Category Archives: Movie Matinee

The Original Animal House

Posted on July 24, 2021 by Joe

See if this sounds familiar: In a college town circa 1962 a group of students carouse from bar to bar, falling in and out of bed with coeds as well as married women and culminating in a prank that has … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee, Weird World of the Roku, What's on TV? | Tagged 1962, Animal House, Britain, carouse, college, England, Ian McShane, Jeremy Brett, John Hurt, Matinee, movie, Movie Matinee, pranks, The Wild and the Willing, University | Leave a comment

A Lady Cabbie and George Sanders’ Brother

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Joe

Here’s another satisfying but forgotten mystery movie the likes of which used to play regularly at local movie houses when there were local movie houses. Eventually films like this would pad out the schedules of local UHF channels to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee, Weird World of the Roku | Tagged 1945, amnesia, murder, mystery, Pub-D-Hub, Roku, Tom Conway | 2 Comments

Look-Out Sister!

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Joe_Williams

This is a fascinating curio from the late 1940s that I discovered on the Internet Archive channel on my Roku box. It’s a low budget Western featuring an all black cast and starring The King of the Jukebox — Louis … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee, Weird World of the Roku | Tagged entertainment, Free, Internet Archive, jazz, King of the Jukebox, Louis Jordan, low budget, movie, Public Domain, Roku, Western | 2 Comments

Bud Cort Digs Soft Buttery Spread

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Joe_Williams

Before he was running around with Minnie Castevet, Bud Cort was shilling soft buttery spread. Take a look! …and if you have difficulty viewing it, head over to the Internet Archive for a streaming or downloadable version!

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1960s, butter, commercial, generation gap, Hippie, margarine | Leave a comment

Dragnet into Darkness

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Joe_Williams

Recognize the fellow on the right? Is that everybody’s favorite science officer from Vulcan? Or is it his evil, alternate universe doppelgänger from Mirror, Mirror? What’s he doing on Earth circa 1954? Is the guy on the left one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1954, crime, Dragnet, Jack Webb, Leonard Nimoy, Leonard Nimoy in Dragnet, robber, Spock, Star Trek, television, video, vintage | Leave a comment

The Girl Who Dared

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Joe_Williams

One of the beefs that people level at Netflix’s streaming service is that there’s nothing to watch. I don’t know about that. While it’s true that the studios seem to be bickering with Netflix over how much their libraries are … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1944, hand lettering, low budget, movie, mystery, Netflix, poverty row, Roku, The Girl Who Dared | Leave a comment

Oceania is the place to be…

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Joe_Williams

While rooting around the Internet Archive channel on my Roku box, I found this curiosity from 1953 – Westinghouse’s Studio One presentation of George Orwell’s 1984 starring Eddie Albert!

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1953, 1984, Battlestar Galactica, Bonanza, Eddie Albert, George Orwell, Green Acres, live Television, Lorne Greene, Martin Landau, totalitarian, USA, Westinghouse | 4 Comments

Roller Derby Circa 1949: New Jersey Vs Philadelphia

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Joe_Williams

Here’s a treat from the dawn of broadcast television I found while trawling the Internet Archive on my Roku box. It’s the ROLLER DERBY!

Posted in Blast from the Past, Movie Matinee, Philadelphia | Tagged 1949, beer, Blatz, Internet Archive, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Roku, roller derby, skate | 9 Comments

Racket Squad!

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Joe_Williams

Here’s a relic from the early 1950s that I had never heard of until the lovely and talented Tina Garceau had bought me one of those inexpensive DVD gift sets of old television shows that had lapsed into the public … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1951, Call for Philip Morris, cigarette advertising, cigarettes, Johnny Roventini, Philip Morris, Public Domain, Racket Squad, Reed Hadley, television, video | Leave a comment

Poor Old Johnnie Ray

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Joe_Williams

Here is The Big Shot, a television drama from 1955 sponsored by General Electric, hosted by Ronald Reagan before he entered politics and starring teen heart-throb Johnnie Ray. Johnnie Ray has been said to be the bridge between crooner Frank … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1955, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, General Electric, Johnnie Ray, Ronald Reagan, television | 3 Comments

What I Want For Christmas – Lotsa Wavy Hair Like Liberace!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Joe_Williams

Here’s a treasure from 1954 – Liberace’s Christmas Special! His brother George is there along with Santa Claus and the rest of Liberace’s family! Of course, it would be easy and/or lazy to make all of the obvious jokes about … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1954, Christmas, Liberace, piano | 3 Comments

A Christmas Carol – 1910

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Joe_Williams

Thomas Edison presents what is probably the first filmed version of A Christmas Carol.

Posted in Movie Matinee | Tagged 1910, Christmas Carol, holiday, silent | Leave a comment

Black Friday Beckons or Tis The Season to Be Stressful

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Joe_Williams

Time flies. Somebody said something in work about the coming week being short, and then it dawned on me that it’s THANKSGIVING! That means that Christmas is right around the corner! Oh, crap! So soon? Don’t we still have Halloween … Continue reading →