Bell & Howell was a popular brand of home movie equipment.
Audiences, just like this one, were mesmerized by home movies.
Castle Films sold many pre-recorded movies, including this Nativity film.
Advertising aimed at prospective motion-picture producers.
In the movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” the character of Clark Griswold goes on a quest for the perfect big family Christmas. With every facet of the Christmas experience, Clark goes all-out, often resulting in calamity. He pursues the biggest tree, the brightest outdoor lights, and the fastest sled, though his family often tells him that they would be happy with much less; MUCH less.
Clark Griswold manages to lock himself in the attic while the family is away. It is then that there is a poignant, insightful moment in this otherwise zany film. Clark entertains himself by watching old home movies of his own childhood Christmas experience. We learn that he wants Christmas to be just as perfect for his family as it was for him growing up.
If you’re of a certain age, you have probably done like Clark Griswold at least once in adulthood, and watched your old home movies, be they the standard 8mm or the deluxe super 8mm format. Christmas and the passing of another year evoke nostalgia and memories of events captured on those early media of home theater.
This evening, I retrieved our Bell & Howell 8mm projector and box of movies, and set up a home theater in our living room. I still remembered how to thread the small reels through the machine, and made sure that the film was properly aligned with the teeth of the sprockets, capstans, and take-up reel. Usually, my mother was the projectionist when I was growing up, but she must have taught me the art at some point.
I turned on the motor, fully expecting that there would be a problem. What would I do if the bulb were burned out? No longer could I go to the Incline Drug Store to buy one. What would I do if the motor didn’t start up, or the film broke? Capitol Audio-Visuals has long been closed.
To my pleasant surprise, everything worked perfectly on the first try. I started with one of our pre-recorded movies – “Eye Doctors” starring the Three Stooges (this one is an obscure film from the Shemp era). Many of the scenes quickly came back to me, as the Stooges attempted to swindle the cowboys at a saloon into buying eye glasses.
Our home movie collection of both pre-recorded and original family footage wasn’t extensive, but each reel was really memorable. Most of the pre-recorded films were from Castle Films, an enterprise started by Eugene W. Castle in 1924. Mr. Castle saw the growing interest in home movies, acquired rights to old cartoons, sci-fi movies, and the like, and marketed them to moms, dads, and tykes.
Our Castle Films were all black-and-white with one exception – a travelogue of the Holy Land. They were heavily edited for time, and had captions since early home movie equipment lacked sound. I remember that the first time that I saw the full-length Looney Tunes cartoon “Haredevil Hare” on television, I was shocked to see Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian in color, talking.
Taking home movies could be either frustrating or delightful, depending on how the movies turned out. The shutter of our movie camera often let too much light onto the film, resulting in several seconds of a white screen. Indoor shots were challenging, since they required setting up a couple of bulky lights. Then, there was the fact that it took a while to see the fruits of your labor. I see that our movies had to be mailed to be developed, such as to the Photo Express in Philadelphia or to the Redstone company in Huntsville.
Still, when everything worked, the experience was a treat, and archived events for years to come. I remember that we invited neighborhood children, family, and friends to watch home movies in our basement den. There was footage of Chattanooga snowfalls (seemingly more common in that day), vacations, early attempts at bicycle-riding, and clowning around of various family members.
8mm movies were an early milestone on the evolutionary path of VHS camcorders, mini-cams, DVD’s and digital cameras. Regardless of the media format, the reason we do this has always been the same. We capture the moments of today in order to recall them at a Christmas-time to come.
If you have memories of home movies, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net. Also, being a long-time Three Stooges fan, I’m trying to find information on the short “Eye Doctors.” I haven’t been able to find it in any of the Stooge-ographies.