Well, true believers, it's been a while since I posted over here and the reason is pretty easy to explain. I started this blog as a way to try to get the word out to the public about how Mr. Brendel had unfairly been treated in the history of comedy and out of that I decided to start writing a book.
Over 8 years ago I started this journey and I still continue it today.
But career and my art (I am a photographer in my spare time) have always
taken most of my time. But, I am constantly collecting new material on
the life and career of El and wanted to give an update here.
In late October 2015, I borrowed a large amount of El material from a family member who had saved loads of stuff after El had passed. In this group are tons of press clippings, notebooks, an album of photos from the 20's to early 30's, near diaries of his and Flo's entire vaudeville career, etc., etc. So much material, in fact, that I am not even 1/4 of the way of going through it all. Some images below of what's in there:
In late October 2015, I borrowed a large amount of El material from a family member who had saved loads of stuff after El had passed. In this group are tons of press clippings, notebooks, an album of photos from the 20's to early 30's, near diaries of his and Flo's entire vaudeville career, etc., etc. So much material, in fact, that I am not even 1/4 of the way of going through it all. Some images below of what's in there:
Other news? Some good news I have found out is that a few of El's early films at Fox are in the restoration/preservation pipeline. The bad news is at this time I am sworn to secrecy as to which films they are, but rest assured, this is terrific news for all the fans.
It was announced in October of 2015 Fox would be releasing 100 movies on iTunes as part of their "Century of Cinema" campaign. One of the titles announced was the 1929 feature "The Cock-Eyed World" which would be the first digital release of this film. As of this writing it hasn't appeared yet but supposedly someday. Go here to see the titles released so far: www.itunes.com/foxfilm
Capitolfest will have a rare screening of a 35mm print of the 1930 Fox feature, "Just Imagine" at their festival this year. Executive Director of the Capitol Theatre, Art Pierce, has told me this has been one of the most requested films by people coming to the event in years past. Capitolfest runs from August 12th-14th. More information on the weekend can be found on their Facebook page.
Speaking of Facebook, since I started this blog, we all have seen the taking off of the social media platform. Some enterprising folks over there have picked up the Brendel flag and started their own group celebrating El's work. I post there a lot, so come over and join up:
The Illegitimate Cousins of El Brendel Facebook group
That's about it for now, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Will update everyone when I have further updates.
