Balboa Films
Balboa Films
by Jean-Jacques Jura
and Rodney Norman Bardin II
McFarland, 302 pps.,
library binding, $65
ISBN 0-7864-0496-5
[ Buy this book through www.amazon.com ]
Studio histories always make for a fascinating read — especially if they contain an element of mystery, as does the brief and baffling story of the Balboa Amusement Producing Company. Established in Long Beach, California, in 1913, Balboa was America's largest independent studio, and for years remained the only West Coast-based film company that was not merely an outpost to an out-of-state outfit. Herbert M. Horkheimer originally bought the studio from the Edison Company, and, aided by his brother Elwood, quickly updated it into a highly efficient organization. At its peak, the studio consisted of eight downtown acres encompassing 20 buildings, plus an 11-acre outdoor lot located in nearby Signal Hill. With 250 full-time employees, Balboa ranked as the city's largest employer; during productions, the company often doubled its work force. As for the studio facilities, its one glass stage rated as the world's largest, while the film lab had the largest capacity of any west of Chicago.
Under the Horkheimers' supervision, Balboa churned out an enormous number of features, short subjects and serials, releasing them through Fox, Pathé, Paramount, Mutual, General Film, and others. A significant number of the legendary Pathé serials, including several starring Ruth Roland, were actually Balboa productions. The studio's creative talent included William Desmond Taylor, Henry King, Thomas Ince, Lew Cody, Frank Mayo, Fatty Arbuckle, Baby Marie Osborne, Jackie Saunders, Anita King, Texas Guinan, and many more.
The studio's principal cinematographers, ASC fellows William J. Beckway and Joseph Brotherton, were credited with inventing several new techniques for producing in-camera visual effects, and for their use of unusual color-tinting and toning methods. ASC members H. Lyman Broening and Victor Milner, along with George Rizard and George Peters, were some of the other cameramen who at various times helped to make "The Picture Beautiful" (as Balboa's advertising claimed).
Tragically, very few Balboa films now exist. In 1918, the company failed for an ironic reason: in spite of World War I and the great influenza epidemic, the firm produced too many movies for distributors to handle, and many completed productions remained on the shelf as costly liabilities! The studio itself continued to be used by various companies for several years, until its demolition in 1925.
The authors — a college teacher and a talk-show host, both from Long Beach — tell the Balboa tale with enthusiasm. Though their prose sometimes reads a bit like a Chamber of Commerce pamphlet, it fills in as fully as possible a significant gap in cinema history.
Superman on Television
Superman on Television
by Michael Bifulco
Bifulco, 222 pps.,
paper, $24.95
ISBN 0-9619596-3-0
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In 1938, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman for Action Comics, they could hardly have foreseen that their "Man of Steel" would become an American pop-culture icon and infiltrate every entertainment medium. Following in the comic book's wake were spin-off magazines; hardback novels; Paramount cartoons; two 15-chapter Columbia serials; a network radio series; several different TV cartoon series; four big-budget features starring Christopher Reeve; the romantic-comedy TV series Lois and Clark; and a new animated show titled The Batman-Superman Hour. Copies of the original comic book sell at auctions for stratospheric prices, and the end is nowhere in sight.
For alumni of television's so-called "Golden Age," the definitive "Last Son of Krypton" was embodied by George Reeves, who starred in the two-week 1951 quickie theatrical feature Superman and the Mole Men. Its success led into a TV show that eventually encompassed 104 half-hour episodes. What followed were five theatrical features produced for 20th Century Fox, each assembled from three separate TV episodes. Series photography was executed by ASC fellows William Whitley, Clark Ramsey, Harold Stine, Joe Biroc and Harold Wellman. Half of the episodes were filmed in color, but broadcast in black-and-white during the show's original run.
In this photo-filled book, Bifulco has gathered all of the episodes chronologically, provided casts and crew credits, and written excellent synopses for all, including the theatrical features. Other informative writing offers production details and biographical sketches. For lovers of early TV shows, this revised and expanded version of the title's original 1988 edition is essential.
So Far, So Funny:
So Far, So Funny:
My Life in Show Business
by Hal Kanter
McFarland, 320 pps.,
library binding, $35
ISBN 0-7864-0483-3
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Many a showbiz memoir has promised a laugh on every page, and, more often than not, failed to deliver the goods. Hal Kanter's autobiography makes no promises, but prompts several good chuckles on almost every page, as well as some authentic, out-loud laughs. The material sometimes takes the reader into grim territory — deaths, illnesses, and World War II — but the writing is sufficiently adroit to sidestep the "but seriously, ladies and gentlemen" curse.
Kanter is well-known to many cinematographers, not only for his work as a top-notch comedy writer, producer and director, but for his perennial turns as emcee of the annual ASC Gala, held at the Bel Air Country Club in years past. (The comedian was a personal favorite of the event's organizer, Stanley Cortez, ASC.) Kanter's first Hollywood writing job was a $10-per-week gig as a ghost writer for cartoonist Ving Fuller. After varied hirings and firings and an overdose of anonymity, he became increasingly well-established as a radio gag writer. From radio, he emigrated to movies and then television. In relating his media adventures, Kanter offers anecdotes about Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Bob Hope, George Gobel, Don Ameche, Lucille Ball, Don Knotts, Judy Garland, Charles Laughton and a host of others.
Written as expertly as one of his standout scripts, Kanter's recollections provide plenty of good reading
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