Hello!

Correspondent ‘Bee’ sends along this pretty amazing Cartoon Research article by Keith Scott entitled Avery …. Vol. 2??? Well, Imagine That!  The article’s real mission is to divulge the identities of scores of voice talent names and what they did on specific cartoons. The list is pretty amazing, and Scott includes bio information, inside comments, and other research. It makes us more aware of how sophisticated and artful are those Avery cartoon tracks — masterpieces of pitch and timing.   He even identifies a lady who whistles on a cartoon soundtrack.  That reminds me, we’re due to review the WAC’s Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume 2 Disc…

And contributor-reviewer Lee Broughton has an interesting article up on his Current Thinking on the Western page: the current entry for December 13, 2020 is called An Interview with Filmmaker Chris Keller. I don’t know whether to think of Keller as an amateur or a professional. The uptake on him is that he’s one of those Euro-fans of Italo westerns that visits shooting sites in Almeria, Spain — and films his own movies there. He calls them amateur productions but they’re too elaborate and professional to to be dismissed so quickly. The main one under discussion in the interview is called …. and then the Vultures had a Feast. The article contains a free link to see it online (!) plus links to other Keller mini-masterpieces — made completely with the help of friends. Vultures has the participation of an actress from some Spaghettis, who was married to a director.

And thanks to Matt Rovner for the review today of the Classics of Yiddish Cinema films. Matt collaborated with me on a commentary for Arch Oboler’s sci-fi classic Five, which will be coming from Viavision [Imprint] in February. The image above is from the Yiddish folk-horror movie The Dybbuk (1937), which is partly restored and presented in two versions.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson