8mm Forum: Movies that Talk and Sing

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Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 14, 2014, 06:13 PM:

Movies that Talk and Sing (1x200’, Black and White, Blackhawk Films)

Who among us doesn’t like to thumb through old film catalogs? How nice to look at all the neat little paragraphs describing films we can (…or could) order. It makes you just want to buy ‘em by the dozen, which is exactly what the film sellers hoped.

Let’s face it: those days are pretty much over. We still have these old catalogs as reminders of what we now call the “Golden Age”, when basically any film that caught your fancy was available in prints by the dozen. All you had to do was scare up the money (that much hasn’t changed...).

The closest to this I see these days is a similar catalog published by a local art cinema, unfortunately they just show you the movies and you can’t bring them home!

“Movies that Talk and Sing” is yet another relic, but this one is 8mm wide and comes on a reel. This was made to promote Blackhawk Films’ introduction of sound films. For a film collector this is pretty intoxicating stuff. There is a genre of films I call “Films about Films”, which is a movie that relates to filmmaking or presentation. When they are about the Hollywood Motion picture industry, they can be interesting. When they lean towards the worlds of small gauge film, they are fascinating. This one is by Blackhawk about 8mm film collecting. That’s almost personal.

So one day long ago we find ourselves face to face with Kent Eastin himself, dressed sharply and sitting in front of a shelf packed full of those desirable Blackhawk boxes. Very likely he is talking to us from that famous Eastin-Phelan building in Davenport, Iowa: once a brewery, today a ruin, right then a monument to film collecting. He tells us how pleased he is after so many years of bringing motion pictures into our homes that Blackhawk will now be supplying movies with sound. He reaches to his left, lights up an ELMO ST-1200 facing us, and on goes the show.

Here’s Your Host: Kent Eastin!!
(The print is actually much better than this screenshot.)

He narrates a clip from the Charlie Chaplin’s “The Cure” (1917), telling us how the great old favorites are even better with added sound. (I agree: the silents I watch the most are all scored Blackhawks).

We then see sequences from each of the following films:

Midnight(1934) Humphrey Bogart
The Dentist(1931) W.C. Fields
Black & Tan (1929) Duke Ellington
FDR Presidential Address following Pearl Harbor Attacks (1941)
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) Charles Laughton
Spooks(1932) Flip the Frog
Way Out West (the Dance Sequence, 1937) Laurel and Hardy

It then ends with a title card telling us how we can build a library of Blackhawk titles to enjoy with our family and friends. Sounds good to me! Where do I sign up?!

The sad thing is that as a marketing tool, this still works. I am interested in several of the films I saw on this reel, even 40 years after the fact. Unfortunately, an order form and a check will no longer make them show up.

My print is nice and sharp, with good contrast. I suppose they could have filmed Mr. Eastin in color, but maybe the Black and White in this sequence is a blessing. This far down the road it would probably be red and look awful with the black and white that followed still looking so good.

The sound is nice too: rich musical tones and very little hiss. I suppose a film announcing the introduction of sound should have no less!

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on February 14, 2014, 09:46 PM:

I have a copy of this film also. A very cool film. I like the Spooks cartoon with the skeleton eating his dinner bones! I would like to find that film. And I think that is a Eumig projector that is shown at the beginning.

Bill [Smile]

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on February 16, 2014, 12:52 PM:

Hi Steve,

That sounds like a great little reel. What year did Blackhawk turn this out?

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 16, 2014, 12:56 PM:

Unless there's more Prevue 8's, I have it too, though in silent, so not much talking and singing here :-/

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 16, 2014, 02:04 PM:

Something is telling me this came out mid 1970s, although I have absolutely no reason to be sure.

It is a really nice reel. I've had it a few months and have watched it quite a few times. As a matter of fact it was the reel I chose for the show at the last CineSea. It is a nice edit: very watchable.

I wonder how well it would play for an audience of non-8mm freaks though! (Film fans in general: maybe.)

Vidar, I can't imagine this edit having a silent release: Kent Eastin's subtitles may as well have said "Hahahahaha!!!! You don't have sound!!!!". [Big Grin]

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on February 16, 2014, 06:17 PM:

I think the silent "Preview 8" editions showed clips from silent titles. I seem to recall owning one many years ago before I acquired my first sound projector. I tried searching for it after seeing this thread, but no luck so far. It's possible I gave it away to someone who still only collected silents which I did with many of my silent titles that I slowly replaced with their sound counterparts.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 16, 2014, 06:52 PM:

Will try to run mine tomorrow and grab some shots, see which titles are on.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 16, 2014, 06:55 PM:

I was just thinking about how I found out about this film. It was a couple of years back I searched "Blackhawk Films" on YouTube and saw this:

Kerry Decker TV Show: Blackhawk Films (1986) .

On his cable TV show, Kerry Decker is taking about the end of film production at Blackhawk. He shows "Movies that Talk and Sing" (at least clips of it) on the show. He also says that this reel was introduced in 1973, and later he says 1974 (maybe that's why I think "mid 1970s". The memory approaches its maximum capacity after 50!)

After seeing this show, I decided I wanted a print. It actually took a while, but Mr. Osborne obliged!

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on February 17, 2014, 10:26 AM:

I got this movie from Blackhawk Films in the 1970's. .I don't think they offered it in their catalog, but it was offered to new customers.

The deal was, if you were new and requested a catalog, they sent you a catalog, and there was an insert with the offer. There was a silent version that was (I don't remember the title they gave the reel) offered for like $1.99. Or you could get this sound version (Movies that Talk and Sing), for like $6.99. Then, the bonus- they would send you a $5 dollar coupon towards your first order!! What a DEAL.

I still have a print, and as Steve says, the sound is rich and BOOMING, and the print is up to Blackhawks usual high standards. I would imagine that there are quite a few prints floating around out there.

Thanks for the great review Steve!

James.

PS- I think the box pictured on this post is actually the box for the silent version, which may have simply been titled "Preview 8". I believe "Movies that Talk and Sing" came in a green box with different illustrations on the cover. It has been a long time since I've seen an original box for this though.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 17, 2014, 12:02 PM:

Hi James,

Thanks for the background information. I kind of wondered how they sold what was basically their own advertisement.

So, it was actually part of a special offer. That makes it even more interesting. Now we need to see the flyer that announced it.

The box shown in my review actually is the original box. It has the printed label on the side with the correct title and the usual Blackhawk mumbo jumbo. (242 Feet! -that's pushing it!).

Maybe there really is a "Movies that Talk and Sing Box" they were out of on that day so long ago, so they made do with what they had. (Is this like the stamp with the plane upside down?)

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on February 17, 2014, 03:48 PM:

Thanks Steve-

Yes its very possible Blackhawk used the box as a sub. They would often do that with other shorts, like L&H and Our Gang. I won't be sure about that box cover unless hopefully someone on here has one they can show me to refresh my memory . [Cool]

James

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on February 17, 2014, 06:19 PM:

I also recall another box. I'll have to take a look at the print I got from Shorty Caruso.
Here's an ad for both samplers from a 1976 issue of Super-8 Filmaker.

Doug

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 17, 2014, 07:45 PM:

Ah! Doug the Archivist!

(Thanks!)

What's interesting is the description of the silent sampler in Doug's ad. sounds a lot more like the images on my cover than the lineup of "Movies that Talk and Sing", so I agree: a seperate box art seems very plausible.

We need that scan to wrap this up!

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on February 17, 2014, 09:12 PM:

Different color, same artwork!

Doug

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 17, 2014, 10:40 PM:

Interesting:

Same (basic) stock code, but mine has an additional 24 feet of film. I believe I have the Director's Cut!

(...or I have a ton of leader and tail!)

Also interesting they forgot the "Magnetic Sound" sticker on my print.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on February 18, 2014, 09:04 AM:

Thank You Douglas! You always come through on these mysteries.

It was a great idea for Blackhawk to do this, and the cost of printing these reels was probably close to what they were selling the reels for, so even if they didn't always get new customers out of the deal, they probably didn't lose much of anything (film stock was very cheap at that time).

I think Disney Home Movies had a similar reel, but that one seems to be much more elusive.

James

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 05, 2014, 05:53 PM:

Hey!,

In the spirit of Science I went out and found an actual silent print of the 8mm Sampler.

Here's the verdict:

The silent "8mm Sampler" and "Movies that Talk and Sing" are different films all the way from beginning to end.

The talkie is a lot more fun though!

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on June 05, 2014, 10:41 PM:

I just noticed this Standard 8mm Silent Preview 8 reel among several silent reels I just bought. I haven't screened it yet. It will be fun to see what's on it [Smile]

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on June 07, 2014, 04:07 PM:

You people are learned, don't need me anymore - Those Blackhawk Prevue-8 Samplers were available through Sunday Daily News Color-Section, I had enough allowance money to get FROM SOUP TO NUTS (half-priced), and the Sampler Reel - Then, MOVIES THAT TALK & SING - FYI, those came in various boxes with sometimes slightly diffeent stock codes - Shorty

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 09, 2014, 09:22 AM:

What's neat is because of "Movies that Talk and Sing" I became interested in several of the titles it showcases.

Last month at CineSea I bought a really nice scored print of "The Cure" from the illustrious Shorty Caruso collection.

So even for a company almost 30 years out of business, advertising still works!

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on June 09, 2014, 03:29 PM:

That "...really nice scored print..." was, a Van Beuren-scored re-issue print from the 30's, replete with music and effects - Blackhawk released the set of 12 Mutuals this way, wonderful to say the least - All part of watching them on WOR-9, courtesy of Herb Graff and the Charlie Chaplin Theatre - Shorty

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 09, 2014, 03:57 PM:

-and we appreciate it!

My kid seems to be something of a born Chaplin fan, much more than I am.

How many 11 year olds even know who Charlie Chaplin is?!

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on June 11, 2014, 10:20 AM:

When he's 12, he'll know Keaton and so on

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 11, 2014, 10:37 AM:

When he was 4 they had a "Hollywood week" at nursery school. They asked the tots to name their favorite movie stars.

-His were Laurel and Hardy.

(Not what they were expecting!)

I have officially taken my own review off-topic!

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