Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot : Nucleon the Magic Globe (1967)

Giant Robot (ジャイアントロボ, Jaianto Robo?), is a manga and tokusatsu series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It is similar to his famous Tetsujin 28-go (Gigantor in the US), though Giant Robo has more fantastic elements. The original tokusatsu TV series, produced by Toei Company Ltd., aired on NET (later re-named TV Asahi) from October 11, 1967 to April 1, 1968, with a total of 26 episodes. The English-dubbed version of the series was produced by American International Television, with Reuben Guberman as line producer, under the title Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot. The Earth is under invasion by a terrorist group called "Big Fire," "Gargoyle" in the US version, an illuminati-style organization led by the alien Emperor Guillotine, who spends almost the entire series in a multicolored space ship hidden at the bottom of one of the Earth's oceans (presumably the Pacific) whence he issues his orders to the members of Gargoyle, frequently referred to in the series as "The Gargoyle Gang."


JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT : NUCLEON, THE MAGIC GLOBE
MITSUTERU YOKOYAMA  (1967)
TOEI COMPANY
24:27
JAPAN

Green Giant : Television Commercial (1965)

Green Giant is a vegetable company owned by General Mills. It is symbolized by two mascots, frozen vegetables,[citation needed] and also sells canned vegetables both under the Green Giant and Le Sueur brands. In Canada, where an important part of the population speaks French, the company sells canned vegetables under the Le Sieur brand instead of Le Sueur because "sueur" means sweat in French and it was not good marketing introducing sweat in food advertising. Le Sieur means "the Sir" in French and thus was a more appropriate name. The Green Giant brand is also licensed out by General Mills for fresh produce, which is managed by Potandon Produce (potatoes and onions specifically) and The Sholl Group II (all other fresh produce).

The company was founded in 1903 in Le Sueur, Minnesota, as the Minnesota Valley Canning Company selling sweet creamed corn. The name Green Giant was introduced in 1925 to help market the company's peas, and in 1950 the company adopted the Green Giant name. By 1930, Minnesota was the corn center of the world and Minnesota Valley had emerged as one of the country's largest producers of sweet corn. The Green Giant soon had five canneries in Minnesota in addition to the original facility in Le Sueur. In 1979, the company merged with another Minnesota company, Pillsbury, which was ultimately acquired by General Mills. At the end of 1994, Pillsbury/Green Giant sold six canneries to Seneca Foods including the original cannery in Le Sueur, which is now shut down and even the front offices were torn down in 2006.
The Jolly Green Giant is the mascot of the Green Giant food company. Created by Leo Burnett, the Giant first appeared in advertisements in 1928; the name originally came from a variety of unusually large pea called the "Green Giant" that the company canned and sold. The original TV commercial, first aired in 1953, features a small green puppet as the (Jolly) Green Giant (though the commercial itself was in black-and-white) stalking through what appears to be the Valley, through the use of stop-motion animation. He stops outside a small farm and holding out his hands, in which two Green Giant canned products are seen spinning into view: in his left hand, a can of his famous Niblets, and in his right, a can of peas. He then holds them out as the camera slowly backs out. A variation of this commercial features a scene that takes place in a family setting. In this, the mother character in the commercial implies that if one eats Green Giant products, one will become a Green Giant. The young boys featuring in the advert, however, are not scared by this, but seem rather excited. We can see this as they continue to devour their great Giant sweetcorn somewhat more quickly.

The images of these commercials are forever burned into my memories of growning up watching television


GREEN GIANT : TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
GENERAL MILLS FOODS  (1965)
1:30
USA

GI Joe : Television Commercial (1965)

G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Soldier (Military), Action Sailor (Navy), Action Pilot (Air Force) and Action Marine (Marines). The term G.I. stands for Government Issue and became a generic term for U.S. soldiers (predating the action figures), especially ground forces. The development of G.I. Joe led to the coining of the term "action figure". The G.I. Joe trademark has been used by Hasbro to title two different toy lines. The original 12-inch line that began in 1964 centered on realistic action figures. In the United Kingdom, this line was licensed to Palitoy and known as Action Man. In 1982, the line was relaunched in a 3¾-inch scale complete with vehicles, playsets, and a complex background story involving an ongoing struggle between the G.I. Joe Team and the evil Cobra Command which seeks to take over the Free World while using terrorism. As the American line evolved into the Real American Hero series, Action Man also changed, by using the same molds and being renamed as Action Force. Although the members of the G.I. Joe team are not superheroes, they all had expertise in areas such as martial arts, weapons and explosives.

America's movable fighting man (1964–1969)

The conventional marketing wisdom of the early 1960s was that boys would not play with dolls, thus the word 'Doll' was never used by Hasbro or anyone involved in the development or marketing of G.I. Joe. "Action figure" was the only acceptable term and has since become the generic description for any posable doll intended for boys. 'America's movable fighting man' is a registered trademark of Hasbro, and was prominently displayed on every boxed figure package. The Hasbro prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (marine/soldier) "Skip" (sailor) and "Ace" (pilot), before the more universal name G.I. Joe was adopted. One of the prototypes would later sell in a Heritage auction in 2003 for $200,001 Aside from the obvious trademarking on the right buttock, other aspects of the figure were copyrighted features that allowed Hasbro to successfully pursue cases against producers of cheap imitations, since the human figure itself cannot be copyrighted or trademarked. The scar on the right cheek was one; another, unintentional at first, the placement of the right thumbnail on the underside of the thumb. Early trademarking, with "GI Joe™", was used through some point in 1965; the markings changed once GI Joe was a registered trademark; "GI Joe®" now appears on the first line. Subsequently, the stamped trademarking was altered after the patent was granted (in late 1966), and assigned a number; 3,277,602. Figures with this marking would have entered the retail market during 1967.

Adventure Team (1970–1976)

By the late 1960s, in the wake of the Vietnam War, Hasbro sought to downplay the war theme that had initially defined "G.I. Joe". The line became known as "The Adventures of G.I. Joe". In 1970, Hasbro settled on the name "Adventure Team", and relaunched G.I. Joe under the new, non-military banner. The clothes had an "AT" logo on them.

Highlights
To coincide with the new direction, "Life-Like" flocked hair and beard, an innovation developed in England by Palitoy for their licensed version of Joe, Action Man, is introduced in 1970. A retooled African American Adventurer was also introduced, which came in two versions as did the others in the series, bearded or shaven.

In 1974, named after the increasingly popular martial art, Hasbro introduced "Kung-Fu Grip" to the G.I. Joe line. This was another innovation that had been developed in the UK for Action Man. The hands were molded in a softer plastic that allowed the fingers to grip objects in a more lifelike fashion.

In 1976, G.I. Joe was given eagle eye vision; a movable eye mechanism to allow the toy to appear to be looking around when a lever in the back of the head was moved. This would be the last major innovation for the original line of 12-inch figures.

A shift in play patterns
For its first ten years, G.I. Joe was a generic soldier/adventurer with only the slightest hints of a team concept existing. In 1975, after a failed bid to purchase the toy rights to the Six Million Dollar Man, Hasbro issued a bionic warrior figure named "Mike Power, Atomic Man," which sold over one million units. Also added to the Adventure Team was a super-hero, "Bullet Man," and the character gained recurring enemies, called "The Intruders--Strongmen From Another World."[citation needed] Comics included with figures at the time featured "Eagle Eye" Joe, Atomic Man, and Bullet Man operating together. The Adventure Team was finally an actual team. The original 12-inch G.I. Joe line ended in America in 1976. At this time, Hasbro released a line of inexpensive, rotationally-molded mannequins in the G.I. Joe style called "The Defenders."


GI JOE : TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
HASBRO TOY COMPANY (1966)
1 MIN
USA

Post Cereals : Television Commercial (1970)

Alpha-Bits, also known as Frosted Alpha-Bits, is a breakfast cereal made by Post Cereals, which contains frosted alphabet-shaped corn cereal bits. Post Cereals also started producing Marshmallow Alpha-Bits in 1990. Alpha-Bits cereal was invented by a father of seven named Thomas M. Quigley who worked for Post Cereals. The cereal was introduced in 1958, and was taken off the market in 2006. However, Alpha-Bits reappeared for sale in January 2008 with a new formulation, touting "0% Sugar!" as a "Limited Edition" cereal. The old recipe was reintroduced later in 2008.

Beginning in 1964, the mascot for Alpha-Bits was a postman (Post Man) named Loveable Truly, who was originally voiced by insult comic Jack E. Leonard in a Southern accent. Loveable Truly was also a character in the 1960s cartoon show Linus the Lionhearted on CBS, along with other Post Cereals mascots at the time (including Sugar Bear of Golden Crisp, then called Sugar Crisp). Since then, mascots have included the Alpha-Bits Wizard, who appeared near children in kitchens. In Canada, the last Alpha-Bits mascot was Alpha, a computer who "makes bits". He continues to be used as of 2010. The Canadian Alpha at first resembled IBM PCs, but recent versions have begun to look like Macintoshes. In the 1980s there was yet another mascot named Alfie the Alpha-Bits Cereal Wonder Dog. Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five starred in a series of Alpha-Bits musical TV commercials in 1973.

In 1970, the Monkees project was pretty much completed. Peter Tork was the first to leave, followed by Michael Nesmith, and Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones soldiered on as a duo for as long as they could.Colgems, their record label, was also floundering. Although it had success with the "Oliver" soundtrack, its fortunes were directly tied into the Monkees, and with that project reaching its near end, it was time to make a somewhat daring move to try to revive sales All because the Monkees TV show was becoming a staple of Saturday morning TV on CBS. Incredibly, while the first generation of Monkees fans generally were now listening to heavier sounds, kids born in the mid to late 1960s were making the Monkees TV show a hit all over again, albeit on Saturday mornings. This gave Colgems hope that a new album, "Changes," could revive the act, now down to a duo. While it didn't do the trick (see previous post), Colgems was not yet done with a major marketing ploy to keep the Monkees in the spotlight, at least with little kids. One of the Monkees original sponsors on NBC was Kellogg's, but they had moved onto other things by 1970. However, one of Kellogg's major competitors, Post Cereal, needed its own marketing ploy to at least keep in the game with Kellogg's. Post Cereal, like the Monkees franchise, needed a boost, and out of this marriage came ...

Cereal Box Records.
These records--found on the backs of cereal boxes--had been around since the late 1950s. I believe I remember seeing Mousketeers and Alvin and the Chipmunks cereal box records around this time, and this marketing tool was also used in intervening years, and not just on cereal boxes. For one, the Dave Clark Five promoted its film "Having a Wild Weekend" by having a cardboard record available on packages of Fresh Start Medicated Cleansing Gel. Anyway, Post started to sponsor the Monkees TV show on Saturday mornings, and three of its cereals were involved in the cereal box record campaign: Rice Krinkles, Alpha Bits and Honey Comb. These three sets of records each contained four individual songs, meaning that there were a total of 12 Monkees cereal box records available. All kids had to do was have their moms buy them the cereal, carefully cut out the record on the back, and place them on their turntable. What they got were low-fidelity tunes that these kids' older brothers and sisters probably had already, but the marketing ploy was a hit. In fact, the next to last Colgems LP was actually a mail order item accumulating all of the cereal box records tunes on a single LP (more about that LP in the near future). Although short-lived, the Monkees cereal box records established them as the first human rock group (remember the Chipmunks had them too) to be featured in a series on these records, and this was so successful that later bubblegum acts like the Jackson 5, Bobby Sherman and the Partridge Family had their own cereal box records--and so did another cartoon creation, the Archies.

Cereal box records continued to be used as a marketing ploy into the late 1970s or very early 1980s. At around this time, soundsheets emerged, and, later, when CDs replaced vinyl as the listening format of choice, cereal box records became artifacts of a different, simpler time. As for the Monkees cereal box records, there were three designs.

 Design No. 1, which was found on the Rice Krinkles records, featured Micky, Davy, and Mike and a green label with guitar logos between each head in spiral. The four songs on these records were 1. The Monkees (Theme) 2. Teardrop City 3. Papa Gene's Blues 4. The Day We Fall In Love.

Design No. 2, which was found on Alpha Bits, featured a large Monkees logo in the middle, with Davy, Mike and Micky's heads around logo on a black label. The songs included in this series were 1. Last Train To Clarksville 2. I Wanna Be Free 3. Forget That Girl 4. Valleri.

Design No. 3, found on Honey Comb cereal, is my favorite, a red and white Monkees logo and musical notes on a purple background. The tunes in this series included 1. I'm A Believer 2. Pleasant Valley Sunday 3. (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone 4. Mary, Mary.

You knew what song you were getting because in lieu of an actual catalog number, the number of the song was pressed into the cardboard. Each of the records played at 33 1/3 RPM.  - from Colgems



POST CEREALS : TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
POST CEREALS  (1970)
USA
32 SECONDS

Here, for your listening pleasure, are a few of these cereal box records. Remember, the fidelity is horrible at best, and unfortunately, some of these have not survived very well, and they do skip. But as artifacts of a different time, they are among the most fun records that I own.

Monkees - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone (Cereal Box Record 3-3).mp3
Monkees - (Theme From) The Monkees (Cereal Box Record 1-1).mp3
Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville (Cereal Box Record 2-1).mp3
Monkees - Mary, Mary (Cereal Box Record 3-4).mp3
Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday (Cereal Box Record 3-2).mp3
Monkees - The Day We Fall In Love (Cereal Box Record 1-4).mp3
Monkees - Valleri (Cereal Box Record 2-4).mp3
Monkees - Teardrop City (Cereal Box Record 1-2).mp3
Monkees - Forget That Girl (Cereal Box Record 1-3).mp3

Franken Berry / Count Chocula : Television Commercial : (1971)

Count Chocula and Franken Berry were both introduced in 1971. Boo Berry Cereal appeared in 1973 followed by Fruit Brute in 1974. Yummy Mummy appeared more than a decade later in 1988 - completing the the group known as the General Mills Monster Cereals.


The following description of Franken Berry is from 1972 marketing material promoting the cereal for Halloween:
"A spoonful of spooky fun in every bowl, Franken Berry is a whimsical way to start the day. Made with whole grain corn, Franken Berry combines strawberry-flavored cereal with colorful marshmallow shapes to create a delicious cereal that kids and adults can enjoy. Each serving of this playful, monster-themed cereal is low in fat with no cholesterol or saturated fat. It's also a good source of calcium, whole grain, and 9 other essential vitamins and minerals."




FRANKEN BERRY / COUNT CHOCULA : TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
GENERAL MILLS   1971
31 SECONDS
USA
DOWNLOAD / MPEG 2 / 30.2 MB

Quisp Cereal : Television Commercial : (1966)

Quisp is a sugar-sweetened breakfast cereal from the Quaker Oats Company. It was introduced in 1965 and continued as a mass-market grocery item until the late 1970s. Sometime afterward, the company sold the item sporadcially, and upon the rise of the Internet began selling it primarily online. Quisp was initially marketed with a sister brand, Quake. Its joint-product television commercials were produced by Jay Ward, a major producer of animated television series.

Quisp and the similarly marketed cereal Quake were originally released in 1965 in the United States by the Quaker Oats Company and generally advertised together (during the same commercial) with their character mascots competing against each other. The successful ads were cartoons created by Jay Ward, and used some of the same voice actors as in Ware's of Rocky and Bullwinkle animated series, including Daws Butler as the voice of Quisp (an alien) and William Conrad as the voice of Quake (a miner). The commercials often asked children to choose which cereal was better, and to compete over taste or premiums. The competition reached its peak in 1972, when a series of commercials asked children to vote for which cereal should remain on the shelves. Quake had a makeover in 1969, slimming down and changing his miner hat for an Australian bush hat and Australian accent,[citation needed] but that was not enough. Quisp was the winner and Quake was discontinued. The character Quake, however, reappeared as a sidekick of an orange kangaroo named Simon in an orange-flavored cereal called Quangaroos. In 1976, Quaker Oats ran another contest, this time asking children to choose between Quisp and Quangaroos. Quisp won again and Quangaroos was discontinued. Quisp did not outlast its competitors for long. In the late 1970s, Quisp was discontinued due to low sales. It was brought back in the mid 1980s, then again in the 1990s and in 2001, where it was relaunched as the "first Internet cereal". Consumers were encouraged to visit the Quisp Web site to view animated endings to cartoons on the back of the cereal box. The online Flash animation was produced by John Kricfalusi and Spümcø, featuring Quisp and his sidekick Quunchy (voiced by Corey Burton and Matt Danner, respectively).


From then on, Quisp remained in limited distribution, with Quaker Oats distributing the product in "guerrilla displays" that would appear in a store and last until the product sold out. Even in the late 2000s, it could occasionally be found in grocery and discount chains such as Dollar General, Marc's and Food Lion.[citation needed] Through at least summer of 2009, Quaker Oats sold Quisp directly to the public through an online store. In August 2010, Super Target stores started selling Quisp. The Quisp website featured a graphic stating, "Quisp Has Come Back to Earth! Find him at Super Target." but there was no marketing campaign, only wallpaper graphics, a retro-themed flash cartoon and a t-shirt offer on the cereal box.
 From Wikipedia

When I was a little kid my mother rarely let myself and my two sisters eat sugary cereals so when we did, it  really was a special treat. Quisp was my favorite, I think I was attracted to it because of the outer space theme of the advertising and the packaging. In retrospect I think this cereal tasted no different that Cap't Crunch , (just different shapes). - Jon Behrens  

QUISP CEREAL : TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
JAY WARD   1966
QUAKER OATS COMPANY
1 MIN
USA
DOWNLOAD / MPEG2 / 30.9 MB

The Playgirls and the Vampire (1960)

THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE (L’Ultima Preda Del Vampire ["The Last Prey of the Vampire"], 1960). Written and directed by Piero Regnoli. Cast: Walter Brandi, Lyla Rocco, Maria Giovannini, Alfred Rizzo, Marisa Quattrini, Leonardo Botta, Antoine Nicos, Corinne Fontaine, TIlde Damiani, Eirka Dicenta, Enrico Salvatore. Made in Italy as L’Ultima Preda Del Vampire (”The Last Prey of the Vampire”), THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE was picked up for American distribution and dubbed by Richard Gordon (THE HAUNTED STRANGLER, ATOMIC SUBMARINE), then released in the U.S. in 1963. The American version, 7 minutes shorter than the Italian original, was released as an “adults only” picture with a poster suggesting that it might be a “nudie cutie” feature, though patrons expecting plentiful pulchritude doubtlessly felt cheated. There is a female vampire in it who prowls a castle in the buff looking for victims, but her body is repeatedly obscured by shadows and camera angles.

The playgirls of the title are not playgirls at all, but rather showgirls who are being bused to their next engagement when the driver learns that a storm has rendered the road impassable. The driver takes a fork in the road and winds up at the castle of Count Gabor Kernassy (Walter Brandi). They ask to stay the night and Kernassy takes little interest until he sees Vera (Lyla Rocco), who looks to be the reincarnation of Margerhita, the woman with whom his ancestor had fallen in love. Regnoli’s most effective horror moment comes at the very beginning when he borrows Tod Browning’s famous shot of a vampire’s hand emerging from an opened coffin, here restaged with a stone sepulcher. The vampire in the crypt is Kernassy’s look-alike ancestor who seeks fresh blood to sustain his immortality. Kernassy warns the troupe not wander about the castle at night, but the next morning the body of Katia (Maria Giovannini) is found dead on the lawn, apparently having fallen out of the window. Lack of originality is one of the main problems that plagues THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE. Unlike Freda, whose films explored perverse sexuality such as necrophilia and sadism, Regnoli offers only showgirls lounging around in negligees, teddies, and stiletto heels. Additionally, there is minimal characterization (the three other showgirls are given no real personalities) and minimal plot as well.




THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE
PIERO REGNOLI   (1960)
81 MIN
ITALY

Motorcycle Gang (1957)

Motorcycle Gang is a 1957 exploitation film directed by Edward L. Cahn and produced by American International Pictures.


A motorcycle gang runs wild through the countryside roads. They run from the patrol officers. One girl who is not with them, Theresa "Terry" Lindsay (Anne Neyland) has got a small accident and bites the dust although is left unharmed. Randy (Steve Tyrrel), the leader of the gang, tries to flirt with her, but she's tough. Terry says that she lives with her uncle Ed (Raymond Hatton) while her parents travel through Europe. Her uncle is conservative and doesn't like her to be a bike girl. Randy tells Terry that they can meet at the Blue Moon Café. Marilyn (Jean Moorhead) and Speed (Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer) hide with them. Marilyn, who is another bike girl, dislikes Terry because she likes Randy, whose eyes are set only on Terry. There, the quiet meeting begins. Randy is designing something so that his bike runs faster. Nick Rogers (John Ashley) reappears after having spent 15 months in jail. Nick wants to cause trouble. Boston-born chef Cyrus Quincy Wong (Aki Aleong) is quite friendly to Randy and his gang, as they usually cause no trouble, but he rejects Nick, as he knows for sure he's a troublemaker. Nick dislikes the new status quo: the Blue Moon café is being supervised by the local sheriff, Lt. Joe Watson (Russ Bender). The club includes a collecting of fees, to have quiet quickstep dances, and everything is very controlled. There is a programmed preliminary race which will allow the winner to run in the county race. There are many rules: for example, contestants to the race cannot have even a parcking fine on them. Nick oposes the new way strongly. He likes being wild and chased by the police. Terry and Randy leave the café to talk outside. He wants to win the race so as to become a champion and earn a good living out of it. He needs his good behaviour so that Joe will let him participate in the race. Terry prefers living "the vida loca" while she's still young and says so to Randy; for example, she prefers to go out with Nick than with Terry. She taunts Randy with that. Randy says that Nick won't kill him on a dark cul-de-sac because he's always preferred make a show of each competition. Nick and Terry go everywhere together. He tries to have sex with her, but she says that she's single and free, never allowing him to get too close to her. Uncle Ned approves of her prude behaviour. Nick is extremely jealous of Randy. Marilyn taunts Randy before the race. Nick appears saying he only wants to run in the race and that he's not interested in trophies. Joe finally lets him run. Terry backs both Randy and Nick. She so strongly wants to remain neutral, although Randy tells her that there will come a moment when she'll have to choose one of them. Randy wins because Nick has fallen down. Terry wants to throw a party for Randy, the winner, at Ed's ranch. Nick insists in having another race, this unsupervised, with Randy. Randy rejects the idea and Nick says that the club has softened Randy. Finally, Terry convinces Randy to go to her party. Later that very same day, Terry says that she doesn't like it when Nick bullies Randy and he doesn't respond, so putting pressure onto Randy to respond. Uncle Ed is a nuisance at the party. He doesn't allow Randy and Terry to dance together and pulls out a gun to do so. Wong prepares the food while Ed complains about the loud music. Uncle Ed starts playing the banjo, violin or whatever and Wong follow-suits with a traditional-looking Chinese musical instrument. Later, Nick appears. Randy complains about that. Terry had prepared it all. She says that it's for Randy's good. Randy rejects Terry but compromises on running against Nick the following day. On the race, Randy says that he'll only run if nobody else apart from him and Nick runs, but when Nick calls him a coward, he accepts anyway. Speed is the first runner who falls down and quits.

The race is left unfinished, so they decide to make another kind of "tournament". Both Randy and Nick have to cross the railway bridge on their bikes. The one who does it faster, wins. Nick is the first. He crosses the bridge in 89 seconds, but his bike loses motoroil. Terry tries to tell him, but Nick prevents it. When Randy crosses that bridge, his bike slips and he falls down the bridge to the dry river below. He has to be taken to hospital, and Speed tells Terry that she's got what she's wanted from the beginning. Because of that incident, Randy is disquilified from the county race. Randy doesn't want to see Terry ever again. Nick visits Terry on her ranch at the night and tries to force Terry when she rejects him. Fortunately, Terry succeeds in pushing him away. Randy leaves the hospital, and is frustrated because he can't run the race or participate in the club. A blonde friend (Susanne Sidney) forces Terry to talk to Randy. They make amends. Randy is allowed into the club again because, according to everybody else, it was somebody else's fault -meaning Nick. Joe and Terry await the bikers who are running the county race at the Attville Café, where the manager (Edmund Cobb) and the waitress Mary (Phyllis Cole) are terrified of the bikers. Nick and two other bikers, Phil and Jack (Wayne Taylor and Eddie Kafafian) ask for licour. When the waiter rejects to give them some, the three of them attack Mary, the manager and a tall café customer (Zon Murray). One of the thugs goes out to pick a passer-by, an elderly woman (Felice Richmond). The three thugs are getting drunk, while Joe, Terry, Speed and Birdie are waiting for them. Speed turns the police radio on.

Mary tries to call the police while is supposedly fetching some more liquor. Joe hears the radio telling about the café robbery. Joe stops the race because he needs some people to help him. Randy wants to stay in the race, as he's winning, but in an afterthought, he goes to help Joe. A fight ensues. Joe arrests Nick and his biker thugs, and tells Mary, the married hostages and everybody that the criminals were not bikers, only motorized criminals. At the Blue Moon café, a party is thrown in Randy's honour. He himsels says "what a way to celebrate that I lost the race", but Terry tells him that he's gained everything. - by Krystel Claire



MOTORCYCLE GANG
EDWARD L. CAHN 1957
AIP
78 MIN
USA

The Lawless Years : The Nick Joseph Story (1959)

The Lawless Years is the first television crime drama set during the Roaring 20s, having predated ABC's far more successful The Untouchables with Robert Stack by six months. The 47-episode half-hour series aired nonconsecutively on NBC from April 16 to August 27, 1959, from October 1, 1959, to January 19, 1960, and, finally, from May 12 to September 22, 1961. It starred James Gregory as real-life NYPD Detective Barney Ruditsky, with Robert Karnes as Max, his associate. Ruditsky, who had become a private investigator in Hollywood after retiring from law enforcement, served as the show's technical advisor. Jack Chertok was the producer. From May 26 to June 23, 1961, The Lawless Years ran a five-part episode entitled "Louie K" with guest star Paul Richards in the role of Louis "Louie" Kassoff. John Dennis appeared as Dutch Schultz and John Vivyan as Lepke. Dennis also appeared in "The Dutch Schultz Story" on May 14, 1959.

Episode 01 The Nick Joseph Story
Detective Ruditsky relates the story of Nick Joseph, a small-time hood from Manhattan's Lower East Side, who rises from petty theft to become an ace contract killer for the syndicate's notorious Murder, Inc.

I thought this was a great and often over looked show, the sets, the cars, every thing about it was very well done. When the Untouchables premiered 6 months later stole the spot light from the Lawless Years and so the show was cancelled in the middle of the second season. I thought  The Lawless years was a far better program and should have stuck around for at least a few more seasons.


THE LAWLESS YEARS : THE NICK JOSEPH STORY
JACK CHERTOK  (1959)
NBC TELEVISION
55 MIN
USA
DOWNLOAD / MPEG 2 / 819.3 MB

Torchy the Battery Boy : Pom Pom and the Toys (1958)

Torchy the Battery Boy was the second television series produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson. It was another collaboration with author Roberta Leigh and was directed by Anderson, with music scored by Barry Gray, art direction from Reg Hill and special effects by Derek Meddings. The second series of 26 episodes was produced by Associated British Pathe, but Gerry Anderson and AP Films were not involved in their production. Both seasons are now available on DVD.


The series followed adventures of the eponymous boy doll with a battery inside him and a lamp in his head, and his master Mr Bumbledrop, voiced by Kenneth Connor (who is probably best known for being a member of the Carry On ensemble cast) who also voiced a number of other characters. Puppetry was still fairly crude then and their strings are easily visible unlike in later Gerry Anderson shows.

Each show's titles started at night with a rocket outside a cottage and Torchy sitting inside it. It would take off with lots of sparks and then would begin the theme tune which would tell you about Torchy and his magic light as the rocket went through space. In the first episode we are introduced to Mr Bumbledrop who had lots of toys and loved children and his dog, Pom Pom, a white French poodle with straight hair which needs curlers in every night. Also to Bossy Boots, a nasty little girl who likes pulling her toys to pieces but a trip to Topsy Turvy land reforms her. Flying kites, the bad children (Bossy Boots, her brother Bogey, etc.) playing in Mr B's garden tie their toys to the kites they are flying and a strong wind comes along and blows all of the kites and toys away as well as Pom Pom who tries to save them. The children leave and being all alone, Bumbledrop decides to make a boy for himself. In four hours it is completed and Torchy wakes up and knows Bumbledrop's name and all about his magic beam. He has to recite special words for his magic beam to find something. torchy has a battery inside him which powers him but unlike the other toys, if it runs down even on Topsy Turvy land, he is helpless till a new one is put in. Torchy presses the switch on his jacket and uses his magic beam which can shine anywhere to find Bumbledrop's missing glasses then he bursts into song. Out in the garden, Torchy uses his magic beam to locate the lost toys on the twinkling star. Next morning Bumbledrop builds a rocket of cardboard and such and by nightfall it is finished and Torchy flies off to the twinkling star (these are the scenes which are used at the start). In the second episode, the toys decide to stay on the twinkling star where they are safe from naughty children. As well as Flopsy the Rag Doll, there is Pilliwig the Clown. Flopsy who was Bossy Boot's doll hasn't got enough stuffing inside her because it has been pulled out so is a bit dim as her head is empty and uses the phrase "Piggle-poggle". In this magic land, there is lollipop fields, cream buns grow on trees as well as bullseye bushes.

The third episode has Torchy on the twinkling star where he meets Squish the Spaceboy (with a water pistol ray gun), who came from America and got to the twinkling star by rocket, which broke on arrival. Squish steals Torchy's rocket and manages to crash it too. Pom Pom gets to sing a song, being able to talk by the magic there. Torchy has to get back to Earth otherwise his battery will run down. We find that Torchy's magic beam allows him to talk to people it is shining on, even Bumbledrop on Earth. Episode four they go to an orchard where all the fruit is enormous and they built Frutown by hollowing out these fruits and living in them. Torchy uses a pineapple for his own house and Squish makes Flopsy a house out of a cherry. In episodes 9 & 10, Bossy Boots wants her stuffed doll, Flopsy back so Torchy takes her to the twinkling star. It is Topsy Turvy Land where grown ups become as small as toys. Torchy lands A strange effect in the episode nine. As Torchy is singing a song, Bossy Boots fires a cannon and the picture shatters showing blackness and Torchy appears, face blackened. Bossy Boots learns her lesson there before being taken back to Earth. Other toys joined the show, notably ruler King Dithers who was as dithery as his name suggested. He lived in an orange peel palace (which looked like a normal palace) and seemed to have no soldiers. Pongo the Pirate (who had belonged to bad boy Bogie) sailed the oceans in a pirate ship made of fruit. His comical song sung by Kenneth Connor was:
"I'm Pongo the Pirate and I live in a grapefruit sloop and with my spy glass I spy and I peer and I snoop. I'm Pongo the Pirate, I love to pinch and spank. If I should catch you, I'll make you walk the plank. Pongo bad, Pongo bold. Pongo always looks for gold. Pongo bad, Pongo bold. Pongo always looks for gold. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Gerry Andeson would later go on to produce the shows , Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captin Scarlet and Joe 90




TORCHY THE BATTERY BOY : POM POM AND THE TOYS
GERRY ANDERSON  (1958)
ITV NETWORK
15 MIN
UK
DOWNLOAD / MPEG2 / 756 MB

Dogora - Trailer (1964)

Dogora or Dagora, the Space Monster, released in Japan as Giant Space Monster Dogora (宇宙大怪獣ドゴラ, Uchū Daikaijū Dogora?), is a tokusatsu science fiction film produced and released by Toho Studios in 1964. It was directed by the "Golden Duo" of director Ishirō Honda and special-effects director Eiji Tsuburaya.


Several satellites are destroyed and only a few days later, a group of diamond thieves find that the gems they stole suddenly disappear. The two incidents are linked as scientists discover giant jellyfish-like creatures, mutated from the high levels of radiation over Japan, are consuming all carbon based matter. The creatures start to attack civilian structures such as bridges and ships. The scientists must find a way to stop the creatures before it is too late.


English Version
As with its release of Attack of the Mushroom People, American International Television bought the rights to Toho's international dub in 1965 for television syndication. Since the film wouldn't play in US theaters, AIP-TV left Toho's English dub intact and added a new Dagora, the Space Monster title card. Allegedly, the name of the monster was changed to "Dagora" so that audiences wouldn't think the monster was a dog. Beyond the removal of the opening credits, the film was unedited. This version played for many years on late night TV and was released on home video by Video Yesteryear in 1983. The Media Blasters DVD uses the same dubbing featured in the AIP-TV version, but the edits, such as they are, are not retained.

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE VERSION OF THIS TRAILER



DOGORA - TRAILER
ISHIRO HONDA 1964
TOHO
2:10
JAPAN