AV Geeks 16mm Lunch 5-30-2025

Hello everybody. Hello. Hey. U I'm Skip Alzheimer and this is Bill. Yeah. Bill Arian. Hey. Uh and uh we were just doing a podcast for Bill and I noticed what time it was. I was like, "Oh, it's time for our show." Yeah. Uh, and so, uh, Bill and I have been, uh, talking about AV Geeks, where it came from. Uh, and, uh, maybe where it's going. I don't know. We're going to, we're going to conclude our podcast after we do my show. Yeah. Uh, and I asked him like what did he want to do? What did he want to see? And he mentioned the fact of seeing films that are kind of eventually ended up the people that made the films ended up doing stuff in Hollywood. Yeah. Uh and I decided not to do actors. I decided to do people kind of behind the camera. And so we're going to watch two films that were shot by Caleb de Chanel. Yeah. Uh which are actually two of my favorite films. Uh so one of them is Lost Puppy and the other is The Bike. Um, and then we're going to watch a film that was made by Robert Altman for Calvin Films before he decided to start making features. So, the first film we're going to watch is where is it? Oh, I haven't even placed it in I'm all discombobulated today. All right, let's put this here. Do this. So, Bill, tell me a little bit about your uh podcast. Like, what is it that you talk about? So, I I talk to people that took their love of film into some kind of uh project or vocation. I talked to people that write about film, critics and authors. I talk to people that do podcast, people that do home video supplements, people that do film programming festivals. So, u just any kind of project that comes from a love of film. Um not always filmmakers, although I've had some people like Bill Lustig that, you know, made successful feature films. Um, but that's kind of the gist of it. It was originally just a way to celebrate friends that I had that had like little projects and then it's kind of, you know, grew from there. And the name of it is supporting characters, right? And so it really is kind of the people that aren't the the the the main actors or the main, you know, filmmakers. It are people that help perpetuate the culture. Yes. Of of film. And uh and where can people hear it? Um, it's in all the usual podcasters. Uh, now playing network.net net is the is the home base for it, but it's on Spotify and Apple and Amazon and all those other places. Nice. All right, so this first one we're going to watch, you actually got to see. Uh you came all the way down from Delaware. You drove all the way down here and immediately we set up microphones and started doing this. Um so um this first film you did get to see uh Lost Puppy. Uh and this is one of three films that the filmmaker made, not Caleb D Chanel, although he might have shot all three. Yeah. Um, but it's this guy uh George McQuillin I think is his name and he did a lot of work for uh Church Hill Films. Um, and these are the first three that he did and they're easily the most striking. They're really quite amazing because the acting of the kids is so kid-like. Uh, and I don't unfortunately he has passed away but I would love to have talked to him about how he got these performances out of these kids. So, here's Lost Puppy. Enjoy. [Music] [Music] Get away. Lauren. Lauren, is that you? You left the gate open again this morning and the dog got out. I found him in the park. If you want to keep that dog, you're going to have to remember to close the gate. Stay in the house till I come down and stay out of the cookies. All right, I'm leaving now. Remember, I want you to stay right around the house while I'm gone. And if you need anything, you go next door to Mrs. Wright. She knows you're here. Lisa, I'm in a hurry. Talk to you later. Hi. Hi, Melissa. What's that? He's stuck. Where'd you find it? Under a tree. Let me try. Okay. It doesn't work very well. I know. Can you play? No. Po got out this morning. How? I left the gate open. Well, can we play here? Sure, I guess so. Okay. Oh no, I left the gate open. Queso got it again. Peso here. Peso. Peso. Peso. Peso. Where are you? Peso. Queso. Here. [Music] Queso. Queso. Queso. He in there. You're okay. Is he there? No. I think she went to the park. I'm going to go get his sleep. I think you should wait until your mother comes back. You better not go. I'm going. You want to come? No, I have to stay home. He could get run over. You do what you want, but I think you should stay here. Come on. Where I went? Hey, stop. Thank you. Sir, have you seen a dog? What kind of dog? Well, he's brown and white and he has a short tail. I haven't seen a dog like him this afternoon. How'd you lose a dog? The gate got open. Next to the bird. Yeah. Do they like them? Watch this. Let me try. I better go, Mom. Wait a minute. Would you like me uh help you find him? Well, we could take my car. I don't think so. I'm not allowed to ride with strangers. It'd be a lot easier to find them with the car. No, thank you. Thank y'all. Thank y'all. [Music] Hey, here stop. Hey daughter. Hey. Hey. I saw your dog. I stop. There at the backyard. What is he in the backyard? What is he in the backyard? Yeah. Oh, I'm not supposed to go in there. Not supposed to go in the backyard. I know. Heat. Heat. Hey, Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Thanks so Come on, baby. Tastes. Oh, so come back. Come on. Come on. We got to get home fast. And no, it's no time to fool around. Do you remember angry at you? Well, I found him. I still think he shouldn't have gone. Your mother's calling you. Come on. So, um, yeah. So, we talked about this film. While we were watching that, we realized we have to recapulate like what we talked about. So, you just saw a movie last night that had a similar plot. Yeah. Well, it's not a similar plot, but I was just laughing cuz I saw Bring Her Back last night, which also has like someone leaving the door open and pet getting out and like problems ensuing. So, I just like, oh, it's a recurring theme today. But, Right. And you talked about the uh how you wanted something that you wanted there to be a punishment for that. Well, I I I think I just I didn't want there to be a punishment. I just I I think I assumed because you know she's disobeying all these rules that there's going to be some repercussion and you know the fact that it doesn't really pay that off I thought was so interesting because um you know she comes up to the uh the sketchy man in the park and you think oh this is where it's going but she keeps disobeying all the rules. Well I thought it's an educational film there's probably going to be some repercussions and the fact that there isn't I thought was so uh unusual. It's a very kind of ambiguous kind of Yeah. I mean I would say it's super ambiguous. 1969. I mean, there was definitely and you noticed and you you talked about some of the filmmakers you felt like uh influenced like Antony. Yeah. Yeah. So, there's definitely that vibe with films made during that time period where uh the filmmakers are looking directly to the French new wave. They're looking to all the Bergman too with looking out at the the window. I mean, see, it anticipates things that come later with Bergman's color film. So funny to see it in this children's No, exactly. And so there's and then just that whole thing with the bridge where they're Yeah. they're spanning this bridge and they can't communicate and they're yelling at each other and they're both saying what what Yeah. Well, like the isolating environment idea which seems to come from Antonio. I'm like where's like why is this in a children's? No. Exactly. And and uh I got to say like the kids in this film are kids. Yeah. And it really just feels like verite. Like it really feels like they just took that kid's puppy or they opened the gate and the and the dog went out and then they're like, "All right, little girl. Let's follow you as you try to find this this puppy and we'll have these these interactions that take place in between." But yes. Well, do you know why they made it? Like was it was it to create discussion in the classroom? Yeah, totally. This is meant to, and this is one things that adults hate, kids love, but it's these are provocative films that are designed to provoke discussion. And uh you would show this probably in a language arts class, which was an early version of an English class. And what you would do is the teacher, and I don't have a teacher's guide for this, so I can't tell you for sure. Yeah. But based on experience with other ones where I've seen teachers guides, the idea is like, okay, now you have the class either talk about or write a story about the time that they lost a pet or, you know, make up a story about a pet that you lost. Like what would happen? And then you would talk about these all these different things like don't you do you think that that was dangerous? and the class there's so many provocative points in there that the kids latch on to that and that gives them something to discuss. Yeah. Or to draw or they create a play that just you know that this is a launching off point for a a day of discussion about every the aspects of what are in there. And so it's not like a hamfisted Sid Davis film because the Sid Davis films certainly talk about all these things about the dangers of talking to strangers. Uh the dangers of going to places you're not supposed to go. Uh and the film is pointing those things out. Yeah. But we're not seeing any punishment. But it's not it's not even like it's still even unclear if that guy is dangerous. It's just it's just we just know because what she's taught like you know don't get in the car with stranger which is you know what you want to teach a kid in that in situation but it's you know it isn't really like they pay off any of the rules that she doesn't follow as as far as like some kind of cautionary tale. It's just a slice of life that has this sense of suspense because of you know just her breaking these rules perpetually from the beginning to the end. No, it's it's great. And so the next film is uh is one of my favorites. Uh and I have so many films about bikes and almost all of them are bike safety films, but this one isn't it's it's not a bike safety film. In fact, I would say that it shows some flagrantly bad decisions related to bikes. Uh and the kids are just awesome in this. So this is the bike. Enjoy. Hey, where did you get that bike? For my birthday. Can I ride it? No. What about next? Going to leave soon. Did you put my brown hat in the car? Yeah. Don't say yeah. Yeah. Your mother has something for you to carry out. All right. That was a neat one. It Mom, my father said nobody could. Get off my fence. You're going to break it. I don't I'm not going to break it. Well, you better get off before you do. Boy, who wants to ride that big old bike? Hey, Pete. Do you want to go to the park, Keith? I can't. My bike's broken. Did you see Steve's new bike? Yeah. Want to go see it again? Okay. Is anybody home? I don't think so. Where'd they go? Swimming. It's a cool bike. Yeah. Want to go over the fence? Okay. If we're going to look at it. Yeah. Yeah, it goes up to goes up to three. Yeah, it's a neat bike. Hey, if you ride the bike, we can go to the park. Come on, Keys. I won't be your friend anymore. We better not. Bye-bye. Come late. Why not? I come to mine. He will. How do you know? I just But I'm still thinking we don't. Keith, come on. Please. Well, okay. Promise me something. It could break your thoughts. [Music] Daddy, you know, new bikes don't break. Oh, yes. SP [Applause] [Music] These are good popsicles. Yeah. Every time I'm going to get these. Me, too. I get to ride the bike back. Uh-uh. Oh, come on, Keith. I'll take care of it. Uh-uh. I'm going to ride it. Me? Me? You told me I could. I'm going to tell Steve on you. How could you? Yeah, he told me to ride it. Oh, come on. Please. Well, okay. But you have to take care of it. Okay. We go now. Didn't I tell you take care of it? Well, yeah. Not ours. I know that. Hey, look. You made my bicycle drop. Oh, shut up. Oh my god. Oh, this busted. So the brick. I look at the horn. How about in the ship shift too here? Look at the horn now. It's all busted. See, he wish that rubber thing was on. You split it and went that now. And look, the sticks won't work. Oh, this is what I'm doing. Only two bike holds fast. Let's get off and try to fix it. The eye house is very far. Okay, we'll just walk with it. Shall we fix it? We have to take it to my garage. You got a wrench? Yeah, but you have to help me. You the one who broke it. It's not my fault. You took it. There's a big scratch on the front end. Daddy, stop going around. You have to hurry. Come on. I want to blow bubbles. Come on. Does the horn work? No. I can't get to work. We better get the bike back right now. desperate. Okay, we'll see. Good out of the way. Oh, okay. Let's get out. No, not the front wheel. It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be back. No, it's supposed to go up here. No, while we take this home. I know you're going to tell. I think you should tell, right? You're the one who told me to be. Huh? No, you're going to tell. Why should I do? Because you told me to bring it. It's your fault now. No one's going to get in trouble, aren't we? Who are you? No, I'm not. I'm sure. Hey, Bobby, get out of here. Get out of here, Bob. Hurry up. Are you going to really tell key? No, I'm not even going to tell. You should tell. Not yet. And who is can't tell? You. Not me. Yes, you are. Can't make me. I won't be your friend. Hi key. Look at me. Hey, Keith. Steve's down there. I better go home and eat my dinner. I know what you're going to do, too. Yes, you are. Go ahead. I'm going to watch you. And you better not either. Hey Keith, come on. I want to talk to you. Hey Keith, come on. Don't tell Yeah. So, uh what do you think of that one? I loved it. I loved it. These are great. These are How How did you come upon these films? they were part of uh some school systems and I was like the bike huh what is this and watched it and was floored because it captures I mean the number of times that I had conversations like this with friends where we're just like messing around like on a swing set or like you know like just doing kids stuff like all of the activities those kids were doing while they're having this kind of serious discussion about the moral al implications of what had just happened is it totally resonated with me. I'm like that's me up on the screen. Uh and um to capture that that pacing and just kind of there is this dilemma of like what would the kid is the kid going to tell on him or not? uh which we didn't get with uh Lost Puppy, but it definitely is this like this is something you propose to kids and you say like, "All right, would you tell?" And then the kids would like chime in about it and talk about all the aspects of it, but it's it's so good. Plus, they made that kid wreck his bike. I know. I know. And no stunt. It looks very painful. And that I know that that's I'm guessing that was integral to the plot. So he had to wreck his bike at some point. And so I don't know how that played out, but that kid that kid took one for the film. He did totally take one for the art. Yeah. Yeah. No, it was beautiful. And and again like all shot like the magic hour of cinematography. It's like Terrence Malik after school special. Yeah. Exactly. And we think we were talking I think uh Caleb D Chanel went to USC. Yeah. uh and probably was went was like a student with George Lucas and all those people. Yeah. Uh you were talking about some of uh Caleb's early work. Uh he did stuff for Zoatrope, right? Yeah. Well, Black Black Stallion and more American Graffiti and then he also directed The Escape Artist, I think. And Okay. So, yeah. He's definitely affiliated with that Copela Lucas Contingent. Yeah. and he was credited in um THX1138 which was an early uh Zotrope film. But uh man, yeah, I mean there was writer directed three episodes of Twin Peaks. So there you go. Yeah. So he uh definitely there's these choices that were made in how the film was shot that were really quite something. Well, even like the way they used the zoom like the documentary like way that they photographed things. I mean, it's not just great lighting, but it's also feels like Yeah. like capture slice of life like same same with Lost Puppy like they don't feel like actors they feel like real children that are right in the situation. Yeah. And so I don't know again I would love to have known like how that process works like how do you get kids to respond in a way that it sounds like they are you know that they're experiencing it. Like I mean I have so many examples of really poor uh kid actors who just they have lines and they just do not hit those lines at all. And so this is obviously some sort of improvisational thing. Yeah. Uh and you feel like those kids stole that bike and then wrecked it and now are trying to figure out what they're going to do. Yeah. Well, I mean that style like I mean even in the first film like uh like when she's telling the the uh the man that she can't get in the car. Um like she trips over the lines a little bit, but like a kid would potentially stumble over those lines in real life. And I feel like it just makes it realistic. It doesn't feel like a flaw in the acting. It feels like that's how kids talk. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And so, um man, I I just I feel like uh that these they they were certainly shown to kids. I mean the the films are spicey and beat to hell which means that teachers did show them. Um but you know the kids like like that type of of film making you just don't see in a cornet film. You don't see it in an encyclopedia bratannica film like these are like pretty amazing. Well, did you see that like across the board like at this time in in in in educational films that the style is always changing that obviously or is this a real outlier? Well, so yeah, like like late so this was ' 69 and so a lot of films from the late60s are young filmmakers. Yeah. who are being influent. They went to film school like films prior to that time from the 50s early 60s. Those were people that mostly didn't go to film school. They learned how to shoot in the army like they went to Army Signal Corps. They learned how to shoot that way or they learned from a production environment standpoint and they just cranked out like Coronet Encyclopedia Britannica just cranked out films. Yeah. and they had little to no tolerance for any type of improvisation. Everything was heavily scripted, heavily edited and this uh has a different vibe. And there's other films from that time period that have a different vibe. So last week uh I had an interview with a filmmaker John Alman who who worked on this series for public television called Inside Out and he talked about being very much influenced by uh European filmmakers in doing some of the films that he wrote and they have a similar feel. Okay. So those were 72. So yes there was a lot of films where it was exploring emotional stuff. They were open-ended. Uh it was all about exploring with teachers in a classroom setting. Yeah. And less about the you know highly regimented we're going to introduce this concept. We're going to talk about this concept then we're going to sum up at the end what we've learned in this film. Uh this is not that at all. Yeah. And even with films that were dealing with social guidance or emotional things had that same formula because that's how this these were like factory produced films like Cornet was at their high point they were cranking out two films a week. Yeah. Which is outrageous but they you know they were making money that this is how they knew how to do it. And so you see that when you do a comparison to a film like this which is got so much more depth and humanity to it. I mean it doesn't have again a clear message. It's not punishing the characters. We don't see them get punished. Yeah. Um so it's more about exploration of you know what should they do? What are they feeling? How is that you know and then in the 80s that all disappeared again. Yeah. It was all about we're going to tell you what you're going to feel and how you're going to feel and how it's going to be. Yeah. Well, what you were saying earlier about it could be a prompt in a creative writing kind of environment for kids, that also feels like, oh, that would make sense that they this could inspire kids to Yeah. like what what's fill in the blanks because there's a lot of ellipses here. Yeah. And so there's so Encyclopedia Bratannica did do a series called Magic Moments which were these short films which set up these provocative situations that talk about these things. Then there's one called What If? which basically shows it's a a series of like I think six different short vignettes about things that happen and then you're supposed to fill in what what happens next. And some of them deal with moral stuff, but a lot of it is just like what do you think's going to happen next? And some of them are kind of fantasy related. But all these films were meant to to be provocative to to little kids' brains to get them excited about stuff. Yeah. Um, and you didn't see that in the '8s at all. All right. So, uh, one last film, and this one, uh, we're going to Robert Altman. Yeah. What's interesting is I feel like the two films we saw before could be Alman films. Yeah. This feels less like, uh, you know, I those films were closer to Mabe, Mrs. Miller than what we're about to watch. Yeah. Exactly. So, Robert Alman was cutting his teeth uh at uh Calvin Films. Yeah. and which they made a lot of industrial films of which we've shown here on the channel. And uh so that that's how some filmmakers kind of came to this is they went to some place where they learned how to make films either in film school or in the military. Then they got jobs for television stations or uh doing industrial films. George Romero for example. Yes. uh did a lot of these and I actually uh through Oregon archive I found I had some uh or they had some uh George Romero films that he did about sports stars like he did this whole series of interviews with sports stars. Yeah. Um, unfortunately they didn't have soundtracks, so I'm not really going to show them on here. I I worked on a a Romero box set years ago and they were going to put some of his industrials on there and this right before Romero passed away and he actually was the one that stopped them from including it because he felt it was like a separate thing than his theatrical work and he really didn't want it kind of combined. Man, filmmakers I I mean that's what I think is unfortunate is that when a filmmaker is like, "No, I don't want you to see my early stuff." I'm like, "No, dude. We want to know your early stuff. We want to know we want to see that early stuff because we can you maybe you can't, but we can extrapolate." Yeah. Wow. That's that's the eye that you had when you were doing this paid work versus when you were doing your own kind of vision. Like I think that's important and filmmakers oftentimes don't want you to see that. Yeah. Well, was it Herk Harvey uh who made Carnival of Souls? I forget. Did they put some of his industrials? They did. They did. And I think he had passed by the time they actually released it on Criterion, but yeah, he worked he did made hundreds of films for uh Centron. Centron. Yeah. And uh you know, I guess he said like when he was at like some film market place, people are like, "Well, have you made other films?" He's like, "Yeah, I've made hundreds of films." Yeah. And they're like, "What are you talking about?" He's like, "Well, classroom films." Uh, and you can see some of his work in the classroom films. Centron is the one educational film company that I feel like has heart. Uh, where they weren't cranking out like a factory. They really were kind of in some cases really thinking about the the theatrical part of it, the cinematic part of it, but also the emotional part of the the people in the films. Yeah. Uh, and you know, so he did Shake Hands with Danger, which when they made it, they got who their audience was and made a film that is still being shown today. Yeah. Like 45 years later. Um, okay. So, this last film is Magic Bond. And this is one of the films he made before he made his first feature, which was Hell's Poppin. What was it? The Delinquents. The Delinquents, right? Yeah. Yeah. And then he kind of just kept going from there. Yeah. I'm trying to think where this falls in relation to combat because that was the first thing I thought of the TV show. Yeah. I mean, you know, that's that's the thing is you build your resume and you're like, "Hey, I worked for this company and we made all these films so I know how to to have a follow a budget." He applied his trade in Hollywood writing screenplays. He wrote a film called The Bodyguard with Lawrence Tierney. Like he was trying to break into Hollywood, couldn't couldn't catch a break, and then came back and then this is the next step. Right. Right. Okay. So, here's Magic Bond. And I think this is a film about veterans or something related to veterans. But uh yeah, VFW. Yeah. All right. Enjoy. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Okay, turn the big [Applause] [Music] ide with face up against some cow side in Minnesota and all of a sudden he's a military pus Dwight D. Olen. I told him I told him, "What are you waiting for? Go on. Go on, you dumb. You dumb sweet." I told him that. See, he's got to be old Monty himself, don't he? Yeah. too good to take orders from some old sergeant. So you got to stick around and get himself. Look, SGE, we got the gun position. Yeah, we was really bobbing and weaving in there. The old fast break just like a welloiled machine. I'll save it, coach. Save it the Northeast Iowa conference after the war. Look, look, we know how you feel, Spence. We all yell, too. What are you going to do about a guy like that? Yeah. Yeah. What did you yell at him? Be a hero, Olen. Save the good old Sarge. Huh? Where's Olen? Where's Olen? He ought to be here. He ought to be drinking that wine. He ought to be over in the corner writing that letter to that girl is that what's her name? No girl. Yeah. Yeah. That that held up and whatever the name of that dumb Swede town is all about the cows they was going to own. And the war bonds they were saving. Yeah. And keep a lookout for a for a barn. A good tight barn to keep the cattle dry. Olson ain't sleeping very dry tonight, is he? Did you bring him in? Not yet, Spence. We couldn't get to him yet. He ought to be here. If he was here, we'd be out there in his place. SGE, so what? What got into him anyway? Why'd he come after me like that? I told him. I told him, "Go on. Go on." We had your boat covered. We thought he'd get you back over that red. Yeah, you guys. You guys. You thought. Yeah. Well, I thought, too. I thought I had me a squad. The best damn squad in the army. How long we've been together anyway? North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and now this. A lot of fights and a lot of fun. Yeah. Remember that town in Italy? That little old place on the side of the mountain. Farmer there. Yeah, that uh that old man with the five mother cave full of I thought I had me a squad, but all I got is a bunch of a bunch of dumb crummy friends who think they all got to be heroes. And the best one of them all is lying outside there on a hill with a name nobody can pronounce. A hell of a long ways from Minnesota. Hey, the papers ever say anything about this how it is down here when there ain't much to a war except mud and dirt. [Applause] [Music] bat and a guy's friends. Friends, he says one crummy pulled in a leg in a guy's psycho. Yeah, Galuchcci. First nice word he said since he got the last stripe. Yeah, boy. I tell you that's the last [Music] [Music] Did any of it get in the papers about a kind of magic I call comradeship? I don't know. But as a war correspondent, which is a fancy name for a reporter whose beat is the battlefield instead of the courthouse or the police station, as a war correspondent, I tried to write about it back there during the Second World War. A lot of us tried. Bunch of nice guys named Ernie Pile and Jack Singer and many others died trying. But all of us saw it there and later on in Korea. This magic I'm talking about. Anybody who's ever been close to American soldiers fighting overseas has felt it. I saw it that night in 1944 in the rubble of a farmhouse somewhere in Europe. A kind of bond that tied together a bunch of guys and made them into a fighting unit. The magic of comradeship among a New York cop, a high school coach from Iowa, an insurance salesman from California, a Texas habardasher, and a dairy farmer from [Music] Minnesota. Is magic too strong a word? Well, I don't think so. And I've seen it at work aboard ships of the Navy and in the cramped quarters of a bomber. I've seen it in remote and lonely spots of the Earth where the enemies are monotony and boredom. I saw it in World War II and I saw it in Korea. I know men who have told me about it in the First World War and the SpanishAmerican War. They held me spellbound with their stories when I was a kid. The magic of comradeship. I suppose it takes all sorts of magic to win a war. The magic of [Music] production. The magic of technical [Music] skills, the magic of [Music] leadership, the magic of comradeship. And every time I saw it in battle, it seemed to me it would be a tragic thing if we lost it when the war ended. In fact, I used to wonder what would happen to these men after the war. Where would they go? Oh, I suppose the lucky ones would go back to their hometowns and their jobs and wives and girls and pick things up just as before. And in a way that was wonderful. But also in a way, it would be too bad. Too bad if the magic of comradeship which had conquered Hitler and Mussolini and Hiita were to be lost to us forever. For there would, I knew be enemies that had to be fought in time of peace as well as war. I guess it's a question that has nagged at the minds of a lot of guys. Where did it all go? What happened to the unity? That feeling of belonging to a team, of standing up to the enemy alongside a guy who would oh, he'd bum your last cigarette, swipe your girl, brag about Texas or Brooklyn or Hannibal, Missouri, crack lousy jokes, whistle off key, and save your [Music] life. Well, I've been on the trail of an answer, and I think I found it. The magic of comradeship is still working in this country of ours. Still fighting her enemies. Enemies which are doubly dangerous because they are subtle and intangible and hard to identify. The trail started for me on a street corner not far from this office. Wasn't an unusual thing for New York City. A parade. But what a parade. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Well, I guess everyone loves parades, but this one particularly gave me a kick because of its timing. Here, the veterans of foreign wars had taken Mayday, which the commies had been trying for years to make their own special holiday, and turned it into the exact opposite, a loyalty day on which Americans of every kind stepped out to the music of a band to to show their love for the kind of freedom we have. It seemed to me that there was one way the VFW had applied the magic of comradeship in peace time by calmly bouncing the communists out of their favorite propaganda spot. But parades alone don't beat enemies. And I thought of some of the enemies we have in America today. The enemy of juvenile delinquency weakening the fabric of our society, eroding our most precious resource, our young men and women. [Music] Hey, ugly daddy. [Music] Guys, let's go. Come on. [Music] The enemy of apathy toward our political problems. Leaving the door open for the gra, the crook, the incompetent, the enemy of neglect of our veterans, which undercuts the pride with which young men wear the uniform of their country. This is the cruel enemy which keeps disabled veterans from proving that they can fill useful jobs in business and industry. Neglect that punishes children because their fathers serve their country. The enemy of smuggness which lets our national defenses dwindle away, which discourages young Americans from seeking careers in our armed forces, which weakens our reserve components in our national guard. Those are the enemies. The enemies within America, eating away at our national strength, weakening our resistance to communism. How, I wondered, could the magic of comradeship that won fighting wars be brought to bear against these enemies? What is the VFW doing to fight these enemies? The enemy of juvenile delinquency. Well, the National Marble Tournament is one of the ways. Boys from every state in the union, from every walk of life, gather together to test their hard-earned skills in the healthy, open competition that is the heritage of every American youth. And VFW posts throughout the country carry on thousands of projects to provide such recreational opportunities. The marble tournament, because it is unique, is perhaps the best known. It's serious business, but it's fun, too. No room here for pompous statements about combating juvenile delinquency, but that's the inevitable byproduct of the fun. And the same thing goes for the baseball team sponsored by BFW posts for boys in the teenage class. To them, the national tournament is just as important as any World [Applause] Series. And from these teams may come the big leaguers of tomorrow. Boys stay out of trouble when they're trying to improve their batting averages. Who doesn't thrill to the music of a drum and bugle core or a brass band whether in a parade or competition? And the music is somehow sweeter when it's being made by boys and girls who are learning to express themselves in worthwhile [Music] ways. Boy Scout troops, youth clubs, all these and scores of other projects sponsored or inspired by the VFW prove that the magic of comradeship can work to provide America with a happy, vigorous generation of youngsters. to keep America strong, to guard against the decay of delinquency. You know, next I wondered how about the enemy of apathy, that don't care attitude of the citizen who, oh, he can't be bothered to vote, who falls into the trap of figuring ah, what's the use? What can one man do? One man, an individual citizen, can do much in our republic, but he can do far more when he applies the magic of comradeship by associating himself with others to achieve his goals. The Veterans of Foreign Wars is non-political. Its members belong to all parties, but it realizes that democracy can function only when the voters make their opinions felt at the poll. able voter is registered, gets out to vote on election day. This is an asset to any community. But a swimming pool like this doesn't just happen. It's the product of work and planning, weeks and months of planning. And in town after town, you'll find the VFW behind swimming pools, playgrounds, new schools. Helping a community's dreams come true is part of the magic of comradeship. one of the weapons with which it fights the enemy of citizen ape. My answer was beginning to take shape now. I could see how the VFW was making its contribution to the battle against our peaceime enemies. But one of the most insidious enemies was still unaccounted for. The enemy of neglect of our men who have served their country. Just cuz I got unlucky and got a hand blown off doesn't mean I think the world owes me a living. But when the VFW post helped me land this job without me even asking. Well, that's something. Maybe cuz the guys are all overseas vets themselves. Helps them understand the problems of a guy like me. I figure helping a guy to be well self-supporting is much different than pulling a guy out of the line of fire in the war. Anyway, shows they haven't forgotten. I'm glad I'm a member of EFW. Wait a second. I'm the service officer of our post and what that vet has said is true, but it goes beyond that. We figure that anybody with an honorable discharge has earned the right to get help whenever he needs it. Now, say a man is disabled. Well, we'll help him prove if it was service incurred or not. And even if it wasn't service incurred, we'll work with the VA to get him taken care of. Or maybe it's financial aid he needs. Well, that's what our relief fund is for. You see, when a veteran's in trouble through no fault of his own, our idea is to do whatever has to be done to get him and his family back on their feet. Men in veterans hospitals know the VFW and the ladies of its auxiliary as good friends, always at hand to brighten the long days of convolescence. The VFW is there to give aid to the families of these men, to show in a thousand ways, little and big, that America does not forget those who have sacrificed for her. It keeps an experienced eye on legislation that affects the rights of disabled veterans. If one thing symbolizes the VFW's continuing comradeship with the disabled vet, it is the Buddy Poppy, proudly made by hands that have fought for their country. Proudly and gratefully worn by Americans everywhere. The money raised by the Buddy Poppy sales is used by VFW post for assistance to needy or disabled veterans or their families. Part of the Buddy Poppy funds go to a project particularly close to the hearts of the members of the VFW. The VFW National Home at Eaten Rapids, Michigan, where children whose fathers are dead or totally disabled find a home. [Music] The magic of comradeship fights the enemy of neglect. For the national home is more than just a modern institution providing the children with the finest in physical care, education and recreation. [Music] It is a real home where these children from every corner of the United States are integrated into a normal family life. [Music] Come Lord Jesus, be our guest, our morning joy, our evening rest. And with this daily bread bred in part, strength and love to every heart. Amen. This is one other way the VFW can pay a small part of the country's debt to those comrades who have given their lives on the battlefield. On this, the VFW creed is based. Honor the dead by helping the living. And what about the final enemy? That smuggness that could let our defenses crumble, thus inviting the horrors of another war. I learned that the VFW's attack on this enemy is as varied as the complexity of the problem requires. An America that is strong in the weapons of war and strong in the moral fiber of its citizens has always been the goal of the BFW. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So something as simple as this, encouraging observance of our patriotic holidays is a part of the VFW's fight against our enemies. So is something as complicated as working to inform the public on the necessity of maintaining our armed forces enlisting support for intelligent defense legislation. It can be something as friendly as running a canteen for servicemen or as grim as the continuing battle to expose and bring to trial those who seek to overthrow our government. as long hours of civil defense work or as thrilling as a drum and bugle corps. But whatever the work, it's part of the contribution being made by the veterans of foreign wars in the battle against the unseen enemies of our country. It's part of an unending battle begun by a handful of veterans of the Spanishamean War. carried on by the doough boys of World War [Music] I and the millions of American fighting men of World War II and of the Korean campaign. It's based on the conception that men who have served under arms on foreign duty can and must band together to help their comrades, their country, and their communities. In great cities and small towns throughout America, the BFW Post stands for all that is best in fellowship and service. To these posts, reporter Bob Considine turned to seek an answer to his question. He saw the BFW at work and at play. For fun that is shared is as vital a part of comradeship as is the sharing of work. VFW families have brought into the magic bond through social activities as well as through community service. And just in passing, we might well wonder how long this nation's unseen enemies could survive if all American families had this sort of fun together. Well, that's a little of what I saw when I started digging into the BFW story. I'm not through yet, but I've gone far enough to learn this much. The answers to my questions are, well, they're just about what I should have expected back there in World War II. When I saw the things that comradeship could accomplish, I should have known that anything as vigorous as that was in wartime certainly wouldn't die just because the guns fell silent. I should have known this magic bond we call comradeship would just have to go on as strong as ever. Oh, most of the faces I've seen back home here are different. But I know them. I've seen them before. In the presence of Almighty God. In the presence of Almighty God. And the members of this order here assembled. and the members of this order here assembled. I I do of my own free will and accord do of my own free will and accord solemnly promise and declare them. Promise and declare that I've seen them. I've known them overseas. Their names may be different. They may even be a different generation from the guys I wrote about because the VFW has its roots buried deep in the history of our wars. But they're the faces of men who mean it when they sayare allegiance to the government of the United States of America. And I will always be loyal there too. Whoever they are, wherever they are, I know them and their devotion to their country and to each other. I promise and pledge always. I promise and pledge upon the honor of a true Congress upon the honor of a true and a citizen of our great republic. and a citizen of our great republic. This is one reporter's opinion, but I think you can bank on it. The men who belong to the veterans of foreign wars are going to see to it that the magic bond of comradeship that has carried America to victory on the battlefield will continue to keep her strong and prosperous in time of peace. Tender ties formed amid deprivations and dangers of war be drawn closer by our fellowship. [Laughter] [Music] All right. So, we're running a little bit over with our show and we have to continue our podcast. Um, so what were some things that you you noticed uh early on about Altman's career and some similarities to what you saw here with other things that he had done? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think he does the delinquents where there's a little bit of a juvenile delinquent kind of uh sequence in this and then I mean he uh like one of his signature creative efforts at the beginning of his career was Combat the television show and there's the wartime bonding of course at the opening of this but um I mean it it certainly anticipates things I guess in a way anticipates MASH but I mean I think that it's it's really feels more like drawn from his own experiences as a as a Korean War vet himself But um you can see the camera kind of not being as aggressively zoomy as like his own later stuff. That kind of pushes it a little bit. You have the overlapping dialogue. Yeah, the over dialogue. He's trying to make he's trying to make it his own as much as he can. Even though that patriotism and piety kind of feels like very much, you know, different from what you might associate with the kind of more smartassy kind of attitude of 70s old. Yeah. And I did notice that beginning scene with all the soldiers. One of the soldiers shows up in a bunch of Calvin uh films, management films made for Alcoa. He he is a manager who is trying to figure out what to do uh with the women in his office. Uh so he he did have a part in there and there's probably some other Calvin stock people that show up, but uh no no Michael Murphy in this. Yeah. No. Um well, thanks so much uh Bill. Uh again, remind people uh where they can find your podcast and the name of it. Yeah. Supporting characters. It's been on hiatus for a couple years. So, um, you know, it's coming back this fall. I'm recording new interviews, uh, you know, for that now, but you can find it at nowplaynetwork.net or, you know, Spotify. Yeah, I saw that Spotify had it. So, that's that's a great place to find it. Most places that stream podcast, you can find it. Well, I appreciate you coming down here and um, we're So, you know, when do you think my episode will be? This fall. This fall. All right. And there'll be a whole series of of them. So, awesome. Um, thanks everybody for tuning in. Thank you for the donations via uh the super thanks. Uh, everybody have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday everybody. Uh, take care. Thank you.