Hi Jeff, David, and everyone interested in my 2-sense,
There was yet another home movie distributor based in New York called
Entertainment Films, that had all the excitement in their periodic
catalogs that Blackhawk had, but generally of such exotic and unknown
silent wonders that had yet to be fully documented in what few books
there were on film history at that time. It was the UNcommon names
like Louise Glaum, Laura LaPlante, Mae Busch, Lupino Lane, Larry Semon,
Fred Thompson et.al. that really raised the curiosity level of this
pre-teenager to unexpected heights. I was well acquainted with Laurel
& Hardy and fiercely loved their films from the occasional TV showings,
but actually OWNING an 8mm print of "Oranges & Lemons" with Stan sans
Babe was a thrill beyond belief, and a feeling I have very rarely
experienced since that time long ago. This of course was WAY before
home video and dvd, and waiting for the next TV showing of KING KONG
seemed like an eternity.
I was SO obsessed that I demanded, and got, a job with Thunderbird
Films in late 1974. I got to know Tom Dunnahoo pretty well, he was a
very complex guy and did have a demon or two chasing him, but in
general I think his heart was in the right place. One tidbit I have to
share:
The FBI was ever eager to bust him for copyright infringement, and paid
many unannounced visits to both the lab and the warehouse. Attempts
were made to coerce employees to share any information they might have
with promise of immunity, negatives were sometimes seized and later
returned for lack of enforcement, "plants" were sent in to attempt
purchasing GONE WITH THE WIND, or JAWS, or whatever they though could
make a charge stick, everything without success. The last straw was a
relentless series of "cease and desist" orders from various studios'
legal offices, usually regarding known public domain titles like MEET
JOHN DOE. Well, good old Tom had had enough. He ordered an
extra-large type custom rubber stamp with just one word, and repeatedly
stamped it on every successive legal "request" that came his way, and
mailed them back to whatever studio that sent it. The ploy apparently
worked as the harassment did taper off to almost nothing after a while,
and I had to admire his chutzpah. Oh yeah, the word on the rubber
stamp was "bullshit".
He wound up serving a seven-year prison sentence on what I still
believe was a trumped-up charge, one that, because of its vile and
heinous implications, I will not divulge. I personally think it was
part retribution for giving the authorities the figurative finger. He
never was charged with copyright infringement, and came out of
confinement a very broken man who could walk only with the use of a
cane. I saw him once more about 1985 or 86 just before he moved back
to his native Texas, and was told he passed away about 5 years later.
All the Thunderbird negatives were controlled by Tom's ex-wife Terry,
and she placed them with Dermot Morgan, who was Tom's head technician
and my mentor, when he opened Morcraft Films for business in 1980. He
continued making the catalog titles available in super 8 and 16mm
prints, and expanded the library with many more rarities. It was a
great place to be for a few years, but after his only son was killed in
a motorcycle accident, he became very bitter and impossible to work for
so I had to move on.
After Morgan (as he preferred to be called) became ill in the late
80's, his business acumen was failing badly. Had I known then, I would
have returned to help as he was very generous to me with his knowledge
and I genuinely cared for the man. Never a particularly good judge of
character, he had allowed some real creepy and dishonest people to
infiltrate both his business and his home - I saw him as a defendant on
an episode of TV's "The People's Court" facing a charge of sex
discrimination against one of his boarders - and when he was reduced to
dependency on a mobile oxygen tank, the doors were wide open and some
of these scum-balls took everything that could be carried. I have heard
that most of the negatives, many of which I had made, wound up with a
company called Barr Films (allegedly as collateral against money Morgan
had borrowed from the owner), and their present location and state of
condition is unknown to me. There were so many unique and invaluable
titles in that collection, such as a Mack Sennett one-reel sound short
called THE BLUFFER with Andy Clyde shot in 2-strip color in 1930, and
unfortunately they just might be beyond salvage now. It's likely that
no one will ever know.
But it was a grand time while it lasted, and I feel fortunate indeed to
have been so closely involved with what I truly love
Kingsley Candler (with apologies for being somewhat off-topic)