields album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, and in 2013, Merritt released a Future Bible Heroes album, Partygoing. In the fall of 2014, he penned the first-ever musical episode of NPR's popular show, "This American Life." Around the same time, his book 101 Two-Letter Words, a whimsical aid for Scrabble players with illustrations by Roz Chast, was published. An avid film buff, Stephin Merritt has created original scores for the silent films 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Unknown.

"[The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt is] a contrarian* pop genius." -- The New York Times

"The Cole Porter of his generation." -- Rolling Stone

*NOTE: We beg to differ about the "contrarian" label.

ABOUT US: Since 1992, the Secret Cinema has been the Philadelphia area's premiere floating repertory cinema series, bringing hundreds of unique programs to nightclubs, bars, coffee houses, museums, open fields, colleges, art galleries, bookstores, and sometimes even theaters and film festivals. Drawing on its own large private film archive, as well as other collections, the Secret Cinema attempts to explore the uncharted territory and the genres that fall between the cracks, with programs devoted to educational and industrial films, cult and exploitation features, cartoons, rare television, local history, home movies, erotic films, politically incorrect material, and the odd Hollywood classic, as long as it exists on real celluloid -- Secret Cinema screenings never use video/digital projection. While mainly based in Philadelphia, the Secret Cinema has also brought programming to other cities and countries.

The Secret Cinema is back!

Curator's Choice 2015: Unseen Corners of the Secret Cinema Archives

at new venue!

Friday, April 10, 2015
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

The Maas Building
1325 N. Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-2851

On Friday, April 10, The Secret Cinema will present its first program in eight months, with a hand-picked program of nearly-lost treasures from the deepest depths of the Secret Cinema film vaults. Curator's* Choice 2015: Unseen Corners of the Secret Cinema Archives will include just that -- films never shown before by us, and probably not by anybody else either since their original release.

This will be the first full-fledged Secret Cinema event since SC founder Jay Schwartz was injured in a bicycle accident last September. This unfortunate event (and subsequent hospital stay and recuperation period) forced the cancellation of several Secret Cinema events last fall. We'll celebrate the return of our series by showing unseen films in a brand new venue, the Maas Building. A former brewery and trolley repair shop, this beautifully restored 1859 brick and timber workshop today serves as a multipurpose art event and catering space.

There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

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 created programming that exposes every category of such films, by showing these fascinating, historical, and often hilarious shorts 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 rare prints will at last see the light of a projector bulb in Curator's Choice 2015. This previously ungroupable group of shorts will include films that were made to entertain, to teach, to encourage commerce and to alter opinion. Spanning many decades, they show wondrous places, styles and things that have long-since vanished. Some 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.

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

Camp Meetin' (1936, Dir: Leslie Goodwins) - Staged one-reel musical short subjects were a bread and butter studio product in the first decades of talkies, but this one from Radio Pictures feels different than most. Evidently shot on location, with a documentary-like realism, it captures an open-air tent-and-camp meeting of the Hall Johnson Negro Choir, somewhere in the deep South. Johnson, who helped train Marian Anderson, lent the sound of true spiritual music to many Hollywood films, from The Green Pastures to Song of the South. The film manages to include some humor, with help from cast member Stymie (Our Gang) Beard.

Wringo (1940s? Dir: Unknown) - This comic yet x-rated novelty item was made to be shown at men's "smoker" parties, and is quite unusual among its made-on-a-shoestring "stag movie" peers in that it has a soundtrack, with synchronous dialog. The setting is a carnival sideshow and the action centers on a most unusual attraction therein…but to say more would be a terrible spoiler. This film was a sensation at the first "Bastard Film Encounter," an academic symposium held in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Herman's Hermits (1968) - A common form of movie promotion in the 1960s and '70s was the "production reel," short "making of" documentaries that were usually provided to television stations to fill out extra minutes after the broadcasting of feature films. This one takes us behind the scenes of Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter, the second musical feature to star Peter Noone and his titular British invasion rock band.

The Renunciation (1909, Dir: D.W.Griffith) - A.K.A. Divided Love. One of many short dramas D.W. Griffith shot at the Biograph studio, where he perfected the art that would fully blossom in The Birth of a Nation and several other classic silent features. Mary Pickford (who would similarly go on to greater things in longer films) stars as the shared object of affection for two miners whose friendship turns to violence, but the surprise climax shows that the melodrama was tongue in cheek.

Today's Teens (1964) - An uncredited Boris Karloff narrates this mini "mondo" documentary with eyebrows raised, as we take a tour of the wild doings of teenagers around the globe - in nightclubs, record stores, and on beaches, often in bikinis and always to the pounding beat of a non-stop instrumental rock soundtrack.

Plus: How to Undress (1937), White Treasure (1945) and much more!

*It should be noted that we object to the expanding, and now quite cliched usage of the word "curated" to describe what was called "programming" in less pretentious times. However, we stubbornly label this program "Curator's Choice" because: A) It's a title we've used for this ongoing, if sporadic program concept since 2004, and B) As caretaker of the Secret Cinema film archive, programmer Jay Schwartz really is a curator (too).

The Secret Cinema returns to Freeman's auction house for,

all-new edition of From Philadelphia With Love

Friday, September 6, 2013
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00

Freeman's
1808 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
215-563-9275

On Friday, September 6, the Secret Cinema will return to Freeman's historic Chestnut Street auction house for an all-new edition of From Philadelphia With Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films.

From Philadelphia With Love... showcases rare 16mm prints from the Secret Cinema archive about different aspects of life in the Philadelphia region. Some were made as sponsored films promoting goods or institutions, and some are educational or documentary in nature. All are virtually impossible to see elsewhere.

Last April, as part of the first Cinedelphia Film Festival, we presented a "best of" edition with many of our favorite selections from the nearly 50 Philadelphia-related short films we've presented in several past volumes of this popular (if irregular) series. But September's event will include a batch of 100% never-before shown films -- well, never shown by us, and probably not by anybody else either, since their original release in the 1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s!

And to make the screening even more different, it will take place in another grand space in Freeman's 1924 Beaux Arts building than April's screening (in their third-floor auditorium). This time, the walls will be covered with lots offered in Freeman's upcoming Photographs & Photobooks auction, with images from photographers such as Cindy Sherman, Berenice Abbott, Imogen Cunningham, and Eugene Atget; a portfolio of 10 Marilyn Monroe photos from 1962;and everything from daguerreotypes and tin types to contemporary photography to signed and limited-edition photo books.

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00. Seating is limited.

As usual, all Secret Cinema programs are projected in 16mm film on a giant screen (not video).

Just a few highlights of this new edition of From Philadelphia With Love... are:

Holiday in Philadelphia (1954) - This promotional travelogue takes us on a tour of many sights and sites in our fair city, some of which are long gone, others drastically changed, and many happily still around. From a "clothesline art show" in Rittenhouse Square, to the Penn Relays, to the now demolished Convention Hall and Commercial Museum, to the Spring Garden Mint (today part of Community College), we see a very different Philadelphia, then at its population peak. Especially intriguing is a quick look at WFIL-TV's "Bandstand" program, a few years before Dick Clark took the host job from Bob Horn -- ironically, Clark narrates this short, just two years after he moved to our town to work for WFIL-AM

Portrait of a College (1963) - A colorful campus tour of what was then known as the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, and is today, in greatly expanded form, the University of the Arts. The film begins with a view of Haviland-Strickland Hall (originally the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and the oldest building on Broad Street), and then visits facilities for painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography and graphic arts. "Since 1876, the best possible instruction in the arts happened here." Interestingly, this film was produced in the very last year of the school's affiliation with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Philadelphia Celebrates (1975) - This short film documents a giant outdoor fair called "Old City Sunday," complete with vendors, carnival rides, dance troupes, costumed colonial reenactors, Frank Rizzo and an assortment of musical performers, ranging from Mummers and a modern funk band to a baroque classical ensemble. The event, and film, were produced by Philadelphia 76 as a sneak peek/trial run for the following year's bicentennial events. Narrated by E.G. Marshall.

Maggie Kuhn: Wrinkled Radical (1975) - An intimate portrait of Maggie Kuhn, 69-year old founder of the Gray Panthers -- the locally-based organization that became world famous in their advocacy for the rights of seniors. Journalist Studs Terkel introduces this made-for-public television documentary, which takes us inside the Germantown Victorian house where Kuhn lived and also her office inside the Tabernacle Church (near International House).

Is a Career in the Performing Arts for You? (1973) - We'll show yet another entry from the "Library of Career Counseling Films," a multi-film project made for the U.S. Department of Labor by Philadelphia's Ralph Lopatin Productions, often taking advantage of local sites and resources. This time future high school graduates are invited to consider the career paths of musicians, actors and assorted support staff. Along the way they see the Shubert and Forrest theaters, Latin Casino and Just Jazz nightclubs, and local educational facilities for performing arts.

Atlantic City (1951) - Castle Films, the most successful purveyor of movie prints for home projectors, released this now-nostalgic look at "America's Playground," when it was still the most popular destination for seashore-bound Philadelphians -- but long before the invasion of the casinos. We see glimpses of the Claridge Hotel and fountain, a Miss America parade, rolling chairs on the boardwalk, salt-water swimming pools, and the Knife and Fork Inn restaurant. From a gentler time, when the phrase "Do A.C." would have been considered a grammatical atrocity.

Plus The 1946 Army-Navy Football Game, Build Yourself a City (1968), Rikki the Baby Monkey (1949), and more!

The headquarters of Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers is the oldest purpose-built auction house in America, and Freeman's, established in 1805, is America's oldest auction business.

Green films at

American Philosophical Society Museum

Wednesday, July 24, 2013
7:00 pm (doors open 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE

American Philosophical Society Museum
Philosophical Hall
104 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia
(215) 440-3442

The Secret Cinema will return to the American Philosophical Society Museum to present two screenings celebrating the Museum's current exhibition, featuring unusual films that explore, respectively, the plant kingdom, and optics and photography.

That's fitting, as the exhibition, Through the Looking Lens: Cornelius Varley's Wondrous Images of Art and Science, 1800-1860 documents the nexus of Varley's interest in these two areas. On display, for the first time, are his beautiful, innovative watercolor illustrations of flora, as well as the optical devices he invented to see and reproduce their hidden worlds.

The first Secret Cinema event tied to this exhibition will be on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, and is called The Beauty in Nature: Short Films from the Secret Cinema Archive. This unique program will include a careful selection of rare and vintage (from the 1920s through the 1960s) educational films, newsreels, cartoons and even home movies focusing on different unusual aspects of plants, flowers and agriculture.

This Secret Cinema event will feature a chance to explore the exhibit, free refreshments and snacks, and a fascinating screening (as always with Secret Cinema, using real film projected on a giant screen). Best of all, admission is free.

On the screening day, the museum doors will open at 6:00 pm, allowing time to explore the exhibition. The film screening starts at 7:00 pm. Seating is limited.

Just a few highlights of The Beauty in Nature will be:

The Battle of Plants (1926, silent, British Instructional Films, Ltd.,) - Incredible time-lapse photography reveals the literal "turf war" of neighboring species of seemingly mild-mannered plants as they fight to the end to become "the victor in the struggle for existence." Filmed by pioneering nature cinematographer F. Percy Smith.

Cranberry Industry of New Jersey (late 1940s) - Beautiful Kodachrome educational film shows the laborious process of farming cranberries, which are grown in bogs and harvested by hand. Filmed in nearby Chatsworth, New Jersey.

Flower home movies (1940s-60s) - A representative sampling from one (unknown) amateur filmmaker's obsession with filming his gardening work.

Seeds Grow Into Plants (1956) - Colorful and charming educational short for young children with stop-motion footage of growing wildflowers and plants.

The March of Time: New Ways of Farming (1945) - The famous, provocative newsreel series looks at the (then) latest developments in agriculture, including South Jersey's Seabrook Farm, whose methods get food "from field to can in less than three hours."

Plus much more!

On Wednesday, October 16, 2013, we'll return to the APS Museum to present Lured by Lenses: Short Films from the Secret Cinema Archive, this time devoted to films about optics, telescopes and photography (program details to be announced later).

About the APS: When Benjamin Franklin and friends decided, in 1743, to establish the American Philosophical Society (APS), they studied nature and called themselves natural philosophers. Now we'd call them scientists. But the word "philosophical" stuck. Over the years, the APS has counted among its members individuals as varied as George Washington, Charles Darwin, and Yo-Yo Ma.

The APS has gathered and preserved a rich collection that traces American history and science from the Founding Fathers to the computer age. It includes scientific specimens and instruments, and more than ten million manuscripts.

The APS Museum combines sophisticated exhibitions of its collections with provocative works by contemporary artists. Museum visitors will find challenging new perspectives on history, science, and art. The galleries are at Philosophical Hall, 104 S. Fifth Street, Philadelphia, right next to Independence Hall. Admission and all programs are free.

Trailer Trash

at Phoenixville's Colonial Theater

Sunday, July 28, 2013
2:00 pm
Admission: $9.00, $7.00 students and seniors (62+), $5.00 members

Colonial Theatre
227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA
610-917-0223

On Sunday, July 28, 2013, the Secret Cinema will return to Phoenixville's historic Colonial Theatre with one of its biggest presentations ever. 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 Colonial's big screen.

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.

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.

Trailer Trash was previously shown by the Secret Cinema at the Colonial in 2001 -- so catch it now, or come back in 2025!

There will be one complete show at 2:00 pm.

Admission: $9.00, $7.00 students and seniors (62+), $5.00 members.

Early space travel feature Rocketship XM,

at "PAFA After Dark"

Thursday, May 2, 2013
6:00 pm until 9:00 pm (whole event)
Admission: $10 in advance, $15 at door, FREE for PAFA members

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
118 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia
215-972-7600

On Thursday, May 2, the Secret Cinema will be at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, to participate in their popular PAFA After Dark series. The theme this evening will be "Spaced-Out," with a variety of activities that reflect on our rich history of celestial exploration, on the eve of National Space Day. Fittingly, we will present the 1950 science fiction film Rocketship XM, the first film of its era depicting practical space travel. Our presentation will use the original, full version of the film, which is rarely shown today -- complete with red tinting effects for scenes on the planet Mars. We will also show a surprise, space-themed short film.

PAFA After Dark runs from 6:00 pm through 9:00 pm. We're actually not certain at press time when the film starts -- probably around 7:00 -- but come on time, so you can sample some of the other fun stuff on offer:

Play with light and shadows and take home your own Self-Portrait Silhouette
Sign up for special Flashlight Tours of the Historic Galleries
Join the Space Bingo Tournament and sip a Cosmos, the evening's signature cocktail
Enjoy free, fresh popcorn all night for your movie viewing pleasure!
And more fun surprises!

Space is limited. Admission is $10 in advance, $15 at the door (or FREE for PAFA members).

A complete description of the feature follows...

Rocketship XM (1950, Dir: Kurt Neumann)
B-movie studio Lippert Pictures rushed Rocketship XM into production, explicitly to beat Destination Moon onto theater screens. That higher-toned release, in full color with a much bigger budget and superior special effects from stop-motion master George Pal, was one of the most anticipated of 1950s films -- and a huge hit. Yet Lippert, normally an assembly line of routine programmers, did indeed cash in by releasing the first feature of the space age to depict rocket travel as a practical reality. What surprises many viewers is that more than just being the first, Rocketship XM may in fact be the superior film.

Being the first of its kind, its story was simple: a crew (led by Lloyd Bridges) on board the first flight to the Moon is thrown off course by a meteor storm, and forced to land on Mars. There they encounter a primitive race, and the film begins to take a surprisingly dark tone.

Some significant talent worked on the project. The soundtrack was written by Ferde Grofé, who besides scoring several films, was an accomplished jazz arranger and classical composer (most famously for "Grand Canyon Suite"). Cinematographer Karl Struss had worked for D.W. Griffith and F.W. Murnau (and won the first Oscar for his work on Murnau's Sunrise). One ingenious photographic touch was also economical. While Rocketship XM could not afford Technicolor, the scenes that depict Mars were tinted red, to striking effect. Most modern video copies get this color effect completely wrong (using sepia toning rather than red tinting), and worse, insert modern special effects footage shot in 1976 by a later producer. We will show the all-original version of the film, with the correct color effect.

The Secret Cinema celebrates 21 years of screenings,

with Cinedelphia Film Festival event From Philadelphia With Love,

Friday, April 5, 2013
8:00 pm
Admission: $9.00
Festival info: www.cinedelphia.com

Freeman's
1808 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
215-563-9275

April 2013 brings the first ever Cinedelphia Film Festival. It's a nearly month-long assortment of film screenings and special events, honoring Philly film history past and present, and produced by the popular local movie news and reviews website Cinedelphia. And naturally, the Secret Cinema is participating, with a very special screening/presentation in the Festival's opening weekend, at a brand new (and surprising!) location.

On Friday, April 5, the Secret Cinema will offer a "best of" edition of From Philadelphia With Love: Industrial, Educational and other Lost Local Films. 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, the Secret Cinema have not, and thus can properly present a look back at these celluloid time capsules that would otherwise not be seen again.

We'll present many of our favorite selections from the nearly 50 Philadelphia-related short films we've presented in several volumes of this popular (if irregular) series -- most of which we have not shown for at least seven years.

The evening will also include an illustrated talk by programmer Jay Schwartz on the 21-year history of the Secret Cinema. This will be an expanded, updated version of a lecture first presented a few years back at the Association of Moving Image Archivists international conference.

This event will take place in Freeman's Auctioneers & Appraisers historic headquarters. This 1924 Beaux Arts building is the oldest purpose-built auction house in America (and Freeman's, established in 1805, is America's oldest auction business).

There will be one complete show at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9.00.

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!" 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!

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 Troc (1966) - A confusing yet amusing University of Pennsylvania student film, with dancers creating interpretive art along colorful views of the Schuylkill River banks, and a climactic visit to the titular burlesque house, all set to 60's pop music. Directed by a young Randy Swartz, today prominent in Philly's dance community.

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.

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

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."

Exotica Music Films 2: Music and More!

at The Trestle Inn

Wednesday, January 23, 2013
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

The Trestle Inn
11th & Callowhill, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-0290

On Wednesday, January 23, 2013, the Secret Cinema returns to The Trestle Inn, the popular "Whiskey and Go Go" nightspot in Philadelphia's emerging "loft district." On that night we'll again revisit a favorite Secret Cinema program concept: Exotica Music Films. This new collection of ultra-rare footage from a variety of sources -- including lost TV shows, theatrical shorts, industrial and educational films, and film jukeboxes of the 1940s -- offers a chance to hear, and see, a wondrous assortment of international music (both authentic and gloriously fake), from a carefree, boozy time, before David Byrne rendered "World Music" a politically-correct bore.

This new program will contain 100% different programming from the Exotica Music Films show we did at the Trestle Inn in November, little of which is likely to have been seen before by anyone attending (unless, of course, they attended our last screening of this material in the 1990s)! As noted in the title, it will contain music and more, meaning some films explore exotic locales and culture (both indigenous and artificial).

All of the films will be projected from 16mm film prints on a giant movie screen (not video).

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

A few highlights of Exotica Music Films 2: Music and More! include:

Astrud Gilberto and Jimmy Smith clips (1964) - Gilberto performs the song that launched the Bossa Nova movement in the United States -- the softly haunting "Girl from Ipanema" --backed by Stan Getz and band. Philadelphia's Jimmy Smith Trio lay down some of their archetypal, super-cool Hammond groove. Both clips come from the beachless beach party feature Get Yourself a College Girl.

New Horizons: Caribbean (1958) - Pan-American airlines produced a series of short advertising films in the 1950s and '60s promoting then-novel travel destinations. This entry in the Technicolor series was particularly dream-like and meditative, its scenes of snorkeling, Calypso bands and beautiful women matched with poetic, hypnotic narration by Lee Vines smooth voice (among other notable work, he was the announcer for Korla Pandit's early television show). "One of these islands...will be your island."

André Brasseur et son Orchestre: World Music et Setect (mid-1960s) - Brasseur was a Belgian keyboard player who played a "now sound" blend of instrumental jazz and pop music that was popular throughout Europe in the 1960s. This film was a possibly never shown TV special or pilot that used rock video-style clips with Peter Max-like animation and pop-art special effects. We'll show a nice sample of the show, from an ultra-rare 16mm workprint (so unique that we'll need to manually synchronize the separate soundtrack tape...wish us luck!).

Polynesia in America (early 1960s) - This documentary, probably made for television, offers a colorful look at a Polynesian cultural center in Hawaii, showcasing tiki carving and other customs of the South Seas.

Hawaiian Nights (1954) - Pinky Lee started as (and pretty much remained) a baggy-pantsed, seltzer-squirting burlesque comedian. Though mostly forgotten today, he was famed for hosting a 1950s kiddie TV show that was one of the inspirations for Pee Wee's Playhouse. This rare theatrical musical comedy short, however, was intended for older audiences -- as evidenced by the casting of Mamie Van Doren! Also included are singer Alfred Apaka, the Tani Marsh dancers, several Miss Universe contestants and lots of Hawaiian music.

Plus... filmed performances by Trini Lopez, Korla Pandit, The Three Suns, Latin music Soundies, and much more!

The latter-day explosion of interest in "exotica" music stemmed from the publication of Re/Search's Incredibly Strange Music books in 1993. That set forth a wave of unforeseeable events: prices for old Martin Denny albums skyrocketed, bands like Combustible Edison explored new "cocktail" music, and the success of Esquivel reissues and martini bars prompted nearly every record label to start up a "lounge" division. While most of those imprints (or indeed, many record labels) do not survive, today interest continues with international Tiki conventions, and new groups exploring their ancestors' record collections for musical inspiration. The opportunity to see vintage exotica music performances on a big screen remains rare, however.

The Trestle Inn presents a mash up of retro entertainment, music, food and drink. Expect to find Barbarella-clad Go Go dancers swinging to French pop, blue-eyed soul, psychobilly, funk, garage and disco on most other nights of the week.

Second screening of "timely" films at

American Philosophical Society Museum

Wednesday, December 5, 2012
IT'S ABOUT TIME: Short films from the Secret Cinema Archive
7:00 pm (doors open 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE

American Philosophical Society Museum
Philosophical Hall
104 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia
(215) 440-3442

The Secret Cinema will return to the American Philosophical Society Museum to present the second (and final) of two screenings featuring unusual films that explore, in multiple ways, the topic of time. The screenings are inspired by the APS Museum's current exhibition TEMPUS FUGIT: Time Flies, which explores how we try to capture, measure, and find meaning in the midst of time's inevitable passage.

On Wednesday, December 5, we'll conclude the series with a feature-length collection of rare short films about time, called IT'S ABOUT TIME: Short Films from the Secret Cinema Archive. The program will explore our subject through vintage educational, experimental, industrial and dramatic films, from the 1930s through the 1970s.

This Secret Cinema event will again feature a chance to explore the exhibit, a screening (as always with Secret Cinema screenings, using real film projected on a giant screen), and a moderated post-film discussion. Best of all, admission is free.

On the screening day, the museum doors will open at 6:00 pm, allowing time to explore the exhibition. The film screening starts at 7:00 pm. Seating is limited.

The moderator for the evening's post-screening discussion will be Phawker.Com film critic and WPRB jazz disk jockey Dan Buskirk, who capably served this role in two previous Secret Cinema events at APS.

Our first "timely" screening in October, showcasing the little-seen science-fiction musical time-travel comedy Just Imagine, was especially memorable: It drew a large audience and things were going smoothly -- until the projector stopped ten minutes before the film's conclusion, due to a sudden, block-long power outage! Film historian and author Richard Barrios kept the room entertained (under the room's ample emergency lighting) by starting his Q & A session a bit early, and when it became clear that the electricity was not coming back on any time soon, he recounted how Just Imagine ended. Everybody left satisfied! We anticipate no further problems with the power supply.

IT'S ABOUT TIME: Short films from the Secret Cinema Archive
A few highlights of this feature-length collection of vintage educational, experimental, industrial and dramatic films are...

Time Piece (1966) - This fast-moving series of visual gags, abstract animation and unclassifiable slices of the filmmaker's imagination loosely detail the travails of one man's daily grind. Starring and directed by Jim Henson.

Travelling Through Time (1965) - Pan-Am sponsored this Technicolor educational film that looks at man's long history of measuring his days (as well as the impact of developments in air travel that effectively shrank the size of our world).

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1963) - Expertly filmed depiction of Ambrose Bierce's short story about a Civil War prisoner's last moments as he faces execution, and treasures each second of living. This popular, legendary film won best short film honors at both Cannes and the Oscars, and was the only external production to be shown on television's The Twilight Zone.

Secrets of the Plant World (1956) - Gorgeous Technicolor time-lapse photography shows a wide array of flowers and plants as they blossom and maneuver for survival, all skillfully edited to classical music.

The Time Machine trailer (1960) - Original theatrical "coming attractions" preview for this sci-fi time travel classic.

Drive-In Countdown Clock (1960s) - Colorfully animated snack foods fill the minutes between the clicking of this giant projected clock, which kept drive-in theater audiences appraised of the time remaining until the main feature's start.

Plus more!

About the APS: When Benjamin Franklin and friends decided, in 1743, to establish the American Philosophical Society (APS), they studied nature and called themselves natural philosophers. Now we'd call them scientists. But the word "philosophical" stuck. Over the years, the APS has counted among its members individuals as varied as George Washington, Charles Darwin, and Yo-Yo Ma.

The APS has gathered and preserved a rich collection that traces American history and science from the Founding Fathers to the computer age. It includes scientific specimens and instruments, and more than ten million manuscripts.

The APS Museum combines sophisticated exhibitions of its collections with provocative works by contemporary artists. Museum visitors will find challenging new perspectives on history, science, and art. The galleries are at Philosophical Hall, 104 S. Fifth Street, Philadelphia, right next to Independence Hall. Admission and all programs are free.

About the exhibition: TEMPUS FUGIT: Time Flies: Time flies, leaving its mark on the people and objects it touches. This exhibition explores how we try to capture, measure, and find meaning in the midst of time's inevitable passage. Award-winning Chicago artist Antonia Contro has selected books, manuscripts, and curiosities from the APS collections and juxtaposed them with her own artwork, including drawings, paintings, videos, and a sound installation.

Exotica Music Films at The Trestle Inn

Wednesday, November 14, 2012
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

The Trestle Inn
11th & Callowhill, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-0290

On Wednesday, November 14, 2012, the Secret Cinema returns to The Trestle Inn, the popular "Whiskey and Go Go" nightspot in Philadelphia's emerging "loft district." On that night we'll revisit a favorite Secret Cinema program concept that we last presented nine years ago,* Exotica Music Films. This collection of ultra-rare footage from a variety of sources -- including very early TV shows and film jukeboxes from the 1940s -- offers a chance to hear, and see, a wondrous assortment of international music (both authentic and gloriously fake), from a carefree, boozy time, before David Byrne rendered "World Music" a politically-correct bore.

All of the films will be projected from 16mm film prints on a giant movie screen (not video).

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

The latter-day explosion of interest in "exotica" music stemmed from the publication of Re/Search's Incredibly Strange Music books in 1993. That set forth a wave of unforeseeable events: prices for old Martin Denny albums skyrocketed, bands like Combustible Edison explored new "cocktail" music, and the success of Esquivel reissues and martini bars prompted nearly every record label to start up a "lounge" division. While most of those imprints (or indeed, many record labels) do not survive, today interest continues with international Tiki conventions, and new groups exploring their ancestors' record collections for musical inspiration. The opportunity to see vintage exotica music performances on a big screen remains rare, however.

The November edition of Exotica Music Films at the Trestle Inn will include past favorites, as well as some reels never shown by us before. A few highlights include:

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, allegedly the first all-music program on television. We'll screen a complete episode of this show, featuring Pandit's haunting, mystical keyboard sounds. Korla was seen in Tim Burton's film Ed Wood, and Fantasy has reissued some of his original '50s albums.

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, a CBS television series of the early 50s.

The Three Suns - Another cause célèbre of the Incredibly Strange books, this guitar/organ/accord ion instrumental trio from Philadelphia sold lots of albums for RCA in the'50s, and figured prominently on that label's Space Age Pop series of CDs in the 1990s. 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.

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

The Trestle Inn presents a mash up of retro entertainment, music, food and drink. Expect to find Barbarella-clad Go Go dancers swinging to French pop, blue-eyed soul, psychobilly, funk, garage and disco on most other nights of the week.

*The Secret Cinema often describes itself as a "floating repertory cinema." But in 2012, does everyone even know what "repertory cinema" means, in its purest sense? We suspect the phrase was not coined until the 1970s, when a nationwide network of movie theaters (such as Philadelphia's TLA Cinema and the Bandbox) programmed an eclectic mix of Hollywood classics, midnight oddities, and recent cult favorites, establishing a repertoire of worthy film fare that could be repeatedly showcased to those who had not seen them, as well as allow repeat viewings over a period of time -- much as live repertory theaters had kept alive the great plays of the past for new audiences.

The Secret Cinema was started with the aim of rescuing forgotten films from the past to add to this repertoire of great viewing, by showing films of all kinds that traditional repertory outlets had ignored. We did not foresee in 1992 that we would someday be one of the only presenters of the cinema of the past left -- or that we would be just about the only one to do so by consistently projecting actual film. On the other hand, we did not anticipate lasting more than 20 years, either.

Over that period of time we've presented hundreds of programs of films never revived by anyone else. We've also created our own repertoire of these programs, which we occasionally revive for new audiences. We're still working on brand new ideas for Secret Cinema programs, but as we return to our "roots" by showing films in a small nightclub (the Trestle Inn), we take the opportunity to revive one of our favorite revivals, with a program concept we first developed in 1996: Exotica Music Films. This collection of fascinating filmed musical performances from the pre-rock era was later expanded to include three separate "volumes," and was eventually presented by us in venues in New York, Baltimore and San Francisco, as well as here in Philly. We last presented an Exotica Music Films program nine years ago.

Scopitone Party screening and talk

Sunday, October 14, 2012
2:00 pm
Admission: $8.00, $6.00 students and seniors, $5.00 members

Colonial Theatre
227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA
610-917-0223

On Sunday, October 14, 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 at 2:00 pm.

As always with Secret Cinema events, the films will be shown using real film (not video) projected on a giant screen.

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 oldies icons 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.

Two screenings of "timely" films at

American Philosophical Society Museum

Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Just Imagine
7:00 pm (doors open 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE

Wednesday, December 5, 2012
IT'S ABOUT TIME: Short films from the Secret Cinema Archive
7:00 pm (doors open 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE

American Philosophical Society Museum
Philosophical Hall
104 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia
(215) 440-3442

The Secret Cinema will return to the American Philosophical Society Museum to present two screenings featuring unusual films that explore, in multiple ways, the topic of time. The screenings are inspired by the APS Museum's current exhibition TEMPUS FUGIT: Time Flies, which explores how we try to capture, measure, and find meaning in the midst of time's inevitable passage.

The two Secret Cinema events will feature a chance to explore the exhibit, a screening (as always with Secret Cinema screenings, using real film projected on a giant screen), and a moderated post-film discussion. Best of all, admission is free.

On the two screening days, the museum doors will open at 6:00 pm, allowing time to explore the exhibition. The film screening starts at 7:00 pm. Seating is limited.

The first screening will happen on Wednesday, October 10, and will showcase a little-seen science-fiction musical time-travel comedy (!) from the early talkie era, Just Imagine. Film historian and author Richard Barrios, an expert on the screen's first musicals, will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards.

On Wednesday, December 5, we'll conclude the series with a feature-length collection of rare short films about time, called IT'S ABOUT TIME: Short Films from the Secret Cinema Archive. The program will explore our subject through vintage educational, experimental, industrial and dramatic films, from the 1930s through the 1970s. (The moderator for this program's post-screening discussion will be announced later).

Below are complete descriptions of the two programs...

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - 7:00 pm (doors open 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE
Just Imagine (1930, Dir: David Butler)
Time travel and the world of the future have long been staples of science fiction, both on paper and on film. But putting them into a 1930 musical comedy is quite another, and stranger, proposition. Just Imagine is a product of that long-ago time when films were finding their voice, musicals were still trying to figure out what form they could take, and anything went. So why not a look at the faraway future of 1980, inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis and fitted out with songs and dances? And, for good measure, add a top-of-the-line million-dollar budget and spectacular, Oscar-nominated designs. The plot takes its cue from Rip Van Winkle and Sleeper: a boob from 1930 (Swedish-dialect comedian El Brendel) passes out and wakes up fifty years in the future, after which he hitches a ride on the first spaceship to Mars and runs afoul of a Star Trek-like race of evil twins. Also on hand: a pre-Tarzan Maureen O'Sullivan as the leading lady, an avant-garde Martian ballet, and wisecracks about gay men, birth control, and Henry Ford's anti-Semitism. Truly, this is a film like none other, and you may find yourself leaving the screening singing the bouncy "Never Swat a Fly"! - Richard Barrios

Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - 7:00 pm (doors open 6:00 pm)
Admission: FREE
IT'S ABOUT TIME: Short films from the Secret Cinema Archive
A few highlights of this feature-length collection of vintage educational, experimental, industrial and dramatic films are...

Time Piece (1966) - This fast-moving series of visual gags, abstract animation and unclassifiable slices of the filmmaker's imagination loosely detail the travails of one man's daily grind. Starring and directed by Jim Henson.

Travelling Through Time (1965) - Pan-Am sponsored this Technicolor educational film that looks at man's long history of measuring his days (as well as the impact of developments in air travel that effectively shrank the size of our world).

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1963) - Expertly filmed depiction of Ambrose Bierce's short story about a Civil War prisoner's last moments as he faces execution, and treasures each second of living. This popular, legendary film won best short film honors at both Cannes and the Oscars, and was the only external production to be shown on television's The Twilight Zone.

Secrets of the Plant World (1956) - Gorgeous Technicolor time-lapse photography shows a wide array of flowers and plants as they blossom and maneuver for survival, all skillfully edited to classical music.

The Time Machine trailer (1960) - Original theatrical "coming attractions" preview for this sci-fi time travel classic.

Drive-In Countdown Clock (1960s) - Colorfully animated snack foods fill the minutes between the clicking of this giant projected clock, which kept drive-in theater audiences appraised of the time remaining until the main feature's start.

Plus more!

About Richard Barrios: Film historian Richard Barrios is the author of the award-winning A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film, first published in 1995 and recently re-published in a much-updated second edition. After the publication of his second book, Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall, Barrios served as programmer and co-host of the month-long film series it inspired, on the Turner Classic Movies cable network. Barrios has written on film for the New York Times, provided commentary tracks for the DVDs of State Fair, The King and I, South Pacific and Words And Music, and appeared in the PBS film Busby Berkeley: Going Through The Roof as well as numerous DVD documentaries, plus the recent HBO documentary feature Vito. He has lectured for the Library of Congress and the American Film Institute, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institution's new Warner Bros. Theater.. Barrios lives just outside of Philadelphia, where he is working on his next book,.Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter.

About the APS: When Benjamin Franklin and friends decided, in 1743, to establish the American Philosophical Society (APS), they studied nature and called themselves natural philosophers. Now we'd call them scientists. But the word "philosophical" stuck. Over the years, the APS has counted among its members individuals as varied as George Washington, Charles Darwin, and Yo-Yo Ma.

The APS has gathered and preserved a rich collection that traces American history and science from the Founding Fathers to the computer age. It includes scientific specimens and instruments, and more than ten million manuscripts.

The APS Museum combines sophisticated exhibitions of its collections with provocative works by contemporary artists. Museum visitors will find challenging new perspectives on history, science, and art. The galleries are at Philosophical Hall, 104 S. Fifth Street, Philadelphia, right next to Independence Hall. Admission and all programs are free.

About the exhibition: TEMPUS FUGIT: Time Flies: Time flies, leaving its mark on the people and objects it touches. This exhibition explores how we try to capture, measure, and find meaning in the midst of time's inevitable passage. Award-winning Chicago artist Antonia Contro has selected books, manuscripts, and curiosities from the APS collections and juxtaposed them with her own artwork, including drawings, paintings, videos, and a sound installation. APS MUSEUM WEBSITE: www.apsmuseum.org

Plan Nine from Outer Space and eerie exhumation film

at historic Laurel Hill Cemetery

Friday, July 13, 2012
9:00 pm
Admission: $10.00

Laurel Hill Cemetery,
3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
215-228-8200

The Secret Cinema has brought its 16mm film projectors to many diverse venues over its 20-plus year history, but none have been quite as unusual as their destination this Friday the 13th of July. On that evening, after the sun sets, we'll begin the first ever movie screening amid the historic tombs of Laurel Hill Cemetery (and we do mean amid-there is no open field or event space at this now-crowded old burial site, so the audience will need to sit between and on top of the graves).

Recognizing the significance of this event, we chose our films carefully. The feature presentation will be cult auteur Ed Wood's 1959 sci-fi horror opus Plan Nine From Outer Space, named by many buffs as "the worst film ever made." The film, also released as Grave Robbers from Outer Space, appropriately includes many spooky scenes inside of a cemetery.

Many Secret Cinema screenings have been advertised as including "unusual short subjects," but this evening's opening film may be the most bizarre one ever: a mysterious reel of found home movies, depicting vacation travel and the court-ordered 1937 exhumation of the Laurel Hill grave of Henrietta Garrett! It's a long story-and we'll tell it at the screening, which will be its first public viewing since its identification by Laurel Hill historians. We don't know who shot the film, or why fate placed it in our hands, but we're glad it did.

There will be one complete screening, starting at 9:00 pm.

There is a rain date of Friday, July 20.

Admission is $10.00. Advance reservations are recommended, and can be made by phone (215) 228-8200 or email tours@thelaurelhillcemetery.org. Tickets can be purchased at the door, or online at www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org.

Ticket holders can check in at Laurel Hill Cemetery's Gatehouse entrance, 3822 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. Free parking is located in the lot across the street from the Gatehouse. Bring your own blankets, beach chairs, snacks, beer, wine and/or other beverage.

Laurel Hill Cemetery is the first cemetery in the United States to be honored as a National Historic Landmark, and is among Philadelphia's most unique destinations. Founded 175 years ago, it is the final resting place for numerous notables who have impacted our city and nation, including influential politicians, important inventors, visionary artists, and powerful industrialists, whose lavish gilded age mausoleums are among the most striking features of the beautifully landscaped site. Open daily with free admission for self-guided exploration and recreation, the site also offers diverse tours and programs for all ages and interests. For more information, visit www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org.

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959, Dir: Edward D. Wood, Jr.) Starring Bela Lugosi, Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Vampira, Tor Johnson, Dudley Manlove, Paul Marco, Conrad Brooks and Criswell. Originally titled Grave Robbers from Outer Space, the science fiction thriller was directed by Ed Wood and bills Bela Lugosi, posthumously, as the star. The film's plot (which hinges on aliens resurrecting the Earth's dead), awkward acting and meager production values have earned it the title of "Worst Film Ever Made" in various polls. Its charm and entertainment value has spurred continuing interest for decades. Tim Burton explored its production in Ed Wood, and it has been referenced in television series including Seinfeld and The X-Files. Video games, comic books and plays have been based on the film. Love it or hate it, this cult classic leaves a lasting impression.

About Henrietta Garrett: When Henrietta Garrett died in 1930, she left behind a 22 million dollar fortune from her late husband's snuff company, but no will to divide it, and no direct heirs to claim it. Before her affairs were settled, 26,000 people from all over the world came forward filing false claims as relatives. Numerous threats of grave robbers yielded the need for armed guards to keep nightly vigils at the Garrett gravesite in Laurel Hill Cemetery. In 1937, the court ruled that Henrietta's body be exhumed to determine if the missing will had been buried with her. The violation of her right to rest in peace was mysteriously captured in a stranger's shaky, black-and-white home movie, which was unearthed by the Secret Cinema. Now, exactly 75 years after this celluloid vestige was made, it will be screened for the public among the very graves that gave it purpose.

D.J. Silvia and Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz spin records

at The Trestle Inn at Saturday's Child

Saturday, June 30, 2012
9:30 pm - 2:00 am
Admission: FREE

The Trestle Inn
11th & Callowhill, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-0290

This Saturday, June 30, D.J. Silvia ("La Chica Ye Ye," from Gijon, Spain), and the Secret Cinema's Jay Schwartz (from good old Philadelphia) return to the Trestle Inn to spin "mostly '60s mod/psych/soul/bubblegum/French/Spanish/everywhere/everything dance music" (whew!) at our newest cleverly-named music event, Saturday's Child. At least, that is what is promised in the descriptive blurb we supplied to the club last month, when asked what we were planning to do! It will no doubt include all that and more (little girl). The title pretty much guarantees at least one spin of The Monkees, and the reference in the prior sentence suggests the potential playing of punk rock. But you'll just have to attend (and stay late!) to know for sure.

And yes, there will be live go-go dancers!

Saturday's Child will start at 9:30 pm, and last until 2:00 am.

Admission is FREE.

This event comes in the middle of a resurgence in Secret Cinema d.j. events, but fear not, our film screenings will return in July (starting with a newsworthy event at Laurel Hill Cemetery on Friday the 13th).

The Trestle Inn presents a mash up of retro entertainment, music, food and drink. Expect to find Barbarella-clad Go Go dancers swinging to French pop, blue-eyed soul, psychobilly, funk, garage and disco on most nights of the week.

Baroque hoedown (with Secret Cinema D.J's)

at the Level Room

Friday, June 1, 2012
8:00 pm - 2:00 am
Admission: $8.00

Market Live at The Level Room
2102 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
215-564-4202

In June the Secret Cinema d.j. team-Jay Schwartz and D.J. Silvia (La Chica Ye Ye) will be carrying our bulging boxes of vintage vinyl (and some now-vintage CD's) to two different downtown nightspots. On Saturday, June 30, we'll make a hopefully triumphant return to the dance floor of the Trestle Inn (where many of you attended our two film screenings) with a party called Saturday's Child.

THIS Friday, June 1, we'll be spinning for the first time at the still-being-discovered club, Market Live at The Level Room. We hear it's a comfortable size, and it certainly has a central location at 21st & Market. You can use your old Moore parking tricks!

The event is a garage/psych happening with two great sounding visiting bands...

Jake Starr and the Delicious Fullness hail from Washington, D.C., and make their Philly debut to support their brand new single, "Don't Need Your Lovin'", available on Ghost Highway Recordings. After this show they head to a mod scooter rally in Wildwood! They tear it up on many mod classics, and can be heard...

here...

and here.

Jake was previously in the band Adam West and here's a bio on them:

Local faves House of Fire also perform, with a more psychey (psychy? sike-ee?) groove. Some have compared them to the Brian Jonestown Massacre. You should hear them

here

and make your own comparisons.

Jay and Silvia will be playing 60s and 60s-inspired sounds in a mod/psych/soul/sunshinebubblefreak vein.

There will also be a guest d.j. set by Sir Christian Oz-Goode.

Very approximate set times are as follows:

Doors open: 8:00 pm
DJ's:8:00 -10:00 pm
House of Fire: 10:00 -11:00 pm
Jake Starr and the Delicious Fullness: 11:15 pm -12:15 am
DJ's: 12:15-2:00 am

Admission is $8.00

Hope to see you there!

35mm Archival Surprises at International House:

A Secret Cinema Blind Date

Friday, May 11, 2012
7:00 pm
Admission: $9.00 ($7.00 for students & seniors, $5.00 IHP members)

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

On Friday, May 11, 2012, the Secret Cinema will return to International House for A Secret Cinema Blind Date: 35mm Archival Surprises. It's a program so mysterious that even we don't know what it is!

Huh? A bit of background is in order...

The Secret Cinema film archive has been collecting 35mm film prints for about a dozen years (in addition to our large, longer-collected collection of 16mm films). However, we have not owned a functioning 35mm projector in nearly ten years. Still, we continued accumulating prints in this high-quality format -- called 'the real thing' by some cinema purists, because it has reigned as the standard medium of movie theaters from 1895 until...January 1, 2013, the date that most film distributors have declared as when they will forever cease to issue 35mm (or any size) film prints of new releases.

Not having a 35mm projector at Secret Cinema headquarters has resulted in a backlog of acquisitions that we have never viewed. A Secret Cinema Blind Date is sure to be filled with surprises, as it consists of an assortment of 35mm reels with one thing in common: We have never watched any of them before!

This intriguing potpourri of rare short theatrical subjects, odd reels of features, sponsored/industrial films, and trailers were acquired mainly by instinct, often solely on the basis of their intriguing titles (and in some cases, our infatuation with dye-transfer Technicolor prints). Come and see if our collecting instincts were right, in a unique program likely to include the good, the bad and occasionally the mundane.

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

A complete description of the program does not follow...you'll have to trust us on this one!

The Secret Cinema and film critic Steven Rea celebrate

bike culture with Hollywood Rides a Bike

Thursday, April 26, 2012
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

Broad Street Ministry,
315 South Broad Street, Philadelphia (across from Kimmel Center, between Spruce & Pine,
215-735-4847

On Thursday, April 26, The Secret Cinema will bring its projectors to yet another new venue, to collaborate with Inquirer film critic Steven Rea in a combined live presentation and film screening called Hollywood Rides a Bike -- a two-part celebration of 20th-century cycling culture.

Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling with the Stars is the name of Rea's brand-new book (Angel City Press), consisting of vintage photographs of bike-riding stars from the movies' golden age. Steven will present a carefully chosen slide show based on the book, displaying how often bicycles found their way into the studios' publicity photos. His narration will comment on the images' origin and on the varied bike hardware shown, graced by a range of movie royalty from Shirley Temple to Brigitte Bardot. Rea will also answer questions about his dual passions of movies and cycling. (NOTE: This presentation will be a different one than that recently given at the Central Library).

Following the still photos, we'll show an assortment of short films about bikes, ranging from retro educational shorts to old newsreels to a beloved New Wave auteur's earliest surviving work (these films have mostly never been shown by Secret Cinema before)

There will be one complete screening at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

This special program will be the Secret Cinema's debut screening at the Broad Street Ministry. BSM fosters the arts as an expression of imagination, beauty and a medium to raise social consciousness. The century-old Chambers-Wylie church building, in the heart of the city (across from the Kimmel Center) boasts a large and beautiful space that we are excited to set up in.

Just a few highlights from Hollywood Rides a Bike (the films) are:

Bicycle Thrills (1951, Dir: Harry Foster) - This fast-paced entry from Columbia Pictures' newsreel series "Bill Stern's World of Sports" finds the legendary sportscaster bringing theater audiences close-up looks at "the Butcher Boy Sweepstakes" (a race of bicycling delivery men); velodrome racing in Holland ("The names of the riders are as familiar to the Dutch as the name of Joe DiMaggio is to us."); and a startling look at Amsterdam's rush hour, jam-packed with self-propelled vehicles.

Handlebars (1933, Dir: Jules White) - From the one-reel series "MGM Oddities." After working as a movie critic and a press agent, Pete Smith launched one of the longest careers in the once prevalent world of theatrical short films. Starting with a series called "Fisherman's Paradise," and ending with over 200 "Pete Smith Specialties," he created topical newsreels, compilations of old footage, and short gag scenes, all marked by Smith's breezy, pun-filled, wise-guy narration. Handlebars (directed by prolific Three Stooges director White) offers a comical history of the bicycle, with satiric recreations illustrating its evolution. From a pedal-less, brakeless vehicle to its modern (1933) state-of-the-art.

Les Mistons (1957, Dir: Francois Truffaut) - Truffaut's second short film (the first is lost) is charming, bittersweet, and visually lovely. It chronicles a group of mischievous boys who follow and torment a beautiful older girl (Bernadette Lafont, later to star in the director's Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me) as she rides her cycle through the French countryside to rendezvous with her boyfriend.

Paul Gordon: Bicycle Tricks (1951, Dir: unknown) - Snader/Studio Telescriptions offered canned filler programming in the form of small reels of 16mm film that were sold outright to early television stations, to schedule as they pleased. The films captured studio-set bound performances of usually musical guests, from Mel Torme to Korla Pandit, but occasionally veered towards novelty acts -- such as this circus trick bike rider doing his thing for an imaginary audience.

Plus Bicycling on the Safe Side (197?), and more.

Rare carnival/burlesque exploitation feature

Girl on the Run at The Trestle Inn

Wednesday, March 28
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00

The Trestle Inn
11th & Callowhill, Philadelphia, PA
267-239-0290

On Wednesday, March 28, the Secret Cinema will bring its 16mm film projectors for the first time to The Trestle Inn, the new and buzz-worthy "Whiskey and Go Go" nightspot in Philadelphia's emerging "loft district." On that night, we'll present Girl on the Run, a 1953 ultra-low budget, noirish crime film set in the tawdry world of a carnival burlesque show. The program will also include selected short subjects, including some vintage girlie films.

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

The Trestle Inn presents a mash up of retro entertainment, music, food and drink. Expect to find Barbarella-clad Go Go dancers swinging to French pop, blue-eyed soul, psychobilly, funk, garage and disco on most nights of the week.

A complete description of the feature follows...

Girl on the Run (1953, Dir: Joseph Lee and Arthur J. Beckhard)
This ultra-low budget independent production drops a standard crime melodrama into the noirish, tawdry world of a carnival burlesque show. This soon-to-vanish world was seemingly captured on film largely on location, which is also where much of the cast was evidently found (the credits list six women as simply "the Carny Girls"). The minimal plot concerns a reporter visiting the midway to uncover the facts of the murder of his editor; simultaneously hiding from the law, he is also the primary suspect. In between expected dance routines and some nasty exchanges between a corrupt cop and the carnival's hard-boiled midget owner, there are some surreal plot twists. But the technical qualities of Girl on the Run offer perhaps the most unexpected pleasures on display (the Carny Girls' ample bodies notwithstanding) -- the often striking black and white cinematography features extreme close-ups, dramatic lighting and sometimes surprising compositions. The low-angled shots in a boxing scene resemble an earlier, cruder Raging Bull.

Some of the makers of Girl on the Run had substantial Hollywood resumes. Supervising editor Sidney Katz won an A.C.E. Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 (the year he died). Producer Robert Presnell, Sr. wrote and produced classics and programmers alike for major studios. While little is known about Joseph Lee, co-director (and co-writer) Arthur J. Beckhard had a fascinating career. In the 1930s he wrote a couple of Shirley Temple vehicles, and for many years was a successful producer and director of Broadway plays. Late in life he authored biographies of Einstein, Eisenhower, Tesla, and William D. Beckhard, a pioneering surgeon who was addicted to drugs throughout his life.

The most notable cast member of Girl on the Run has one of the smallest roles: Steve McQueen, seen in the background of two scenes during his first known film role.

The Secret Cinema presents "B" Picture Double Feature

at Chestnut Hill Film Group screening

Tuesday, March 20
7:30 pm
Admission: FREE

Chestnut Hill Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia
8711 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia
215-248-0977

The Secret Cinema will return to the Chestnut Hill Film Group on the first day of spring -- that's Tuesday, March 20 -- to present a unique program called "B" Picture Double Feature, consisting of two brisk-paced genre features from the 1940s, plus surprise short subjects.

The phrase "B-Movies" has come to have many connotations over the years, mostly negative, but originally the designation simply meant a film was the "second feature" on a standard double bill. As this usually meant it was a lower-budgeted, shorter-length affair, the format lent itself to fast-paced genre films that didn't require big-name stars, such as Westerns, mysteries, and horror films (though there were also many comedies, romantic dramas and even musicals made as "b" pictures).

Our double feature includes two films with close to one-hour running times, and combines comic strip crime with creepy horror.

There will be one complete screening, at 7:30 pm. Admission is free.

Complete descriptions of the two features appears below:

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947, Dir: John Rawlins)
Chester Gould's comic strip police detective debuted in 1932, and has remained one of the most popular media characters ever since. Besides the still-syndicated newspaper strip, he has appeared in radio dramatizations, television cartoons, comic books, children's record albums, and of course, motion pictures. Dick Tracy's big screen debut was in a Republic serial starring Ralph Byrd, considered by many the actor who portrayed Gould's square-jawed creation most accurately. After four different complete serials, a series of Dick Tracy b-features was produced by RKO. First they put Morgan Conway in the lead role, but before long they recruited Byrd to return and complete the series.

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is fast and lively, and probably the best of the Tracy b-features, thanks largely to the strong cast. Besides Ralph Byrd, the film is enlivened considerably by the appearance of no less than Boris Karloff as the titular villain. Gruesome is an evil ex-con who enlists Dr. A. Tomic's invention for temporarily freezing human motion as an aid to bank robbing. Also on hand are Anne Gwynne (as Tess Trueheart), Lex Barker, and the unforgettable Skelton Knaggs as X-Ray. Director John Rawlins also helmed Arabian Nights, the Maria Montez vehicle shown in an earlier Secret Cinema presentation at CHFG.

The Brute Man (1946, Dir: Jean Yarbrough)
Rondo Hatton may 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, progressive 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 possessing no real acting ability, Hatton's unique looks resulted in a lot of work. Beginning with the Sherlock Holmes series entry The Pearl of Death, Hatton 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 go to jail for killing his wife).

Insane double-feature at International House:

Trailer Trash and The Black Angels

Saturday, February 4, 2012,
8:00 pm - Trailer Trash
10:00 pm - The Black Angels
Admission: $9.00 (Free to IHP members, $7.00 for students & seniors)

Click here to purchase advance tickets

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

On Saturday, February 4, 2012, the Secret Cinema will return to International House for a fun-filled and quite unusual Saturday-night double-feature, all shown from scarce 35mm prints. It begins with Trailer Trash, a mind-blowing assortment of coming attractions previews culled from the Secret Cinema archive, featuring "our kind of movies" from the 1960s and '70s. That will be followed by the ultra-rare race-baiting biker film The Black Angels.

Trailer Trash was previously shown by the Secret Cinema ages ago (at the Prince Music Theatre and Colonial Theatre), but is long overdue for a revival-while we're pretty sure The Black Angels has not been shown anywhere since 1970!

General admission is $9.00 (Free to IHP members, $7.00 for students & seniors).
A single admission covers one or both features.

A complete description of the program follows...

8:00 PM
Trailer Trash (First showing in 10 years!) 35mm
Trailer Trash 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, 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). Trailer Trash 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, 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. 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.

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.

PLUS:

10:00 PM
The Black Angels (1970, Dir: Laurence Merrick) 35mm
"White is pale, and pale is sick -- and I hate all sickness!" This extremely rare entry from the biker genre also sought to cash in on the newer phenomenon of blaxploitation films, by pitting two rival motorcycle gangs, one white and one black, against each other in a race-motivated war for turf. This intriguing idea is either foiled or enhanced (depending on one's tastes) by mostly amateur acting, aimless script and a nearly-constant stream of awkward dialogue, intermittently interrupted by some thoughtful commentary on race relations. The film was written and photographed by the director in various locations in and outside of Los Angeles. The black biker gang "The Choppers" was portrayed by a real-life black biker gang. The original rock music soundtrack contains several decent instrumentals and songs in assorted styles, some performed by Smokey Roberds, previously of soft rock band The Parade. Much of the cast and crew from The Black Angels worked on the equally obscure Guess What Happened to Count Dracula.

And here's a little teaser that shows off both halves of our program: A Trashy Trailer for The Black Angels!

Penn Museum film series continues

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
3260 South Street, Philadelphia
(215) 898-4000

The Secret Cinema will collaborate with the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (aka Penn Museum) for a four-part film series. On the third Wednesday of the month in September, October, November, and January, Penn Museum welcomes audiences to view a mix of rarely-screened, significant, and still powerful vintage films from the 1920s and '30s, as part of the "PM @ Penn Museum" fall/winter programming.

The Secret Cinema selected the feature films (plus occasional surprise short subjects) for having themes and geographic settings that fit in with the Museum's exhibits, as well as its last century of archeological expeditions. The screenings will take place in different areas of the historic Museum building, adding an evocative flair to the screening experience and providing an intimate look at this architectural gem.

The programs are free with Museum admission, and free popcorn will be provided.

Museum Admission Donation
$10 general admission
$7 senior citizens (65 and above)
$6 for children 6 to 17 and full-time students with college ID
FREE for Museum members, children 5 and under, and PENNcard holders

Program details for the final film in the series are as follows...

Wednesday, January 18, 2012
6:00 pm
Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927, Dir: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack)
Silent with music soundtrack
Before they dreamed up that oversized ape, King Kong's creators Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack filmed this amazing semi-documentary film, which was, along with the team's earlier Grass, an early example of the adventure-exploration movie. Chang is not only the obvious prototype for their later masterpiece, King Kong, but a terrifically entertaining film in its own right. Shot entirely on location in Siam under dangerous conditions, the film tells the story of a farmer and his family who have settled a small patch of land on the edge of the jungle. Their existence is a constant struggle against the many wild animals around them -- bear, tigers, and even -- changs! The climactic elephant stampede remains one of the most exciting scenes in cinema history. "It's still the best picture I ever made." - Merian C. Cooper, 1966

A Swingin' Summer at International House --

with Richie Rotkin of the Rip Chords, in person!

Thursday, December 15, 2011
7:00 pm
Admission: $9.00 (Free to IHP members, $7.00 for students & seniors)

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

On Thursday, December 15, the Secret Cinema will return to International House to celebrate the imminent arrival of winter with, yes, A Swingin' Summer. This lesser-known entry in the "beach party" genre of 1960s drive-in movies includes all of the key elements of the breed -- not to mention a singing, gyrating Raquel Welch in her first major role. Who cares if there's no beach?

If that weren't enough, we'll be showing a gorgeous 35mm vintage, archival print, made in real, vibrant, dye-transfer Technicolor, and shot in the widescreen "Techniscope" format.

And as if that weren't enough, we'll have on hand one of the film's stars! Richie Rotkin, of surf rock band the Rip Chords, will be present to introduce the film, and answer questions about what it was like to make a sixties teen movie.

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

General admission is $9.00 (Free to IHP members, $7.00 for students & seniors).

A complete description of the feature follows...

A Swingin' Summer (1965, Dir: Robert Sparr)
After the success of Gidget and Beach Party, there was a tidal wave of 1960s drive-in movies that featured surfing, dancing teens, bikinis, rock 'n' toll music, and minimal plotlines. Independent production A Swingin' Summer combined all of those genre trademarks sans the surfing, since the setting was shifted inland from the Pacific Ocean to the mountainside (and waveless) resort of Lake Arrowhead, California. The story concerns some good-natured kids, led by James Stacy and William Wellman, Jr. (son of the legendary Hollywood director), who plan to take over the dance pavilion and become rock concert promoters for the summer. They somehow recruit such acts as the Righteous Brothers, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Donnie Brooks and surf-rock group The Rip Chords (famed for their hit "Hey Little Cobra"). While planning the big event, the gang still finds time for both romance and swimwear-oriented recreation, including a tense "chicken race" on water skis. The eclectic cast includes choreographer/actor Michael Blodgett (blond "Lance Rocke" in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls), pioneer hippie/health food advocate "Gypsy Boots," and a young and especially striking Raquel Welch, in her first featured role -- she brings down the house with her scorching song "I'm Ready to Groove."

Richie Rotkin appeared in A Swingin' Summer as a singer in featured act The Rip Chords, and still performs across the nation with the group to this day. Richie will be present at the screening to introduce the film and share stories about what it was like to make a teen movie and live in Hollywood during the sixties.

Another Romance of Celluloid:
More Old Films About Film
at Moore College of Art & Design

Saturday, October 22, 2011
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00

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

Not a day seems to go by lately without another reminder that the world of movies as we've known it since 1895 is about to change in a big way. While the "non-theatrical" world that Secret Cinema theoretically sits in has preferred the economies of video projection for most of our two decades of existence, the neighborhood multiplex (what's left of them, anyway) is now getting in on the act and scrapping their film projectors en masse in favor of "digital cinema." In 2013, Hollywood is scheduled to cease making celluloid prints of movies.

It is hopefully needless to state that the Secret Cinema is not jumping on this bandwagon anytime soon, and we aim to keep the film-as-film experience alive for as long as possible. Indeed, we go to great effort and expense to maintain our film archive and maintain our 16mm projectors, the newest models of which date to the mid-1980s (and the ones we use more often are 20 years older than those!). But with all of this gloomy news about, we felt like saluting both the material and art-form of motion picture film with a special cinephilic program.

On Saturday, October 22, the Secret Cinema will present Another Romance of Celluloid: More Old Films About Film. The screening will include a variety of just what its name* suggests, including films about film technology, studios, movie stars, film archives, and home movies, plus, if time permits, some vintage promotional shorts and trailers. These original short films date from the 1920s through the 1970s.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

Just a few highlights of Another Romance of Celluloid: More Old Films About Film are:

The Hollywood Kid (1924, Dir: Roy Del Ruth & Del Lord) - This frenzied silent comedy packed more stars and celebrities into its running time than usual -- that's because its minimal plot concerns the making of a slapstick film at the real-life studios of Mack Sennett. With Charles Murray, Vernon Dent, Andy Clyde, Ben Turpin, Marie Prevost, Billy Bevan, Teddy the Dog and many more!

MGM Studio Tour (1925) - A grand tour of the grandest of Hollywood studios, seen at the peak moment of the silent era. We see different creative and technical departments, directors like John Ford, Victor Seastrom and Tod Browning, and countless stars, from a young Joan Crawford to Zasu Pitts.

The Voice of Hollywood #3 (1930) - This was one of the earlier series of short films to capitalize on the public's fascination with seeing movie stars having fun off the set, and depicts two ancient periods of show-biz history by setting their banter in the format of a fictitious radio program. This episode features Reginald Denny, Bobby Vernon, Anita Page, bandleader Paul Whiteman, female impersonator Julian Eltinge, and more.

Screen Actors (1950) - In 1950 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) oversaw the production of a series of one-reel shorts covering different aspects of the film industry, each short being produced by a different studio. M.G.M, the studio with "more stars than there are in heaven," made this look at the lives of actors, with special attention to their off-screen activities. A Screen Actors Guild meeting is seen, as is Dan Duryea's work as a Cub Scout leader!

The Costume Designer (1950) - Another short from the A.M.P.A.S. series of behind-the-scenes looks at moviemaking, this one on the importance of the wardrobe department, with a special focus on sunglass-wearing designer Edith Head (who, oddly, is not named).

The Movie...a Window on Life (1964) - "I'd like to introduce you to my Bolex..." The famed Swiss movie camera manufacturer produced this promotional film, most likely for screenings in camera stores. With tips on making better home movies, and some colorful shots of Bolex's line of 8mm moviemaking gear.

Documentaries Unlimited (1965?) - This beautiful sponsored film, printed in true I.B. Technicolor, follows a frustrated filmmaker searching for just the right slant to give his new assignment. Along the way we are provided with a rare glimpse inside a fully-equipped industrial film studio of its time. Too bad it's all in the service of propaganda promoting evil power utilities! Produced by the Edison Electric Institute.

Plus much, much more.

*The first half of the title of this program pays homage to a promotional MGM short of the same name from 1938. We were sadly unable to secure a print for inclusion here, though it can occasionally be seen on TCM. Nonetheless, we happily borrow the poetry of its title. The last Secret Cinema program on this theme was the perhaps awkwardly-titled Old Films About Old Films About..., shown on December 17, 1999. Despite waiting 12 years to venture back to this subject, ...More Old Films About Film repeats none of the earlier program's material.

The Secret Cinema presents summer screenings

at Institute of Contemporary Art

July 13, July 27 & August 3

Institute of Contemporary Art
118 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia (next to Urban Outfitters and Pod)
(215) 898-7108

The Secret Cinema is excited to announce our latest three screenings, happening in a succession of Wednesday evenings In July and August at the Institute of Contemporary Art, in the heart of University City. The films will focus on a variety of summery and artful concerns, and will take place on the ICA's delightful rooftop patio (weather permitting -- otherwise, the screenings will be moved to ICA's indoor auditorium).

After two themed Secret Cinema programs of short films, we'll collaborate with ICA on a special multi-media party celebrating ICA's current gallery exhibition "That's How We Escaped: Reflections on Warhol," complete with live music and film projections.

Wednesday, July 13
9:00 pm
Admission: $7.00
The Secret Cinema presents Summer Means Fun!
This unique program of long-unseen newsreels, educational films, comedy shorts, and cartoons focuses on assorted aspects of summertime recreation: surfing, swimming, camping, fishing, the rodeo and more, as seen by classrooms and moviegoers of the past. Highlights include New England Holiday (1947), Swim Parade (1949), Helter Swelter (1950), Skaterdater (1966), How Do They Make Surfboards? (1970)...plus Shemp Howard in Boobs in the Woods (1940)!

Wednesday, July 27
9:00 pm
Admission: $7.00
The Secret Cinema presents Art for Art's Sake
This selection of short films about art and artists, all from The Secret Cinema archive, features two rare television documentaries: "Art of the Sixties" (1968, from the CBS series The 21st Century) takes a behind-the-scenes look at such established art world personalities as Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Sol LeWitt, and George Segal, as well as artists working in filmmaking and light shows. What I Did on My Summer Vacation (1966) examines the work of "art happening" pioneer Allan Kaprow, as he produces a series of interactive events among surprised yet game vacationers in the Hamptons. Plus, Let's Paint with Water Color, Texture, Grandpa Called it Art, and other vintage school films and theatrical shorts.

Wednesday, August 3
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Admission: FREE
Sister Ray Slam with Secret Cinema
The Secret Cinema will help make the media more multi as all celebrate the close of ICA's summer season with screenings of rare Andy Warhol short films and "Screen Tests," accompanied by four live bands reinterpreting the Velvet Underground's epic "Sister Ray." Many of the films selected were originally part of Warhol's "Exploding Plastic Inevitable" shows with the Velvet Underground. In conjunction with the exhibition "That's How We Escaped: Reflections on Warhol," come channel The Factory with music by U.S. Girls, Dry Feet, Megajam Booze Band, and The Sweet Sister Ray Band (featuring Dan Murphy of Megawords). Plus artisanal treats by Little Baby's Ice Cream!

Famous Films III, plus
"A History of the Secret Cinema"
at Moore College of Art & Design

Friday, May 6, 2011
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00*

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 Friday, May 6, 2011, as we present our third program of Famous Films (yes, this is just one week after the Top Secret program at Moore).

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, a couple of notorious parody films, notable silent works, and once-mainstream theatrical subjects. Some were landmark achievements for their unusual style, beautiful photography, 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.

Speaking of fame, the Secret Cinema attained a little more name recognition in the archival community during the annual conference of the Association of Moving Image Archivists, held in Philadelphia's Loew's Hotel last November. We were invited to provide "A History of the Secret Cinema," projecting a sampling of our favorite films as well as giving a brief Powerpoint look back at nearly two decades of Secret Cinema. The thought struck us that it might be fun to share this illustrated talk with our regular audience, and we will do so just before the Famous Films III screening.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

Highlights of Famous Films III include:

Lumière's First Picture Show (1895, Dir: Louis Lumière) - This compilation reel recreates nothing less than the first program of motion pictures ever presented for a public audience, as originally seen in the Salon Indien of the Grand Cafe in the Boulevard des Capucines, in Paris, on December 28, 1895. Several of the very-short titles included, such as Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory, Arrival of a Train and Watering the Gardener are now iconic; other of these early "actualities" film are less well remembered by history. Among the audience that first night was magician Georges Méliès, who soon set out to make his own fantastic films. The original prints used for this restored reel were of good quality, but had non-standard perforations that required special printing techniques devised by pioneer cinematographer and historian Don Malkames, using an original Lumière projector.

Hardware Wars (1978, Dir: Ernie Fosselius) - This beloved parody of Star Wars was made and released just months after its big budget subject. Using bargain basement special effects, props made from barely-disguised steam irons and vacuum cleaners and brutal send-ups of the original film's characters, Ernie Fosselius and his friends made a hilarious short that went on to win numerous awards at film festivals and fan conventions. The narration was by veteran (and instantly recognizable) voiceover artist Paul Frees.

The River (1938, Dir: Pare Lorentz) - As with The Plow That Broke the Plains and Valley Town (earlier entries in our "Famous Films" series), The River documents not only its subject, but a fascinating, long-gone time when the federal government funded politically progressive and artistically avant-garde art. Lorentz made this project after the success of The Plow... to tell what he described to his bosses as "the biggest story in the world -- the Mississippi River." The subject encompassed several issues of importance to the FDR administration: flood control, soil and timber conservation, and rural electrification, and turned them into a powerful narrative via rhythmic and lyrical narration (read by baritone Thomas Chalmers), discordant music (by modernist composer Virgil Thomson), and striking photography (by, among others, Floyd Crosby). The River was, like The Plow..., a popular and box office success, but it had ruffled many feathers. Lorentz was slated to head a new agency established by presidential order, the U.S. Film Service, but before this project could get underway its budget was written out of existence by a hostile congress. Named to the National Film Registry in 1990.

Mama's Little Pirate (1934, Dir: Gus Meins) - This short from the Our Gang series, remembered especially fondly by many fans, deftly blends comedy, thrills and fantasy. Spanky, Stymie, Buckwheat and the rest of the gang explore a dark cave hoping to find an abandoned pirate's treasure. They find themselves instead in the lair of a terrifying giant, who discovers -- and captures! -- the kids. When did you last get to see Our Gang on the big screen?

De Düva: The Dove (1968, Dir: George Coe, Anthony Lover) - A spot-on satire of the films of Ingmar Bergman (especially Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal), featuring ersatz Swedish dialogue, pseduo-stoic acting, and far-fetched symbolism, plus a young Madeline Kahn as "Sigfrid." De Düva was, naturally, a most popular short subject in the same art house circuit where Bergman's films had triumphed.

Ballet Mécanique (1924, Dir: Fernand Léger, Dudley Murphy) - An influential classic of the early avant garde, co-directed by artist Fernand Leger and filmmaker Dudley Murphy, whose career accommodated both his experimental instincts and studios' entertainment demands. This short uses special effects to animate the clockwork structure of everyday 20th-century life.

Plus A Corner in Wheat, Olympia diving sequence, and more.

TOP SECRET:
Films You Weren't Supposed to See
at Moore College of Art & Design

Friday, April 29, 2011
8:00 pm
Admission: $8.00*

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