The Odd & Obscure Hour (unusual, unjustly forgotten, or just plain weird stuff from movies and TV)*

This thread is for unusual, unjustly forgotten, or just plain weird stuff from movies and TV -- the kinds of things that might get posted to reddit's r/ObscureMedia. (The thread title is a tribute to the late great DJ Joe Donovon and his overnight Rock & Roll Revival show on WHAS 84 AM in Louisville Kentucky. His Odd & Obscure segment introduced me to some great records in the '90s)

In honor of our founder we'll start with something music related. Although I am a super fan of this series, I had absolutely no idea about this appearance until just a few minutes ago (the lady in question is billed under her then-married name of Carol Larkey).

FF to 22:00

 

This has got to be some kind of outtake, right?

 

17 year old Charlton Heston makes his film debut in the title role of a silent feature version of Ibsen's Peer Gynt

 

An industrial musical is a musical performed internally for the employees or shareholders of a business, to create a feeling of being part of a team, to entertain, and/or to educate and motivate the management and salespeople to improve sales and profit. It can be used to increase staff awareness of public relations, advertising,marketing or corporate image.

Other terms for industrial musicals include the corporate musical or industrial show, but the latter can also refer to trade shows, which are publicity events organized by businesses in a specific industry to promote their products to potential buyers.

Industrial musicals are not restricted to corporations or to businesses involved in industry.

 

Kind of like this obscure band playing in the background here?

 

That clip actually occurred to me, along with some other classics from the time, but having started with Carole King I didn't want people to think this thread limited to music.

Anyway, since we've started down that path, here's Lowell George's band:



The Factory were (was?) also on F Troop (same episode that gave us "Mr Tambourine Man") but I don't see that one on YT.

 

RIP Stan Freberg

 

Oh what might have been...

 

I just watched this Perry Mason episode a few days ago. I was surprised when I saw Dick Clark show up.


Dick Clark coming on the Perry Mason set. He had a significant role in "The Final Fade-Out", which was the final episode for the old Perry Mason series. Jackie Cooogan was also in that episode.

 

Davy Jones performing an unfamiliar version of a familiar song..from "The Farmer's Daughter" 1965

 

Doesn't the plot of the Perry Mason finale deal with a producer trying get back his syndication rights?



Clark was actually a decent actor. He's not bad in Because They're Young, and gives a respectable supporting performance in a medical soaper called The Doctors.

 

There's a Ben Casey (like The Monkees and The Farmer's Daughter, a Columbia Studios production) where Davy plays a heroin addict.

Fans will recognize the Farmer's Daughter set from the Davy and Mike Nesmith auditions

 

There was a lot of veiled humor in that final episode. A lot of the stage crew was also used for the small bit parts.

 

A classic number reteaming Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor, from a 1959 TV special.

 

Phil Harris and Dean Martin having tea and singing about it!

 

In this clip, Jack Benny and Groucho Marx do an awesome spoof of Groucho's game show "You Bet Your Life"

 

Those who know Shawn only from The Producers and/or Mad Mad World may be surprised at how brilliant a standup he could be:

 

A long NPR story on Industrial Musicals, featuring Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler On The Roof lyricist) who worked on several.

http://www.npr.org/2013/11/05/24320...age-to-boost-morale-companies-burst-into-song

Also features Letterman writer Steve Young, author of a book on the subject:



Young has a website devoted to the form:

http://www.industrialmusicals.com/






And for those who think this an ancient phenomenon, supposedly Wal-Mart produced one for its shareholders meeting in 2006.

 

John Cale, future member of The Velvet Underground, on I've Got A Secret (1963)

 

Ron Goldman, murder victim in the O.J. Simpson case, on the TV show Studs (1992):

 

TCM airs a lot of those (rather bizarre) industrial/informational/educational films in between movies.