Acting
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Pressed into service, an inept comedian offers a burlesque on Helen Morgan.
In this short film, Robert L. Ripley introduces narrator Leo Donnelly who presents various "Believe It or Not" oddities from around the world as gathered by Ripley. Segments include a NYC clothier that caters to very large men and circus elephant grooming. Vitaphone No. 1363.
This omnibus of film clips include a Savanna golf course made from Civil War trenches, wooden Indians used ourside cigar stores, an American Indian artist from South Dakota who paints upside down, the smallest residence house, a Bronx River statue with mysterious Civil War origins, the Ocean Grove community in New Jersey that closes on Sundays and a futuristic automated parking garage. Vitaphone No. 1364.
This entry of the series does not feature Robert Ripley, who is away gathering material on his tours. Leo Donnelly narrates various odds and ends like a church service held on a river in boats, one of the largest sculptures in the world, sand art in bottles and a man who pulls cars with his hair. This episode also has a greater amount of "critter" material: chickens learn to be aquatic thanks to a training duck, another hen adopts puppies as her own, the Australian platypus is discussed and a motorized blacksmith and we see a horse with double-hoof. Vitaphone No. 1410.
"This Nude World" is a groundbreaking 1932 "documentary" celebrating the age-old tradition of playing volleyball in you socks... and nothing else. The film purports to pose probing questions about the morality of nudist colonies o cover its actual aim of getting naked people on screen... primarily in long shots. A highlight of the film is the peeks at the phenomena in Germany, France (including Lido de Paris) and the United States along with wonderful pre-WWII footage of the cities visited A real hoot. It passed the National Board of Review in 1932.
In this short film, an elderly cameraman and his camera reminisce about their days shooting silent films and news stories.
Noted team of detective and criminologist solve the murder of a new bride, in her compartment, on the train on which they are travelling.
Based on the Hammett novel, this ultra-rare film—is nominally taken from the author's classic gang-war novel Red Harvest, which proved too brutal and cynical even for pre-Code Hollywood.
Robert Ripley presents a well-dressed cocktail party an assortment of drawings and film clips showing the world's youngest parents and the largest bible. Vitaphone No. 1362.
This short humorously recreates the experience of going to a nickelodeon during the silent film era, using footage of silent films and sarcastic narration.