Film: 16mm television classics
8:00 – 9:15 pm
$6 donation
Albert Steg &
>Vintage Film Screenings in Glorious 16mm and 8mm <
presents
“TELEPHONE TECHNIQUE”
Back in the 50’s, Bell Telephone recognized that people needed to be taught how to use a telephone, so they produced tonight’s central film offering, A Manner of Speaking (1959) to illustrate the do’s and don’ts of effective telephony for an audience of business clients who had yet to establish the rules of the game. In this instructive reel we get to see two versions of a day in an advertising firm: one goes badly, one goes well, and it all comes down to . . . you guessed it, telephone technique. We’ll check in on our progress with Telephone Manners (1972), which updates the same issues for a new workforce generation. Where will it all end? Could this sort of material have any relevance for us today? The program will be enhanced by some further expressions of technological optimism, including a Fleischer Brothers’ Betty Boop cartoon, “Betty Boop’s Crazy Inventions,” (1932) and , perhaps, any last-minute additions to my archive
About Zampano’s Playhouse:
Zampano’s Playhouse is a film series devoted to obscure, outdated, and orphaned films projected in vintage 8mm and 16mm formats. The various cartoons, educational films, home movies, TV shows, industrial films, and other odd footage come from my personal collection of vintage films. These sorts of “ephemeral films” often provide startling and provocative examples of American attitudes in the 20th century - - “What were they thinking?” is often the underlying question in my programs. For each event I draw together a group of films on a common theme, time period or location, sometimes adding music to the images for humorous or dramatic effect. I see my programs as a revival of the small movie house or traveling filmshow traditions — capturing the thrill and charm of the gently flickering film image.
This is the second season of Zampano’s Playhouse, having run twice a month last year from October 2002 to June 2003. This year I will hold monthly events at the Zeitgeist Gallery (3rd Wdnesdays), leaving myself time to present programs in collaboration with other artists and art festivals
Production: Albert Steg - asteg@mindspring.com