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It’s a buncha links day. Following the trail of a related Joe Dante link steer, I ran into a Rocky and Bullwinkle compilation reel on YouTube that has the initial,’origin’ episode of Peabody’s Improbable History where Mr. Peabody adopts the human boy Sherman and they go on their first adventure. The episode I’m talking about begins at just under eleven minutes in, with the ‘Roman parade.’

Gary Teetzel forwards a link and a note. The link goes to “Strange New World”, an episode of an old radio show called The Mysterious Traveler. Since he brings up a relevant observation, I’ll let Gary continue in his own words:

“The show involves a couple of fliers that crash in the Pacific and end up on a desert island near the Bikini Atoll. There, they come across giant crabs that, they conclude, are a byproduct of nuclear testing. The broadcast date was February 19, 1952. The big question is . . . does that date make this radio show possibly the first science fiction dramatic work featuring giant monsters that grew to enormous size due to atom bomb tests? I can’t think of any features using the theme that pre-date it, although I suppose another radio show may have beaten The Mysterious Traveler to the punch. Again, the link to listen on-line is “Strange New World.”

Plenty of disc announcements, that might be new news to somebody: Criterion’s Blu-ray roll call for July is phenomenal: Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham, the martial arts picture Dragon Inn, Steven Soderbergh’s sex, lies and videotape (videotape, what’s that?), a new 4K restoration of Powell & Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death — AND — a Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood collection, with all six of their Paramount collaborations Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress and The Devil is a Woman. That’s quite a lineup.

The Warner Archive Collection is touting their upcoming Blus as well. We already know about Jack Cardiff’s Dark of the Sun and Sergio Leone’s The Colossus of Rhodes, but we’re also being told that coming down the line will be Vincente Minnelli’s Two Weeks in Another Town, and Joseph H. Lewis’s noir classic Gun Crazy. The last disc has a commentary by me, my first actually. The credit identifies me as an Author & Film Noir specialist. Well, a noir specialist in commentaries, maybe.

The Warner Archive’s standard DVD announcements are just out as well, and they include two titles that should interest special collectors. The gangster-musical production The Lights of New York (1928) is one of the very first all-talkies, the kind with Lina Lamont primitive microphones hidden in the scenery. It is also said to be the first time the phrase “Take him for a ride!” was heard in a movie. A Notorious Affair (1930) keeps popping up in reference to star Basil Rathbone — his fans wish he had more opportunities to play leading men. It’s also described as the breakthrough picture for actress Kay Francis.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

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Kino Lorber Studio Classics has announced Alfred Hitchcock’s Under Capricorn for June 19, reportedly a new 4k scan. The BFI did the video work, so there’s a chance for game-changing quality leap in this show. Not one of Hitchcock’s more popular pictures, Capricorn has Ingrid Bergman, Technicolor by Jack Cardiff, and long takes with camera moves that outshine those in Rope.

At the April 9 entry for Joe Baltake’s The Passionate Moviegoer features a nice look at the career of Richard Quine, with some thoughtful opinions. Quine’s musical remake of My Sister Eileen is coming soon from Twilight Time.

Now Scream Factory will be licensing horror titles from Columbia Films as well. They’ve already talked about releasing The Tingler and Strait-Jacket, so purchasers are wondering about a promised William Castle disc set from UK’s Powerhouse / Indicator company. Will the UK Columbia discs continue to be all-region? What if we want both licensors’ sets of extras?

As for The Tingler, I hope they interview Tim Lucas, for a more detailed run-down on his Video Watchdog theory about a script re-write and sequence-shuffle that radically altered the ending. The same goes for Lucas’s fascinating theory/revelation about the original scene order for Robert Florey’s Murders in the Rue Morgue.

And finally, Powerhouse indicator stealth-announced today that they’ll be releasing Joseph Losey’s Hammer sci-fi classic These Are the Damned later this year. That’s something to look forward to, ‘when the time comes.’

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

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I’m really late this Tuesday … Cinerama expert and CineSavant correspondent David Strohmeier asked me to say that his new restoration of the three-panel Cinerama presentation Windjammer will be showing at the Cinerama Dome on April 28. I believe that individual tickets can be purchased. It’s a great way to see real Cinerama exhibited in a venue created especially for the process (but originally only used for single-strip 70mm).

We got jolted by an earthquake last week in Los Angeles. It was a 5.5 but the epicenter was aways out in the ocean, so some of us felt it and others didn’t. I was sitting in a parked car trying to send a text, and suddenly the car began to sway on its suspension as if somebody was pushing it back and forth. People were walking their babies and dogs but didn’t realize a quake was happening, but I felt it strongly for at least ten seconds. That’s the way it is here — some building shake and shimmy and others absorb the tremor imperceptibly. But not when the quake is bigger, and closer. I’ve been through two major quakes already, have been exceedingly lucky, but they say a big one is overdue.

That’s about all I have at hand or still on my mind . . . I think readers would appreciate the reviews going up sooner than later. It’s a big month for 3-D fans!

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson

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I received six notes all at once from people telling me that Red Planet Mars is indeed out on DVD, on a disc they say ‘looks like an old TV broadcast.’ My information is that the disc they point to is unauthorized, and in the hope of a proper release, I try my best to not promote gray-market product. MGM has original elements of the 1953 United Artists release in excellent condition.

On a lighter note, I just got in Kino’s upcoming report on what they’re releasing in May. The list heralds the brand-new The Misadventures of Biffle & Shooster!, the retro comedy duo from the 1930s lovingly perpetrated recreated by Michael Schlesinger, starring Will Ryan and Nick Santa Maria. All the corny jokes are in place (believe me) in five separate short subjects, plus a generous selection of extras. A Trailer is up at YouHooTube.

Actually, the disc debut of the ‘wacky, cornball’ Biffle & Shooster short subjects reminds me of a true story, if you have the time.

Back in college around 1975, my friends were intrigued by a serial killer then prowling Los Angeles, the Skid Row Slasher. The newspapers gave him big coverage, playing up the full grisly details about victims found with their throats ‘slashed from ear to ear.’ No strangers to sick humor, we were all amused by the sleazy alarmist headlines — me, Robert S. Birchard, Randall William Cook, Steve Nielson and Douglas Haise. I can still remember Bob Birchard’s face, grinning at the day’s big newspaper headline, which was more suited to 1932 and The Front Page. Doug Haise proposed a student film, a takeoff on old comedy teams much like Biffle & Shooster. Only he decided that his pair of comics would be slap-happy Skid Row winos: one short, one skinny, both stupid. Doug’s proposed title was the snappy, ‘STINKY AND PETE MEET THE SLASHER.’ Since Randy Cook was always sketching on a big pad. He mocked up a great fake photo of an imagined Stinky and Pete lit from below, recoiling from some unseen terror. It got a big laugh.

One Saturday night at Haise’s in Santa Monica we all stayed so late that we just slept over, sleeping wherever. Randy rose early and saw the newspaper, which had another big Skid Row Slasher headline, plus a police artist’s drawing of the suspect: IS THIS THE SLASHER? Before anybody was up, Randy used his pencil to alter the drawing to look like Doug Haise. The effect was really good, at least at first glance. The Slasher was now a dead ringer for our host. When Doug woke up Randy put on a good act of casually handing him the front page. Doug’s sleepy double-take was unforgettable. He could just see himself being arrested as soon as he showed his face on the street.

Yes, I know that your super college memories took place in Paris with international celebrities, or at that total eclipse in Nova Scotia. But this one just made me smile. They were all great guys, and Birchard is much missed.

Thanks for reading. There are 8 million unnecessary personal episodes in The Naked CineSavant Journal; hope this one was worth it — Glenn Erickson