VITAPHONE STICKERS FOR SALE!

  You read it right! I am now selling clear vinyl Vitaphone stickers! You know Vitaphone, the disc system which, when synchronized with the projector, gave the worlds many great films and shorts sound! Made famous by Al Jolson in "The Jazz Singer".  Perfect for your car windows, black guitar cases, your mirrors, just tons of places you can put these!

Cost is $3.00 per sticker. Shipping is $.75 in the USA (no matter how many you purchase) and $1.50 for all regions outside the USA (no matter how many you purchase). Payments will be handled securely though PayPal where you can use your account, credit card payments can also be accepted through this method. I can also accept money orders and personal checks (seven days to clear).

PLEASE use the buttons on the right to purchase your stickers. There is one button for shipping inside the USA and one button for shipping outside the USA, PLEASE choose the correct one for your shipping address. One you click your specific button, you will be taken to a page where you can add in the quantity of stickers you wish to purchase and choose your payment method.

Here is what one of the stickers looks like on my automobile:

IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED, PLEASE SHARE!

A brief view of the Brendel home movies

  As I wrote last week, I was asked to present another reel of the El Brendel home movies at Cinefest in Syracuse, New York over the past weekend and while I am still writing my review of that incredible weekend, I thought I'd share a bit of the home movie I showed with all my readers.

yes, that is yours truly introducing the Brendel reel at Cinefest
(photo credit: Kylie Pierce)

  When I was getting ready to figure out what I was going to screen this year, I made video files of two reels which I thought might be in contention. The video below is a section I edited out, added some opening and closing titles, some sound effects and music and uploaded it for all to see. The quality is not the best, but I think it came out pretty darn good!

  

  The film is from the "gags" reel (so written by El on the can itself) and contains just that, El working out comedy bits in front of the camera and then editing them together to watch and we assume, show others. This one I've titled "The Hitchhiker" and the film edge code is dated 1939. I can only assume this may have been filmed near the Brendel home at 11106 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles where he and Flo lived during this period. I couldn't see any street signs or any other markers so it's just an assumption. To keep the mysteries building, this is the only section on the entire reel which is in black and white, the rest is Kodachrome. Enjoy!

El Brendel returns to Cinefest, March 13th-16th

I know, I'm always late on promoting these things, but I have been invited back to show another El Brendel home movie at the Syracuse Cinephile Society's annual Cinefest film festival. It will be taking place March 13th - 16th and will have TONS of other rare film to show on their screen.

The film I am presenting is another reel from the stash of films I uncovered in 2011. This reel has been marked by El as "gags" and features just that; El performing gags in front of the camera. But there is also a section with behind the scenes footage from "The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend", on the TV show "Cowboy G-Men", and El goofing around with his wife, Flo.

El with a trick cigar from the "gags" reel

Here is the complete line up of films from Cinefest 34:

Thursday, March 13th

9:00 am    MAIN STREET T0 BROADWAY (1953) with Mary Martin
10:45 am  SATURDAY NIGHT (1922) with Leatrice Joy, Conrad Nagel     
1:00 pm    TAKING TRAILERS SERIALSLY Hosted by Ray Faiola
2:00 pm    CASEY AT THE BAT (1927) w/  Wallace Beery, Ford Sterling, Zasu Pitts
3:10 pm    SILENT COMEDY RARITIES PT1 From the Library of Congress
4:15 pm    SWING HIGH (1930) with Helen Twelvetrees, Fred Scott
8:00 pm    HOUSEHOLD BLUES (1929) with Monte Collins
8:10 pm    THE JOY GIRL (1927) With Olive Borden, Neil Hamilton
9:20 pm    FANCHON, THE CRICKET (1915) with Mary Pickford
10:40 pm  DARKENING TRAIL (1919) with William S. Hart, Enid Markey
11:25 pm   LOVE FROM A STRANGER (1937) with Ann Harding, Basil Rathbone

Friday, March 14th
9:00 am    ALWAYS GOODBYE (1931) with Elissa Landi, Lewis Stone
10:05 am  FOR THE DEFENSE (1915) with Fannie Ward, Jack Dean
11:10 am  THE BEST OF MOSTLY LOST From the Library of Congress
1:00 pm    UNDERCRANKING: Magic Behind the Slapstick  Hosted by Ben Model
2:15 pm    PARTNERS IN CRIME (1928) with Wallace Beery, Mary Brian
3:15 pm    SILENT COMEDY RARITIES PT 2 From the Library of Congress
4:25 pm    A WALTZ DREAM (1925) with Willy Fritsch
8:00 pm    A SONG IN THE DARK 4  Hosted by Richard Barrios
9:15 pm    NEW MOON (1919) with Norma Talmadge, Pedro de Cordoba
10:20 pm  SANDY (1926) with Madge Bellamy, Leslie Fenton, Harrison Ford
11:40 pm  BUCK PRIVATES(1928) Lya DePutti, Malcolm McGregor, Zasu Pitts
  
Saturday, March 15th
9:00 am    MAN TROUBLE (1930) with Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill
10:30 am  EL BRENDEL HOME MOVIES Hosted by Louie Despres
10:55 am  BACHELOR’S AFFAIRS (1932) with Adolphe Menjou
1:00 pm    WHAT’S-HIS-NAME (1913) Dir: Cecil B. DeMille with Max Figman
2:00 pm    THE SKY HAWK (1929) with Helen Chandler, John Garrick
3:20 pm    ANKLES PREFERRED  (1926) with Madge Bellamy
4:25 pm    THE DANCING PIRATE (1936) with Frank Morgan, Charles Collins
8:00 pm    HOME CURED (1926) with Johnny Arthur
8:15 pm    NOT EXACTLY GENTLEMEN (1931) with Victor McLaglen
9:20 pm    THE LIVE WIRE (1925) with Johnny Hines, Edmund Breese
10:25 pm   A DANGEROUS WOMAN (1929) with Olga Baclanova, Clive Brook
11:35 pm   DANGER ON THE AIR (1938) with Nan Grey, Donald Woods

Sunday, March 16th
9:00 am    THANKS A MILLION (1935) with Dick Powell, Fred Allen, Ann Dvorak
10:30 am  THE AUCTION (2014) Hosted by Leonard Maltin and George Read
12 noon    JUSTIN HERMAN SHOW 6 (1950s Paramount Toppers)
12:35 pm  THE DEVIL HORSE (1926) with Rex (the Devil Horse), Yakima Canutt
1:30 pm    WOMEN EVERYWHERE (1930)with J. Harold Murray, Fifi D’Orsay  
3:00 pm    THE CRAB (1917) with Thelma Salter, Frank Keenan 
3:55 pm    FLYING LUCK (1927) with Jean Arthur, Monty Banks

Hope to see you there!!