So, this year's festival is winding down.  This is the final full week of programming; there is one more double next Thursday, including an amazing Richard Widmark classic.  Anyone not familiar with Mr. Widmark's career take note, this showing of Night and the City is a great starting off point.  Anyone familiar with his work should come out and pay respects as he passed on March 24th after a lengthy illness...

Last Friday my young Sylvian got a nice earful from unannounced guest speaker James Elroy.  My wife Esther spotted his mug when were eating across the street at Musso & Frank, so we kinda figured he was in the area for Hell's Five Hours & The Night Holds Terror, but we didn't know he'd do a number before the 1st feature.  The always lovely Coleen Grey (who starred in Hell's Five Hours) spoke between the films; she's quite a charmer.  Fortunately she wasn't chastised by Kenneth Anger this time around.  Previously at a showing of Nightmare Alley, Mr. Anger abruptly corrected her from the audience about some detail or another, leaving her a bit befuddled.

Another batch of awesome K-Tel goodies.  Check out the "Body Moves" label underneath the "Dance the Night Away" paste over label.  I wonder if it was just an attempt to up the sales or if "Body Moves" had some legal issues??  My favorite on this page is the Osmonds Kolob / K-Tel deal down in the last row...

Kicked off in 1966 with a compilation of 25 country hits, K-Tel was a major force is the music industry year after year. It was founded by Canuck Philip Kives with money he earned selling Veg-O-Matics and Feather Touch knives he had marketed for Seymour Popeil.  Mr. Popeil's son went on to found Ronco, a company that offered similar products, musical and otherwise.  Specializing in compilation albums and quickie T.V. ads, the company moved some serious units.  With huge series releases such as the "Hooked on" records, the company was a major player in the music industry.  That series charted very high and went as late as '88 with the classic Hooked on House release.

Scary investments in Oil and Real Estate put the company in jeopardy, but regrouping and canny business moves pulled them out.  Expanding into dalliances with that evil siren "the internets," however, has put the company into perilous straits. Time will tell whether or not this prolific bunch will weather the storm...