AV Geeks 16mm Lunch 8-4-2025

Hello everybody. This is Skip Alzheimer. Welcome to the AV Geeks Lunchtime streaming show where we watch old 16 millimeter films and uh occasionally have to reboot uh our Macs uh computers because they are misbehaving. So, um, hope everybody had a great weekend. I got a haircut, much needed haircut. Um, so there you go. Uh, so I showed this film in 2021, but uh, it's it's time to watch it again. And so this was made by Ralph Forsberg, who uh, made a film that traumatized me as a child. Uh, permanently damaged my psyche. Uh I later met him and reconciled with him. Uh he made a lot of really whacked out religious films uh Christian films and um this one is not strictly Christian but it definitely kind of brings up a lot of the similar uh themes that he has in his other films. It's called King of the Hill. Enjoy. [Music] There are so many perfect forms from the one mind of nature. There are so many shape life sharing each other's differences. So many ways to grow tall in the same sunlight. [Music] papa papa papa papa. This is a place of many tiny seeds of different kinds colors which together have grown to form the forest. This is the unspoiled planet earth to which with all our wild hearts we long to return ourselves. the sea. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] A corn field is very unlike the forest. It's too simple. Each stalk is like every other stalk. Anything different is weeded out. A corn field can belong only to a man like me. [Applause] with a big one. There we go. [Applause] As a man child, I came into the world with a choice. I could grow up like the forest or the cornfield. >> I am king of the hill. Wherever I am, whatever I do, there is only a me, never a you. Or if there's a you who exists at all, you only exist to slide down and fall. Then I, the king, will move in for the kill and thrust you down from the top of my hill. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Being the only one on top of the Bill is not always fun. Not always. >> Then one day, searching for my true face, I was confronted by my own shadow. [Music] I'll be king in a world of faces in which it's fun to play. They're with me when I want them through every lonely day. And when I make a face at one, the face comes back in kind. Because no matter what it shape, the face is always mine. With this view of myself, I spun into the world as the hub of my own wheel of fortune. [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Why are there other molds of men like crab grass? pass in the lawn. Why other colors, races, creeds who'd put me in the wrong? Cuz if you're seeking out a model of what you ought to be, then polish up your glasses and take a look at me. So I was king of the hill, reigning over a multitude of scarecrow subjects, all made in my own image. [Music] I don't care. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey. [Music] Being the only one is not always fun. Not always. Out goat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Aha. Huh? [Music] Finally, I learned that every manchild must grow up to see his true face reflected in the many faces of mankind. [Music] So I came to realize that we're not a one crop humanity after all. Rather, we're the sons of different tribes celebrating the one life together. Each doing his own step to one overall rhythm. [Music] Can it work? After so many centuries of bitter memories of each other, can we really learn to share the same land and sing the same tune, each in his own voice? Can it? Will it work? Or do too many of us still want to be king of the hill. [Music] [Music] I am king of the hill. Wherever I am, whatever I do, there is only a me, never a you. Or if there's a you who exists at all, you only exist to slide down and fall. Then I, the king, will move in for the kill and thrust you down from the top of my hill. [Music] So, um, here's the I have the case right here. Let's see if I can open this up. Right here. I got this copy from South Carolina and I didn't really know this film existed. Um I I love Ralph Worsburg uh and have shown many films from his uh work uh his filmography uh and um I've been finding other ones that he did uh including a venerial disease one called casualties casualt uh ties uh but this one I didn't know and So, here's a promo sheet for it. And then there is a teachers guide. Here is a a personal notes by the writer and director. I'll read these. Anciently, community was often expressed in terms of sameness. An individual belonged to the same tight little village built on prefab fabricated attitudes. And in such a belonging there was much restriction as support. In our era of TV and the computer and space travel, of crumbling identities and of cloning, each human community must evolve in terms of its diversity. If we're not to perish as a people, we need true communities of individuals and not carbon copies. Perhaps it's only childish for an individual to want his life to be one long ego trip as king of the hill. If so, it's the kind of childishness that keeps us from reaching the plateau of adult realities. Perhaps it's only self-centeredness that prompts an individual to acknowledge human rights in terms of his race only, worth in terms of his values only, and common sense in terms of his rationalizations. If so, this is the kind of self-centeredness that can spread out into community as a cancer. Look about you. If every family within the square mile of you uh where you dwell is lily white or black but beautiful or whatever, it earns roughly the same year yearly income and is unanimously of the opinion that dandeline weeds are unnecessarily undesirable. You are in danger of living out your life as a caricature. Wow. This is He's He's mad. I really, this is really interesting. Both abundance and deprivation can create this crippling state. People of the well-healed suburb have a limited lookalike existence based on affluence. People of the inner city slum have a limited lookalike existence based on poverty. Both kinds of places, the affluent and the povertystricken, the superficiality, educated and the profoundly ignorant, thrive on community as to race, to values, to suspicions and hatreds. They are not communities at all. They are ghettos, ghettos of the mind. In this electronic era, and this was in the 70s, uh community must be more than an ideological notion of mankind at large. the kind of mankind at large. We profess to love whilst we still hate people. In it, a man's child's loyalties must transcend race and generation and mom's apple pie. In it, human beings must be able to grow as individuals at the same time as they grow as organic parts of the community. And the community has been capitalized throughout. Wow. So, I don't know if that helped you process what you just saw. So, I wanted to show you another film which was uh growing up. Yeah. Yeah. Here it is. It's uh growing up bodies, feelings, behavior. And uh I started watching it and I realized oh this is an EC Brown trust film. EC Brown Trust did a lot of uh early well I would say probably post-war 20th century work uh with sex education uh for kids did some amazing films human human growth there's a whole v variation on those and there's some other films and this one has a live birth in it because I was I was watching the beginning of it I was like hm there's an illustration of kids growing up and they are naked naked and they're just illustrations, but I'm like, I don't know. And then I kept scrolling through. There it is. There is a baby being born. Uh, so I was like, yeah, that might be too much for uh YouTube. So, why was that last film made? Maybe this film, the reason why we'll explain it. Enjoy. Notice that life, how pure, like the first day of the world. >> I better go down to the islands to get the kids. Maybe we can walk later, huh? Pardon me. I'll see you. Bye. [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] see anything? >> These are terrific. >> Cut those in the Virgin Islands. They're much cheaper there. >> I really terrific. So light. >> Where'd you walk? Oh, it's the top of the pasture down by the pond. >> It's a gorgeous view up there. >> Marvelous. Just marvelous. I've never seen a more beautiful landscape anywhere in the world. >> It's always changing, too. In all the years, I've never been bored with it. Always some new detail. It's air. Hard to believe the world can be so messed up. >> Just beautiful. [Applause] >> Hey, look up there quick. What? >> No, no, no, no. Next to the stone fence, the top of the pasture. You see it up there? >> The hell is that? >> It's a wood chuck. >> No, >> it is. That's the way they are around here. Say it is too. You're a big boy. You got shoulders. >> Let me see. >> Oh yeah. Yeah. That's the papa. >> Never seen him anywhere as big as that. He like a fox terrier. >> You see him? He's sitting up. Look. Look. Look at him sitting up. >> Unbelievable. Damn near as big as a raccoon. Wonder if I could hit him from here. >> Probably not, huh? How far would you say that was up there? >> Uh 300 350 yards. >> Well, I've hit a few up there. Maybe a little further down though. >> Yeah, but not way up there. >> Two summers ago, I got 42 in that field. >> 42? What fine? >> We had a vegetable garden then. Well, you put in all that work. You come out in the morning and it's like a lawn mower ran over it. It's infuriating. >> He's still there. >> Oh, he'll go on feeding half an hour this time of day. >> They're rodents, aren't they? >> I'm not so sure about that. They're vegetarians. They have the head of a rat, but the tail is short and bushy. They're related to the rabbits. Uh, what the hellever that is. >> 42 >> at least. I kept hoping they get the message and go back up into the fields there, but they kept right on coming. Finally, we had to give up the vegetable garden. You ever hunt? Years ago, birds. I never liked it though. It's so beautiful. It breaks your heart. Yeah, I know. It's awful. And I don't care what anybody says. There's an area in every hunter that's absolutely stupid. >> Hey, look. Look. He's sitting up again. He >> is monstrous, isn't he? About that stupidity though. Known a lot of intelligent guys love to hunt. >> Yeah, I suppose. It's like two summers ago when I when I was after them. got so I couldn't think of anything else. I'd come out of the house and start looking around for them. Honestly, it got so if I didn't see him, I'd be disappointed. Got to be a an addiction. He'd see one of them come out of his hole. He wouldn't move. He'd crawl away from his hole. He'd sit up. He'd go into the house, tiptoe in, get your gun, load it, come out, close the screen door softly. inside him and bam. It It was a lot of fun at first, but then it was quite strange. I don't know what to call it. You You felt a kind of emptiness. You feel all emptied out afterwards. It occurred to me a few times it must be like that in a war. Sounds like it in a way. Yeah. >> You ever hit anyone? >> Twice. Yeah. >> Could you see him go down? >> Oh, sure. Was on the desert. Man stands out sharply in the desert. >> Do we feel like that? Well, you're in danger yourself, so that kind of justifies it. You're right. It's sort of a hangover afterward. Why'd you stop? Well, actually, it's very interesting. When I started, I only intend to kill three or four and maybe scare the others away. When it got to be six and 10 and 20 and it was only a limited war in the beginning, you know, but then I got involved. It surprised me. I actually began to feel real hatred. I come out, take a look, and there they were. A whole field full of the bastards. And it was getting expensive, too. You know, one bullet costs 15 cents. And you don't always hit with one shot. And the hawks. Christ, always two or three hawks up there with those hooked beaks. I was in league with the hawks. It' be very depressing. And the truth is, for what it cost to kill them, I could have bought all the tomatoes you could eat in a year. Seriously though, I thought it must be like that in a war. For what it cost to kill these days, you could put a tractor on every farm in the world and send all of their kids to the University of Texas. He's come down a little closer, I think. >> Yeah. Yeah, he has. >> I know what you mean. These goddamn words. They make everything seem so senseless. >> Yeah. Constant feeling of depression never goes away. >> I know. >> I feel that way, too. You know, I never did before. >> You like to take a shot? No, >> I mean I mean if you want to. You probably never hit him anyway. >> I'd never reach him from here. Take a minute. [Applause] Telescopic site. >> Take a look. It's terrific. I bought it used. 65 bucks. That's seven power. >> What's the caliber? >> 222. It's got a large cartridge, but there's no kick. Nice and light. >> Yeah, it is. >> Handle. Nice, huh? >> Beautiful. Hey, there he is. Boy, this really brings him up close. Yeah, >> there's a head of a rat. >> Maybe it is a rat. >> Quite ugly. >> I know. I hate them. >> Can you hit anything standing up? >> Fairly well. >> I can't hit anything unless I rest my arm on something. >> You're correct for the wind. >> Well, there's no wind now, is there? >> No, it seems perfectly still out there. That's at least 350 y, Charles. >> Well, I think I can reach it. Ah, it's impossible. >> I think I could. [Applause] >> He's running away. >> Was I high or low? >> I don't know. I had the glasses on. He stopped. Can you see him sitting up looking around? You see him? He's starting to run. [Applause] >> God damn. Oh dear. Can you see him? >> You got him. My god, you got him. He's dead as Kelsey's ass. Let me see. What the hell you do that for? I don't know. Come on, let's take a look. Never believed it. >> I told you it's a hell of a rifle. >> Sure is. I'd have bet 100 to1 that you could >> got a flat trajectory. It's got terrific power. The only problem is a little off is the load. Once you've got something in it sight, you poor thing. >> See? Right through the head. Look at those claws. >> It lives in the ground. See, it doesn't have a rat's tail. He >> ain't big. heavy too. What do you do with them? >> Well, just leave them. The hawks will come. >> Why'd you do that? >> I don't know. I probably won't anymore, though. >> Woo! I'm coming. [Applause] So, Eli Wallik and that was a play by Arthur Miller. Wow. Um, in when I first was dating Katrina long time ago, this was probably 15 years ago. uh it came up that she used to live in New York City. And when you live in New York City and you're young, you're in your 20s, you work lots of jobs. So, you have your main job, then you have all these kind of pickup jobs, you know, to help just pay for rent. Uh and she had multiple roommates, and you know, that's what you had to do to live in Manhattan. I don't know how young people live in Manhattan now, but one of her odd jobs was that she was a personal assistant for Eli Wallik. So, she was like, "Oh, yeah. Uh, yeah, I used to be a personal assistant, a PA for Eli Wallak." And I was like, "What? You mean the ugly from Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and uh the awesome character from uh Baby Doll? Oh my gosh." And uh yeah, so she used to help um Eli and his wife with various tasks of one of them was with uh basically she'd go to the PO box uh and help answer fan letters. So there you go. That's that's a little bit of crazy uh um trivia. All right. Um yeah, I apologize for the salty language. Arthur Miller, you know, uh, this is cycling and it's not spelled the way you think it is and I think that's intentional. Enjoy. [Music] [Music] Big smile. Congratulate your son. >> That's great. Wonderful. >> Thanks very much. John Marino has a goal to ride a bicycle across the United States in less than 13 days and set a new world record. >> Good luck, John. >> Thank you. I must have lied awake all night. >> You're not forgetting any clothes or food or >> just like a mother. It's >> okay. >> John must average 250 miles a day. >> Almost ready. >> Roughly the distance between New York City and Washington DC. He will live on his bike, >> riding at least 18 hours every day. >> I'm leaving. >> John Marino is 31. Only 10 years ago, as a result of a serious accident, doctors said he would never compete again in any sport. [Applause] [Music] All my life, I've wanted to be a professional athlete. In 1968, my dream came true. I was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. So, to stay in shape and to build up strength, I started to lift weights. At times, I tend to be a little stubborn and I tried to lift too much. Suddenly, my back exploded with pain. It was as if a gunshot had gone off in the weight room. Everybody heard it. Uh, I had actually compressed my lower lumbar vertebrae in my back. And, uh, that caused excruciating pain for about the next five years. I I wasn't getting any better. I felt very down, very depressed. I had no more goals. My athletic career was ruined. One day, I got on a bike. I just had to get some exercise. It felt so good to ride because my back didn't hurt. For the first time, I could do something physically and not be in pain. And this was this was this was a revelation in my life. So, I established goals for myself. I started to ride different distances and use the bicycle as my avenue to success and uh decided to set the ultimate goal, the ultimate challenge, and that was to ride across America. And uh it's just something I had to do. >> In 1978, John rode coast to coast in 13 days, 1 hour, and 20 minutes, and set the world record. The next year, he tried again. But 7 days of torrential rain destroyed his effort. Only 60 miles from his goal, John fell exhausted and was hospitalized. [Music] The beginning is always rough. It's kind of like the flight of an airplane. An airplane will use more fuel in the takeoff than it'll ever again need on the entire flight. >> Palm Springs Weather Watch calls for 118° temperatures today. It's the hottest June 16th in 26 years. [Music] [Music] How you doing, John? You going to make it? I don't know. Burning up. Get fried. Let's get his shoes off. Get out the ice. We got to cool him down a little bit. >> Towel for his face. >> It's in the freezer. >> I got it. >> 2014 over 72. >> Catch his pulse. >> 88. >> 88. >> Is this helping? >> Yeah. According to the UCLA Medical Center, if Jon is successful, he will expend enough energy to run 43 consecutive marathons, swim the English Channel 18 straight times, times or do nearly 1 million push-ups in a row. John's body, however, is no better than any other endurance athlete. His achievement must spring from his mental discipline, his will to win. >> The heat just wipes you out. Look at this from the heat. >> Well, you're looking forward to a good night's sleep or not? >> Yeah, I get 3 hours tonight. >> Wrong again. Two and a half. >> 5:45 a.m. John wakes up. His body is stiff with pain. >> Um, there's just no way around it. Pain hurts. >> You have to learn not to mine. >> And remember, it will be worth the reward down the line. Last year you did not stop at the rest site. You stopped a few miles past Albuquerque, he told me. So you're not 24head, but on world record time you're 133 miles ahead. Okay, we'll put your stuff on here. [Music] John burns 8,000 calories a day. Every 45 minutes, his body must be refueled. >> Chowo time. [Music] >> As John crosses the continent, he will eat enough to feed the average American for over 7 weeks. [Music] It's the hills that get you. The murderous hills where half your body hunches over the handlebars like an angry statue and your legs push like pistons that never stop against 2,930 mi of summer hot road from Santa Monica to New York. At 3:45 last Monday morning, John Marino began the journey again, hoping to break his own record this time, hoping to do it in 12 days. And never on any of his previous journeys, he says, has he felt this good. Charles Shipley, New Mexico News3. When I see that TV camera, I guess it it stimulates the ham inside of me. Gets my ego going. But ego is a good thing. I think it's a way of getting things done. [Music] This is the third time I've made this trip. I did it the first time, but I failed the second time. I kind of look at failures in a positive way. It's like driving a car down a dead end street. You don't look at this as a failure. This is a positive thing that's just happened. You no longer have to consider the street again. After 1,000 mi, John is on schedule. But in the last 4 days, he's had just 15 hours of sleep. It's starting to take its toll. [Music] [Applause] Oh no. headwinds. You know, I can't help but think back when I was a kid. My dad, he used to build houses and I used to wonder how he could possibly build a house on a vacant lot. And he would always say to me, "Johnny, by and by, I'll get it built. I'll start with the foundation. I'll build the floor. And by and by, I'll put the roof on. And before you know it, the house will get finished. Kansas. John is halfway there, but the headwinds have slowed him down. In order to break the record, he must cut back on his sleep. Bye-bye. Don't forget to feed the cat. >> Have a good day at the office, John. >> No, I will. >> Don't work too hard. >> I'm going to probably work overtime tonight. >> Little overtime late at the office. >> Little overtime. >> A likely story. >> Sailor, >> how do you feel with 4 and 1/2 compared to 6 hours sleep tonight? Is it is a lot better or >> Yeah, it's okay. I feel good. >> Okay. Well, uh if the 4 and 1/2 is sufficient, then we'll keep doing that. And if not, we'll go we'll go six. >> Uh, it's hard to say. You know, I feel good regardless, >> but what my muscles feel will remain to be seen. [Music] [Music] As John crosses Kansas, an agonizing pain develops in his back. Despite the best efforts of his crew and the support of local cyclists, the pain persists. [Music] Could this be a recurrence of his old injury? I can just hear it crack. >> I can feel it right in there. I can feel it crack. Is that what you're hearing? >> Yeah, that's just all the >> cartilage and stuff in there. [Music] [Music] Okay, John. >> Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> Really appreciate that. Pulled >> me out of her bind. You >> may have just helped set a cross country record. >> You did. Kansas City weather indicates increasing cloudiness and a 100% chance of precipitation through tomorrow. The National Weather Service tells us heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected. The rain slows John down, wears him out. Ironically, it begins on the seventh day, just as it had in 1979. [Music] Okay, here's the thing. Right now, you have 112 hours left on your trip. That's how many hours you have left to go. And out of that 112 hours, he's gone how many miles this morning? >> 103. You have,10 miles to go. Okay, let me just figure that out. You've got to maintain 9.91 miles hour for the rest of the trip. Okay, >> not counting sleep. >> That's including sleep. And you are maintaining 10.5 right now, which means it'll bring you in under 12 days. [Music] [Music] What's your body feeling like? Just weak. Weak. I'm only in second gear. I haven't gotten out of it yet. Okay. >> I can tell my strength level by what gear I use, >> right? I've been riding in second gear the whole time. Okay. Is it 3 hours sleep that we haven't adjusted to yet or? >> I don't know. >> Did you wake up low on energy? Cuz yesterday, remember, you had that 90minute sleep and you were saying how supercharged you felt. >> I don't know. >> This is when it gets the toughest. John has almost no strength left. The crisis has come. >> I know that the last two years starting at about this point has been push, you know, no sleep against the clock, wondering if you're going to set the record or not. And I won't go through that. It's that the worst agony I've ever gone through. And I will not go through that if I don't have to. There's no way I'm going to kill myself. No way. [Music] The morning of the 10th day. John is physically and mentally exhausted. Uh, is the soup ready? >> It's getting ready. >> I'll drink a little bit and then go. >> With 750 miles to go, John faces his greatest challenge. 114 miles of grueling mountain roads. [Music] are [Music] now. [Music] After 11 days and 2700 miles, John has overcome every adversary except the clock. Time is running out. >> I don't want to go inside. I just want to get my clothes on and go. So, if I go inside, I'll sit down. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. You want another bar? >> Leg warmers. Leg warmers. >> How come you don't look tired? Because by not looking beat up, you don't feel beat up. If you look beat up, then you don't feel it. That's why I'm shaving. >> That's why I'm showering. >> I'm trying to my best not to look tired. How are you keeping your body from getting tired? It doesn't. If you As long as you think that, it just won't just will not get tired. You know, it won't. It's like fatigue is a disease and I don't want it. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Where do we go? [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. I got [Applause] my cancer. >> Okay, John. We got 12 days, 3 hours, and 31 minutes. >> John, [Music] >> after you go through something like this, what's next? >> Oh, right now. I will not do this again. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Woohoo! We did it. Um, I like that uh that some of that music was making us all nervous that YouTube would take it down before the dude finished his ride. It just added this kind of sense of tension that maybe you you felt or maybe you didn't feel, but um awesome. So, CRM made a lot of management films uh and psychology films, so this kind of fits that, I'm guessing. Um, so yeah, thanks for joining us today. Thank you, Gabriel, for donating via the ko-fi.coms uh link. You can also donate via the patreon.coms link or via the superthanks button or just hit thumbs up. It's free. Do it. Hit thumbs up, hit like, even if you've done it within the last week or so. Uh it's great to get to feed the algorithms that drive uh us now as far as what you get to see and what others get to see. It is some sort of code that is looking for those fake thumbs ups. Um what a time to be alive. Uh yeah, we'll be back tomorrow. More films to show. Um I just scanned some Lulu's. Holy cow, this I just scanned a puppet film that I didn't know anything about and uh visually it is good. So that will hopefully show up this week. Uh thanks again for tuning in and very much appreciate you watching your comments and we will see you tomorrow. Thank you. Bye.