Weirdo Video Rare & authentic films of cultural, historical, and ironical significance.

Betty Boop and the Little King

1936

Betty Boop and the Little King

Betty Boop and the Little King - 1936

Is it any wonder that the first alternative comic book artists like R. Crumb and Kim Deitch give immense credit to Max Fleischer, animator of Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Bimbo the Dog, Popeye, and Superman? Fleischer’s cartoons definitely have a surreal feel about them, lending themselves to psychedelic inspiration.  

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Ted Weems Orchestra

1930's

Ted Weems Orchestra

Flapper Chorus Line with Ted Weems Orchestra - 1930

You know you’ve made the Big Time when you’re leading a band that’s accompanied with a chorus line of perky flappers. But then again, if you’re Ted Weems in the early 1930’s, this is the life of a famous radio bandleader. Just another day at the beach on the Eastern Seaboard during the Jazz Age, […]

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So They Tell Me

1919

So They Tell Me

So They Tell Me - 1919

So They Tell Me, circa 1919, skewers the top headlines of its day, the World War I era. Crude animation attempts to punctuate the sardonic and off-color humor supplied by political raconteur Warren W. Brown. Though the jokes are somewhat arcane by today’s standards, the tone tries to balance between being bombastic and nativist. Targets include labor […]

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A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor

1920's

A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor

A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor

Stage, radio and film star Eddie Cantor puts on a classic vaudeville routine including a few jokes in between breaking into song. One of the biggest entertainers of the early 20th century, the type self-deprecating humor he helped define can still has influence today with comedians such as Letterman, Conan, and Jon Stewart. Lately, Cantor […]

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Bill Powers: Caroline

1930's

Bill Powers: Caroline

Bill Powers: Caroline - 1930's

In this re-discovered clip, the classically trained Bill Powers sings an operatic rendition of the song Caroline. A performer with with few if any informative references online, he is accompanied by the similarly under-appreciated member of the Brown Sisters on piano.

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A Jazz Etude

1930

A Jazz Etude

A Jazz Etude - Serendipitously Surreal

In this serendipitously surreal short “A Jazz Etude,” tap dance extraordinaire Billy Burt dances up a storm in top hat, tuxedo tail and cane. Is he floating? And that screwy soundtrack … a mishmash of ‘Flight of the Bumblebee,’ ragtime fills, and 1930’s jazz cliches, is remeniscent of Carl Stalling or Raymond Scott. Still, I […]

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California the Golden

1930

California the Golden

California the Golden - 1930

If you were taking a sea cruise from the Eastern Seaboard to the West Coast via the Panama Canal, this might be the film you’d see before disembarking in San Diego, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. An exquisite travel film documenting the magnificent landscape and locales of pre-WWII California, this film showcases classic school California, […]

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Jimmy Durante: Give a Man a Job

1933

Jimmy Durante: Give a Man a Job

Give a Man a Job - 1933

Can you think of a more timely song? Jimmy Durante captures the mood of the nation as perfectly now as he does then. Of course, the National Recovery Administration, which as part of FDR’s New Deal, encouraged employment, a minimum wage and a maximum of weekly hours: You and you and you and you You’ve […]

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