Author Archive: Retro

History of America 1917 to 1932. Produced by Fredric Ullman, Jr. ALSO: THE AMERICAN ROAD-A history of the automobile.

Nice Alaska summer scenery and lore, Alaskan people and their tales, and the salmon trade.

A reporter goes to rural New Mexico to write a sensational story about the Penitentes, a secretive group of Spanish Catholics who practice flagellation as part of their religious rites. At the end, he is murdered for intruding and the police beat up likely suspects until one confesses. Bizarre exploitation documentary.

Taglines included: Brutal Africa in the Raw! SEE: Rampaging Beasts Charge Like Tanks! SEE: Parades of Primitive Women, Unashamed! Filmed In The Green Hell of Africa’s Jungles! Hordes of Blood Drinkers! Thundering Attack of Frenzied Rhino! East of the Raging Congo! RAW! REVEALING! The Kingdom of Blood and naked enchantment… primitive unashamed customs, butchering beasts in shocking close-ups!

A film about pygmies from the 1930s.

Primitive tribes chase Giant Gorilla. The expedition that shot this film was sponsored by the French Government and the Museum of Man, for the purpose of making a lasting record of the native tribes in French Equatorial Africa, and the USA had nothing to do with except show the film that was shot by the French expedition, and edited into an exploitation stinker. The expedition members consisted of a group of young French scientists. The resulting film that was taken from the extensive day-to-day footage, was chopped down to about only 68 minutes (USA time) and, while there may be unseen and untold thousands of feet on this film at the Museum of Man, the exploitation-type film that resulted was lots of native nudity, a badly-photographed gorilla hunt and the dissection of animals by the natives. Tagged by the producers as a Documentary (to get by the nudity), it got MPPA approval and code seal [...]

This 60-minute documentary was distributed by legendary entrepreneur Kroger Babb. Hardly a subject worth exploiting in the time-honored Babb tradition, Karamoja was nonetheless promoted as a “shocking” glimpse at the “last lost tribe” of Africa. In truth, it was a fairly sedate filmed record of the isolated Karamoja tribe of the Belgian Congo. Dr. William B. Truetle and his wife managed to earn the confidence of the primitive tribesmen, and were thus allowed to film their customs and habits. And, oh yes, the women of the tribe wear very little, a fact not ignored in Babb’s publicity campaign. Karamoja was released on a double bill with another documentary, Half-Way to Hell.