macfilms

Tactic was an NBC public service effort to alert the public about cancer. It consisted of six separate half-hour films, each devoted to an important aspect of cancer awareness as explained by medical experts. The format then presented people from the creative arts who provided a theatrical piece about that particular dimension of the health problem. The topics included: the reluctance of people to get a checkup (with Alfred Hitchcock; William Shatner and Diana Van der Vlis in a short play; Sandra Lee and Don Greslic in a dance number choreographed by Hanya Holm)--the warning signs of cancer (Steven Besosto of UPA and Jim Backus with a Mr. Magoo storyboard explaining the signs; Hy Zaret and Lou Singer performing songs they each composed)--cervical cancer (Celeste Holm, Ford Raines, and Andrew Duggan in a short play; Ilka Chase; dance team of Mata and Hari)--breast cancer (Ben Grauer hosted a panel of prominent editors of women's magazines)--men's attitudes toward cancer (Wally Cox in a spoof of manliness; cartoonist Mort Kelly and Esquire publisher Arnold Gingrich)--and the philosophy of modern cancer research (Steve Allen discussed the topic with a panel of doctors followed then by a humorous skit from members of the Steve Allen Show cast: Tom Poston, Louis Nye, Pat Harrington Jr., Don Knotts, and Gabe Dell).

A struggling college football team gets a new star player and unexpectedly wins the Big Game. This doesn't sound like much, but don't be deceived. This two-reel theatrical short from 1932 is significant because it offers famed American Indian athlete Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox) in his most flattering film role.

Thorpe plays himself as the team's kicking coach. He teaches and demonstrates the proper form for booting drop kicks straight through the goal posts. Thorpe, whom the King of Sweden in 1912 dubbed "the greatest athlete in the world," is free of stereotyping. In fact one of the film's characters lavishes great praise on Thorpe's own football accomplishments while playing for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in the early teens.

Eugene Palette and James Gleason appear in the principle comedy parts playing characters similar to those that would mark their careers throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

The short is one in a trilogy of two-reel sports-oriented entertainment films from writer Charles Paddock and Educational Films Corporation. The others are "Off His Base"--which featured former major-league baseball player Mike Dolin, plus Jim Thorpe in a smaller role--as well as "A Hockey Hick."

To see "Always Kickin'" online, follow this link: http://jfredmacdonald.com/aifg/playaifg29_alwayskickin.htm

Based on a weekly literary magazine series that intrigued young readers from 1900 until 1920 (at the price of 5 cents per issue, rising to 6 cents per issue by the end of its run), The Liberty Boys of '76 was also a motion picture serial in 1916 aimed at youthful viewers. It told the story of a group of young Colonial patriots battling in the Revolutionary War against the hated British and their murderous American Indian allies. A rare film, the Library of Congress has at least three different episodes: "Fighting the Red-Skins," "In the Hands of the Enemy." and "Buddy to the Rescue." There was, however, a political angle to the movie serial. It was financed with German money by which, it was hoped by the Berlin government, Americans would be influenced to distrust the Redcoat British again--and not join their historic enemy in waging war against Germany in World War I. To that end, too, a pro-German political group calling itself The Liberty Boys of '76 was organized in the United States by 1916.

To view the episode entitled "In the Hands of the Enemy," visit this web address: http://jfredmacdonald.com/hhcc/playstcc5_2.htm