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Tulsa TV Memories GroupBlog 221 TTM main | What's new on TTM? | GB Archive
There are cases where the story rights reverted to the author after a time. That's what kept Annie Get Your Gun, Harvey, Animal Crackers and Porgy & Bess out of circulation for years. Most have been negotiated back into the market. Porgy & Bess is still in limbo.
Anyway, Paramount has no legal right to IAWL, but the threat of litigation
has made this point moot.
When a BIG network has busybody lawyers sniffing for titles of a very small basic cable channel - beware.
BTW - GoodLife won in both cases to retain "ownership". They also had sought
out classic series owners' estates and started buying rights to long-off-network
series from the estates of the original producers - exclusively. In fact
several times - they revamped or had film retransferred of original prints
via state of the art telecine at their expense. In their library were about
5 serials that they had repackaged with bumpers, teases, promo kits - which
will probably run forever there on winter weekends.
In 1993, Republic Pictures relied on the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Stewart v. Abend (which involved the movie "Rear Window") to enforce its claim of copyright; while the film's copyright had not been renewed, it was a derivative work of various works that were still copyrighted. As a result, the film is no longer shown as much on television (NBC is currently licensed to show the film on U.S. network TV, and only shows it traditionally twice during the holidays, with one showing primarily on Christmas Eve), the colorized versions have been withdrawn, and Republic now has exclusive ancillary rights to the film. Artisan Entertainment (under license from Republic) took over home video rights in the mid-90s, Artisan was later sold to Lions Gate Entertainment, which continued to hold home video rights until late 2005 when they reverted to Republic's sister studio Paramount, whose parent is Viacom.
And Tom Cruise found out to not mess with Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone!
;-)
Buying used film prints is hazardous as you have to know what questions to ask, like what kind of stock is the film printed on, has the color faded, does it have a vinegar smell, or the obvious ones like how many splices and scratches does it have?
As for the question of what is copyrighted, that's also a bit thorny. The
Sonny Bono copyright extension act gave foreign owners the chance to renew
copyrights on their films that had lapsed in the U.S. Then there's the new
thing that big companies are doing. They buy the rights to the original story
or music that was used in the film and are claiming that it gives them ownership.
It happened when Paramount, who was the copyright heir to It's A Wonderful
Life bought the rights to the song Buffalo Gals and are using that as an
excuse to enforce the copyright. It's crap, and wouldn't hold up in court,
but who wants to take on Paramount's legal team?
http://www.archive.org/details/universal_newsreels
They vary in picture and sound quality, but you can mine some good stuff
there.
They actually now do buy programming from Warner Brothers. PD stuff often ends up being stolen film prints; illegally copied material; prints of shows that TV stations forgot to return to distributors - but can also be orphan programming that no owner claims any more or a production company that went bust. Anyone trying to sell you PD movies is probably a crook or a "collector" wanting to cash in on ill-gotten gains.
If you ever come across stuff on eBay or other sites - you may be disappointed
in poor film transfer quality - often without audio! 20 years ago - you could
have picked up maybe 300 movie titles - maybe Ealing Studios stuff; silent
cartoons, early color Superman cartoons, illegal newsreel copies for maybe
$60,000. Not now...PD movies are like forbidden fruit - fun to play with,
but beware legal implications to buyin' it.
At the ripe old age of oughta-know-better, I've gone back to school, webbishly, thus my visitations hereabouts are fewer than once they were. A number of decades having passed since I last darkened the door of an institution of higher learnin' for anything more serious than a cocktail party or a speech, this is harder than I thought, even with the benefit of a few tricks I didn't know about last time around. I am getting back in touch with my Central Time Zone self thanks to the fine folks at the University of Missouri, who have developed a pretty nifty grad school program on this here Internet thing. The nice thing is that the deadlines are on Central time, giving me an hour more to get that last-minute assignment in. Don't think I haven't taken advantage of it, too. Any sentence that begins, "When I was playing with the Texas Playboys..." will bring me up short. Like, "oh, I was just stopping at the bar for a cold one when Ernie Hemingway walks in with a manuscript under one arm and a duck under the other." If you're lucky enough to see Steve Bagsby and his steel guitar in person, you oughta do it. If you aren't so lucky, like me, buy his CD and play it till the little ones-and-ohs fall off the disc. Steve's back-of-the-jewel-case photo is worth the price of admission alone.
Not having ever attended a TU alum event, I was amazed on arriving in Annapolis last Saturday to find nearly 300 alums gathered for a tailgate party and the game. Not surprisingly, I didn't find another member of the class of '56 (Should have been '53 but those damned N. Koreans screwed me up) and I didn't know a soul.
It made no difference as we all enjoyed the food and the terrific game (24-23,
in overtime) played on the Academy turf.
Along the food theme, it is getting colder and that means Bean Chowder Time!
I still have my Garfield's "Beers of the World" card. Once you racked up enough different brews, you would be immortalized in a plaque on the back of a chair. Great feather in your cap for your boss to see just how cosmopolitan you are!
Is anyone there doing any kind of Ag Business or markets reporting on TV any more? I remember when former Tulsa anchor Melanie Johnson (at 6) was hired as night producer at KOCO in OKC, she tried to a mini-segment on stocks and investments and business news at 10pm. It was well-written but no one in OKC seemed to notice. 5 also for years had a relationship with Dr. Vince Orza - first as a consultant I think then later he anchored weekend news. Vinnie was a gem to work with when I punched the weekend shows and one of the best read and most knowledgable guys at 5.
He did a spin with the then Joe Kelly's restaurants - which I later believe
failed and for years taught at then CSU in Economics or Business. I am surprised
NOT to see him as a network analyst now.
Speaking of which, we'll be playing the old-time stuff this Friday at American
Legion #308. Come on out!
I am writing in hopes of finding some information for a research paper. I am a Junior at the University of Central Oklahoma and this semester I am taking a course entitled "Historical Research". The class involves taking a topic in history and researching the heck out of it in order to write a fifteen page paper. My topic is the experiment with pay television that was conducted in Bartlesville between September 1957 and June 1958. I am looking for anyone who would have participated in the experiment or who worked with the companies that sponsored it. The companies involved were Henry Griffing's Video Independent Theatres and its subsidiaries, Vumore (a community antenna provider) and Electronics International (a supplier of one of the cable switches). If anyone could put me in touch with anyone that was associated with the three Tulsa network affiliates at the time that would be very welcome, as well. Thank you for your time and I hope that I am not being too off-topic here.
In GB 81, John Hillis provided some excerpts about the Bartlesville experiment from this book: Take the Measure of the Man: An American Success Story (Amazon.com) by Daniel Aaron and David A. Long. It's still available.
TU beats Navy at a home football game!
But since us as taxpayers support all the great "service schools" - I guess
we weren't givin' enough for the Naval Academy to lose to li'l ole TU! GOOOOOOO
Tulsa!
Today's Tulsa World brings word that the old motel building downtown on W. Fourth Street has been sold to an L.A.-based investor who's given the Coney Island a five-year renewable lease. Woo hoo! And for those keeping score --- Today's birthdays: John Coltrane (1926), Ray Charles (1932), and Bruce Springsteen (1949).
Hot diggity dog!
He did State Fairs on tour but as he got older - stayed in the Austin/San Antonio area due to health. He played many dance standards, a lot of Bob Wills stuff, and his band was tight. The last time that he was on PBS was in that 2-3 year old Asleep at the Wheel special. One of my favorite songs of his was the old "Rose Marie" - performed with the Kronos String Quartet. He and his wife were pretty prolific songwriters and historical music researchers. A great talent.
Asleep at The Wheel is in town in DC all weekend - but gone Uptown at the
Kennedy Center - doing their Ride With Bob show. Unfortunately I have been
sicker than a dawg with sinus maladies and will now have to miss them. What
I really will miss is Bob Wills *music* performed at the Kennedy Center!
No it's not a law firm, but a damned fine trio of Tulsa broadcasters from yesteryear. I did more recording sessions with Bastien than I can remember; and Johnny Martin relieved me every evening at 8 during the time I did afternoon drive at KRMG in the mid-ish 70s. Johnny always had something funny to lay on me as I started up his groovy opening theme and he took the board; and Vic was near perfection in those sessions so many of us plowed through out at Sonny Gray's studio at 41st and Memorial. NOW, I had the PLEASURE of working with "Bucky" Cummins before he really hit his stride at KRMG. He was a jock and newsman at either KTUL Radio and/or KELi, which were, as most of you know, the one in the same AM at 1430. There's a great story about Don when he and a certain one-time manager of that station found themselves at loggerheads about something. (I was there.) The nameless manager told "Bucky" that he, "Bucky," didn't have any talent and wouldn't amount to much in radio. Cummins' face flushed and he raised-up on his crutches (He called his crutches, himself, his lean-tos; whatta guy!) He looked back into the anonymous manager's eyes and told him off in no uncertain terms that, by God, he would amount to something in broadcasting, left the station and became one of the most recognized voices, ever, on Radio 74. Then he went onto the Oklahoma State Senate. He was also very popular with the ladies. He even got me a date with an attractive young woman one night, and that's doin' something. He was a smooth talkin' devil off mic, too. "Bucky" and I weren't always on the same page, politically, but that didn't stop either of us from considering the other to be a very good friend. "Bucky" Cummins died way too damned early; that's for sure.
Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville.
All the good things written about Vic on your site were true. He was one of the finest broadcasters in Tulsa history. And a friend of mine, too.
Webmaster: Doing a bit of Google research on Gov. Hall, I turned up this interesting 1974 Time article about Frosty Troy.  David Hall and Vic Bastien, courtesy of Jim Hartz
I just wanted to make rest easy all surfers to this fine site that there's no truth to the rumor goin' 'round that the UFO spied near our Shuttle above us does NOT have "Made in Roswell, NM USA" on the side of it.
Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville
(Condensed by webmaster from email forwarded by Lee:) See a new award-winning film, "Half Empty" (IMDb), FREE at the Circle Cinema on Friday Sept 29 at 8 pm; lobby mingling at 7:30 with director/co-writer Robert Peters and executive producer Stan Woodward (Lee's son). Both Robert and Stan are Edison high graduates. It's a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary about an eternally optimistic motivational speaker who descends upon Germany for a book tour...and it's a musical?!
From Katharine Leis'
review on eFilmCritic.com: "Within the first few minutes, it was evident
that this was an original, charming film, and it only got better from there."
I grew up out North on 51st Place between Peoria and Cincinnati. My friends and I would ride our bicycles up and down that Hill at crazy speeds racing one another. It was sure a lot of fun back then, way before video games of today ruined outdoor play.
I too remember Teddy Jack slapping Sartain saying, "You better start paying
attention, fat boy! I'm going to win that trip to Turley!" I just rolled
laughing.
I agree that the top of Reservoir Hill should be made a park. It is a beautiful view and the neighborhood reminds me of Hollywood without palm trees. The unique homes and the steep, split level streets make for an enjoyable little tour. Cincinnati Hill is on Cincinnati between 36th and 46th streets north. The old Blue Moon was on the hill west of Cincinnati, not far from the Skyline Drive-In. When Cincinnati was two lanes, that stretch was one of the most exciting and dangerous drives in the city. Turley Hill is between Cincinnati and Peoria beginning in Turley and reaching toward Sperry. Driving Cincinnati over the hill takes you on one of the most beautiful drives in the county.
Just talking about these wonderful places makes me want to pick up some ice
cream, pick up Mazeppa and take him on a birthday drive. (I still remember
when he and Teddy Jack tried to win a trip to Turley at a dance contest.)
See ya!
About three people say that this hill is Reservoir Hill, but the rest of us believe this is wrong, saying that Reservoir Hill is that close-in hill with an incredible view overlooking downtown. It used to be a beautiful place before they cut it in half to run Denver through it. Tons of people would go there to park, some to look at the view. Everyone remembers it fondly. Who knows how many subsequent generations had their first glorious moment on Reservoir Hill. My classmates can't come up with a name for the far north hill, although some refer to it as "Cincinnati Hill." A man who owned property on it and lived there calls it "Turley Hill," although it seems to be a long way from Turley. After some research, we all ascertained the correct location of Standpipe Hill, but the name of "Cincinnati Hill" remains a fugitive, and the holdouts for Reservoir Hill being far north won't believe the rest of us. I can't find a topographical map of Tulsa on the Internet that would provide an answer.
It's such a tragedy that the old Reservoir Hill was simply cut in two and
a fence put around the two remnants. It should have been made a city park.
Lynne got to hop her fence and watch them shoot the scenes.
Pretty cool!
I just added the full obituary to the previous GB. It states that he had worked at KTUL-TV in the late 50s, then KOME, then KRMG in 1963, so Vic must have been just after your time in Tulsa radio.
Looking at the photo (provided by this website), look at the second story and the last window to the far right. That is where the bedroom scene was filmed. That was my bedroom. There were 4 bedrooms upstairs and the house had a full basement with a coal chute for the coal burning furnace. It set on about 10 acres and there was a pear orchard on the land and two barns. It had a 2-car detached (block, like the house) garage. I had a roommate when the movie was filmed. He had lived in the other house in the movie (across from the fight scene) We thought it was pretty ironic that both our houses had been used in the movie.
Alan Glasco
Alan refers to this screen capture from "The Outsiders", page 2. Thanks!
[Leon Russell was guest host on July 26 and August 2, 1974. He probably made
other appearances, too.] And Wolfman Jack jumped to national fame on that
show.
Here's an item from YouTube for blues fans (thanks to Don Cook): Tulsa's own Steve Pryor:
Sorry about that. It's a slow night.
Is that one of those cartoons where Bing croons "buh buh buh booo"?
For Tulsa TV art lovers out there, here is a Brummett Echohawk sketch available for purchase at Askart.com (I'm not the seller).
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/201/lipstick_on_that_pig_music_video_of.html
http://members.cox.net/rossja/eoi.mp3 http://members.cox.net/rossja/eoi2.mp3 http://members.cox.net/rossja/eoi3.mp3 http://members.cox.net/rossja/eoi4.mp3
I lost a college chum at WTC that day. I wasn't born in Tulsa Cowtown, but I've lived here in every decade beginning with the 50s, so ... How about something uplifting? Must have been in 1988, I was living in New York City, and produced a gala fundraiser for a charity which helped orphans and other distressed children. Lionel Hampton was our entertainer. This made me nervous, because Lionel ... not like the olde ... damn, I'm getting old ... Glenn Miller days? I knew he was so fragile, but he insisted he could do the gig ... And Lionel was so insistent he could do it, and I didn't have the heart to turn him down.
The night of, I met him at the limo, gave him my arm, and he advanced, 3-4
inches at a time, shufflin' so slow you could hardly see it, to the dressing
room. Same thing when he came out onto the stage. (This was at St. Peter's
Lutheran Church at Citicorp Skyscraper, the Jazz Church). He stepped up to
the vibes ... and was 20 again. He beat that metal, those tubes, he had the
audience in cheers and tears. Lionel was dancin' all over. Then, the concert
was over, I gave him my arm, and we inched back to his dressing room, he
rested, and went out to the limo. He passed not so long after, it seems.
Some group has slathered U.S. flags on overpass bridges and of course - somebody else is tearing them down. Some times replacing them with high school pep banners for games played this last weekend. The only weird thing I saw today here were gaggles of near new, big gas-hog SUVs - new Cadillac or BMWs - with flags draped over the back tailgate doors - driving around town. The flags cover the rear windows completely - so the drivers can't see what is coming behind them!
I was surprised to see some of my local churches in Fairfax County NOT having
a prayer or Memorial service - maybe they did so yesterday. Maybe a quiet
remembrance day is all we need.
Archived GroupBlog 220: Tulsa Radio Icon Vic Bastien passed away on 9/8. His friends and fans remembered him. Folk musician Dave Van Ronk was discussed. The thread about Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton and associated Oklahoma jazz musicians extended into this GB. 1950 Central High grad Ben Aronov has been a top jazz pianist for many years. He released a solo album in 1998. In the 50s, he played Club Orchid (near the Rose Bowl), which featured other exotic entertainment. Other fun topics and links: a young Tulsan wrote a book on surviving a robot uprising, to become a movie starring Mike Myers; Star Trek's 40th anniversary was celebrated; we saw the 1983 Starlight Jazz concert program; there is a PG-rated online trailer for the 3D, X-rated 1969 movie "The Stewardesses", which played Tulsa's Continental Theatre in 1970; David Bagsby is now on a late-night horror movie show in Lawrence, KS.
Those are some highlights from GroupBlog
220.
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September 19 2006 at 18:23:10
New movie at the Circle
