Nitrateville Answer Dept: THE TOY THAT GREW UP
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2024 8:18 am
An almost interesting discussion of the old NET Public Television series THE TOY THAT GREW UP has erupted over on Nitwitville:
https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36398
And that guy that's obsessed with METROPOLIS and other various silent films and their various incarnations is busily speculating about what print of METROPOLIS they showed and why the series was cancelled in 1971 seems to need a few answers.
Well, as the person who ended up with a large portion of Robert Seipp's (the producer of THE TOY THAT GREW UP) film collection and knowing some of the folk involved, I can answer some of those questions. Most of the prints that Seipp showed were prints from his collection and most of those prints came from Griggs Moviedrome, Charlie Tarbox's Film Classics Exchange, Blackhawk Films, and a handful of borrowed or purchased Kodascopes or prints from other collectors, and towards the end, a very few films licensed from MOMA or LOC, but very few.
The print of METROPOLIS shown was the Griggs-Moviedrome print, and that showing as well as the showing of THE KID got WTTW in some hot water with various owners like Janus Films and Roy Export, which is why those were not re-run or syndicated, and added to the cancellation of the show. Yet the main reason the show disappeared from the airwaves had as much to do with NET being replaced by PBS as anything else. PBS was taking over as an actual Public Television Network, and they had contracted to do new silent films shows like Paul Killiam's THE SILENT YEARS and FILM ODDYSEY, which showcased the Janus Films collection, among others, and basically most the NET syndicated shows slowly and quietly receded into the background after their syndication contracts expired, with the exceptions of big sellers like SESAME STREET and MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD which PBS made even more successful. WTTW, having learned it's licensing lesson, did continue a silent film program with those MGM silents they did cut a deal on, but by that time they had to syndicate through Gold-Key because NET no longer existed and PBS didn't take the show. That package got sporadic and spotty broadcast compared to TOY THAT GREW UP, but offered the only opportunity to see some MGM silents until Turner Classic Movies came along.
THE TOY THAT GREW UP was a pioneering show for introducing complete silent features to television audiences, but it was also done in an era when no one was really paying attention to any "rights" on these old silent films. A lot of the prints shown were not particularly high quality, either print-wise or level of transfer, and anyone watching any of the surviving episodes today would most likely find their virgin eyeballs offended, but it was an important show to the folk like myself who got to see those film for the first time thanks to Mr. Seipp, WTTW and NET. That print of VARIETY you see in the lone episode up on Youtube now sits on one of my shelves, and that and the rest of Mr. Seipp's prints that I have do have that sentimental value attached.
RICHARD M ROBERTS
https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36398
And that guy that's obsessed with METROPOLIS and other various silent films and their various incarnations is busily speculating about what print of METROPOLIS they showed and why the series was cancelled in 1971 seems to need a few answers.
Well, as the person who ended up with a large portion of Robert Seipp's (the producer of THE TOY THAT GREW UP) film collection and knowing some of the folk involved, I can answer some of those questions. Most of the prints that Seipp showed were prints from his collection and most of those prints came from Griggs Moviedrome, Charlie Tarbox's Film Classics Exchange, Blackhawk Films, and a handful of borrowed or purchased Kodascopes or prints from other collectors, and towards the end, a very few films licensed from MOMA or LOC, but very few.
The print of METROPOLIS shown was the Griggs-Moviedrome print, and that showing as well as the showing of THE KID got WTTW in some hot water with various owners like Janus Films and Roy Export, which is why those were not re-run or syndicated, and added to the cancellation of the show. Yet the main reason the show disappeared from the airwaves had as much to do with NET being replaced by PBS as anything else. PBS was taking over as an actual Public Television Network, and they had contracted to do new silent films shows like Paul Killiam's THE SILENT YEARS and FILM ODDYSEY, which showcased the Janus Films collection, among others, and basically most the NET syndicated shows slowly and quietly receded into the background after their syndication contracts expired, with the exceptions of big sellers like SESAME STREET and MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD which PBS made even more successful. WTTW, having learned it's licensing lesson, did continue a silent film program with those MGM silents they did cut a deal on, but by that time they had to syndicate through Gold-Key because NET no longer existed and PBS didn't take the show. That package got sporadic and spotty broadcast compared to TOY THAT GREW UP, but offered the only opportunity to see some MGM silents until Turner Classic Movies came along.
THE TOY THAT GREW UP was a pioneering show for introducing complete silent features to television audiences, but it was also done in an era when no one was really paying attention to any "rights" on these old silent films. A lot of the prints shown were not particularly high quality, either print-wise or level of transfer, and anyone watching any of the surviving episodes today would most likely find their virgin eyeballs offended, but it was an important show to the folk like myself who got to see those film for the first time thanks to Mr. Seipp, WTTW and NET. That print of VARIETY you see in the lone episode up on Youtube now sits on one of my shelves, and that and the rest of Mr. Seipp's prints that I have do have that sentimental value attached.
RICHARD M ROBERTS