ENTERPRISE FILM FEST SET TO TURN BACK THE REELS OF TIME

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 20, 2006

ENTERPRISE Dennis Nyback, collector of world renowned rare films, will be doing a mini-series film show at Stage One in the EM&M Building in Enterprise during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, with the first showing Saturday.

The programs will be The Dennis Nyback Christmas Special at 7 p.m. Saturday. This is a program of toy commercials and other commercials directed at children from the 1960s and 1970s. They will be interspersed with vintage Christmas cartoons and short films.

Among the short films will be "Howdy Doody’s Christmas" from 1954. The Christmas cartoons will include "Holiday Land," which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1934 and "Gifts From the Air" made in 1936. Both films are in color.

Also showing on the 23rd in black and white is Mickey Mouse in "Mickey Plays Santa."

Finally, there will be nostalgic theater announcements such as you may have seen in the 1950s.

At 7 p.m. Dec. 28 "Cartoons Too Violent For Children" will be shown. It is comprised of cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s that go way beyond the standard levels of animated violence. Those were the days when animation was intended for all ages and not just children watching Saturday morning TV.

These selections will include "Pluto’s Judgment Day" from 1937, the "Ending of Hare Ribbin" starring Bugs Bunny, and "Cap’n Cub," which features a cuddly bear turned into a machine-gunning killer in World War II.

Other cartoons include works by Max Fleischer, Betty Boop in "Dizzy Red Riding Hood" and "Superman Battling the Bulleteers"; "Tex Avery," "The Screwball Squirrel" and "Bad Luck Blackie." Many of these cartoons are not available on video tape.

"Hillbillies in Hollywood" will be shown at 7 p.m. Dec. 29. It has been shown in Seattle, Portland, 20 cities in Europe and in Japan and Korea. It will run close to three hours and will include famous western stars Bob Wills, Spade Cooley, Merle Travis and Hank Williams, along with the Hoosier Hotshots and Stan Fritz Korn Kobblers.

Be prepared to whoop, holler, yodel and sing along with "You Are My Sunshine" by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.

Two features will be shown on Dec. 30, one at 1 and one at 7 p.m.

The early matinee will offer 10 black and white cartoons of Mickey Mouse, who started it all back in the Depression. This is a chance to introduce kids to the Mickey that thrilled the nation during the days when Franklin Roosevelt was president.

The evening show is 100 minutes of acoustic and jazz-based blues of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. It will include the music of Billie Holiday, Thelonius Monk, Count Basie, Sonny Terry and dozens of others with a finale by Bessie Smith, acknowledged to be the greatest blues singer of them all. This is her only film.

The film festival is presented by Dennis Nyback, who was introduced to Wallowa County when his wife was a Fishtrap Fellow. He was born and raised in Yacolt, Wash., a town, according to Nyback, smaller than Enterprise and not as easy to get to.

Nyback began his film career while in college at the University of Washington.

He worked for the Seattle International Film Festival and bought his own 88-seat movie theater in 1979. He opened the Pike Street Cinema in 1992 and began touring with his film programs in 1991.

In 1999 he relocated to Portland to take over operation of the historic Clinton Street Theater.

Nyback has been guest of honor at numerous theaters and film societies in the United States and Europe over the last 20 years. He will be available to introduce the films each night.

According to reviews in the Village Voice, Nyback’s introductions alone are worth the price of admission.

This event is sponsored by the Bowlby Arts Group’s Film Appreciation Society.

Donations will be $5 for adults and $2.50 for children. Stage One is located in the EM&M Building at 117 E. Main St. in Enterprise.