Commercial Reel # 3

Duration: 12:00

Creator: Oddball Reel

Complete Record: 1. Philips Philishave Speed-Flex Electric Razor. b&w, 1962. Buster Keaton does his schtick with an old car that has a mind of its own, and an electric shaver, while out in the desert on the side of the road. 2. Philips Philishave Speed-Flex Electric Razor. b&w, 1960. Buster Keaton in desert on bike contraption w/ umbrella, painting line in middle of road. Pulls over to side of road, hangs up an electrical outlet face plate, plugs in product, and begins to shave. Returns to bike contraption to continue painting line - sight gag of line having become crooked due to his pulling over to shave. 3. Mobil PSA, safety in driving 60 MPH. b&w, 1965. Helicopter carries car to roof of building where the car is mounted onto a tiltable ramp. Exterior shots and POV shots from interior of car as ramp is lifted from behind, and car tilts downward toward distant street below. Cords are released and car plummets to its demise to the concrete parking lot below. “Our business is to sell you gasoline and oil, and we want you to be around to try them. We want you to live”. 4. Chevrolette Chevelle Car. color, 1964. Small rural community takes notice of swell new car driving through town. Various shots of different faces taking notice while in different activities: man getting shave, young man bent over in hike position, man raking garden, young couple about ready to kiss, etc. Community communes around car. Nice shots of small rural town w/ plenty of white gentry. severe red shift. 5. Chevrolet, 1961 model, “Magic Ride!”. color, 1961. Amazing shots of people floating over street in a sitting position, as though in an invisible car. They pass a man in an old Ford T-Type car - he and his car are in b&w and shot in the style of early hand cranked Cinematograph film. Bizarre behavior from this man when seen out of context - he percolates his body as though being electrocuted while driving; Francis- Bacon-esque. Couple comes across a shepherd and his flock, they pantomime being in a car, pleasantly waiting for herd to pass. They drive through rain, image showing how well-protected they are by invisible car. Woman lounging in back seat while husband drives; surreal. Finally, they are surrounded by a dissolved-in car. Then drive off in invisible car, this time sitting on a mobile Cheverolet sign - in Paris?. Severe red shift. 6. Ford. color, 1965. Older man driving Ford Model-T down country dirt road, stopping before a peep of chickens and roosters. Transition to a group of young people exiting a Model-A, women dressed as flappers. Zoom-in on and glamour shot of stick shift. Next shot of triple prop plane coming in for landing, flies over camera. Multiple shots of different cars: 1928 and 1932 models at country gas pump; Lincoln Continental in front of mansion (very regal looking); Mustang; shots of all cars driving down otherwise empty freeway, with triple prop plane flying over them!; interior shots of radio and dash, etc.; headlights “opening” up. 7. Chevrolet Caprice. color, est. mid 1960s. Peaceful commercial of car being driven by pleasant and relaxed white woman. shots of nature, forest, sun streaming through misty trees, river, CU and POV of car driving through field of grass. Woman emerges and stretches from passenger side window as though she were a newly hatched chick from egg shell; she surveys her natural and beautiful surroundings while propping herself out window. 8. Chevrolet Impala Super-Sport Convertible. color, 1964. “Venice, where streets are paved with water”. Shots of denizens of Venice using gondolas and boats for business commuting and transportation, views of architecture and plenty of waterways. Convertible car is then seen “driving” on the canals, alongside boats and gondolas, and is driven by happy white couple. Shots of crowded boats w/ shocked onlookers. Shots of little boy, older woman, w/ VO of Italian phrases. Transition of car to suburban setting. Red shift. 9. Toni Home Permanent, With Hidden Body! (for hair). b&w, 1962. A should-be-recognizable game show or talk show host (Jack Paar?) asks for assistance in commercial presentation from female side kick or contestant. She dominates the pitch for the feminine product, comically undermining the man’s “natural” authority and patriarchal power. He jokes about her monopolization of the commercial, tries to get last line as the empowered male host, but she succeeds in innocently undermining him again. 10. Kodak Photographic Products. color, 1966. “Summer of ‘66”. Group of young people at beach, shirtless men, bikini women. Dancing and grooving out. Surfboards in sand. Biplane cruises by with “wing walkers” walking the wings w/ cameras, taking pictures. The wing walkers jump from plane and splash down in ocean. They continue to take pictures under the water. Shot of large sea turtle, mermaid. They emerge from a large urban fountain in a downtown area, where, up above on a condo balcony, the same young people are again grooving out, wearing hip late 60’s fashion like polka dots and helmets (?). The young people scramble off and leap onto awaiting mopeds. Then they are seen exiting ski lift seats with the assistance of a large polar bear who later takes pictures of all of them on snow mobiles and skiing. 11. American Dairy Association. b&w, 1963. Rick’s Milk Dance Party. Ricky Nelson and his Caucasian crew come over to mom and dad’s for some good old fashioned milk guzzling and pelvic gyrations, ne, the twist. The kids are bopping while mom and dad bring out an ice chest full of tons of ice and a variety of milk containers and wholesome goodness. Mom and dad also get into the groove: mom(?) sports an ecstatic grin while snapping and bopping; dad ejaculates an hyena-like laugh as though drunk. CU of Ricky calculatedly sipping his milk. CU of twisting skirted booty. “Boy those kids sure have a lot of vitality!” says another dad. Another mom says “No wonder - they all drink milk!” She pours him tall glass of milk. He drinks it, shots of kids dancing, back to dad who now does a feeble attempt at the twist to the vicarious pleasure of his finely coifed wife - who also does the subtlest pelvic movements discernible. 12. Slickers, by Yardley of London. color, 1965. shot of Big Ben in London. White female model emerges from London phone booth in different guises, wearing a variety of hip fashions. CUs of model in phone booth, again, emerging as different “types” of women, one of which looks like Baby Spice of the Spice Girls. CU of lipsticks and moist sensuous lips being coated by sheen of Slickers. Shot of model approaching camera wearing a white jockey’s cap w/ see-through visor. 13. Cover Girl Medicated Make Up. color, 1966. A photographer and Regina, internationally renowned model, take to the streets of Paris for photo shoot. Regina, who looks like a cross between Twiggy and Audrey Hepburn, jumps and bounces for the camera while wearing groovy clothes. Rides what looks like a collapsible bike with nice 60’s text “Cover Girl in Paris”. Mod girl Paris photo shoot. 14. Gleem Toothpaste. b&w, est. late 1950s. Young boy is about to join his friend in some baseball outside, but first must stop to brush his teeth w/ product that features GL-70, an antibacterial chemical. Goofy expression from boy as he brushes. 15. Plus White Tooth Paste. color, 1967. A variety of comical situations wherein the brightness of the models’ teeth is either utilized or a distraction: “Indian Joe” signals across a canyon; one duelist in a cowboy gun slinging’ blinds the other; couple running through field with arms open for embrace miss each other after being blinded by the other’s smile, etc. 16. Cue Toothpaste w/ Fluoracton. color, 1965. Catholic school girls march through rain, play on field, people school’s stair case, brush teeth in community little girl’s room. Ride in old school bus with old headmistress at wheel. severe red shift. 17. Comet with Chlorinol. b&w, 1963. Two women in kitchen, one dressed in skirt and cardigan, one dressed in white overalls and painter’s cap, working on home improvement project, use product to clean sink basin. CU of sponge scouring basin. 18. Armstrong Floors One Step Floor Care. b&w, est. early 1960s. White people sitting at bus stop, woman drops product out of shopping bag as she sits down. Other people heatedly discuss product as bus comes and goes, the only one who got on was the smart lady who bought the product. She smiles and waves from the back window above ad for product on back of bus that says, “try it and see”. 19. Carling Black Label Beer. b&w, est. early 1960s. Phil Silvers and Jack Gilford do schtick for beer with orchestra. Silvers is an orchestra conductor who cues Gilford, who cannot whistle his part. Both men wear tuxedoes and Gilford makes a lot of faces. Conductor uses product to provide inspiration to whistler. Shot of woman’s hand pouring product into a glass. 20. Colt 45. color, 1966. Sophisticated man in suit sits serenely at a table on a beach as soldiers land and run past him up the beach amid gunfire. A pretty and stylish girl drives up the beach on a moped, stops in front of the man and give him the eye. He continues to stare at the water. Finally, a waiter surfs in to shore with a tray containing product and a glass. He walks up the beach, and sets a can and a glass on the table. The man smiles and pours the beer. CU of beer on table with waiter in background retreating to ocean with surfboard. Red shift. 21. Horn and Hardart. color, 1966. Short, balding man with mustache wearing glasses and an overcoat walks up to a table in (possibly) a cafeteria. He puts his plate of chicken leg, carrots, and peas on the table and puts a large brown paper bag on the floor. He removes a radio, candelabra, vase and flower, poster of city skyline, and small rug from bag and sets everything up. While he’s on the floor smoothing out the rug, a busboy comes along and clears his plate of uneaten food. The man sits sadly in his chair. “It’ not fancy. But it’s good.” Red shift. 22. Space Needle Restaurant Seattle, Washington. color, 1958. Skinny man in Tuxedo and round horn-rimmed glasses approaches a podium with a microphone overhead and sits down, as if to give a reading. He reads from a menu with great emotion, drinks water, even cries, and has to wipe his eyes. He hangs his head at the end and walks away from podium. Eastman Reversal film stock. 23. Bugles. color, est. 1960s. Man in phone booth gives odds in the Bugle-Potato Chip War. Working-class New Yorker-type an eats at bar, talks to camera. A man standing with Judd Hirsch talks to the camera. Judd Hirsch laughs. New York intellectual/Woody Allen-type walks down street talking to camera. Shot of Bugles banner against sky. Cute song about wanting a chance to get in your house, a chance to get in your mouth. “The Bugle-Potato Chip War.” Some red shift. 24. Jeno’s Pizza. color, 1967. Woman with cleavage, shiny lips, and a wedding ring serves pizza and speaks sensually to camera about product. Shot of two men in control booth. Red shift. 25. Laura Scudder’s Wampum Corn Chips. color, 1966. Native American and white people dressed in “Indian clothes” at a party drink wine and eat corn chips. Camera pulls out window to reveal that the party is taking place in an adobe pueblo building. Red shift. 26. Laura Scudders Potato Chips. color, est. 1960s. Old man and old woman sit on front porch. Woman holds product and talks into old man’s ear trumpet. She tells him they are the noisiest chips in the world, but he is deaf and cannot hear her. So she eats one and he is surprised by the loud noise. 27. Great Shakes. color, 1967. Party at a floating soda fountain in the middle of a lake show that “any place can be a soda fountain now.” Teenagers on boats arrive and dance and swim as another teen in a red and white striped jacket, bow tie, and hat makes milk shakes using product. Teens dive, tumble, and throw one another into water, smile, and drink milkshakes until the sun goes down. Red shift, faded.