Murray Glass RIP

No one lives forever -- except, perhaps, Shirley MacLaine. This is where we ring down the final curtain for Filmdom's finest.
Richard M Roberts
Godfather
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Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 6:30 pm

Murray Glass RIP

Postby Richard M Roberts » Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:02 pm

Another member of the vintage film community whose recent passing I have seen sadly little mention of on the internet was longtime film collector and preservationist Murray Glass, who ran the Em Gee Film Rental Library and Glenn Photo Supply for decades, making many old films available for rent or purchase. He was in his early 90's.

Murray was indeed a "character", and one that frankly had to be watched like a hawk in business dealings (he was a notorious nickel and dimer), but he sold me a lot of great films over many years and his rental prices at Em Gee were always reasonable (if you watched his postage and "reel mounting" charges). He had sold his collection to David Shepard a decade or so ago (though ironically, David pre-deceased him) and David placed much of it with the NIles Essanay Film Museum, who curates it to this day. Murray had started out working with Charlie Tarbox at his old Film Classic Exchange in the early 60's, then started his own rental library and film sales in the late 60's. He was one of the last survivors of that dying breed of folk who made films available to collectors in the pre-video days.

Rest in Peace Murray.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

Ed Watz
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Re: Murray Glass RIP

Postby Ed Watz » Thu Nov 07, 2019 3:42 am

Thanks Richard for the (sad) news, I had no idea he had passed away. When I started collecting 16mm in the mid-1970s, Murray made a reversal of Keaton's THE GOLD GHOST for me, my first-ever introduction to Buster's Educational shorts. For me, Keaton in sound here was a revelation, after having seen only a handful of his MGM features and some late tv work. Murray would surprise me with Film Classics prints of Hal Roach shorts that Blackhawk never made available. They weren't in his catalogues of course, and if they were dupes I wasn't complaining, they looked really nice. Murray was a character, but as you noted, he was an awfully nice guy, and one of the last home movie moguls still among us.
"Of course he smiled -- just like you and me." -- Harold Goodwin, on Buster Keaton (1976)

Richard M Roberts
Godfather
Posts: 2895
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 6:30 pm

Re: Murray Glass RIP

Postby Richard M Roberts » Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:40 pm

I think the first Max Linders I ever saw came from Murray, and he had a number of rarities available in 16mm and 8mm including several Chaplin Keystones Blackhawk never had, early Harold Lloyd single reelers like SPRING FEVER, JUST NEIGHBORS, GOING GOING GONE, BASHFUL, THE CITY SLICKER, ON THE FIRE, several hard to find Charley Chase one-reelers as well. He made me up a special print of HIS PEOPLE with Rudolph Shildekraut, years ago, and I recall a beautiful print of the complete silent version of THE IRON MASK(1929) too.

Come to think of it, the print of Griffith's HEARTS OF THE WORLD(1917) we're showing for Armistice Day at our Movie Night this week came from Murray, and has footage that wasn't in the Blackhawk print.

RICHARD M ROBERTS


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