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So this evening I'm doing something I do every month or two: checking out TCM to see what movies they'll be showing in the upcoming weeks.
My eyes were starting to gloss over as I scrolled through lists and synopses.
As I was zooming past an item that was so unremarkable as to have no accompanying Maltin write-up, my eyes caught two names.
Now to first digress...
I collect movies. I study movies. I'm slowly (extremely slowly) doing an honours degree in film studies. (I figure I'll complete it by the time my grandson has kids - and he's not even 2 yet!)
I collect movies by genre, and by certain directors and actors. Two (amongst many) of those actors are James Stewart and Bob Hope.
And their names were the ones listed.
Now I have almost every film that those two actors ever appeared in. I have books about them. So when I saw both of their names listed with a movie that I'd never heard about before, my jaw dropped.
The title of the movie is Jamboree. It is not listed in any edition of Maltin. It's not listed in any books in my collection covering Hope or Stewart's careers. It's not even listed at IMDB.com. Wiki has a reference to it buried deep in entries dealing with the Boy Scouts. Only TCM has any real info, and here's what they say:
Jamboree(1954)
Notes
A title at the film's beginning states: "The Boy Scouts of America are indebted to the following organizations and individuals for their gracious assistance in making this film possible: Roy Brewer, William Demarest, Cecil B. DeMille, George Dye, Leonard K. Firestone, Pete Smith, James Stewart, Ed Thomas, Col. J. L. Warner, Y. Frank Freeman, William Meiklejohn, Howard Hughes, I.A.T.S.E., James C. Petrillo, Dore Schary and Louis K. Sidney." No production or distribution companies were credited on screen, but the The Exhibitor review indicated that the film had been produced by GM Productions and was being released by Exploitation Productions, Inc. The film was not listed in release charts, but was approved for distribution in New York in 1954, according to NYSA records. After being blown up to 35mm, from its original 16mm, the film received several theatrical bookings.
AHollywood Citizen-News article of July 16, 1953 reported that production had begun on the film temporarily titled Boy Scouts of America...Jamboree 1953 with four camera crews covering the activities on the "largest set (3,000 acres) of any movie ever made."
On January 6, 1954, Hollywood Reporter printed an account of an invitational screening of the film at the M-G-M studios. The report stated that studio excecutive George Murphy conceived the film and that Leonard K. Firestone of Firestone Tire & Rubber and Ed Thomas of Goodyear Tires had provided two-thirds of the financing. The U.S. State Department provided the other third at the suggestion of director Cecil B. De Mille. The State Department's Overseas Information Service intended to distribute the film internationally as a testimonial on behalf of democracy and against Communism. The article stated that, in addition to those credited onscreen, the film was narrated by Del Sharbutt and Martin Berkeley and Edmond F. Bernoudy, Jr., Donald MacLean, Basil Wrangell and Lou Ostrow contributed to the script. C. Bakaleinikoff conducted the RKO-Radio studio orchestra.
The following celebrities are seen very briefly during the film: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger, Frank Faylen, Eddie Bracken, Mitzi Gaynor, Jerry Colonna, Dorothy Lamour, Lanny Ross, Johnny Mack Brown, Wild Bill Elliott, Preston Foster, Lash LaRue, George Montgomery, Tex Ritter, Jack Mahoney, Dick Jones, June Allyson, Anne Francis, Lita Baron, Rory Calhoun, Jeff Chandler, Gene Nelson, Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Will Rogers, Jr., January Sterling, Vera-Ellen, Danny Kaye, Monte Montana, Chill Wills, Francis the Talking Mule, Richard M. Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
It's understandable why it's not listed anywhere.
While perhaps of little or no interest (nowadays) to just about anyone else, to a collector like me this really is like finding ancient treasure.
You can be sure that, in the wee hours of the morning of May 19th, at least one of my PVRs will be recording it!
Jeff
My eyes were starting to gloss over as I scrolled through lists and synopses.
As I was zooming past an item that was so unremarkable as to have no accompanying Maltin write-up, my eyes caught two names.
Now to first digress...
I collect movies. I study movies. I'm slowly (extremely slowly) doing an honours degree in film studies. (I figure I'll complete it by the time my grandson has kids - and he's not even 2 yet!)
I collect movies by genre, and by certain directors and actors. Two (amongst many) of those actors are James Stewart and Bob Hope.
And their names were the ones listed.
Now I have almost every film that those two actors ever appeared in. I have books about them. So when I saw both of their names listed with a movie that I'd never heard about before, my jaw dropped.
The title of the movie is Jamboree. It is not listed in any edition of Maltin. It's not listed in any books in my collection covering Hope or Stewart's careers. It's not even listed at IMDB.com. Wiki has a reference to it buried deep in entries dealing with the Boy Scouts. Only TCM has any real info, and here's what they say:
Jamboree(1954)
Notes
A title at the film's beginning states: "The Boy Scouts of America are indebted to the following organizations and individuals for their gracious assistance in making this film possible: Roy Brewer, William Demarest, Cecil B. DeMille, George Dye, Leonard K. Firestone, Pete Smith, James Stewart, Ed Thomas, Col. J. L. Warner, Y. Frank Freeman, William Meiklejohn, Howard Hughes, I.A.T.S.E., James C. Petrillo, Dore Schary and Louis K. Sidney." No production or distribution companies were credited on screen, but the The Exhibitor review indicated that the film had been produced by GM Productions and was being released by Exploitation Productions, Inc. The film was not listed in release charts, but was approved for distribution in New York in 1954, according to NYSA records. After being blown up to 35mm, from its original 16mm, the film received several theatrical bookings.
AHollywood Citizen-News article of July 16, 1953 reported that production had begun on the film temporarily titled Boy Scouts of America...Jamboree 1953 with four camera crews covering the activities on the "largest set (3,000 acres) of any movie ever made."
On January 6, 1954, Hollywood Reporter printed an account of an invitational screening of the film at the M-G-M studios. The report stated that studio excecutive George Murphy conceived the film and that Leonard K. Firestone of Firestone Tire & Rubber and Ed Thomas of Goodyear Tires had provided two-thirds of the financing. The U.S. State Department provided the other third at the suggestion of director Cecil B. De Mille. The State Department's Overseas Information Service intended to distribute the film internationally as a testimonial on behalf of democracy and against Communism. The article stated that, in addition to those credited onscreen, the film was narrated by Del Sharbutt and Martin Berkeley and Edmond F. Bernoudy, Jr., Donald MacLean, Basil Wrangell and Lou Ostrow contributed to the script. C. Bakaleinikoff conducted the RKO-Radio studio orchestra.
The following celebrities are seen very briefly during the film: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Trigger, Frank Faylen, Eddie Bracken, Mitzi Gaynor, Jerry Colonna, Dorothy Lamour, Lanny Ross, Johnny Mack Brown, Wild Bill Elliott, Preston Foster, Lash LaRue, George Montgomery, Tex Ritter, Jack Mahoney, Dick Jones, June Allyson, Anne Francis, Lita Baron, Rory Calhoun, Jeff Chandler, Gene Nelson, Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Will Rogers, Jr., January Sterling, Vera-Ellen, Danny Kaye, Monte Montana, Chill Wills, Francis the Talking Mule, Richard M. Nixon and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
It's understandable why it's not listed anywhere.
While perhaps of little or no interest (nowadays) to just about anyone else, to a collector like me this really is like finding ancient treasure.
You can be sure that, in the wee hours of the morning of May 19th, at least one of my PVRs will be recording it!
Jeff
