Oddball Films and guest
curator Lynn Cursaro present Money Manners and Capital Games: Asset-kicking
Edu-tainment. Money, moolah, cabbage, readies, dough. It wouldn’t have so
many names if it wasn’t so important! From the most basic history and functions
of money in grade-school gem Money, Money, Money (1972) to a
savvy car dealer’s wild sales methods in Charles Braverman’s brilliant Trader
Vic’s Used Cars (1975), money is one subject that can always generate
interest. Painless penny-watching is the aim of both the anarchic consumer
education work of Marshall Efron Brand Names and Labeling Games, (1973) and Magical Disappearing Money (1972). Vegas yields hilarity, riches and ladies in Brooklyn Goes to Las Vegas (1953). The fine print of
monthly bills gets a surprisingly entertaining treatment in Credit Card
Bouquet (1973). The emotion spending vs. saving issues kids face in
Learning to Use Money (1973) are the kind that last a lifetime. Dark
impulses are afoot in puppetland when the Great Piggy Bank Raid
(1974) goes down. Porky Pig learns that 10 cents a night is no bargain when the
innkeeper is Daffy Duck in Dime to Retire (1955). Plus! Ginger Rogers sings "We're in the Money" from an excerpt of Gold Diggers of 1933 and some sound advice about investment and horses from Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols in a snippet of Nichols and Dimes (1982), directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, the editors/co-directors of Grey Gardens. But the
entertainment value doesn’t stop there: Not only will there be super-rich
home-baked goodies from the kurator’s kitchen, but all films will be presented
in 16mm. |
| Driven to Sell |
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00, Limited Seating, RSVP to:
415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com
415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com
Highlights Include:
Trader Vic’s Used
Cars (1975, Charles Braverman)
For used car dealer Victor
Snyder, “customer relations are everything.” On his modest Southern California
lot, his mostly working class clientele can count on more than just a fair
shake. Vic’s folksy sales techniques may seem quaint, but Braverman’s portrait
is a refreshing look at a dying breed of small businessman with a deep
understanding of the art and psychology of the deal.
Money, Money, Money (1972, Steven Minor)
We start with a bit of
numismatic eye candy. A stunning montage of coins both exotic and familiar is
the centerpiece of this mondo money triptych. In other sequences, children
demonstrate the barter system and we visit the Philadelphia mint to see how
pennies are made. Dazzling and narration-free.
Magical
Disappearing Money (1972,
Dan Bessie)
Grocery shopping takes a
bizarre turn when a proto-Stevie Nicks stalks the aisles on a crusade against
processed foods. It’s not the sugar and starch that has her hackles up,
uh-uh: it’s the price! Her Get-off-Your-Ass-and-Cook philosophy is sound, but
it was an uphill battle: We’re sure the very idea of Lunchables would make
her head explode. From the same folks who brought us Credit Cart Bouquet!
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Brooklyn Goes to Las Vegas (1956, B+W) See what happens when a fifty-something Brooklynite hits the strip in this ridiculous short film. Get the inside scoop through this NYC native’s eyes and watch how he strikes it rich and heads home with a wagonload of cash and ladies!
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A Less Than Sentimental Education
|
Birthday card cash: an
asset to carefully budget or an invitation for a spree? A young bongo-crazed
Janis Joplin fan has an appropriately Dionysian attitude toward spending. Not
his sister, who has not only waited until 1973 to buy the Beatles’ Revolver,
but also shops around for the best price. This and other vignettes of shopping
and saving will resonate with viewers of all ages.
 |
| When Pennies Count |
Fuzzy animal puppets: so
cute, so chirpy, so larcenous. When the cash for new band uniforms needs to be
raised fast, our woodland friends roll up their tiny sleeves and get down to
honest work, mostly. The itty bitty musical finale swings, and the puppet show
within the puppet show will blow your mind!
A Day in the Life of
a Dollar Bill (1972, Art
Evans)
This dollar IS worth the
paper its printed on, if screen time is any measure! During course of the day
it wends its way from the hands of a young baseball player through city
government, grocery store and beyond, giving us glimpses the
getting-and-spending lives of a small town.
 |
| What a Headache! |
The absurdity of USDA
labeling gets a thorough skewering by our flustered consumer advocate, Marshall
Efron. Anarchic, off the cuff, and eye-opening, these highlights from PBS’s
delightful Great American Dream Machine endure as bright shining moments in the
history of consumer education.
 |
| Interest-ed Parties |
A Credit Card Bouquet (1973, Buck Pennington)
Everyone loves Jonathan,
the avuncular flower vendor who pushes his cart around the mall, giving his
stock away to everyone. It’s a good thing he’s a charmer or his intimate
knowledge of everyone’s credit history might be creepy. Each encounter is a
clear lesson in responsible credit use and the beautifully natural performances
make this a winner.
Plus! For the Early
Arrivals!
How to Make Change
of a Dollar (1950s)
Remember when the price of
things and the value of those coins in your pudgy kindergartener palm were both
a bit of a mystery? Relive those innocent times!
About the Curator
Lynn Cursaro is a local
film blogger. The monthly picture puzzle on the Castro Theatre’s calendar is a
bagatelle of her devising.
About Oddball Films
Oddball films is the film
component of Oddball Film+Video, a stock footage company providing offbeat and
unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Summer
of Love, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web
projects around the world.
Our films are almost
exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation,
commercials, educational films, feature films, movie trailers, medical,
industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively
working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and
ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball
Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most
unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly
offerings of offbeat cinema.