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1-11 of 11
- Story of San Francisco's famous 10-acre seaside amusement park, Playland at the Beach.
- Before our modern transportation systems, cities in the United States were about as large across as the distance a person could walk. As technology advanced after the Civil War, the horse-bus became the preferred method of transportation and cities began becoming larger. After witnessing a horsecar accident that resulted in the destruction of the animals, Andrew Smith Hallidie, a San Francisco resident, put his knowledge of Gold Rush ore mining using steel rope into use with the very first steam driven public transportation system. On Clay Street in 1873, the first cable car was successfully put into action and began our ride through history. Hallidie's inspiration would soon become the transport for the country and the rest of the world. The 1906 earthquake and fire nearly ended its use, as did its consolidation and bribes to city politicians. Finally, it took the leadership of a woman to save the last working lines in the world from a city seemingly resigned to live without its historic transport. Ride along on the ropes with historians and the people who still work with the cars everyday. At over 140 years old, the San Francisco Cable Cars are a moving monument, a snapshot of nearly lost technology, a romance story, and the very heart of The City..
- The beginning of the Tower Records art department. Interviews with the original artists that created the unique Tower Records display look.
- A full length documentary film about San Francisco's privately owned swimming, ice skating and museum complex built in the late 19th century.
- The historic Cliff House stands perched on a headland atop the cliffs on the northwestern edge of San Francisco, California. Originally built in 1863, it is now a key part of the Sutro Historic District. That district included the lavish gardens and structures of Sutro Heights, the home of Adolph Sutro, entrepreneur, real estate developer and populist mayor of San Francisco, now a park. The ruins just north of the Cliff house housed the world-class swimming pool and museum complex called Sutro Baths. A major amusement park, San Francisco's Playland at the Beach once spilled over more than five city blocks south, across from Ocean Beach. The Cliff House has been rebuilt or remodeled many times through its century and a half of operation.
- In today's cinematic world of digital effects, telling what is real from what was created in a computer is impossible. But there was a time when Hollywood relied on nothing more than an artist's ability to create a boogie man with grease paint, cotton, glue, hair, and a few simple materials to draw people into the theater to be chilled and thrilled. When we think back to these talents of the silver screen most people think of "The Man of a Thousand Faces," Lon Chaney. But Universal Studios had its very own Phantom creating the world's most memorable creatures lurking in its substages. His amazing ability to create makeups that can still stand toe-to-toe with today's multimillion dollar effects is worth a closer look. Jack Pierce was the man who brought us Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, The Wolfman, Bride of Frankenstein, and countless other monsters that have stood the test of time. Drawn from recorded interviews, historical footage, hundreds of photos including Jack Pierce's personal scrap book, and news clippings we meet "The Maker of Monsters," Jack P. Pierce. Join his journey from Greece to the budding film industry in Los Angeles in the early 1900s to his rising star as a freelance film hand, eventually becoming the head of Universal's makeup department and creating the monsters that we all grew up with and still love. This 82-minute documentary covers his entire career and life including the surprising hand Pierce had in American Olympics history. Plus, all the classic monsters your heart can stand!
- "The Complete Bob Wilkins Creature Features" - From 1966 to 1981 Over 1,200 Shows and 1,800 Movies. Each and every one covered in this film, take a trip through 16 years across 3 stations of Bob Wilkins' wit and of course the horror films.
- David The Rock Nelson is a folk artist. He started making his home-brew horror films in 1991. His canvas is his life, his brush is an inexpensive video camera and his subjects are the horror films he loved from his youth. His finished works are just what you would expect from his actors and tools. Take a trip into the life and world of The Rock in his own words, with clips from his films.
- Forrest J. "Forry" Ackerman was a fixture in the science fiction and horror scene for as long as anyone can remember. Having picked up a sci-fi magazine as a nine-year-old boy, the stage was set for a lifetime of passion for the subject. Starting a sci-fi club led to writing one of the genre's first fanzines. Getting to know writers and artists in the field landed Forry work as a literary agent and he began amassing one of the world's largest collections of fantasy material. A meeting with James Warren would turn into a pop culture- changing event as Forry was asked to head a new magazine and "Famous Monsters of Filmland" was born. He started opening his house to the public in the early 1950's, a tradition he would carry on through three Ackermansions up until 2008. His collections were stuffed to the rafters in every nook and cranny, leaving visitors to wonder where there may be living space. "Uncle Forry's Ackermansions" tours us through all three of his homes.
- On February 22, 1975, Northern California's very first Star Trek convention was held at Lincoln High School in San Francisco, CA. It was called "The Red Hour Festival." A huge success with the fans of the original TV series (1966-69), the smash event led to much larger conventions in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles. These "Space-Con" conventions left an indelible mark on the science-fiction fans and "Trekkers" who attended. In the end, conventions like Space-Con helped awaken Paramount from hibernation and led to the creation of the first installment of the major motion picture series "Star Trek" in 1979. This full-length documentary film is the story of how fandom revolutionized an industry.
- "It was a dark and stormy night." That's how it begins, right? A good Halloween story has those elements, the basics. "I Believe in Halloween" is just that, from interviews with kids telling us what Halloween means to them and fun music videos, to vintage footage and photos, antique postcards, advertisements, decorations, and costumes. This celebration of Halloween is complete with a toe-tapping soundtrack of nine classic Halloween songs that Bryan Kehoe and HobGoblin recreated. Your jack o' lanterns will be grinning. No tricks, all treats. So break out the candy corn and caramel apples and enjoy a nostalgic, dark and stormy trip through what makes Halloween the greatest holiday ever.