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The Bootleg Files: The Weird Adventures of Mutt & Jeff and Bugoff

BOOTLEG FILES 845: “The Weird Adventures of Mutt & Jeff and Bugoff” (1973 animated feature).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Archive.org.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:
None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The rights holder will not make it available.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

Leo Tolstoy’s opened his novel Anna Karenina with the extraordinary observation: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” A similar consideration can be applied to movies: “Good movies are all alike; every bad movie is bad in its own way.”
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Western Wednesdays – Tom Mix: Sky High / The Big Diamond Robbery [Blu-ray/DVD]

If you were to mention the name Tom Mix to most people in the 21st century, they would no doubt look upon you in a serious state of confusion, however Mix was one of the most popular and enduring screen personalities of the silent era and helped define the western as we know it today. Mix, who performed most of his own stunts atop his loyal steed Tony, established many of the tropes and cliches that we have become familiar with when we think of the classic westerns including the trope of the hero wearing the white hat and the villains usually wearing black.
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Western Wednesdays: The Show Down (1921)

SYNOPSIS:
Orphan Betty Gray’s [Marcella Pershing] inheritance is taken by her greedy guardian Gunnison [Ed Burns], who increasingly profits off his ill-gotten gains. Gunnison hears that “Snapper” Walton [Art Acord], a man whom Betty fancies, aims to do away with him and confides in Betty that Walton is untrustworthy. Walton, on his way out of town, attempts to bid farewell to Betty, but she won’t have anything to do with him.

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Move Over, ‘Batgirl’! 10 Notorious Films That Got Shelved By Hollywood

The decision by Warner Bros. Discovery to shelve its feature film “Batgirl” (with a budget somewhere in the $70 million to $100 million-plus range) caught both film industry professionals and casual movie lovers by surprise. Yet there is a precedent in Hollywood for creating a major film release and then yanking it from a release schedule.

For your consideration, here are 10 examples of Hollywood films that got the “Batgirl” treatment.
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The Bootleg Files: Hollywood

BOOTLEG FILES 733: “Hollywood” (1980 British television documentary series).

LAST SEEN:
On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On VHS and LaserDisc.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Difficulties in clearing the rights to the films in the series resulted in its absence from DVD and Blu-ray.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe someday it will occur.

One of the most impressive documentaries on film history was Kevin Brownlow and David Gill’s “Hollywood,” which was produced by Britain’s Thames Television for broadcast on ITV. Spanning 13 50-minute episodes, the series included interviews with many of the on-screen and behind-the-camera talent who were active in film production before the coming of the talkies.
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The Bootleg Files: Down Memory Lane

BOOTLEG FILES 727: “Down Memory Lane” (1949 compilation film of Mack Sennett comedy shorts).

LAST SEEN: In a truncated form on YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

By the late 1940s, silent movies had mostly disappeared from public viewing. Some Charlie Chaplin shorts occasionally turned up in kiddie matinees and museums and film societies would sometimes dust off an old print for one-time screenings. But for the most part, the films created prior to rise of “The Jazz Singer” were rarely on the big screen.
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